Several types of motorcycles can be called ‘trackers.’ The original is the board tracker, named after the machines that raced on board tracks in the USA in the 1910s and 1920s.
In the 1930s, as the board tracks faded away, flat track racers appeared: street bikes modified to race on dirt or clay ovals. Past icons include the Harley-Davidson XR-750, but others include flat trackers from BSA, Norton and Triumph. This style is still popular today, with interest spurred by an intense rivalry between Harley-Davidson and Indian.
Flat track motorcycles (or dirt trackers, as they are sometimes known) do not have front brakes, but the slimmed-down style has been copied by builders of ‘street tracker’ customs.
Truly great motorcycle design requires a human touch. That’s why, in a world of digital design and 3D rendering, traditional crafts are still very relevant. Especially the art of clay modeling—which is what Nick Graveley does. The Munich-based Brit has spent the last 16 years offering his craft to major car and motorcycle OEMs, and…
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Flat track racing is all the rage in Europe and the States, but it hasn’t really caught on in South Africa yet. There’s no official race series there—just the occasional ‘run what ya brung’ shindig, where the emphasis is on fun rather than hard-nosed competition. That hasn’t stopped Johannesburg local Justin Steyn from building his…
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The fourth and final episode of Slide has just dropped, and it’s a fascinating insight into the psychology of racers. What happens before a flat track race? How do the riders calm their nerves? Are they even nervous at all? Patrick ‘PJ’ Jacobsen and Corey Alexander reveal all.
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Motorcycle racing is a serious business. It’s time consuming, usually expensive, and always risky. But there are still a few folks willing to have a laugh while chancing an ambulance ride, and Grant Killoran is one of them. Grant is the marketing manager for Motorcycle Parts Warehouse, based near Brighton on the south coast of…
Read more »REV’IT! has just dropped the third episode in the bite-sized series on flat track, Slide. This week we go behind the scenes…
Read more »One of the defining trends of motorcycling right now is the resurgence of flat track racing. Probably because it’s exciting to watch…
Read more »Elegant is not often a word used to describe electric bikes, but this pared-down tracker is both petite and beautiful. It’s from…
Read more »For power junkies, the Honda CB1000R is one of the best roadsters on the market today. The build quality is superlative, the…
Read more »In the world of professional motorcycle racing, development is a constant grind. Hooligan flat track racing is the same. But here, the…
Read more »When we were talking to Brad Peterson about his XR750 street tracker a month ago, he let slip that he also had…
Read more »The biggest cliché in motorcycle journalism is the ‘listicle’ of the best-looking bikes ever made. If we ever run out of ideas…
Read more »Nicky Hayden left a massive hole in the motorcycling world—and in all of our hearts—when he passed away unexpectedly in May last…
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