We are huge fans of scramblers and trackers here at BikeBound. Apparently so are you, our readers, as half of the machines on our Best Custom Motorcycles of 2016 are running knobby tires and riser bars. We decided to follow up with a list of last year’s most popular scramblers and trackers, based on traffic and social shares. Some of these were true social darlings, accruing tens of thousands of likes on Facebook and Instagram, which we have noted where possible.
Without further ado, here are the BikeBound Best Scramblers and Trackers of 2016, presented in alphabetical order by builder.
KTM 690 Duke Scramblers by Droog Moto Concepts
Max and Erica Droog are quickly becoming kings of the modern desert sled. This PAIR of KTM 690 Duke scramblers are just damn amazing. One is a 2015 model, the other a 2016. Both sport three-wheeler tanks, skid plates, vintage fenders, and more. Bike EXIF chose the bike as one of their Custom Bikes of the Week, saying, “If you ask us, builds like this would be a perfect factory fit for KTM, combining their history in the dirt and prowess on the street.”
Ducati Multistrada Scrambler by Behind Bars Customs
This Italian super hooligan, “Project Multipass,” was one of our favorite bikes of the year. It accrued more than 15.6K likes on Cafe Racers of Instagram and thousands more on Dropmoto. This is one of those bikes that’s truly unique, the work of a builder with a keen vision and super fabrication skills.
KTM “HiRider” by Engineered to Slide
When a picture of this minimalist KTM tracker garnered well over 6000 likes on our Instagram account (@bikeboundblog), we knew we had to do a feature on it. The builder, Nigel Petrie, is by day a prototype machinist for Ford Motor Company, and by night a visionary custom builder with incredible fabrication skills. His shop, Engineered to Slide, is a one man show operating out of his garage in Geelong, a port city in the State of Victoria, Australia.
Yamaha XJ400 Scrambler by Entrophy Motorbike
Entrophy Motorbike is a small garage in Perugia, central Italy, founded by a group of pro enduro riders. They decided to overhaul not only the chassis but the very soul of the bike. This included CBR forks, Guzzi v35 front wheel, Suzuki DR600 rear wheel, handmade tank, and Metzeler Karoo offroad tires. Cafe Racers of Instagram was kind enough to share the bike on Instagram, where it received more than 18.4K likes!
Honda XR600 Tracker by Herencia Custom Garage
Argentina’s Herencia Custom Garage, based in Buenos Aires, has quickly become one of our favorite builders. This 1994 Honda XR600R street tracker was the 34th build by Federico Cubik and German Karp, and we just love it so much we want to buy a ticket to Argentina for a ride! The bike continues to be popular on the blog, with lots of return visitors — perhaps perusing the bike for inspiration with their own dual sport builds.
Kawasaki KZ400 Scrambler by Moto-fied
There is nothing we love more than a killer garage-build. This KZ400 scrambler is exactly that, built by Nick Petterson of Milwaukee’s Moto-fied Cycles. Incredibly enough, Nick has owned a whole stable of different bikes, but this was his first custom build. The “Brown Bomber” gained more than 16.5K likes on Cafe Racers of Instagram — not bad for a bike built for $1300!
Honda CB360 Scrambler by RPG
Roberts Performance Group’s first build, a Yamaha Virago, was third on our list of the Best Custom Bikes of 2015. Last month Tim Roberts returned to the blog with his second build, a ’74 Honda CB360 scrambler dubbed “Blue.” This was a budget-conscious build with a rough-and-ready attitude. Scramblers & Trackers was kind enough to share this bike on Instagram, where it accrued more than 21K total likes!
Stasis Scrambler 900
At this year’s Handbuilt Show, we were lucky enough to discover the work of Cliff Fisher, the man behind Stasis Motorcycles. He simply blew us away with his “Stasis Scrambler 900,” a modern incarnation of a custom Triumph desert sled. He described the bike as a “long-legged, knobby, cattle-guard jumper for the rural Texas dirt roads” — music to our wind-blown ears!
Yamaha XS650 Scrambler by Therapy Garage
Headman Toby Reed of Therapy Garage built this ’81 XS650, “Jolie,” for his best friend, so the two of them could burn up some fire roads together. They wanted the scrambler to look like an off-road bike while remaining street-legal and highway-ready — mission accomplished! This bike made the rounds on social media, and continues to be a favorite on the blog.
Triumph T100 Scrambler by Triumph Saint-Lô
Few Bonnevilles have undergone such radical transformations as this Bonneville T100 scrambler, built by Triumph Saint-Lô and featured in French magazine Cafe Racer. Our friends at Drop Moto were kind enough to share this bike on Instagram, where it received more than 9.1K likes, and it also made Bike EXIF’s Custom Bikes of the Week in December.
