Retrobike Issue 36

"Luckily a few more manufacturers have jumped on Triumph’s retro-British bandwagon" IT’S been like 1989 all over again for this retired motorcycle road tester, with not one but two new bikes sharing space in the shed with my old dungers. Thirty years ago it was the norm. Not that I miss it. I was never the fastest rider on the block but I worked hard to be quicker than most, particularly on lightly-policed roads that I had learned well. As chief road tester for Two Wheels, then Australia’s leading bike magazine, I was usually the first to ride all the new stuff so it was important to test the bikes to their limits, which you could do in the 1980s and early 1990s. Many of those bikes are classics today in their…

BLACKTRACK Motors is a bespoke custom motorcycle manufacturer in Luxembourg in western Europe, designing radical one-off cafe racers then manufacturing them in small runs of no more than four per model for a wealthy and discerning clientele. Founder and chief designer Sacha Lakic hit the ground running in 2015 with the BT-01, based on a CX500 Honda. It immediately became the blueprint for custom CX500s all around the world, including Brisbane fabricator Garth Allison’s amazing yellow CX which graced the cover of Retrobike #33. Sacha’s follow-up, the BT-02 ‘Thruxman’, was less ambitious mechanically but totally nailed the look of a late-model Triumph Thruxton R reimagined as a Manx Norton. Sacha pulled out all the stops with his third design, the BT-03 based on a new Harley-Davidson Softail Fat Bob. Yes, a cafe-racing…

LOOKING to stand out from the pack on your next ride? Those with deep pockets could do a lot worse than buy one of these! “The Blacktrack Motors BT-03 is now available on special order, with a manufacturing time of six months,” Blacktrack brand manager Niharika Sharma says. “True to Blacktrack's philosophy of creating limited-edition motorcycles, only four BT-03s will be produced. Each will be unique, and can be adapted to the customer's personal tastes (within preset parameters). “Exclusive design, quality and rarity are Blacktrack's hallmarks. Like the BT-01 and BT-02 before it, the BT-03 is designed to run effi ciently and reliably, with high levels of performance and safety. It will undoubtedly become a collector's item.” For more info, get in touch with Niharika at contact@ blacktrackmotors.com and tell him Retrobike sent…

HARLEY-Davidson totally revamped its big twin range in 2017 with new eight-valve engines and your choice of two new Softail frames, the narrower and sportier of which is the basis for the new Fat Bob. The Fat Bob had previously been housed in the twin-shock Dyna chassis, then generally regarded as the pick of the big twins in terms of handling and on-road performance. The new model has substantially improved cornering clearance, suspension (upsidedownies up front) and twin-disc front brakes with four-piston calipers. Harleys have always been fun on winding roads but this one takes it to another level by not leaving half its undercarriage in its wake. It is much more capable of running with a ‘normal’ bike pack, if not challenging GSX-Rs for podiums. The only downside is it costs a…

ENGINE Air-cooled four-stroke 45-degree V-twin; OHV, four valves per cylinder; single camshaft; 102 x 114mm for 1868cc; 10.5:1 comp; remapped EFI; custom stainless exhaust with Jekill & Hyde Shorty mufflers; wet clutch, six-speed gearbox and belt final drive; 105hp; 163Nm CHASSIS Twin down-tube mainframe in tubular steel; custom aluminium seat subframe UP FRONT Öhlins FG424 upside-down forks in custom triple clamps; twin Beringer Aerotec radial four-piston calipers on 320mm rotors; Dymag UP7X 17 x 3.5in forged aluminium wheel with Michelin Power RS 120/70ZR17 tyre DOWN BACK Cantilever monoshock swingarm in tubular steel; Öhlins HD501 shock; single Beringer Aerotec axial four-piston caliper on 290mm rotor; Dymag UP7X 17 x 6in forged aluminium wheel with Michelin Power RS 190/50ZR17 tyre BODYWORK Bespoke by Blacktrack Motors; Beringer levers and master cylinders; Rizoma grips; Highsider Type 6 headlight…

AUSSIE Marc Roissetter is a motorsports consultant in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates where he campaigns a ZX6R Kawasaki race bike and is accumulating a small but diverse collection of custom bikes. Amazingly, this is his first Ducati. “I was looking for a V-twin for my next project and could not find any Viragos or other interesting bikes on the market,” Marc says. “Bikes like that are hard to come by. A wrecker I contacted said he had a cheap Monster so I decided that was the way forward! “I called it the Monstrosity as that’s how it started out life with me. The bike was in less than poor condition. It had been crashed then left outside in an auction yard for a few years.” “I PREFER MY PROJECTS TO BE…