American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 221 December 2017 | Page 18

Desert Wolves – El Solitario and Barkbusters
Riding across the mighty sand dunes
of a vast empty desert on a motorcycle
is something that many riders dream
of at one time or another. A lucky few
may even make it a reality. But on a
Harley?
Usually the preserve of seasoned off-
road racers on highly modified dirt
bikes set up for the extreme conditions
of riding through endless miles of
featureless sand, David Borras, the
driving force behind Spanish custom
bike collaboration El Solitario, didn’t
just dream about riding across the
Sahara Desert, he and two friends did
it. In 10 days. On Harley-Davidsons.
Working under the banner of Desert
Wolves, Borras and the El Solitario
crew knew that the standard 1200cc
H-D Roadsters, supplied especially for
their adventure by the Motor Factory,
would not be up to the task of crossing
the Sahara Desert in stock tune. In
order to make the bikes capable of
undertaking such an epic journey, they
turned to many of the major names in
the motorcycle aftermarket for help.
Among those that stepped up to the
plate were Swedish suspension
experts Öhlins, Boise, Idaho based
transmission specialist Rekluse
Motorsports, Dunlop Tires and, a big
name in the international off-road and
adventure touring market, Australia’s
Barkbusters.
Manufactured in Australia by
Rideworx, handguards are more
associated with dirt bikes, but are
increasingly finding their way onto
street bikes, particularly for urban
riding. Unphased by the prospects of a
desert crossing, the company raided its
30-plus years of experience designing
and manufacturing award-winning
Photos by: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno
protective handguards to step up to
the plate for the desert bound
Roadsters.
“We began the collaboration with El
Solitario about a year ago,” said
Barkbusters’ Robert Veljanoski.
“These guys are a unique bunch, and
when David Borras came to me and
said, ‘Our vision is to create an
international
multi-brand
collaboration to design and produce
the necessary vehicles, garments and
artefacts needed for a cross-Saharan
motorcycle adventure,’ I knew we had
to be involved.
“I set up a bunch of Barkbusters
hardware suitable to work with the
Easton Fat handlebars the El Solitario
guys had outfitted the Harleys with,
and then had it powder-coated in
black to suit the bikes. I then matched
that up with sets of carbon guards.
Once it was on the bikes, it gave them
a really purposeful look and matched
the whole attitude of the adventure,”
Veljanoski added.
The three heavily modified Roadsters
made their public debut, after the
successful crossing of the Sahara, at
the Wheels and Waves Festival in
Biarritz, France, in June, where Barros
said of the Saharan adventure: “El
Solitario Desert Wolves started as a
multiple-sided collaboration between
genuine brands. The ride into the
African Sahara served as a leitmotif for
the creative process and turned into a
demanding test for every product. The
Barkbusters hand guards passed the
test superbly and the robust
construction gave us great confidence.
They are built to get the job done and
they look great too.”
www.barkbusters.net
Thunder Stroke Stage 3 116” Big Bore kit
Indian Motorcycle has
announced what it describes as
the “next evolution of its
performance accessory
offerings with the Thunder
Stroke 116-Cubic-Inch Stage 3
Big Bore kit - compatible with
all Indian Motorcycle
heavyweight models powered
by the Thunder Stroke 111
engine.”
The kit is said to deliver a 15
percent increase in torque and
a 20 percent increase in
horsepower when compared to
the stock Thunder Stroke 111.
“The bagger landscape is
seeing more and more
emphasis on performance, with
more riders looking to get on
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the throttle and carve corners
as they would on smaller bikes,
and that’s exactly what the
Stage 3 kit is about,” said
Derek Meyer, Sr. Category
Manager, Indian Motorcycle
Accessories.
“Indian’s roots are in
performance, innovation and
pushing boundaries, and this
116” kit is but one of a variety
of new products riders will see
from us moving forward,
grounded in and driven by
Indian’s performance DNA.”
This kit joins a line-up of
performance upgrade kits that
includes Indian’s Stage 1
performance air cleaner and
Thunder Stroke high flow air
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - DECEMBER 2017
cleaner, Stage 1 slip-on exhaust
kit and Stage 2 performance
cams that “enhance throttle
response and increase greater
power across the powerband.”
www.indianmotorcycle.com
www.AMDchampionship.com