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Better to lead or follow? Jerome Martiny’s Team Dumontier Racing Husqvarna, left, heads into the Empty Quarter during Stage 11.
Better to lead or follow? Jerome Martiny’s Team Dumontier Racing Husqvarna, left, heads into the Empty Quarter during Stage 11. (A.S.O./Charly Lopez/)

Of course Dakar was invented by a motorcycle racer.

If Dakar founder Thierry Sabine had been competing on four wheels, he would’ve had a navigator. This person might have kept him sane as he was dying of thirst, lost in the Libyan desert in 1977 during the Abidjan-Nice Rally. But stranded alone among the towering dunes for three days and two nights, Sabine was “inspired” to create the original Paris-Dakar rally, run the following year in 1978.

Although the off-road race hasn’t run within 3,700 miles of the West African capital since 2007, it’s fitting the Dakar name stuck. Finishing there meant traveling 12,000 kilometers through brutal Saharan desert in 10 African countries. Paris was just an ironic place to start the journey through hell.

Originally crossing through six countries and about 3,000 kilometers of unforgiving desert terrain, today it runs about 5,000 kilometers through just one country: Saudi Arabia. In 2008, the Dakar was canceled due to political instability in Africa, and held instead in South America the following year. Eleven years of annual Dakar rally raids in South America followed. This year’s Dakar marks the fourth year in the Saudi Arabian peninsula, and by all accounts the race has flourished.

This western-centric concept of adventure has occasionally had an uneasy coexistence with its environs. Motorsports is notoriously apolitical, especially when money is concerned. But this year, the Russian and Belarussian teams of Kamaz and MAZ stayed home, due to FIA’s condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Perhaps they’ll eventually condemn the state-sanctioned murder of journalists and dissidents who criticize the Saudi government.

This year’s Dakar took place over 17 days, from December 31–January 15. Several Americans were in contention, including Ricky Brabec, Mason Klein, and Skyler Howes. But in the end, Skyler “Mr. Mustache” Howes was the lone American on the podium, no mean feat considering he’s only the fifth American to reach a podium at all. Argentinian Kevin Benavides took first, with Australian Toby Price in second.

Let’s dispense with the words and let the incredible photography do the storytelling.

Adrien Van Beveren’s Monster Energy Honda cuts a fine, sandy line through Stage 5, in Hail, Saudi Arabia.
Adrien Van Beveren’s Monster Energy Honda cuts a fine, sandy line through Stage 5, in Hail, Saudi Arabia. (A.S.O./ Charly Lopez/)
Romain Dumontier, Team Dumontier Racing, gives himself and his Husqvarna a breather during private testing before the Prologue and Stage 1.
Romain Dumontier, Team Dumontier Racing, gives himself and his Husqvarna a breather during private testing before the Prologue and Stage 1. (A.S.O./ Florent Gooden/)
The Dakar 2023 podium finishers, from headshots taken before they’d raced a single mile. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Toby Price (AUS), and Skyler “Mustache Man” Howes (USA).
The Dakar 2023 podium finishers, from headshots taken before they’d raced a single mile. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Toby Price (AUS), and Skyler “Mustache Man” Howes (USA). (A.S.O./)
Before the chaos begins, bureaucracy and administrative order reigns inside the bivouac, Sea Camp near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
Before the chaos begins, bureaucracy and administrative order reigns inside the bivouac, Sea Camp near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. (A.S.O./ Gigi Soldano/)
When everything was possible: Ottavio Missoni salutes the waves on the first (and short) Prologue stage near Yanbu.Read More

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By: Anders T. Carlson
Title: 2023 Dakar Rally in Pictures
Sourced From: www.motorcyclistonline.com/photo-galleries/dakar-rally-race-gallery-2023/
Published Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2023 11:00:02 +0000

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Speed Read: A custom Kawasaki ER-6N from the future and more

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The latest motorcycle news, customs and classics
The first two bikes on our list this week prove that there’s customization potential in every motorcycle. A custom Kawasaki ER-6N from Indonesia leads the charge, followed by a custom Buell XB12X Ulysses from Italy. Moto Borgotaro teases us with a stunning 1983 Ducati 600 TT2, and Tamarit proves their mastery of Triumph motorcycles with a menacing Triumph Bobber.

