Max Hazan's Personal KTM is Barley Legal

Max Hazan's Personal KTM is Barley Legal - TheArsenale

Max Hazan is a name that needs no introduction in the custom motorcycle building world. His unique style, characterized by metal bending and twisting into slightly steampunkish motorcycles is recognizable everywhere. Most of his bikes were commissioned by people with really deep pockets and a lot of them belong to a single guy called Bobby Haas who runs the Haas Motorcycle Museum in Dallas, Texas. This one is unique though, Max built it for himself.

So where did he start? He always wanted a liter powered supermoto and the KTM LC8 was the perfect choice as it featured a V engine layout. He also chose it for the fact that it uses a dry-sump system, making it feel like a tiny bike until you open the throttle. Max says that it's one of the ugliest bikes KTM built with the motor, however he picked it for the simplicity of parts. He continued the simple look with the paint scheme, grey and white. 

Being in love with the 10 spoked Marchesini wheels, he sourced them from a CBR1000 race bike. He machined hubs, carriers and cush drive to make them fit in the narrow bike. Max wanted a factory look, keeping the fenders and bodywork. However, he had to relocate a lot of parts to maintain the sleek profile. The huge tank that KTM used, similar to their adventure bikes; was chopped off and moved to the rear subframe. Integrated with the frame of the bike, the tank now sits flush under the slimmed down seat. The original oil tank is replaced with a custom one that is elegantly hidden under the seat and it actually holds more oil than the stock one. After all the mods, Hazan shaved off 45 kilograms off the stock bike. 

While it looks highly illegal, it is actually quite suitable for street riding. All you have to do is wire the turn signals and headlights which are already laid out; and you can get out to bomb the streets in no time. However, Max says he likes to look at it like this in its naked beauty. 

Image credits go to BIKEExif