Category: Trackers

Monkey Business: Kingston revamps the iconic mini bike

Post author By Chris Hunter
Post date August 31, 2018

The Glemseck 101 festival being held this weekend is a high-octane celebration of speed and power. At this very moment, thousands of petrolheads are descending on the picturesque market town of Leonberg, near Stuttgart in Germany—seeking out the loudest and fastest customs and racers from all over Europe.

But this year, one of the most interesting bikes will also be one of the smallest: a tiny Honda Monkey built by Kingston Custom for Honda Germany.

Builder Dirk Oehlerking is best known for his magnificent BMWs, so the little Monkey is a departure for him.

“At the beginning of July I got a call from Erik Mertens of Honda Germany,” Dirk recalls. “He got straight to the point and asked if I was interested in a Honda custom project.”

There was only one catch, but it was a big one: the bike would need to be presented eight weeks later—today, in fact—at the Glemseck 101.

“I asked which model we were talking about,” said Dirk. “It was the new 125cc Honda Monkey. I did not have to think about it for long, and immediately agreed!”

The new Monkey is big news. Emboldened by the success of the MSX125 Grom, Honda has thoroughly revamped the mini bike icon and brought it up to date with niceties such as USD forks and ABS, without losing the signature big seat and 70s-style two-tone tank.

A few days later, Dirk picked up a Monkey and whipped out the spanners right away. He quickly set the design direction, a Monkey tracker, and completely disassembled the bike.

To clean up the look, he reduced the electrical system to its essentials and discarded the ABS and alarm system.

Dirk has been building bikes for longer than most of us have been alive, so he has a treasure trove on the shelves of his Gelsenkirchen workshop. The new bars were the first to come off the shelf: “They’re a bit flatter, and suit the new lines of the bike,” says Dirk.

The footpegs were also liberated from their lofty perch and installed on the Monkey. “They fitted easily. I think they were from a 1976 CR125 Elsinore.”

To upgrade the suspension, Dirk has ditched the slender stock shocks and installed custom-made YSS units, plus tougher fork internals. The tire choice he found easy: 12-inch all-weather K66 rubber from Heidenau, designed for scooters.

For 2018, the Monkey gets the punchy engine from the MSX125—which is enough for random wheelies. So Dirk has left the internals alone, and just popped a K&N into the air filter box.

At the exhaust end, he’s swapped out the Monkey’s good-looking but hefty factory system and bulky exhaust shield for a simpler unit. It’s made by the Monkey parts specialist Kepspeed, but adapted by Dirk to fit the 2018 model.

He’s kept the factory chrome fenders: “They fit perfectly with my design. But I mounted the front fender higher, directly under the fork bridge.”

The massive stock seat is gone though, replaced by a conventional pad with hints of tracker style that sits under the tank line, rather than at the same height. It’s covered with the racer’s favorite cloth, Alcantara.

Underneath are custom side panels, matching the number board that replaces the bulky headlight up front.

It’s all finished off with a classic red, blue and white color scheme, a nod to the tricolor designs that started appearing on Honda race bikes towards the end of the 70s.

Kingston’s Monkey loses some of the puppy fat charm of the standard Monkey—but replaces it with an edgier, 70s pit bike vibe that we love.

If this is the first salvo in an impending onslaught of Monkey 125 customs, we’re all for it.

Kingston Custom | Facebook | Images by Ben Ott

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Not Forgotten: The Sportster ‘XX Tracker’ from Gasoline

Post author By Wesley Reyneke
Post date July 31, 2018

Harley-Davidson owned the internet yesterday. Unless you live under a solid aggregate of minerals, you’ll know that the Motor Co. teased its upcoming model range—including the productionized Livewire, a streetfighter, and an adventure tourer called the ‘Pan America.’

But did you notice there was no mention of the Sportster? Could this finally be the end of the road for the venerable roadster? Fear not. There will always be killer Sportster builds to keep the massive second-hand market alive—like this rowdy flat tracker from Australia’s Gasoline Motor Co.

The Gasoline crew developed a taste for flat track racing after blasting round their local track at Appin, an hour’s drive out of Sydney. At first they used a KTM 450 shod with Dunlop DT3s, but founder Jason Leppa realized it was soon time to move on to more appropriate machinery.

“Learning the ropes of sliding at high speed on the dirt soon turned into a need to practice on a heavier Harley XR1200X,” he tells us.

At first glance, this V-twin street tracker looks like a no-fuss hooligan racer. But it’s primed to tear up asphalt as well as the dirt—and has enough of the right bits to make it street legal.

A 2000-model Harley-Davidson Sportster was the starting point for what became the ‘XX Tracker.’ Gasoline stripped it down, then threw away anything they could to save as much weight as possible.

A monochrome palette was on the cards from the word go, so the engine was removed and painted black, while the frame was refinished in white.

Gasoline kept the Sporty’s stock oil tank, but tossed the fuel tank, seat and fenders. In their place are a fiberglass tank and tail, hand made by Phil Little Racing in the classic American flat track style. The livery is simple and tasteful: gloss black, with a few custom decals.

As per normal flat track spec, the XX Tracker rolls on a pair of 19” hoops—in this case, lifted from an early model Sportster and powder coated black before being wrapped in Maxxis dirt track rubber. Roger at Retroline added a super-subtle touch: white pinstripes on each rim.

