Turbochargers are common on cars—but pretty rare on motorcycles. Space is at a premium, the plumbing is difficult to install, and power delivery can be a handful.
But that hasn’t stopped clever custom builders from adding forced induction. Tiny Garrett or Aisin turbochargers are popular, and powerful enough to make a big difference to performance.
There are a few Japanese factory bikes with turbos too: Yamaha tried it with the XJ650, Honda with the CX500 and CX650, and Kawasaki with the GPz750. You’ll find the odd custom version of these too.
We open this weekend’s proceedings with a neo-retro kit for the Yamaha Ténéré 700, before changing gears and profiling a bulked-up Honda Monkey from Indonesia. The second half of this week’s Speed Read focuses on boutique concept bikes; the all-electric Ichiban, and the turbocharged Langen LS12 Turbo.
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“Boost is addictive,” says Matt Coulter of Sticky’s Speed Shop. “Insane power delivery and tunnel vision at the same time. I rode a turbo ‘Busa and knew I had to have a turbo bike.” When Matt makes his mind up it doesn’t take things long to happen. The UK-based builder parted out an Aprilia RSV-R…
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We have a particular affinity for modern Vespa scooters around here. Our founding editor, Chris Hunter, used to commute on one in Sydney, I used to commute on one in Cape Town, and our good friend, Winston Yeh, bops around Taipei on his (a black one, naturally). But we wouldn’t have the first clue on…
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In 1993, the Swedish psychologist K. Anders Ericsson hypothesized that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practice to truly master a skill. Over a decade later, Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling novel ‘The Outliers’ would confirm this hypothesis, pointing out that The Beatles spent roughly the same amount of time honing their craft in strip clubs around…
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Any conversation about the good old days of motorcycling will eventually include the words “they don’t build ’em like they used to.”…
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Building a decent custom motorcycle on a slim budget is a tall order. But you know what’s even harder? Doing it with…
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Four years ago, Christian Newman turned up at the Born Free show with a Knucklehead chopper, and left with the People’s Choice…
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Many of us in the motorcycling world have a male relative to thank for getting us hooked on two wheels. It’s often…
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Royal Enfield have made a habit of commissioning customs from top workshops. But they’ve got a big range of skills lurking in-house—and…
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We love the big, bruising superbikes of the late 70s and early 80s. They were fast, brash and good-looking—and their riders often…
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There are many gems buried in our Bikes of the Week column, but occasionally a machine pops up that deserves a fully-fledged…
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A peek at the turbo’d Yamaha that took top honors at the Forged Invitational show, a wild FZ-09 by Droog Moto, Chris…
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