Speed Read, October 9, 2022

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.

KTM 690 Enduro R by Unikat Motorworks What takes 60 hours to design, progresses through three different concepts, and then takes 480 hours to build? If you guessed this KTM 690 from Unikat Motorworks in Poland, then you’d be right.

Amazingly, this build started out as a 2012-model KTM 690 Enduro R—what some describe as a unicorn among adventure bikes.

It’s lightweight, produces gobs of power and can be loaded up for multi-day trips away from home. It also has a six-speed transmission that’s geared for highway speeds, good suspension and a 3.43 gallon fuel tank.

But what Unikat wanted from the KTM was an urban assault vehicle that eats corners for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The 690 is one of the few motorcycles to feature a rear-mounted fuel tank from the factory. So Unikat put a large amount of time and effort into this aspect of the build. It had to be sturdy (because it’s also the subframe), look good and function flawlessly.

A new fuel tank was hand-shaped from aviation-grade aluminum and fitted to the frame. Then the rest of the body panels, and the headlight nacelle, were shaped from aluminum to match.

Once finished, the aluminum bodywork was brushed by hand and clear-coated. A modified skid plate and tiny front fender were added, while the engine, swingarm and other metal parts were polished or brushed.

The custom leather seat is long, providing plenty of comfort and room to move—and it’s generously padded, perfect for long days in the saddle, cutting up canyon roads.

The front wheel was re-laced to an 18” Excel rim, and street tires were spooned onto both wheels. Unikat installed a K&N racing filter too, and an Ixil muffler that complements the bodywork flawlessly.

Shiny enough to start fires, it’s just as well this doesn’t spend much time in the forest anymore. From an off-road weapon to a one-of-a-kind street tracker, we bet the KTM’s new owner is very happy indeed. [Unikat Motorworks]

Daelim Daystar by Garage94 Based in Seoul, South Korea, Garage94 recently teamed up with Vans Korea to create a series of custom bikes, inspired by the sneaker giant’s most iconic shoes. Based on Vans’ tagline, ‘Classic Since Forever,’ Garage94 built five different motorcycles in five different styles.

This tiny cruiser was the second build in the series, and it’s based on the humble Daelim Daystar 125. In stock form, the Daystar is a small-capacity commuter bike with some stylish cruiser aspects. The 4-stroke single is popular in Korea, which is one of the reasons it was chosen for this build.

Garage94’s Smith Kim made some impressive changes to the Daelim. The inspiration was Harley-Davidson’s venerable WL Flathead race bikes from the 30s and 40s, and it shines through.

Custom-made split tanks sport the iconic Vans checkerboard pattern on one side, with a scalloped design on the other. The frame has been converted to a hardtail, with the rear mudguard topped with a pillion pad to match the custom solo seat. A conservative sissy bar completes the back end.

Grips sporting Vans’ classic ‘waffle’ tread pattern are a perfect touch, as is the tight exhaust header and tulip-style muffler. The Daystar also wears chunky tires and a front number plate, because Garage94 runs the largest vintage dirt event in Korea. It’s called the Camel Race, and this bike is set to take part.

From a bland commuter to a stunning, vintage-inspired dirt dragger. We love it. [Smith Kim of Garage94]

Ducati ‘Evo Racer’ by NCT Motorcycles David Widmann and his Austrian-based outfit, NCT Motorcycles, have just pulled the covers off their first limited series bike. Called the NCT Evo Racer, the series is based on the Ducati 848, 1098 and 1198 made from 2007 to 2011.

Inspired by the café racers of the 1950s, but still retaining the stunningly modern Ducati running gear, the series took over two years to develop. The test bed, the bike you see here, is a 2009 Ducati 1098S.

NCT chose to rework this Italian stallion without clothes, so gone are the factory fairings and bodywork. A new subframe supports a classic café racer-style seat unit, made of carbon fiber. The rear hump houses a range of electrical parts, and has an LED tail light integrated into the rear.