Custom-machined triple clamps were installed to get the front wheel to fit, and spacers ensure the sprockets line up at the rear.

The forks were fitted with new 11-1130 springs from Progressive Suspension, and shaved of any unused mount tabs. And a set of custom-tuned Nitron shocks was installed out back, dialed in to the rider’s weight.

Gasoline have also added a chain conversion kit, with an oversized 60-tooth rear sprocket for maximum pull-away out on the track.

As for the motor, it’s stock inside. On the outside there’s an S&S Cycles Super E carburetor, and a high flow Slant air filter from Roland Sands Design. And, of course, a massive, in-your-face twin exhaust system that provides max airflow and sounds magnificent.

It’s the work of Niko at Hi-Tech Mufflers, who built it up piece by piece from stainless steel. The Gasoline crew then whipped up a big ol’ heat shield in-house, to cap it off.

Those are the obvious changes—but there’s a ton of subtle tweaks on the XX Tracker that tie everything together. The stock mid-mount foot controls were converted to ‘low-mount’ controls, and upgraded with a grippier set of pegs.

Up top, the guys added a set of high-and-wide 1” bars, but trimmed off the cross brace that came with them. The levers are standard, but the throttle and grips are new—along with the mini switches and internal wiring.

The stock handlebar clamp was milled out to accept a tiny LED dash from Motogadget, plus a set of LED warning lights. The entire electronics package is discreet, with a trimmed harness running through Motogadget‘s popular m.unit control box, and activated by their keyless RFID ignition.

The ‘headlight’ is actually two powerful LEDs, mounted down low on a pair of custom-made engine crashbars. Out back is a floating license plate bracket, which also carries a thin LED taillight. Turn signals are present at both ends; small pin units flanking the tail, and wraparound LEDs on the forks.

Gasoline’s XX Tracker nails the Sportster tracker vibe flawlessly, tweaking the timeless recipe just enough to make it the perfect Harley for both road and track.

It’s uncomplicated, beastly, and a loud reminder that the Sportster’s going to be around for a long, long time.

Gasoline | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Rob Hamilton

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Corsa Americano: The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati Flat Tracker

Post author By Wesley Reyneke
Post date July 12, 2018

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
Like many of you, we’re total suckers for racing machines—especially flat trackers. And although we’re captivated by American iron like the Indian FTR750, it’s nice to see the odd exotic European take to the oval.

Enter Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, who have a thing for fielding Ducati-powered flat trackers. Back in 2010, they were the first team to break Harley-Davidson’s 19-year winning streak…with an air-cooled, two-valve desmo motor powering their race bike.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
Since then, the Atlanta-based team has racked up respectable results, thanks to pilots like Joe Kopp, Brad Baker, Henry Wiles and Jake Johnson. (Even Troy Bayliss raced with them, when he tried his hand at flat track).

The bike you’re looking at is Lloyd Brothers’ brand new racer. With changes in the AFT Twins class rules ahead of this season—including a size limit of 850 cc—the team was forced to ditch their previous platform and start over.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
The project kicked off last year, when Lloyd Brothers built two bikes as a proof of concept. Those used liquid-cooled 939 cc Testastretta motors, sourced off eBay.

Then the rules changed in the off-season, and the guys had to adapt—so they switched to the 821 cc mill in the Ducati Hypermotard 821.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
Surprisingly, the motor’s quite close to stock. The heads have been ported, and the flywheel’s a heavier unit from a different Duc. The really trick work is going on outside the actual motor.

Regulations don’t allow for ride-by-wire throttles, and specify that the intake needs a 44 mm choke point somewhere within the throttle body itself. So this Ducati’s running modified 748 throttle bodies to keep things legal.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
The exhaust system consists of stainless steel headers, flowing into a pair of custom M4 silencers, designed to conform to the AFT noise limits. Respected Ducati engine builder, Mark Sutton at the DucShop in Marietta, Georgia, handled all the engine work.

The radiator presented another challenge. With the wide cylinder spread of the L-twin engine, and the beefy 19” flat track wheels, placing the radiator behind the front wheel was simply not possible.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
Car cooling experts Art’s Radiator jumped in with a custom-designed side-mounted unit, hooked up via Goodridge hoses with AN fittings.

On the electrical side, the crew had to ‘trick’ a Microtec ECU into thinking that the 821 was a compatible bike (it’s not). So they started with an 848 wiring harness, removed all non-essentials and shortened it to fit.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
The two blue plugs poking out under the seat are to plug the SpeedCell battery into; the bike runs a total loss system.

Everything is packaged into a fully bespoke chromoly steel frame, complete with a mono-shock rear end. Fabrication gurus Fuller Moto built the frame for the Testastretta powerplant, to Lloyd Brothers’ spec. It’s essentially an evolution of the frame design that they’ve been running over the past few years.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
There’s Öhlins suspension at both ends, along with a pair of 19” race wheels from Performance Machine. The forks are held in place by Baer Racing triples. As is the norm in flat track, there’s no front brake—but there’s a pretty nifty rear brake setup.

The master cylinder and caliper are from Brembo, but the caliper has been modified by TAW Performance to accept a vaned rotor. “Lloyd Brothers Motorsports was the first team to introduce vaned rotors to modern flat track racing,” David Lloyd tells us.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
“It was an answer to certain riders applying so much force to the brakes, that they actually glow a bright red after a few laps!”

