KTM by BusyPeople
As a graphic designer I could see raw bony scrambler lines under the panels of the KTM 390. I started off by re-drawing the subframe. A custom subframe to fit exactly where the stock frame fits but much flatter and shorter. This first change revealed the skeleton of a scrambler.
It took almost 2 years to build this motorcycle, which included lockdowns, a fractured leg and learning Fusion 360. But it was absolutely satisfying to see the transformation from drawings on paper to CAD and then those CNC blades giving shape to the parts exactly the way you imagined. The cowl, the tail, chain cover, tank lid and the additional side panels right under the tank took several hours of machining.
The cowl carries a powerful J W speaker LED headlamp which is hidden behind the grill further adding the angry, raw front end. Whereas the tail hosts 8 individually wired LEDs and the railings to mount the luggage rack.
We used 17in Akront spoke wheels maintaining the diameter and the weight of the stock wheels and reworked the pulse plates for the new hub to retain the ABS. The Galfer disc added the extra braking stability. The rare wheel took little more effort as we had to lathe the sprocket coupler for the wider wheel hub to sit perfectly. Feel these finer details when it turns out perfect is actually orgasamic for any designer.
What you see on the bike is the 4th tank; the earlier 3 were scrapped as I was shaping aluminium sheet for the first time. Kept it flatter and boxy to go with the naked trellis frame but gave little curves at the bottom to integrate the side panel, again inspired by the trellis frame. This little detail gave me a bit of the classic tracker vibe.
We redesigned and relocated the coolant expansion tank and reworked the slip-on exhaust keeping the overall classic scrambler in mind.
Dheeraj the mechanic had to re-route the fuel lines for the new tank and re-worked the entire wiring to fit the smaller subframe. Routing and wiring a motorcycle neatly, is an art which you will hardly see but you feel it when the motorcycle just works perfectly. The graphic designer in me can appreciate neat layouts of any kind.
The paint was done by Nikki garage, we kept it simple as I wanted to reveal the skeleton as much as possible.
Lastly we custom made the bash plate, handle bar, luggage rack, both fenders and the fender mounts to go with the frame and over all design.
