Bare, supermoto, streetfigher, café racer, super-naked — no matter you need to name it (we’re leaning towards super-naked) — this 2008 KTM RC8 that not too long ago rolled out of Deus Ex Machina’s storage is stark, uncompromising, and muscular. The place the inventory RC8 is a totally faired superbike, albeit with some snarling angular character, it’s a race bike by way of and thru. It’s extra of a fencer — a scorekeeper, so to talk. “The Scrappier,” as our featured bike is thought, is a cage fighter — much less concerning the numbers and extra concerning 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 simple job, because the geometry and goal of a superbike is vastly totally different than a supermoto. A supermoto is sort of at all times 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 all the pieces properly — or in addition to attainable given its “jack of all trades, grasp of none” lot in life. Supermotos are just like the ADD children 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 counsel. You’ll discover no scrap components, discount junk, or misplaced elements 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 considering after 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 essential popularity of its beautiful all-around efficiency begs to vary. It probably received’t be seeing 30-foot tabletops anyhow — although with the proper rider we wouldn’t be stunned if it sprouted wings simply to show a degree.
Although The Scrappier is an animal, a few of its extra brutish and jagged design parts have been smoothed out, giving it a extra sensual but one way or the other 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 traditional 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 alter, the traces begin to work, and the 2 springs grow to be a complementary visible factor. The “poison apple” paint options multi-layer method that transitions from pink to darkish purple to black relying on the surroundings, bringing to thoughts the best way its supermoto kin adapt to their diversified 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 monitor, we get the sensation this supermotard cousin received’t be doing a lot mud wrestling. However so what if The Scrappier has an aversion to getting dust beneath its fingernails? With a motorcycle this cool and succesful, who’s preserving rating?
This text first appeared in problem 024 of Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced right here beneath license.
Phrases by Gregory George Moore | Photographs by Nevin Pontious
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