Not all scramblers are created equal. Some wear high pipes and knobbly tires, but may never go off-road, while others are made to be punished. It’s builds like this that really get our hearts racing: Purpose Built Moto?s 1998 Harley-Davidson Sportster, a lean scrambler packing real dirt credentials.
The Queensland-based team know what they?re doing when it comes to throwing a Harley around off-road, as this is their second scrambler based on H-D?s perennial Sportster. Their first was featured in the must-see documentary, Wide of the Mark, smashing through the Tasmanian bush.

And that?s how the latest Sportster project kicked off?while their first was still under construction. ?During the build process for the first Sportster, the customer visited the shop,? says Tom Gilroy from PBM. ?He saw it on the bench and he told me I had to build him one.? So after the team limped back from Tasmania, smitten with the performance of their first Sportster scrambler, and armed with a long list of improvements fresh in their mind, they set to work building their next big dirt basher.

The project started with a venerable 1998 XLH1200S. For the uninitiated, it?s long considered a real ‘rider’s’ Harley, and came from the factory with adjustable suspension, twin discs and a decent claim to the Sportster name. But the only thing that would remain was the twin-spark engine and the lighter rigid mount frame?because Tom had big plans.
?I wanted to push a little furth...