NCT developed their own carbon side covers to tie the new seat into the tank, and all the plastic covers on the engine we replaced with carbon parts. Up front is a round LED headlight, supported by custom mounting brackets.

A new Akrapovič exhaust system replaces the underslung factory exhaust. Together with a retuned ECU, it now yields 20 extra horsepower. Weighing in at just 156 kilos [344 lbs] and now pushing out 180 hp, this thing must be a blast to ride.

Finished in British Racing Green with the wheels painted gold to match the factory Öhlins forks, the completed bike cuts a fine figure.

Now that the test build is complete, NCT is taking orders for customer bikes. So if you’d like one, get in touch with them quickly. Given the option between taking a stock 1098 and this on a twisty mountain road, you know which one we’d choose. [Source]

Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR Bond Edition Another week, another Bond special edition motorcycle from Triumph. This time it’s the Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR that gets the 007 treatment.

This 1200 RR wears a special James Bond 60th anniversary paint scheme. It’s a combination of black and two different greys, with the titles of all 25 James Bond films listed on top of the tank, each in their original title font. 007 graphics and gold pin-striping add more detail, and there’s a gun barrel design on the fairing which, admittedly, looks quite nice.

Numbers are limited to just 60 worldwide and each bike is individually numbered. A hand-signed certificate of authenticity and a Bond-themed indoor bike cover is included.

As far as we can tell, it’s a ‘regular’ factory Speed Triple 1200 RR underneath the paint job. But that’s a good thing—it’s one of the best-looking bikes in the entire modern classic segment, and it has the go to match the show.

The 1,160 cc triple-cylinder produces 180 PS at 10,750 rpm and 125 Nm of torque at 9,000 rpm. There’s a full suite of electronic safety features, a large TFT dashboard, electronically adjustable semi-active suspension, and Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP V3 tires. It all comes together to make a convincing argument as to why you should park one in your garage.

If you can look past the obvious marketing ploy, and the fact that Bond hasn’t actually ridden this bike in any of the films, there’s no denying this is a pretty bike. If you’d like to own “a piece of motorcycle and film history,” then get in touch with your nearest Triumph dealership.

Or don’t. Because, just like Bond, we all know that Triumph will be back (presumably with yet another Bond special edition). [Triumph Motorcycles]

Vale, Phil Read The motorcycle world lost a true legend of the sport this week, with the passing of eight-time world champion, Phil Read MBE.

Read was the first rider to win the junior, intermediate and senior world championships which, in those days, were the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc classes respectively. To put that in perspective, only two others have ever matched this incredible achievement—two gentlemen by the name of Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez.

Phil triumphed in an age before many of the safety devices and regulations we are familiar with today. Half-helmets and basic leathers were common on the grid. There were no articulating gloves and boots or carbon fibre helmets, and there were certainly no airbag suits. Lives were lost in every season that he raced in, but despite the danger, Read rose to the top and lived his life like every moment was his last.

Phil passed peacefully at his home in Canterbury, England. He was 83 years old. [Source: This great account of Phil Read’s life and achievements, by accomplished MotoGP journalist, Mat Oxley]

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Can I File a Lawsuit If a Drunk Driver Caused My Car Accident?

If you’ve been a victim of a car accident involving a drunk driver, you may be wondering if you can sue for compensation. If so, then the answer is yes. You have the right to file a lawsuit against the other party and try to get some money back for your injuries. However, for you to win your case and receive compensation due to someone else’s negligence, it’s important that you understand how these laws work so that no one gets away with causing injuries.

What Do I Need to Prove?

You must demonstrate that your injuries are a result of the driver’s recklessness in order to file a lawsuit against them. The four components you need to demonstrate include:

Legal duty

It is the simplest component to establish because all drivers have a responsibility to exercise caution. They must drive cautiously, keep watch, and adhere to all traffic laws and regulations that include not operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Violation of legal duty

After establishing legal responsibility, you must show that the driver broke the obligation. This basically implies that they were to blame for the accident. It does not imply that they were to blame for your injuries. You must demonstrate what happened in the subsequent element before the court.

