The Sultans of Sprint is Europe's most celebrated custom motorcycle drag racing event, bringing together the continent's best builders to race twin-cylinder machines down the strip in a spectacle of nitrous, noise and craftsmanship. Every participating bike is a custom-built machine, engineered and painted to the limit, making Sultans of Sprint less a conventional race meeting and more a moving exhibition of the world's finest sprint culture.
What Is Sultans of Sprint?
Sultans of Sprint is an annual drag racing event that welcomes custom motorcycle builders from across Europe to compete with machines they have designed and built themselves. The format is straightforward: twin-cylinder engines, a drag strip, and the fastest time wins. But the context makes it extraordinary. The competing bikes are among the most ambitious custom builds in existence, crafted by workshops whose names define European motorcycle culture. At Sultans of Sprint, extraordinary is the baseline.
The 2017 Season: Highlights and Winners
The 2017 Sultans of Sprint season brought together some of the most respected names in European custom motorcycle building. TheArsenale partners Lucky Cat Garage competed with their stunning Bombinette, built in collaboration with R-M Paint, showcasing the kind of fearless visual identity that has made Lucky Cat one of France's most admired speed houses. Other notable participants included FCR Original, Mellow Motorcycles, Schlachtwerk and Plan B Motorcycles, all bringing machines that pushed the engineering and aesthetic boundaries of what a custom sprint racer can be.
Mellow Motorcycles claimed the top podium position with their "Frankenstein" motorcycle. Two new awards were introduced to the event in 2017: the Bodywork Award, presented to Christian Moretti of Plan B Motorcycles for his "Ugly Duck" machine, a raw-finished build with a sculpted front end that stopped attendees in their tracks. The Fotozino Award went to FCR Original for producing the most compelling fanzine document of their Sultans of Sprint journey.
The Schlachtwerk Skinny Beast: Available at TheArsenale
Among the most eye-catching machines at the 2017 event was the Schlachtwerk "Skinny Beast," a Yamaha TR1R built specifically for sprint racing. Its extreme silhouette, minimal weight and aggressive stance make it one of the most compelling custom motorcycles to emerge from the German workshop. The Yamaha TR1R Skinny Beast is available to purchase through TheArsenale for riders who want to own a piece of Sultans of Sprint history.
From the Strip to Midnight Garage Festival
The 2017 Sultans of Sprint season concluded at the Midnight Garage Festival in Paris, a fitting close to an event built on the same combination of craft, culture and community. The festival brought together the riders, builders and fans who make the sprint scene in Europe one of the most vibrant corners of motorcycle culture.
For those who want to follow sprint culture and custom motorcycle building more broadly, Bike EXIF provides some of the best coverage of the international custom scene, while Return of the Cafe Racers documents European sprint and cafe racer culture in depth.
Shop the Builders of Sultans of Sprint
Several of the workshops that compete at Sultans of Sprint have bikes available through TheArsenale. Explore the FCR Original collection for French-built custom motorcycles, including the Green Legend custom Triumph. Browse Plan B Motorcycles for the Belgian workshop's handcrafted machines. For the full range of custom sprint culture and beyond, our Motorcycles collection features over 140 of the world's finest custom builds.
