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.
With five different models in the range, there’s a BMW R nineT to suit most tastes—from the cafe-styled Racer to the classic Paris Dakar-inspired Urban G/S. But there’s one style that the Bavarian marque hasn’t attempted yet: flat tracker. The concept of a factory-built R nineT tracker is intriguing, and we’re not the only ones…
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Customizing your own bike is a one-way ticket down a very deep rabbit hole. Make just one change, and soon you’ll have a head full of ideas and a project that’s snowballing fast. That’s what happened with this KTM 950 Supermoto—where a simple wheel and suspension swap turned into a full-blown hooligan flat tracker conversion.…
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If you live outside Europe, one of the most interesting bikes you can’t buy is the Fantic Caballero Flat Track 500. The Italian manufacturer has been in business since the late 60s, and is best known as a maker of enduros and motards—but its most interesting creations are the ‘Caballero’ machines. ‘Caballero’ is a sub-brand,…
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Minnesota native Jillian Deschenes is not a pro custom motorcycle builder: from Monday to Friday, she’s a hospice nurse in the suburbs of Minneapolis. But on the weekends she’s a flat track racer—and a fierce one, too. In just her second year of racing, Jillian’s already the number one plate holder in the women’s class…
Read more »If you’re a custom builder, one of the most difficult briefs is for a race bike. No matter the genre or discipline…
Read more »A classic Triumph flat tracker from the race director of the Wheels & Waves festival, a Virago influenced by 90s Japanese import…
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 »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 »In a world where everyone is screaming for attention, Heinz Lange is an enigma. He has no catchy workshop name, no website…
Read more »Four years ago Eicher Motors, the owner of Royal Enfield, bought the famous British company Harris Performance. Since the 1970s, Harris has…
Read more »When Indian delivered a new Scout Bobber to young Dutch designer Luuc Muis, there was a catch: he had just 20 weeks…
Read more »Truly great motorcycle design requires a human touch. That’s why, in a world of digital design and 3D rendering, traditional crafts are…
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