Causation

A drunk driver might be at fault for a collision, but not for your injuries. Therefore, you must demonstrate to the court how the driver caused your injuries by being negligent. The case’s details will determine the best way to establish this component.

Damages

To receive compensation, you must demonstrate that the accident brought about damages. You can demonstrate financial losses like medical expenses, lost income, and auto repair costs. Alternatively, you can demonstrate non-economical things like psychological hardship and pain. The latter is difficult to quantify so you will require the assistance of a vehicle accident attorney.

How much compensation will I receive?

Due to the uniqueness of every case, there’s no standard settlement sum for a drunk driving accident claim. However, whilst it’s difficult to give a specific settlement figure, these cases typically result in bigger payouts than those involving sober drivers. Some of the elements that determine the amount of compensation include the degree of injuries, financial losses, and comparative fault.

In certain jurisdictions, you’ll receive lower financial rewards if you in any way contributed to the accident. That implies that the court will attempt to determine the degree of your contribution and alter the reimbursement appropriately. For instance, if you were exceeding the speed limit by twenty miles per hour, you might well be held responsible for 25% of the accident lowering your compensation.

Wrapping Up

You need to be aware of what to anticipate before making a claim if a drunk driver caused your car accident. Like any other auto accident, it’s crucial to compile as much evidence as you can to accurately recount all the circumstances leading up to and during the collision.

The post Can I File a Lawsuit If a Drunk Driver Caused My Car Accident? appeared first on Automotorblog: Daily news on cars and motorcycles.

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Asphalt Glider: Rough Crafts’ menacing Harley Breakout

Black. Menacing. Muscular. Three words that describe the quintessential Rough Crafts custom build. This long and lean Harley-Davidson Softail Breakout, nicknamed ‘Asphalt Glider,’ is Winston Yeh’s latest creation—and it checks those boxes harder than anything else that he’s built so far.

Don’t get us wrong; Winston’s Taipei, Taiwan-based shop has turned out some bright builds in its day. But you can count them on one hand. We wouldn’t have it any other way though, and apparently his customers feel the same—which is why he repeatedly gets orders for “Rough Crafts style” builds.

“People are always curious about how we build a bike that’s never been done, for a customer that doesn’t necessarily know how to describe what they want,” Winston tells us. “This time the task was very simple: the customer loved our World Championship bike, ‘Stealth Bullet,’ but he wanted something more extreme, more exaggerated.”

Take a glance at Stealth Bullet, and you’ll understand that these two bikes are cut from the same cloth. They share the monochromatic black treatment that Rough Crafts has become known for. And they both make the most of such a limited palette, combining a diverse assortment of hues, textures, and finishes.

They also share an instantly recognizable sampling of custom parts that could only come from the Rough Crafts catalog. Deep, dark fins adorn everything from the headlight cover to the rocker boxes, and their menacing uniformity looks like something pulled straight from an H.R. Giger exhibition. The influence is clear, but the bikes are vastly different if you know where to look.

Asphalt Glider’s suspension is a prime example of this. Like the bike that inspired it, it wears a girder fork up front. But this particular girder is nothing like the minimalist version that adorned Winston’s previous show winner.

Instead of building something in-house, Winston sourced a complete fork setup from FG Racing—an Italian components brand that specializes in high performance girder designs. The FG unit is made entirely from billet aluminum, and incorporates modern geometry with an equal eye toward performance and aesthetics.

A set of custom handlebars are fixed directly to the forks, fitted with Rough Crafts x Arlen Ness grips, and plug-and-play Rebuffini switches. Elsewhere, Winston added Thunderbike Custom foot controls, a Rough Crafts headlight and Koso turn signals. There’s also a Rough Crafts exhaust, and a Rebuffini hydraulic clutch slave cylinder.

Asphalt Glider’s rear suspension is also a sharp departure from the twin-shock simplicity of Stealth Bullet. You can’t tell by looking at it, but the Softail’s mono-shock has been removed entirely. In its place sits a performance air shock from the folks at Legend Suspension, complete with an onboard air compressor neatly tucked away behind the transmission.

