Bare, supermoto, streetfigher, café racer, super-naked — no matter you wish to name it (we’re leaning towards super-naked) — this 2008 KTM RC8 that lately rolled out of Deus Ex Machina’s storage is stark, uncompromising, and muscular. The place the inventory RC8 is a completely faired superbike, albeit with some snarling angular character, it’s a race bike by and thru. It’s extra of a fencer — a scorekeeper, so to talk. “The Scrappier,” as our featured bike is understood, is a cage fighter — much less in regards to the numbers and extra in regards to the expertise.
When the bike landed within the store, the intention of Michael “Woolie” Woolaway, Deus’ in-house builder, was to show this track-ready superbike right into a ’roided out supermoto with Deus’ distinctive customized taste. This was no straightforward process, because the geometry and goal of a superbike is vastly totally different than a supermoto. A supermoto is sort of all the time constructed from a mud bike base with ample suspension journey and infrequently a small displacement engine. A superbike does one factor very well: speed up and maneuver on tarmac.
A supermoto has to do the whole lot properly — or in addition to attainable given its “jack of all trades, grasp of none” lot in life. Supermotos are just like the ADD youngsters of motorcycling. This didn’t cease Woolie from stepping as much as the plate.
Whereas the identify of the bike is The Scrappier, it’s not the hodgepodge bin bike that the moniker would possibly recommend. You’ll discover no scrap components, cut price junk, or misplaced parts right here. No, we’ll have to leap to the phrase’s secondary that means to seek out out what Woolie and crew have been pondering once they named the bike: “decided, argumentative, or pugnacious,” says the dictionary. We agree — it’s like a fighter throwing off his gloves.
At 151 hp, the 1150cc V-twin engine is placing out sufficient horsepower to punish any street it could meet. And although the RC8 could seem a peculiar specimen for a supermoto iteration, the crucial approval for its gorgeous all-around efficiency begs to vary. It seemingly gained’t be seeing 30-foot tabletops anyhow — although with the correct rider we wouldn’t be shocked if it sprouted wings simply to show a degree.
Although The Scrappier is an animal, a few of its extra brutish and jagged design components have been smoothed out, giving it a extra sensual but in some way equally aggressive aesthetic. The tank, radiator shrouds, and tail have been all handmade out of aluminum. The place the tank is a nod to extra basic shapes, the opposite bodywork solely vaguely echoes this ethos, as an alternative choosing a extra natural look that’s no much less modern than what it changed.
The seat is a standout characteristic that, at first blush, appears startling and a bit awkward with an area between the body and the bottom of the seat. However as soon as your eyes regulate, the strains begin to work, and the 2 springs change into a complementary visible aspect. The “poison apple” paint options multi-layer method that transitions from crimson to darkish purple to black relying on the setting, bringing to thoughts the best way its supermoto kin adapt to their different terrain. The result’s acquainted but recent, radical but restrained.
The Scrappier is a figment of its former self, however its coronary heart continues to be in there someplace, beating like a carnivorous hummingbird tearing from one fuel pump to the following. The place supermoto is a mixture of street racing, motocross, and flat observe, we get the sensation this supermotard cousin gained’t be doing a lot mud wrestling. However so what if The Scrappier has an aversion to getting dust below its fingernails? With a motorbike this cool and succesful, who’s conserving rating?
This text first appeared in challenge 024 of Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced right here below license.
Phrases by Gregory George Moore | Photos by Nevin Pontious
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