One Bad Mother…
The Honda CRF250L Rally is the adventure edition of the company’s 250cc dual-sport, featuring a 2.7-gallon tank, longer suspension, LED lighting, and the same rock-solid, fuel-injected four-stroke single that makes around 25 horsepower. It’s a tough, eager, quarter-liter workhorse of a machine — if a little overweight with so much added hardware.
Enter Dirk Goetz and the team of Bali’s Malamadre Motorcycles (MM), founded in 2015. Dirk left Spain and a career in the automotive sector, where he’d worked for brands such as Ford and VW-Audi, to follow more personal passions and pursuits of the soul.
Growing up, his parents never allowed him to have motorcycles, but he rode his friends’ bikes secretly. In the summer of 2015, in Bali, he built his first motorcycle — a Suzuki Thunder 250 (MM1) — and the brand and garage began to build by word of mouth:
“One day I was driving around the Island with the MM1 and stopped at a supermarket. When I came out, a guy was staring at it. Amazed, he asked me who had built that bike. I did it myself, I responded. Wow! I love it, would you build one for me? This is how we got our first customer.”
Together with his wife, Elo, Dirk soon opened the Malamadre Motorcycles shop and garage…using one of our favorite shop names ever. Malamadre means “Bad Mother” in Spanish. It’s a wild plant known for its healing properties, and the name of the main character in the Spanish film Celda_211 (2009) — a badass. Today, the crew at MM have more than 50 builds under their belts.
This build began life as a regular 2017 Honda CRF250L Rally, but the owner wanted something lighter, more streamlined — a custom supermoto:
“The concept was to transform a dual-sport Honda CRF into a minimalist supermotard motorcycle able to ride on- and off-road.”
Below, we get the full story on this custom 250cc supermoto, along with some killer shots from Bali photographer Brad Longworth.com.
Honda CRF250L Supermoto: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
Malamadre Motorcycles was founded in 2015 in Bali. My name is Dirk Goetz; I am 46 years old and I am a motorcycle enthusiast and passionate rider. To check more details about us u can visit our website under ABOUT US…
• What’s the make, model, and year of the bike?
Honda CRF250L Rally, 250cc, year 2017.
• Why was this bike built?
This bike was built for a Customer.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
The concept was to transform a dual-sport Honda CRF into a minimalist supermotard motorcycle able to ride on- and off-road. The influence on this build were supermotard competition motorcycles.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
New frame, new tank, custom handlebar, aluminum radiator cover, aluminum engine protector, new seat, rims, tires…grips, front lights, turn lights, brake lights.
• How would you classify this bike?
Supermotard.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
We are proud and passionate about all the bikes we build, but on this one specially the radiator cover is a beautiful aluminum masterpiece.
Follow the Builder
www.malamadremotorcycles.com
www.facebook.com/malamadremotorcycles
www.instagram.com/malamadremotorcycles
Images by @bradlongworth
Looks like it would be fun to ride, but man, I can’t get into that huge radiator assembly. Still, it sounds like the customer was happy, and the builder did the best he could with it. I think I’d need to have an air-cooled bike as a starting point.