Winston says the option to go with air suspension was born of necessity. He wanted the rear fender to sit as tight as possible, but the bike still needed to ride well out on the road. The Legend unit allows the meaty 230-wide rear tire to tuck neatly inside the fender when parked, but can be raised on the fly for riding with the touch of a button.

The build’s chunky Avon Chrome tires are wrapped around an unconventional pair of wheels. Out back is a standard 15” Harley wheel, a veritable mass of solid metal with a Roland Sands rotor and Beringer caliper nestled tightly inside. Up front, it’s the exact opposite; a massive 23” Arlen Ness wheel appears skeletal by comparison, dominated by the same striking negative space as the girder it’s bolted onto.

The stark asymmetry of the Glider’s wheels give the build just the right “weird balance of visual weight,” according to Winston. Open and stripped down at the front, dense and muscular at the rear; if exaggerated proportions were what this customer wanted, he’s got them in spades now.

Finishing off the build are a signature Rough Crafts fuel tank, and a deeply scooped tail section. Both are finished in carbon fiber textures, punctuated by subtle white pin striping. Tank badges and pushrod collars from 2Abnormal Sides also adorn the bike.

Winston turned to his Rolodex of regular collaborators to push this one over the finish line. Rover Works Custom Paint handled the paint job, while SFC Simon Fiber Craft took care of the fiberglass and carbon fiber work. Fabrication was done by MS Pro, and CT-Garage did the final assembly.

In addition to Asphalt Glider’s striking appearance, the customer had one other specific request: he wanted the bike done “shrimp style.” You might be wondering what the heck that means—and you’re not alone. Winston wasn’t too sure himself at first, but his customer explained that shrimp style means long-reach drag bars paired with forward foot controls.

In other words, the customer wanted to sit low over the tank, legs forward, folded around the front of the bike, resulting in a body position not unlike (you guessed it) a cocktail shrimp.

Personally, we prefer the name Asphalt Glider to other potential seafood-inspired alternatives. ‘Dark Shrimp,’ ‘Midnight Crustacean,’ ‘Prowling Prawn;’ none of them quite capture the character of a proper Rough Crafts machine.

But whatever you choose to call this particular rose, there’s no denying it’s pretty sweet.

Rough Crafts | Facebook | Instagram | Photos by JL Photography

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Pre-sling Perfection: A Suzuki GSX-R with a Bandit motor

The Suzuki GSX-R has been in production for almost 40 years, but the first-generation bike is still a banger. The round headlights, slabby bodywork and 80s color scheme look as good now as they did then. As far as we’re concerned, it’s ripe for customization.

Victor Wilkens of Seattle, Washington shares this sentiment, so he’s gone all-out with his 1986 Suzuki GSX-R750. This retro superbike wears a slew of mods—including an engine swap and an appropriately bonkers livery.

“I have this habit where I buy cheap bikes to commute with and then I tinker, buy new parts and keep tinkering,” explains Victor. “Rinse, repeat, and the bike quickly transcends into a precious artifact. A couple of years ago I fell into this trap again and built this.”

After months of searching through classifieds, this GSX-R popped up for sale in Monterey, California. It had lived a hard life until it was adopted by Victor; it was raced in the 90s, had been through a number of owners, and was then parked outside for years in the salty Monterey air. But Victor saw potential in the old Gixxer—plus it had a few period race parts.

Those parts included a set of Dymag magnesium wheels. But Victor knows that magnesium tends to corrode after a few decades, so he got in touch with Dymag for advice.

There was good and bad news. The bad news was that Dymag advised him not to use the wheels, due to their age and condition. But the good news was that Victor was able to sell them (presumably to someone with a display-only bike), and use the money to get the build started.

Replacing the Dymag wheels are the hoops from a 1999 Suzuki Bandit 1200. Apart from the wheel, the front end is mostly stock. Victor considered installing upside-down forks, but was particularly taken with the retro compression adjusters on the original forks. So he rebuilt those instead.

New EBC brake pads and a modern Brembo master cylinder provide improvement in the braking department.