Quintessential flat track bodywork finishes the bike off, with a fiberglass tank and tail from First Klass Glass in Michigan. The seat pad’s from Saddlemen, and the livery is as Italian as it gets, with a matching set of ODI grips. And there’s a smattering of carbon fiber protective bits for a little extra insurance.

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
Lloyd Brothers had planned to run this magnificent beast for ten of this season’s 18 races, treating it as a development year. Stevie Bonsey was set to pilot it, but he injured himself (on a different bike).

He’s now set to return on Labor Day weekend in October, at the Springfield Mile. And David Lloyd is pretty optimistic: “We are very happy with the chassis. It was well sorted over many years and developed around the higher torque, larger displacement air-cooled engines.”

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker
“A few minor adjustments in tube bends were made to fit in the 4-valve, liquid-cooled cylinder and heads. The characteristics of the 821 promise to be even better for flat track—should we get a proper program funded to race a full season.”

If you’re reading this from the UK, head over to the Goodwood Festival of Speed immediately—because that’s where Lloyd Brothers are currently showing this Ducati off. Otherwise, you’ll just have to drool over the photos like the rest of us.

Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Facebook | Instagram | Images by (and major thanks to) Steve West of Silver Piston Photography

The Lloyd Brothers’ Ducati flat tracker

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Frozen: An ice-cool Suzuki GN400 street tracker

Post author By Wesley Reyneke
Post date July 5, 2018

You could argue that the modern custom scene owes its success to Universal Japanese Motorcycles. They’re affordable, reliable and easy to pull apart—making them the perfect blank canvas for builders.

Not all UJMs get equal time in the limelight, though. And according to Ventus Garage of Kraków, Poland, there’s one that deserves a lot more love: the Suzuki GN400. So they’ve turned a GN400 into a cool street tracker coated in BMW’s famous matte ‘Frozen’ paint.

“The Suzuki GN400 is a very overlooked bike on the custom scene,” they tell us. “It has everything you want from a base bike. It has a big single engine that sounds beautiful, it’s simple in its construction, and it has nice lines off its frame.”

“We could go on all night, but long story short, the Ventus Garage team loves using the GN400. We’ve already built two bikes based on the GN, and we decided to put all our knowledge and experience into this third one.”

For this build, the guys aimed for that elusive balance between form and function. “With flat track bikes there is nothing more important than performance, but at Ventus Garage the ‘look’ is at the top of the list as well.”

“Who said that those two can’t go together?”

The biggest upgrade happened to the chassis. Ventus pillaged the remains of a wrecked custom Aprilia RS 250 to upgrade their little GN400: On went the Aprilia’s upside-down forks, along with its triple clamps.

They’re matched up to a pair of aftermarket rear shocks, fitted with custom bushings.

Bizarrely, the Aprilia also came with a pair of 18” spoked wheels—perfect for what Ventus had in mind. So they repainted the rims, chromed the spokes and fitted the wheels. The front brake was converted to a single 280 mm disc, before the guys got to work on the back.

With an upgrade from the Suzuki’s stock drum to a disc setup, the guys had to install a Nissin master cylinder, and modify the rear brake lever setup. A full set of braided stainless steel brake lines from Hel round out the package. Other pleasingly OCD details are the turned foot pegs, and there’s a stylish braid wrap on the kick-start lever.

Equal consideration went into the motor, which was stripped down for glass blasting, to get the metal to its natural color.

Ventus inspected the engine at the same time, and had to hone the cylinder and recondition the head. Everything was buttoned up with new rings and gaskets, and a new cam chain.

When it was time to work on the fuel system, the team fell back on a tried and tested method: they installed a new Mikuni carb with a pod filter with the help of an exceptionally mechanically-minded buddy, Bartek.

Getting an exhaust to complement the intake was vital. So Ventus turned to Devil’s Garage, who fabricated a complete stainless steel system from scratch, following the GN400’s revised lines flawlessly.

As for the frame, Ventus revised the rear end with a new, kicked up loop to match a new tail unit. They also designed it to hold a discreet LED taillight. Then they detabbed the rest of the frame, painstakingly sanding down imperfect factory welds to get everything neater than stock.

The actual tail unit was supposed to be an off-the-shelf flat track piece, but the guys couldn’t find anything that would sit right. So they built their own from fiberglass. The final upholstery is a mix of Alcantara and the same leather that Bentley use.

Right at the start of the project, Ventus knew the OEM fuel tank wasn’t going to cut it, visually. After heaps of misfires (including buying a Bultaco tank), they found the solution: a Yamaha XS400 tank that had been hiding in their own workshop for years.

Up top are a set of MX bars from Accel, with Renthal grips and an upgraded brake master cylinder: it’s a decidedly upmarket cockpit.

The speedo’s a Motogadget Motoscope Tiny and the switches are aftermarket, with all their wiring routed to inside the bars. Ventus upgraded the electrical system from 6V to 12V to work with the new speedo, and revised the wiring loom to hide everything away.

As for that stunning paint color, it’s one of the most unusual BMW car colors ever made: Frozen Gray. It’s a ‘metallic matte’ paint designed for the M3, with an eggshell texture that must never be waxed, and it looks stellar. Especially for this shoot inside HEVRE, a club in Kraków that started life as a house of prayer.

This is Ventus’ thirteenth build, so they’ve nicknamed it ’13.’ “For some this number is bad luck,” they say, “but for us it was always lucky.”

