Sportster conversion kit pioneer Steve Storz has just celebrated the 40th anniversary of his Ventura , California business - one whose design ideas and concepts are once again at the forefront of the contemporary custom market …
In these days of ' Alt Moto ', with scramblers , flat trackers and street trackers the bikes du jour , it is easy to forget that we ' ve been here before . What was once new became old , retro , but what was once old has been born again as new generations of riders embrace the simplicity , sound and sensation of tearing up the dirt . One man who has been there , done it , worn the T- shirt and done it again is Steve Storz - currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of his eponymous Storz Performance business in California . The word ' Trailblazer ' is overused , but in Steve ' s case it ’ s a cap that fits . Quite apart from being a Board Member of the legendary Trailblazers MC , Steve was in the right place at the right time as the fledgling off-road and motocross racing scene of the late
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1960s collided with that quintessentially American race phenomena flat track in the 1970s . As flat track racing gets to enjoy its time in the sun once more , it is worth recording Steve ' s contribution to what is , again , contemporary motorcycle design . That is not to make it sound like it ever went away somewhere , in truth it never did , but it is interesting how riders who have learned in the 21st century are now embracing the kind of riding their grandparents enjoyed for some 50 years in the mid-20th century . Steve originates from Omaha , Nebraska , and attended the Dale Martin Motorcycle Mechanics School in Woodland Hills when he moved to California in 1970 . His first industry job was at Jack Hateley at Triumph of Burbank , and his love of flat track racing was instilled there . Subsequent stints included with Shell Thuett on the Yamaha Dirt Track Team ( 1974 ) where the riders were Kenny Roberts , Gene Romero and Don Castro , then tuning for National # 22 Terry Dorsch on Yamaha and Triumph before being hired as racing mechanic for the Norton-Triumph dirt track racing team in 1975 . After NVT withdrew from racing , Steve worked at Kawasaki Motor Corp . as a technical specialist ( 1975 / 76 ), testing and evaluating pre-production motorcycles . After another spell with Shell Thuett , he was hired as a racing mechanic for the H-D factory team , moving to Milwaukee in 1976 . He worked with riders such as Rex Staten , Ted Boody and Steve Morehead from 1976-1979 , after which he returned to Southern California and started Storz Performance to build and prepare H-D XR750s for privateer riders . A trip to Italy saw him meet with Enrico Ceriani in 1985 and he agreed to start making modern 42 mm forks for dirt track racing . As Steve says : " They were
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - FEBRUARY 2021 27