Most of the custom motorcycles that Max Hazan creates are eccentric masterpieces; elegant rolling sculptures with their mechanical intricacies on full display. Max is the type of designer who likes to find complex solutions to simple problems, often sacrificing comfort and practicality in the name of art. But sometimes he just wants to go fast.
Max’s drug of choice is supermoto, so his more eclectic work is occasionally punctuated by wild machines designed to hoon around on. This radical KTM 1190 Adventure R supermoto is one such machine.
In stock form, the KTM 1190 Adventure R is a dirt-slinging big rig with impressive numbers and an equally impressive parts spec. It wears WP Suspension components with 220 mm of travel at both ends, sports 21F/18R wheels, makes 147.5 hp, and weighs 217 kilos [478 lbs] dry. Max’s KTM 1190 Adventure R supermoto makes more power and weighs less—but it’s been reconfigured for street use.
“I’ve gotten a little grief from the adventure bike crowd about building an Adventure R as a road-only bike,” says Max. “But let’s be honest here—most adventure bikes rarely see dirt and end up riding dual sport tires on the road just like most 4×4 SUVs out there. I just figured that if it’s never going off-road, let’s make something that rips on pavement but still has the comforts of an adventure bike… plus supermotos are awesome.”
The bike belongs to an existing Hazan Motorworks client, Mike. He’d bought Max’s custom KTM ‘950SMR’ some time ago and rode it for a few years before breaking his leg while riding off-road. “At that point, I jokingly said ‘This would be a great time to build you a new custom bike,’ not expecting him to say ‘Sure, take my 1190 and make whatever you want’.”
“I’ve been dreaming of making a supermoto out of a Dakar-style rally bike for years. The lines on the new 450 race bikes are so good, I knew I had to do it with a big KTM.”
As capable as the KTM 1190 Adventure R is, it’s also rather weird-looking. Max knew that if he wanted to tweak it for street use and get the look he was after, he’d have his work cut out for him. So the 2016-model 1190 was stripped down to its frame, with most of the OEM parts cast aside—including the bodywork, wheels, and even the swingarm.
“Initially, the wheelbase was very long,” says Max. “I didn’t realize it until saw how far it stuck out of my truck bed, at which point I decided the snowmobile-length swingarm had to go if it was going to be a good street bike.”
Max was just about to fabricate an aluminum swingarm from scratch when a KTM RC8 swingarm popped up on eBay. He mated that to an Öhlins shock that was designed for the Yamaha R1, with a softer custom spring. With everything balancing out nicely, there was no need to fiddle with the front forks.
Max has a soft spot for Marchesini’s stunning M10 forged wheels, so he grabbed a pair of 17” items for the KTM. He then machined a new cush drive for the rear wheel and a set of custom carriers for a set of Ducati rotors. Brembo calipers round out the braking spec.
With the rolling chassis done, Max shifted his focus to the bodywork. Everything you see here was hand-shaped from aluminum, with a few carbon fiber bits sprinkled in for good measure. The aesthetic is angular and brutal—if big twin-cylinder bikes still competed in the Dakar Rally, this is what we imagine they’d look like.
Max didn’t just throw a bunch of panels at the chassis though. Everything is faultlessly interconnected, with the bike’s functionality woven into the design. Four fuel tanks hold eight gallons of fuel between them, while a mesh panel in the seat feeds air to the heavily reworked intake.
“I used the stock throttle bodies, and designed a lower intake system that I made to work with the big Rottweiler Performance air cleaner,” Max explains. “Most big-capacity adventure bikes have a massive airbox in the fuel tank area that makes them feel like big jet skis. I wanted to have the lines of a 450, so to flow enough air, the intake is fed through the seat as well as the front of the bike.”
The two-into-one-into-two stainless steel exhaust headers are Max’s handiwork, while the mufflers are rare rally-spec titanium Akrapovič parts. The twin radiators come from a Ducati Streetfighter and are fitted with electric fans to beat the heat in Los Angeles’ notorious traffic.
This KTM 1190 Adventure R supermoto has shed about 90 lbs and makes 15 hp more than before, thanks to some ECU fettling by the specialists at Rottweiler Performance. Max kept OEM parts like the bars, controls, speedo, and most of the electronics—but not everything made the cut.
“I tested the bike on track once, and it became apparent that the ABS was way too intrusive when riding the bike hard,” he tells us. “As much as I wanted to run these features, it would freak out a bit under braking—especially when sliding into corners. I ended up just shutting it off along with the traction control, but all of the hardware is still in place should we want it back on at any point.”
“I can honestly say that this is the best-handling bike I have built to date. It’s super easy to ride fast or slow, very comfortable, and now, having a windshield that the 950SMR lacked, can be ridden at highway speeds for hours with little fatigue.”
The idea of a rally-inspired supermoto might sound weird on paper, but Max has pulled it off in spectacular fashion. This 1190 has just rocketed to the top of our ‘bikes we desperately want to ride’ list.
Hazan Motorworks | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Shaik Ridzwan
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