Yip, these guys are definitely on a roll.

Ventus Garage | Facebook | Instagram | Photos by Marcin Malicki

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Well ’ard: Redmax’s ultra rapid Triumph scrambler

Post author By Chris Hunter
Post date July 2, 2018

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
If you live in the UK and you want a fast street tracker or a well-sorted flat track racer, you call Steve Hillary of Redmax Speed Shop. He’s got a reputation that most builders would kill for—and he builds a mean café racer too.

Steve is an old-school bike nut who spends more time working on his bikes than his website or Facebook page. And it’s not often we get the chance to examine one of his builds closely. But this very fast Triumph street scrambler has made the wait worthwhile.

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
If you went to the Bike Shed show a few weeks ago, you’ll have seen this monster in the metal. Steve built it for a client who already has a Redmax bike in his garage, and wanted a ‘hard as nails’ road bike with an electric start.

“We built Andy my favorite-ever tracker about five years back,” Steve recalls. “It had a Triumph T120 motor in one of our monoshock tracker frames, a serpent-like set of high pipes, and was painted in green with copper accents.”

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
“Everyone was happy—until Andy’s bad leg stopped him kick-starting it!” So Steve suggested building a new bike, using one of Redmax’s new Hinckley Bonneville tracker frames in the shop, designed for electric start engines.

It’s a very light frame, tipping the scales at just 16 kg (36 lbs.) including the swingarm. So Andy agreed, specifying only that the bike would need to work on the motorway and on the trails around his Hampshire home

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
Steve and chief fabricator Glenn Moger got down to work in their Devon headquarters. They slotted an 865cc Bonneville engine (with 270 degree firing interval) into the lightweight frame, and juiced it up with a pair of 38mm Mikuni carbs connected to a quick-action motocross-spec throttle.

The stainless steel 2-into-2 high pipes are terminated with alloy mufflers, which can be re-packed—just like those on enduro bikes from the 80s.

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
The motor looks the part, with finned engine covers in a raw finish imported from the US. Steve then blasted a Motone sprocket cover to match. (“Two k that little lot cost!” he laughs.)

There’s a huge alloy bash plate to protect that essential starter, plus the sump and oil filter.

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
Redmax bikes are always well set-up, and this Triumph is no exception. The forks are fully adjustable Yamaha YZF-R6 items, slotted into billet yokes produced to Steve’s design by the precision engineers at Fastec.

The heavy-duty shocks are from RFY—an eBay favorite with surprisingly good quality, especially if carefully rebuilt.

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
Steve is lucky to have one of England’s best wheel builders just half an hour down the road—Dave Massam. Dave fashioned up a set of alloy rims, powdercoated black, and fitted with stainless spokes.

They’re fitted with Motoz Tractionator Adventure tires, and Steve reckons it’s the first set of this cult rubber to make it into the UK. “They were imported from Australia, and once I saw them, I knew they were the ones. They’re 120 mph rated too—and hard as f–k to fit!”

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
The Brembo brakes have been lifted from a Ducati Monster, fed by fluid from HEL lines and mated to discs and hubs from an Aprilia Pegaso.

Another touch of practicality is in the lighting gear. “We had to have great lights, so we found the biggest rear light we could fit under the Redmax Astro seat, and some high-intensity indicators front and back,” says Steve.

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
A defining feature is the dual-halogen Baja headlamp setup, hand-fabbed in the Redmax shop with a race number board hidden under the leather toolbag. The brown leather was crafted by Glenn, along with the seat pad with a Redmax logo sewn in. The color is matched to the Biltwell grips, which Steve is a fan of.

The super-sleek bodywork comes from the Redmax catalog. “We needed the tank to have plenty of capacity,” says Steve.

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
“Our teardrop large XR alloy tank holds 2.75 gallons (over 10 liters), and is the biggest thing that looks any good on a scrambler / tracker bike. It should supply plenty of juice to the Mikunis fitted on the other end of that fast action throttle!”

The paint on the tank and seat unit was designed to stand out. It’s a Ferrari metallic red (chosen by client Andy), mated to a pearly white chosen by Steve, and laid down by Lee Cockeram at Roosters Voodoo in the port city of Southampton.

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
The rest of the bike is has a thick coat of black powder, which was turned around in just a week by Leighton at West Taunton Powder Coating. (“Yes, one week! They are very thorough too.”)

The electrics are hidden under the seat, powered by a lithium ion battery and controlled by a Motogadget m.unit. Motogadget also supplied the buttons on the Redmax flat track bars, but the digital dash is from Koso. There’s an RFID unit under the seat hump to allow for keyless starting.

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop
All that was left was to give the bike a name, and Steve came up with ‘The Knobbler.’ It’s a play on English slang—as in getting ‘knobbled’ if you get hurt. And of course Poms call off-road tires ‘knobblies’ rather than ‘knobbies.’

It’s a subtle reminder that a bike as light and fast as this Triumph can bite if not treated with care.

As Steve says, “You want be the knobbler, not the knobbled!”

Redmax Speed Shop | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Greg Moss

Custom Triumph scrambler by Redmax Speed Shop

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How to turn the Ducati Scrambler into a tracker

Post author By Chris Hunter
Post date June 28, 2018

Bad Winners reveals a brace of Ducati Scrambler flat trackers
The Ducati Scrambler is an obvious fit for ‘casual’ flat track racing. Ducati even made a ‘Flat Track Pro’ limited edition in 2016, which was essentially a new version of the Full Throttle with wide bars, a bunch of minor trim changes and a Temignoni muffler.

