Street tracker motorcycles take their design cues from racing flat trackers (or dirt trackers, as they are sometimes known).
Unlike the racers, a street tracker custom will have front brakes to make it road legal. It will also usually have matching 18- or 19-inch wheels, a slim and elongated fuel tank, a short and kicked up tail unit, and sometimes a high-mount exhaust.
The major manufacturers are constantly mining the custom scene to produce stylish new motorcycles, so it’s getting harder for riders to choose between stock and custom. New bikes are looking better than ever—and they mostly perform well right out the box, too. But custom still trumps stock in many ways, and some riders prefer the…
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Twenty years ago, street-legal supermotos weren’t really ‘a thing.’ But in Europe, change was in the air—and the KTM Duke II was one of the catalysts. The rough-and-ready 625 cc single was huge fun on short trips, and helped set the template for future supermotos. Over the past couple of years, custom supermotos have become…
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Did you know that the evergreen Yamaha XS650 was launched over half a century ago? Although the production line closed down in 1985, the air-cooled parallel twin is still a top choice for many custom builders, including Minnesota-based Dan Riley. Operating as Gunn Design, Dan is a gifted freelance designer with good business smarts, too.…
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The Honda CRF450X will go down in history as one of the marque’s greatest hits. Originally derived from the hardcore CRF450R motocrosser, it’s one of the best enduro bikes money can buy. It has dominated the Baja 1000 and 500 desert races, and just this year Ricky Brabec piloted a rally-spec CRF450 to Dakar victory.…
Read more »Building a custom bike is often beset with difficulties: there can be unreasonable client demands, unforeseen technical issues, cashflow problems, and in…
Read more »Building a competitive flat track racer is downright scientific. Countless factors like weight, geometry, power delivery and gearing all have to be…
Read more »If you lived in the 1900s or earlier, your career was probably dictated by the line of work that your father happened…
Read more »Royal Enfield’s 650 twins have only been on the market for just over a year. But they’ve become a hit with both…
Read more »Lots of people build a bike with the sole purpose of thrashing it. But it’s usually a ‘beater,’ with very little time…
Read more »There are motorcycles that are considered so sacred, you wouldn’t dare customize them. And there are motorcycles that work so well out…
Read more »In a world where everyone is screaming for attention, Heinz Lange is an enigma. He has no catchy workshop name, no website…
Read more »The Commando is one of the all-time greats of the motorcycle industry. In Britain, its status is iconic: even people with no…
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