Filipinos probably know the Czech Republic as the country that used to have a name that was hard-to-spell when it was still united with Slovakia. Now, the Czechs will be known for another thing, this time for a dirtbike they've created, starting out as a 1290 Duke, and now a full fledged 1290 Super Enduro. To put it to the test, it will be fielded in next year's Erzbergrodeo Hard Enduro.
To give you an idea of what the Erzbergrodeo is, please watch this video
With the help of Prague's RaceTool KTM, a 2015 1290 Super Duke R was stripped down to the bare essentials to make it as light as possible. After all, its stock wet weight of 180-kilograms would be impossible to control in the gnarly conditions of the Erzberg. The forks were swapped with WP suspension found in the 1290 Super Adventure R, and larger Kineo rims were fitted with aggressive knobbies complete the wheels.
“The Beast” as they nicknamed the bike, was also equipped with all the farkles found on a “normal” dirtbike.
Jiří Heiník
The man behind this craziness is 65-year-old, Jiří Heiník. Heiník didn't build this for a beauty contest. He's been riding motorcycles all his life, and of course, that includes some serious off-road riding. He is also a Pikes Peak International Hill Climb veteran, competing in 2012 onboard a souped-up KTM 990 Supermoto R, as well as having numerous races around the globe under his belt.
Heiník's passion for racing has led him to build his competition bikes himself. The reason being he can't seem to find competition bikes in their stock form suitable to his vision and requirements. Once completed, The Beast will churn out almost 180 Ps (177 HP) of power and 140 Nm of torque. “The goal was to build it as light and as thin as a single-cylinder bike, but with the devastating power of a fully tuned LC8 engine,” said Heiník.
The Beast will be competing at the twin-cylinder class of the Erzbergrodeo and the Iron Road Prologue next year. This is one really crazy endeavor, but aren't all us dirt riders crazy in the first place?
Photos by @jakubfrey for @allrideshow
Source: bikebound.com