It looks like Ducati is now digging deeper into flat track territory: it’s commissioned a pair of flat track-style Scramblers from one of our favorite French builders, Bad Winners.

In his Paris workshop, Bad Winners’ head honcho Walid created two bikes—a race machine based on the original Scrambler Ducati sans front brake, and a road-friendly version based on the beefier new 1100.

At the Wheels & Waves festival earlier this month, the bikes pulled in the crowds and took pole position on Ducati’s ‘Land Of Joy’ stand. We’re not surprised: we reckon the stock Scramblers are good-looking bikes, but Walid has lifted them to a whole new level.

First, the 800. This is a bona fide flat tracker, with the front brake removed and a set of Excel 19-inch rims installed—shod with Dunlop DT3 rubber, of course. All the usual road-legal ancillary items are gone, and there’s a minimal new wiring loom that covers just the basics.

The suspension is stock, however—but should work reasonably well on the track. Most Scrambler owners would call the ride ‘firm’ anyway, and find it more comfortable when carrying a pillion.

Ergos are taken care of with grippy Ducabike foot pegs, and Gilles Tooling risers to lift and rotate the bars a little closer to the rider.

The engine internals are standard, but K&N filters now handle the intake side and there’s a Termignoni racing exhaust on the other end. A remapped ECU takes advantage of the improved breathing, and the bike now records 83 hp on the dyno—up ten horses on the original. A Scrambler 1100 swingarm now helps get the power down smoothly.

The new bodywork is carbon fiber, and dare we say, is a huge improvement on the typical, more retro flat track style. Especially the delicate, waspish tail.

“The idea was to use the line of the Scrambler’s tiny frame,” Walid says. “The bike is ‘tight’ and I didn’t want the usual flat track design. I wanted a twist of MotoGP style—and that’s how I arrived at the tail design.”

Walid started with sketches, then moved to 3D modeling. After printing out the shapes in hard paper, he cut foam to perfect the lines. The molds were made from the foam, and the results are sublime.

It’s almost too pretty to race. But race it did: at the Wheels & Waves festival earlier this month, Zoe David of Atelier Chatokhine gunned the 800 off the start line in the El Rollo series and qualified third. Unfortunately the race itself was red flagged, but the bike showed promise—enough for there to be talk of developing it for a full series of flat track racing in 2019.

Bad Winners’ Scrambler 1100 (below) shares the same crisp yellow-and-white livery as its smaller sibling, but is a completely different machine.

This one’s road legal, with the front brake intact. “The idea for this one was to show what we can do with the Scrambler 1100 without doing a big build, and just using plug-and-play parts,” says Walid.

The new fiberglass seat unit transforms the looks, swapping the stock 1100’s long perch for a perky leather-clad solo unit that lightens the looks of the 1100 considerably.

The huge stock muffler is gone, replaced by a short and sweet silencer, hooked up to a custom stainless steel pipe that hugs the line of the rear subframe.

The stock intake system has again been replaced by K&N filters. And there are Excel rims on this machine too, along with Ducabike pegs. It’s just enough to give the big 1100 a sportier vibe without compromising the functionality—unless you like to carry una bella ragazza on the back.

The best news of all? Bad Winners will be releasing kits in October this year, so Scrambler owners can give their bikes a dash of flat track style. There’ll be road legal kits for both the 800 and 1100 Ducatis, and a race kit for the 800 only.

If you’re in Europe, you can see Walid’s work up close at World Ducati Week, which will be held at the Misano circuit from 20 to July. The rest of us will just have to be content with these rather tempting images—while keeping an eye on the Bad Winners website for news of availability.

Bad Winners | Facebook | Instagram

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A Hint to Harley: Noise Cycles’ Street Rod flat tracker

Post author By Chris Hunter
Post date June 8, 2018

If you like weaving through city traffic during the week, and then blasting through the twisties on your days off, the Street Rod is probably the best Harley for you. We found it to be surprisingly sharp and agile, with a warmed-up version of the regular Street engine delivering 69 frisky horses.

Scott Jones of Noise Cycles likes the Street Rod. And his new ‘XG750R’ tracker version has got us wondering what a factory Harley tracker would look like—if Milwaukee decided to counter the threat posed by Indian’s FTR1200.

Scott is one of the top bike builders in the USA, and despite coming from the chopper side of the tracks, he’s been bitten by the dirt bug. Last year he built himself a racebike based on the regular Street 750: “It started out as just the basic XG,” says Scott. “So this year, I built one using the Street Rod—which has a 27 degree neck instead of 31 degrees.”

That simple change alone made a huge difference. “This one feels so much better and easier to ride. Still 500 pounds, but more nimble.”

Those of you who were riding in the early 80s may feel a slight sense of déjà vu with this bike, and you’d be right. The left-side exhaust mimics the placement of the Harley-Davidson XR1000 pipes, and the paint by Matt Ross (with pin striping by Jen Hallett Art) is a nod to the slate grey used on many XR1000s too.

Those exhausts look good, but changing sides caused a few headaches. So Scott decided to flip the cylinder heads. “It wasn’t too difficult, but I did it twice! The main thing is to make sure the timing chains stay in right spot. And the hardest part was counter-boring the heads for the new locating pin.”

