Speedway bikes are the very definition of purpose-built. They’re brakeless, single-gear machines with bizarre proportions, designed to do one thing—go around a dirt track at angles that defy physics. But, like all racing motorcycles, they’ve evolved over the years. Early speedway racers would simply modify existing ‘regular’ bikes to perform as best they could. It…
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Classic silhouettes are the theme of this week’s Speed Read. From Unikat’s Harley-Davidson’s Sportster 883, to RF-Biketech’s Kawasaki Z1000R and a beautiful Honda CB400 café racer from Never Ending Cycles, we have three different build styles, riffed on by three talented builders. We end off with a new short film from Harley-Davidson, documenting their 2022…
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For your eyes only: a KTM 690 with all-aluminum bodywork, a humble Daelim commuter turned beach racer, a Ducati 1098S café racer, and a special James Bond edition Triumph Speed Triple RR. We also say goodbye to one of motorcycling’s greatest racers, Phil Read, who sadly passed away this week.
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There’s an increasing trend of genre-hopping happening in the custom scene at the moment. Ten years ago, you’d occasionally see Sportsters turned into dirt bikes, or roadsters into scramblers. Nowadays, anything is fair game—like this Triumph Bobber with a strong café racer flavor. It comes from Grzegorz Korczak of Poland, who has a reputation for…
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The Yamaha XJR1300 is a relic from a bygone age, and we say that with a tinge of regret. It’s a big,…
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The early 80s Honda CB900C is one of the most unusual bikes Honda ever made. It has a ten-speed gearbox: five ‘normal’…
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Folks who ride motorcycles today often started out on scooters, especially in Europe. But Maciej Bielawski of Poland did it the other…
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