Custom Kawasaki ER-6N by Katros Garage
Kawasaki ER-6N by Katros Garage A quick scroll through Katros Garage’s social media channels yields impressive results. Andi Akbar, the workshop’s founder and proprietor, and his team have been pumping out all manner of custom bikes for some years. From choppers to café racers and everything in between, the Indonesian outfit is one of Southeast Asia’s best.

For this custom Kawasaki ER-6N project, Katros Garage teamed up with Ziko, a fellow Indonesian and professional drift racer. Ziko is partial to a nice motorcycle, but this is his first custom bike, so he wanted it to be as easy to ride as possible. With the brief calling for upright ergonomics, chunky rubber, and futuristic style, the group decided on a street tracker build.

Custom Kawasaki ER-6N by Katros GarageRead More

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By: Ben Pilatti
Title: Speed Read: A custom Kawasaki ER-6N from the future and more
Sourced From: www.bikeexif.com/custom-motorcycle-news-december-10-2023
Published Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2023 18:04:24 +0000

Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/master-stroke-purpose-built-motos-svelte-yamaha-xs650-chopper/

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Motor

Master Stroke: Purpose Built Moto’s svelte Yamaha XS650 chopper

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Yamaha XS650 chopper by Purpose Built Moto
They say that perfect is the enemy of good. But when it comes to high-end custom motorcycles, shouldn’t perfection be the goal? Having never built a custom motorcycle in this style before, that’s the standard that Purpose Built Moto set for themselves with this Yamaha XS650 chopper.

Delays with parts and other builds meant this project took the Australian workshop more than 18 months to complete. The silver lining was that this extensive time frame meant they could pore over every detail in the pursuit of perfection.

Yamaha XS650 chopper by Purpose Built Moto

“There are plenty of Yamaha XS650 chopper builds out there,” says the workshop’s founder, Tom Gilroy, “but there are very few that look well laid out and finished right. Generally, kit frames make the bike look too long and punch the steering angle out too much. We wanted a fast-handling, performance chopper.”

Purpose Built Moto started by stripping the bike down, lopping the rear half of the frame off, and setting the headstock in a jig with a rake of 27 degrees. Then the real work began.

Yamaha XS650 chopper by Purpose Built MotoRead More

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By: Ben Pilatti
Title: Master Stroke: Purpose Built Moto’s svelte Yamaha XS650 chopper
Sourced From: www.bikeexif.com/yamaha-xs650-chopper
Published Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2023 17:19:56 +0000

Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/exif-picks-favorites-from-bonhams-december-2023-sale/

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EXIF Picks: Favorites from Bonhams December 2023 Sale

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Bonhams December Sale 2023

Bonhams certainly knows how to pick ’em, and there’s some exceptional iron hiding in the 2023 December Sale. It’s an online-only auction with lots closing as soon as December 11th, boasting exceptional classics, landmark sportbikes, parts and memorabilia. The apple of our eye has to be Lot 128, a sweetheart of a 1974 Ducati 750 GT, but we’ll let you be the judge.

Bonhams December Sale 2023
1990 Norton 588 cc F1 Amid tough financial times in the 1980s, Norton was clinging to utilitarian rotary-powered roadsters like the Interpol 2, the Classic and the Commander to weather the coming years. There was a surprising amount of potential hidden in the humble 588 cc twin-rotor Wankel, though, and the engine would eventually form the basis of the British F1-winning RCW588. Never one to waste an opportunity, Norton debuted a street-legal version of RCW in 1989 dubbed the F1.

1990 Norton F1Read More

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By: Dean Larson
Title: EXIF Picks: Favorites from Bonhams December 2023 Sale
Sourced From: www.bikeexif.com/bonhams-december-2023-sale
Published Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2023 19:32:15 +0000

Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/special-report-42-photos-from-the-2023-mooneyes-show/

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