The plumbing got a little tricky too, because the head inlets and outlets obviously switch sides. So Scott headed down to his local auto parts store, picked up some new cooling lines, and cut and routed them to fit.

The exhaust itself proved easier, thanks to a little help from S&S Cycle—who are based in Wisconsin, 2,500 miles away from Scott’s Santa Ana, California base. S&S had a spare Street Rod motor on the bench, and built the exhaust around that before shipping it to the west coast.

The exhaust fitted without a hitch, but the heat shield proved trickier. “I’m on my third shield now,” Scott reveals. “Took me a few times to prevent my pants and leg from getting cooked!” The exhaust sits high but works just fine. “Once off the line, I don’t feel it at all.”

The tank on the stock Street Rod is flat and wide, so Scott’s given it a trim. “Initially, I wanted the bike to still resemble the stock look. Well, I failed. So I cut the sides off the tank to make it ten inches narrower.”

He’s also cut about an inch off the back of the tank, so it flows better into the simple, stripped-back seat and tail unit from Saddlemen—and shifted the fuel pump to fit. The lines are just perfect, thanks to new frame rails that allow the seat to sit higher than stock.

The 19-inch wheels are a skillful touch too. They’re not unobtanium race wheels: the front is a nine-spoke Harley factory mag, and the back is actually a front wheel from a V-Rod. It fits using a custom hub from SK Machine Co., and a quick-change adaptor from GPS Racing.

“It allows me to re-gear for any track,” explains Scott. “Last year, I ran the same gearing on every track—not the smartest move.”

Of course, there’s a liberal sprinkling of ‘race shit’ on this Street Rod. Vortex bars are hooked up to Durelle Racing adjustable triples, via risers from Big Al’s. There’s a Motion Pro throttle, the rear brake master and lever are from a Honda CRF450, and the clutch lever is ProTaper. Shocks from Gears Racing help get the power to the ground.

The gear shifter is set at a weirdly high angle. “We race a lot of short track, so it’s either first or second gear usually,” says Scott. “I put the shifter up like that so there’s less chance of me hitting it with my boot when I put my foot back on the peg coming out of turns. It’s super ugly—I’ll be redoing it soon.”

Even weirder is the oil catch can taped to the right-hand front frame down tube—a blueberry Red Bull can.

Scott had binned the standard coolant overflow catch container, but when racing at Flat Out Friday, overheated in practice and left a small puddle on the concrete track.

“I dug through the trash and found my empty Red Bull can,” he says. “Taped the sucker on, where it still lives!”

Scott’s not going to be dicing for the lead with pros like Jared Mees or Brad Baker in the American Flat Track Twins series. He’s in it just for the hell of it, and enjoying every moment.

But he’s also inadvertently given us a pointer on what a Harley Street Tracker might look like. And it wouldn’t be a difficult bike for the factory to replicate, Red Bull catch can aside. Any takers?

Noise Cycles | Instagram | Photos by Brandon ‘Gonz’ Gonzalez

BikeExif Custom Motorcycles Other Motorcycle Blogs Trackers Yamaha motorcycles Yamaha Virago

Run What Ya Brung: Moto Adonis’ Yamaha XV920R Tracker

Post author By Wesley Reyneke
Post date June 7, 2018

Curating a publication like Bike EXIF is a daunting task. Selecting the right motorcycles to feature is more art than science: it’s as much about gut feel as following a set of rules.

This Yamaha XV920R from Moto Adonis, for example, won’t appeal to everyone. Part scrambler, part tracker, it’s a bit scrappier than our usual remit—designed to be roughed up rather than parked and stared at. Which is probably why it struck a deep chord when it landed in our inbox.

We’ve seen Moto Adonis founder Daan Borsje do some pretty slick work in the past, but this wasn’t that sort of project. It started out as a quick flip job, and ended up as a do-it-all ride and test bed for a new line of products.

The build started when Daan and his friend Wouter van Egmond were brainstorming ways to expand the Moto Adonis brand, from their workshop in Roosendaal, Holland.

“We came up with a few ideas,” says Daan, “some very good, some less so. Roland Sands is sort of an idol to us, so we wanted to produce parts, special parts for older bikes that are often used for customizing.”

Daan and Wouter bought two Yamahas: this XV920R, to fix up and sell quickly, and a TR1, which they planned to build something truly epic with. But before their plans materialized, Wouter tragically passed away.

Suddenly Daan’s focus shifted: “I’d promised Wouter I’d make it all happen. I started to build the bike—not for money, but to honor him.”

During the process Daan grew closer to Wouter’s father, Peter. And it was through their newfound relationship that Moto Adonis finally launched their first product line: MAD Exhausts.

The exhaust on this bike is a full stainless steel unit, developed in collaboration with ‘Indian’ Don de Vink. It’s mated to a BOS Performance muffler and topped off with a carbon fiber heat shield. Early dyno tests report a 10 to 15 percent performance improvement.

Daan reckons the exhaust is the most expensive part on the bike. As for the rest, he’s picked and mixed parts to build a light, thrashable tracker.

“No, this isn’t my best build in detail, by far,” he admits. “But man, this bike is so much fun! I’ve got several rims with different tires, and I take it to the woods, I take it to the race track, and this Sunday I’m going on my first flat track experience.”

