High-end elements can wreak havoc on a customized bike construct finances, so it helps to have a supply for good second-hand stuff. For Pierre Dhers at Freeride Motos in Southern France, that supply is Surplus Motos.
Based just some miles from the Freeride Motos workshop, Surplus Motos makes a speciality of reconditioned motorbike elements. They’ve been supplying Freeride Motos for years, so it was inevitable that the 2 firms would finally collaborate on a venture. You’re wanting on the fruit of that collaboration—an Indian FTR 1200 road tracker impressed by the wild machines of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Pierre wished to imbue the 2019-model Indian FTR 1200 with the identical purposeful road tracker vibe that so many privateer Pikes Peak race bikes would exhibit (again when bikes have been allowed on the hill). It’s a form-follows-function strategy; Pikes Peak is a gnarly course with numerous blind corners, so clip-on bars are a no and an upright using place is advantageous.
With the overall course settled, Surplus Moto laid down the gauntlet. Their problem to Pierre was to make use of as many repurposed elements as attainable—and Pierre was blissful to oblige.
The work began with an overhaul of the Indian FTR 1200’s working gear. Surplus Moto despatched over an entire KTM 1290 Super Duke R entrance finish, full with its adjustable WP forks, yokes, steering damper, wheel, and twin Brembo monobloc calipers. Pierre labored his magic to adapt the KTM setup to the Indian, then switched his focus to the rear of the bike.
The again wheel is from a KTM 790 Duke, however putting in it was no simple job—particularly since Pierre wished to squeeze a 200-section tire onto it. The chain needed to be re-aligned, and a bespoke brake caliper mount needed to be fabricated.
Next, Pierre welded gusset plates into the FTR’s tubular swingarm and wedged in a repurposed Öhlins rear shock. But a lot of the work is the stuff which you can’t see. The bike’s commonplace ABS has been eradicated, and its traction management system has been reinstalled with new sensors.
With the chassis sorted, Pierre received began on the FTR’s new one-piece physique. The place to begin was one other previous motorbike half; the tail part from a 1996 Honda RS 250.
Pierre used the Honda tailpiece to make a fiberglass mildew, earlier than making a second mildew from the FTR’s OEM tank covers, and a 3rd from the dashboard. He then spent numerous hours merging the three sections, filling the house between them, and sculpting a prototype of the brand new monocoque. Once that was executed, a ultimate mildew was created to form the precise physique.
Pierre constructed the unit out of fiberglass and woven carbon, then propped it up on an aluminum gas cell that doubles because the bike’s subframe. The filler cap sits additional ahead, slightly below the place he’s included the inventory dashboard into the bodywork. A leather-based seat pad finishes off the tail, matching the myriad handmade leather-based particulars which might be sprinkled throughout this construct.
BMC, a CNC-machining store in Brittany, lent a hand by making a bunch of delicate aluminum elements to decorate the bike with. The entrance quantity board is one other CNC-machined aluminum merchandise and options cutouts for an array of LED lights to shine by way of. (The quantity 19 is Pierre’s race quantity, and it’s the final 12 months that bikes have been allowed at Pikes Peak.)
Perched behind the brand new quantity board is a set of ProTaper handlebars, with contemporary grips and Motogadget bar-end flip indicators rounding out the package. The ignition sits simply behind the steering neck, trimmed with a tidy leather-based encompass.
Pierre threw another handful of second-hand bits on the FTR to get it over the end line—together with the chain guard, carbon fiber entrance fender, and Akrapovič muffler. He additionally collaborated with a good friend at BAM (a welding workshop) to create the burly two-into-one chrome steel pie-cut exhaust system; it was a four-day job.
The FTR’s finishes are useless easy. Pierre handled the carbon fiber bodywork to a shiny clear coat, then added customized Freeride and Surplus branding in key spots—the proper accompaniment to this FTR’s aggressive, purpose-built vibe.
Freeride Motos Racing | Facebook | Instagram | Surplus Motos | Images by Clement Lazzaro
Source: www.bikeexif.com