Since he launched Blacktrack Motors, Sacha Lakic has had a singular focus. His goal is to design café racers that borrow inspiration from the past, but look to the future with modern lines, materials, and performance.
Blacktrack’s debut bike was an impossibly sharp Honda CX500 café racer. But the brand quickly moved onto bigger and newer donor bikes, with Sacha pouring more and more of his extensive design experience into each subsequent project. This evolution is clear in his latest offering; a custom Indian Scout dubbed the Blacktrack BT-06.
The fact that the BT-06 borrows more styling cues from the world of product design than motorcycling is no accident. Blacktrack created this café racer as part of a collaboration with the luxury watch brand Bell & Ross, who, in turn, designed a limited edition watch for the project. The two design teams worked together closely to ensure that there was a strong visual connection between motorcycle and watch.
Blacktrack’s machines typically have a slightly neo-futuristic vibe—but here, that aesthetic is cranked up to eleven. Geometric bodywork dominates this custom Indian Scout, with ceramic-like surfaces and machined details recalling various elements of Bell & Ross watches. The bike’s large window-like side panels are a direct homage to the squared bezels and visible bolts; a Bell & Ross staple.
There’s a certain sophistication to the geometric nature of the bodywork and the layered effect created by the myriad angles strewn across its surface. The design is forward-heavy, with cutouts to expose the Indian engine’s best bits and a sharp belly spoiler that’s neatly integrated into the custom radiator guard. A sharp, abbreviated tail section pokes out the back, supported by a beveled CNC-machined subframe.
Turn the Scout around, and you’ll spot several channels through the various panels that promote airflow. A tapered headlight nacelle with a single projector punctuates the design at the front, while twin LED taillights are embedded in the tail.
Most of the bodywork was 3D-printed out of resin using a vat photopolymerization process called stereolithography, by the Erpro Group in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, France. This specific process allowed Sacha to design larger and more complex parts, which reduced the number of visible fasteners needed to hold it all together. Smaller structural parts, like the front fender stays, were printed using a titanium resin.
Hiding under the panels is a custom-made aluminum fuel tank, accesses via a flip-up panel close to the rider. Lower down, stainless steel exhaust silencers poke out from the bodywork, terminating in a boxy aluminum muffler.
Blacktrack has propped the Indian Scout up on black-out Öhlins shocks and forks, with a set of CNC-machined yokes holding the latter in place. The wheels are 17” carbon fiber units from Rotobox, chosen for their razor-like spokes that mimic a watch’s hands.
If you don’t recognize the tires, it’s because they’re from Michelin’s special projects division, and use a tread pattern designed by Sacha specifically for this project. They’re not street-legal though, so you’ll need to swap them out if you plan to ride the BT-06 down to your local café.
The braking system is completely bespoke too. Sacha designed a set of carriers that would mate Beringer discs to the Rotobox wheels and then sent the files to Beringer to have the parts machined. Beringer also supplied the calipers, customized with Blacktrack branding, and custom discs that feature a skinnier blade-like design.
Moving to the cockpit, the team installed an array of premium parts. The clip-ons are from Accossato, the grips are from Rizoma, and the push buttons and bar-end turn signals are Motogadget items. Beringer master cylinders actuate the brake and clutch, while CNC-machined foot pegs round out the controls.
Blacktrack also installed digital Motogadget speedo into a channel that they shaped into the top of the fuel tank, and swapped the key ignition for a keyless RFID system, also from Motogadget.
Naturally, the cockpit also sports a CNC-machined display mount to show off the watch that was created for this project; the Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Blacktrack Ceramic. A stunning piece of gear in its own right, it borrows some of its subtler details from the BT-06. The red-tipped second and stopwatch hands mimic classic motorcycle speedometers, while the counterbalanced ends of the second and minute hands form the Blacktrack logo when they cross.
Several highlights bounce back and forth between the watch and the bike. The watch’s leather strap and the Indian’s leather seat (upholstered by regular Blacktrack collaborator, SQP Motors near Paris) sport the same padded design and red trim. And if you examine the watch face closely, you’ll notice that the stopwatch bezel echoes the shape of the front edge of the headlight nacelle.
Blacktrack’s technical partner on the project, Factory Unit, was responsible for the BT-06’s final assembly, finishing, and painting. Their biggest challenge was matching the matte black paint to the ceramic casing of the Bell & Ross watch.
If you want your own BT-06, Blacktrack will happily build one for you. Numbers are limited, the lead time for one is 15 months, and you have a choice of the bodywork seen here, or the same design executed in clear-coated carbon fiber. And although this prototype isn’t street legal, Blacktrack can add the necessary accoutrements to make it so, if you’d like.
The Blacktrack BT-06’s price is only available on request, which means you’ll likely need deep pockets to own one. Your money also buys you your own Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Blacktrack Ceramic, which itself is limited to 500 units with a recommended retail price in the region of $7,700.
Sacha has outdone himself with the Blacktrack BT-06. Chunky, yet cohesive and sporty, this café racer almost manages to hide the fact that it’s been built on the bones of an Indian Scout; a 100 hp V-twin that’s just shed 35 kilos [77 lbs] and had its running gear upgraded.
Who else is tempted to throw a set of street-specific tires on and give it a good thrashing?
Blacktrack Motors | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Igor Sinitsin
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