The original engine was badly corroded, so it was pulled out. The aforementioned Bandit 1200 donated its engine to the cause, which slotted in with little persuasion. The GSX-R and Bandit produce comparable power, but the 1200 has 90 Nm of torque at just 4,500rpm—20 more than the GSX-R.

Having such a strong engine meant Victor only needed to make a few choice mods to get it running right. Pod filters, a jet kit and an ignition advancer from Holeshot Performance were fitted, with the filters shortened to squeeze them in between the frame rails. The bike came with a Yoshimura exhaust system that looked and sounded the part, but it was modified to fit the taller engine.

To compensate for the extra torque, Victor braced, boxed and gusseted the frame. The swingarm received the same treatment, along with a Yamaha R1 shock. To improve the riding position, a Frankenstein set of rear sets was made from KTM, Tarozzi and Motobits parts, mounted on adjustable plates that Victor machined himself.

“The result is a fun driver with tons of torque and plenty of power for the street,” Victor describes. “The stiffer chassis and the reworked suspension make for a bike that handles very well.”

The GSX-R’s front fairing was in poor condition, so Victor looked to a friend who works in the aerospace industry. They made a new fairing using pre-impregnated carbon fiber, which is stronger and lighter than the original fiberglass. It was cut down to expose the engine, and since it was made anew, Victor opted for a single headlight design.

A yellow perspex lens cover added the perfect touch to this 80s weapon. The front and rear guards were also made of carbon, with the rear integrating a chain guard.

When it came time to turn his attention to the rest of the bodywork, COVID-19 hit hard, and Victor found himself with a lot of spare time. Not content with perfecting a sourdough recipe like the rest of the world, he tried his hand at metal shaping. With just basic hand tools, time and a double helping of patience, he knocked out a tail section and belly pan himself—incredible work for a first-timer.

The tail light was recessed into the rear end and covered with a smoked perspex lens. You can’t get much more 80s than a blue seat, so that was finished in marine grade vinyl by JP Custom Seats in Los Angeles. Matching Oury grips add to the vibe.

Describing the raw carbon finish as “less than perfect”, Victor turned to the paint. A matte clear was applied to the carbon, with blue swooshes and a large R logo. Sneakerheads will recognize the black and white pattern splashed over the fairing, tank, seat and belly pan—it’s modeled after the elephant print on the 1987 Air Jordan III.

Amazingly, the stripes and pattern were drawn freehand, before being sealed in with a clear coat. Together with the fresh paint on the engine, Victor has nailed the new color scheme. Equal parts retro and modern, its funky freshness hits the mark.

So what does Victor think of the finished product? “Ultimately, this bike is a failure,” he says.

“I set out to build a grungy commuter, but ended up with something too nice to abuse daily. The pandemic not only allowed me time to try metal shaping, but it also removed my daily commute. Perhaps my daily rider can be something nice after all.”

Victor Wilkens | Instagram

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Speed Read, October 2, 2022

deBolex Engineering’s latest work sees the Royal Enfield Interceptor turned into a stylish alpine rally support vehicle. We also look at a hopped-up Honda Grom, a blown Ducati Monster S4, a Fantic Caballero Rally 500 scrambler, and a chance to own a Aprilia Moto 6.5… if you really want to.

Royal Enfield Interceptor by deBolex Engineering Our friends at deBolex have been hard at work fulfilling orders for their dB25 series of custom Ducati Monsters. But shop founder Calum Pryce-Tidd still managed to carve out time to accompany Malle London on their Great Malle Mountain Rally recently.

Calum wasn’t along as a guest though—he was the official support mechanic. He needed a suitable vehicle to transport himself, some tools and a little extra fuel, so the shop turned out this tidy Royal Enfield Interceptor in the month before the trip.