The subframe’s been redesigned, and topped off with a leather saddle and a hand-bent cowl. A couple of teeny LEDs under the tail serve as a questionable taillight, and the tank’s been adapted from a Honda CM400, adorned with a leather strap and Leatherman pouch, “because you never know when you’ll need it.”

Up front there’s a repurposed old fender doing duty as a headlight shroud, equipped with a powerful LED. Behind it is a set of MX bars, complete with new grips and controls, and basic switches. There’s no speedo: just a smartphone mount with a GPS-enabled app running on Daan’s phone.

Daan politely refers to the Yamaha’s stock brakes and forks as “shitty,” so he dug into his parts bin and produced a set of BMW K75 forks, plus a Nissin front brake. “Sometimes it’s pretty cool to get as many spare parts as you can find, to make your bike come to life,” he says.

The XV’s pictured here with Daan’s current set of knobby tires and a layer of dirt. There’s nothing precious here—just an angry V-twin with a wicked exhaust, made to be ridden into the ground.

“This bike will never leave me, and it’s built to honor my mate,” says Daan. “It’s so cool to be able to use it for our new company, MAD Exhausts, until the big project is finished.”

“I didn’t forget the TR1—we are building the best bike the internet has ever seen. Or at least we will try!”

Wouter would be proud.

Moto Adonis | Facebook | Instagram | Photos by Ruud van Bragt

BikeExif Custom Motorcycles Other Motorcycle Blogs Restomod scrambler Trackers Triumph motorcycles

Vintage Perfection: Retrograde’s Triumph Tiger T110

Post author By Wesley Reyneke
Post date May 22, 2018

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
Triumph’s range of modern classics now stands at twelve models strong. That’s good news if you want all the style of Britain’s most prolific marque, without the fuss linked to owning an older machine.

But as much as we’d love a couple of modern Triumphs in the Bike EXIF dream garage, we’d simply have to park a truly vintage one right alongside them. And this delightful 1958 Tiger T110 from Retrograde Mechanica will do just fine.

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
Retrograde is the side hustle of Mark Drury, who is based in Northampton in the English Midlands. He normally works alone, but on this project he teamed up with Nick Dyble Engineering. Which is just as well: since they were dealing with a sixty-year-old donor, they had their work cut out for them.

We asked Mark what state the Triumph was in when he got it, and his response was: “Frankly terrible. All we used in this build were the crankcases, the frame (modified and repaired) and the fork bottoms and yokes. Everything else was either sub-standard, didn’t fit my needs or was beyond economical repair.”

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
With no client to answer to, Mark had an open brief to work from. Luckily, he had a pretty good idea of what he wanted. “Being infatuated with desert sleds and dirt trackers, it had to go that route,” he tells us.

“It had to be a pre-unit Triumph—I’m a self-confessed Meriden groupie—and it had to have flake. Lots of flake, and lots of polished parts. Final influences were taken from the famous Pitty Tink Triumph, and the bikes ridden by greats like Skip Van Leeuwen and the like.”

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
When it was time to tear into the busted motor, Mark called in for reinforcements. A friend—referred to only as Jack—rebuilt it to his spec, with Mark and Nick refining things towards the end. “I’m more than happy working on British engines,” explains Mark, “but there’s no getting around experience. And Jack knows how to build a great mill.”

The original crankcases are now playing nice with a Triumph one-piece crank, a four-spring clutch with a SRM pressure plate, and a 1967 NOS Bonneville splayed twin carb head. The power plant also features nine-stud barrels, 3134 cams, a Hayward belt drive, and a NOS primary case.

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
Mark’s kept the standard T110 four-speed transmission, but added a new Lucas K2FC competition magneto. There’s a lot of detail work around the engine—like the fuel line fittings and clamps, braided oil lines, and remote oil filter mounted in the dynamo hole.

Mark and Nick have gone to town on the T110’s original frame. The geometry’s unchanged, but they’ve de-tabbed, re-brazed and smoothed the whole thing. They’ve also strengthened and braced it, and moved the rear crossmember forward, to make room for the new fender and seat mounts.

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
The front suspension is now a set of post-1967 external spring forks, and there’s a pair of shrouded Hagons holding up the rear. New Akront flanged alloy rims have been laced up with stainless steel spokes—a 19” at the front, and an 18” out back.

The front’s hooked up to a NOS Triumph full-width TLS hub, and the back’s mated to a Triumph QD hub, with a one-off stainless steel torque arm.

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
For controls, the guys installed a set of 7/8” bars from Front Street Cycles, along with an Amal throttle, Biltwell Inc. grips, period-correct levers and Venhill cables. The kill-switch sits in a custom-built unit, set inside a sidecar mounting lug below the seat.

The build’s capped off with carefully selected, off-the-shelf bodywork. From front to back, we have a NOS Wassell banana tank, an HD Parts pleated seat, and a British-made rear fender of unknown origin. The seat and fender sit on one-off 5mm alloy brackets, attached with hidden fixings. There’s also a license plate bracket integrated into the left one.

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
Tucked under the seat is a modded pre-unit Triumph oil tank. It’s been mounted tight to the frame, and had a new back welded in. The T110’s stock foot controls are still in use, but they’ve been freed of their casting marks.