“We’ve always loved the 650 Interceptor,” says Calum, “and we’ve been planning on using it as a base for a build for a long time. It reminds us of motorcycles from a classic era—smaller, lighter, simpler and the perfect platform for some tuning. The style of the engine is timelessly classic and the fundamental lines of the bike are pleasingly balanced.”

deBolex shortened the Interceptor’s frame a touch, then designed their own CNC-machined tail tidy to clean up the rear end. It houses a slim LED taillight, with a pair of Motogadget LEDs for turn signals. The new seat pan and rear fender were both shaped out of carbon fiber.

Maxton came to the party with new adjustable fork internals, and a set of adjustable rear shocks to raise the bike slightly. deBolex also added custom yokes, and wider polished aluminum rims so that Calum could run wider tires.

The bike was designed as a ‘quick response’ support vehicle, with a more seriously equipped support van following the pack through the European alps. So it didn’t need to carry too much stuff. Custom racks accommodate a large Malle pannier on the right, and a detachable fuel canister on the left.

The Enfield’s predominantly black paint job is timelessly stunning, but it wasn’t a random pick. deBolex deliberately painted it to match another one of the Rally’s support vehicles: a prototype Morgan Super 3, designed as a collaboration between Malle and Morgan.

By Calum’s own admission, it’s a mild rework for the Interceptor. But it’s a stylish build nonetheless—and he assures us that deBolex has a heap more mods in the pipeline.

[deBolex Engineering | Images by Sam Barham and Calum Pryce-Tidd]

Honda Grom by Alex Poole Based in Wichita, Kansas, 29-year-old Alex Poole is no stranger to small bikes. He learnt how to wrench by helping his dad build mini bikes in their garage—and for the past decade or so, he’s been building customs based on Honda’s cheeky Ruckus pit bike.

Itching for a new challenge, Alex got his hands on a Honda Grom and started formulating ideas. Custom Groms may be new ground for him, but it’s not a new scene—so there are hundreds of aftermarket parts to choose from.

Alex’s build is a mix of off-the shelf and custom bits, masterfully mashed together to create one of the gnarliest custom Groms we’ve seen. First up, he designed a set of custom wheels based on Rotiform’s DIA design, then had them machined to spec. It turned out to be an ambitious project.

For starters, the whopping 8” wide design he had in mind for the back wheel wouldn’t fit with the swingarm. On top of that, Alex had the controversial idea to ditch the right side rear brake, and fabricate a left-side sprocket brake instead. After widening the swingarm by an inch and adding fresh mounting brackets, everything eventually worked.

Alex also added a swingarm extension from Mojo Customs, a lowering link and a new adjustable shock from Fastace. The lowered front forks are from Feign, fitted via a Mojo conversion kit for the Ruckus.

Under the hood, Alex treated the engine to an upgraded cam and an ECU tuning chip. The carb was ported and polished, and fitted with a K&N filter. The exhaust is custom, built with welding help from Alex’s dad.

The bodywork was augmented with fiberglass mid fairings from HRP Motors, side scoops from Ermax, and a headlight shroud and belly pan from Petex. Other upgrades include lowered handlebars, a new front fender, and an integrated taillight.

Thanks to past disappointments with suppliers, Alex decided to tackle this bike’s paint job himself. He built a canopy in his back yard, started marking out a design with pin-striping tape, and picked each layer’s color as he went.

From the custom graphics, to the stretched stance and car-inspired wheels, this Grom feels like the two-wheeled equivalent of JDM street racer. Who else is itching to see what Alex can do with a bigger bike? [Alex Poole Instagram]

Turbo-charged Ducati Monster S4 by Black Cycles Custom Ducati Monsters are hardly rare, by you know what you don’t see every day? A custom Ducati Monster with a turbo charger. Bonus points if it’s the 916-powered Monster S4.

This mental Monster is the work of Australia’s Black Cycles. Their customer had owned the bike, a 2001-model S4, for about three years, when a crack in the fuel tank appeared. He took it to a local shop for repairs and some light custom work, where it sat for almost two years.

Black Cycles founder, Noel Muller, caught wind of this, and convinced the owner to send his bike up to their shop in Brisbane. Before long, things snowballed—and the list of custom work grew longer.

The Monster now sports all-new bodywork, hand-shaped out of aluminum. Noel actually built one set of body parts—and then decided that the bike needed a turbo. Everything was scrapped, Noel sourced a Garrett turbo, and new bodywork was designed.

What appears to be the fuel tank is actually a housing for the turbo’s plenum (in the front) and the electronics (in the back). Fuel is held lower down, in a custom-made belly tank. A waspish tail piece rounds out the kit, mounted to the Monster’s modified subframe.

Other custom parts include aftermarket Ducati 996 triple trees, a later model Monster swingarm, clip-ons, rear-sets and more. Black Cycles also fabricated the turbo’s intake and exhaust, and a bunch of one-off bits to make it all work. The finishes are an intoxicating mix of polished surfaces, white, and textured black.

Noel outsourced the engine work to Bike Therapy, and the wiring to Pop Bang Classics. The bike’s currently at Cube Performance Centre, where it’s being treated to a Power Commander and a dyno tune.

There’s no official word on numbers yet, but you can bet it’ll be fast. [More]

For sale: A 1996 Aprilia Moto 6.5 Once upon a time, a famous industrial designer—known for designing everything from buildings to taps—designed a motorcycle. The motorcycling community lost its collective mind. Some were mad about it, while others were mad that it existed.

Love it or hate it, the Philippe Starck-designed Aprilia Moto 6.5 was, at the very least, memorable. It took the Rotax single-cylinder engine from the Aprilia Pegaso 650, and repackaged it in a new chassis, designed by Starck. The French designer also penned the Moto 6.5’s distinctive bodywork, and its radiator, bash plate and exhaust.

Originally launched in 1995, the Moto 6.5 wasn’t a big seller. Perhaps buyers couldn’t wrap their head around the bike’s unique aesthetic—or perhaps the single-cylinder mill powering it was just too lackluster.

If you miss the Moto 6.5, think it was way ahead of its time or just pine for a 90s Italian thumper, keep an eye on Bonhams’ website. They’ll be auctioning one off soon, with an expected price tag of between $1,600 and $2,700—which pretty much sums up the Moto 6.5’s level of collectability. [More]

Fantic Caballero Rally 500 by Gasoline Motor Co. The Australian shop Gasoline Motor Co. doesn’t just build custom bikes—they’re also Australia and New Zealand’s biggest Fantic dealer. If you don’t know Fantic, they’re an Italian brand that specializes in practical small- to mid-sized bikes with retro flair.

The Fantic Caballero Rally 500 is an attractive scrambler with a 449 cc single-cylinder motor, good for 39.6 hp and 43 Nm. In stock form, it fits right in with bikes like Triumph and Ducati’s own Scramblers. But when the Italian factory commissioned Gasoline to customize one, the crew saw potential for more.

The Rally 500 has a respectable 200 mm of suspension travel at each end—but it rolls on a 19F/17R wheel combo. Gasoline’s first port of call was to give it a boost with a set of custom-laced 21F/18R Excel rims, wrapped in off-road tires from Shinko. They also stretched the swingarm by 4”, so that everything sits just right.

Visually, the Rally 500’s silhouette hasn’t changed much. But Gasoline saw to a slew of small changes that make the bike look just that much more aggressive.

Up front are a bigger aftermarket motocross fender, a PIAA headlight and a tinted fly screen from Dart. PIAA auxiliary lights sit lower down, mounted to new engine guards. The seat was reshaped and re-upholstered with a modern gripper fabric, and the rear was tightened up with a tail tidy kit from Fantic’s own catalog.

Gasoline also installed a performance flywheel, and a ceramic coated exhaust system from Arrow, complete with an upgraded fueling map. The bike is finished mostly in black, save for the custom graphics.

Once the bike was buttoned up, Gasoline loaded it up and headed deep into the Australian desert. With the town of Singleton as their base (which is about a 14 hour drive from Sydney), they produced a short film starring their new build.

It’s called ‘The Road to Red,’ and it’ll be out soon. Until then, you can indulge in the trailer below. [Gasoline Motor Co.]

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