Mark and Nick have sprinkled the build with an inordinate amount of hand-made touches. The fork stops, steering damper and exhaust brackets are all custom, along with a various spindles and spacers. There’s even a little arrangement just the left of where a headlight would normally go, that holds a spanner and a couple of spare spark plugs.

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
Then there’s the sublime metalflake paint. Flakey Dave Addis knocked it right out the park, with a black candy to blue metalflake gradient. The only branding is a little cream sign writing on top of the tank.

Props must go to A and C Auto Finishers, who coated the frame, forks and yokes. Unique Powder and Paint redid the barrels in stove enamel, Ash at Motoshine polished everything up, Terry and Protec handled the plating work, and everything looks tickety-boo.

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica
It’s a beguiling mix of polished, plated and painted bits, and a restomod done just right. Even parked next to a modern bike, it’s sure to pull all the stares.

Retrograde Mechanica | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Ben Roome Photography

Triumph Tiger T110 restomod scrambler by Retrograde Mechanica

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Ion Heart: Colt Wrangler’s electrifying Zero XU tracker

Post author By Chris Hunter
Post date April 30, 2018

It’s not easy to build a good-looking custom bike. The classifieds are littered with abandoned projects—and even the top pro builders sometimes struggle to get it right.

If the donor bike is electric, you can multiply the difficulty level by ten. Without a traditional engine to anchor the visuals, it’s fiendishly hard to create an attractive machine. Which makes this Zero XU street tracker from Colt Wrangler even more remarkable: it’s one of the freshest-looking bikes we’ve seen so far this year.

Former rodeo rider Colt Lyons hails from Mason, Texas, and over the past three years, he’s built 16 customs. He modestly describes himself as “the self-taught, new kid on the block”—but obviously has talents way beyond the norm.

“I’ve always been the type to make things my own and unique,” he says. “I enjoy working with my hands and being creative. When I realized that I could make money doing just that with motorcycles, I dived in headfirst.”

We don’t see many electric customs, and even fewer that look as good as this Zero. So how did this build come about?

“A customer came to me with the idea for a custom electric motorcycle,” Colt reveals. “My original thought was to build a cafe racer, possibly with full fairings. But after riding the bike in its original form, I really enjoyed the stance it already had. So I decided to go for a street tracker look.”

Colt’s customer tracked down a 2013-year Zero XU at local dealership, but it spent nearly a year gathering dust in Colt’s workshop before the go button was pressed.

“My plans for it changed over time, because of the extra skills and tools I acquired over that year. At first, I planned on gutting a vintage gas tank to set over the top tube,” says Colt. “But once I had the proper shaping tools and a welder—and some instruction from friends—I decided to hand-form everything from aluminum sheet.”

The Zero is actually quite a simple design in factory form. “It comes with some really great, minimal components,” says Colt. “So all I added was a rear wheel, new LED lighting, tires, and the aluminum body work.”

Colt’s kept the original wiring harness, but did move a lot of electrical components around. “The digital gauge is under the false tank, which lifts up with the push of a button.”

With the tank lifted, a button on the tail section is revealed, which allows it to be removed completely. “The Zero has the option of a second battery pack up front,” says Colt. “Since this one didn’t come with the second battery, I used the space for two hard cases—which hold the charging cables and adapters, and extra room to empty your pockets.”

The Zero ships with a 16” rear wheel. To get the tracker stance, Colt sent the hub and a 19” rim to Buchanan’s Spoke & Rim, and they assembled a new wheel.

Hand shaping the aluminum body and TIG welding was a huge learning curve for Colt. “I had never shaped or welded before, and I decided to dive straight in with thin aluminum.”

“It was terrible at first—it took me hours of practice before I could even tack two pieces together. I’ve gotten a lot better since, but I still have so much to learn.” Thankfully Colt has good friends to advise him: Junior at Retro Moto, and Andrew at Free Ride Fab.

“I wanted to keep this bike as simple as possible,” says Colt. “Most of the Zero was already black—apart from the plastic bodywork—so I felt the brushed aluminum finish was the perfect contrast.”

If we had to pick out a signature feature, it’d be the sculptural headlight surround. “Headlight and number plate combos have been done so much over the past few years, I was hesitant to build another one. But I think it turned out to be unique.” That assembly alone took Colt almost three days to finish, and is made up of four pieces. The headlight itself is a flush-mounted truck bumper light.

The tail section, says Colt, was inspired by both superbikes and flat trackers. “It’s a combination I’ve been dreaming up for a while.”

Trackers are all about light, flickable handling, and this Zero delivers. Unlike many custom bikes, there are no dynamic compromises. “It’s as light as a scooter but handles fantastic,” says Colt. “It’s a blast to ride and is the easiest machine I’ve ever operated.”

“When I started, I wasn’t sure if the whole aluminum thing was going to work. But being able to form the lines from scratch was an awesome experience.”

So is the customer happy too? “The customer is happy, but has also made styling suggestions that I just can’t bring myself to do,” Colt admits. “Building a bike for someone is definitely a compromise—but it’s also my duty to guide my customers. I think that this bike is very well balanced visually, and has a look that will stand the test of time, even as trends come and go.”

We agree. And we’re looking forward to seeing Colt’s next build, which he’s only just started: a Harley XG500 street tracker with Buell XB wheels and suspension. “It’s actually a giveaway, so to tune into my social media pages for more details.”

Colt Wrangler Motorcycles | Facebook | Instagram