
As any 2-wheel hoon will tell you, motards, or streetified dirt bikes, are an unholy blast. Here’s mine, circa 1984. You might be tempted to call it a Supermotard, but at the time this bike was built, the term didn’t exist, or at least hadn’t migrated outside of France. Back in late 1983 (as you’ll recall from my Bultaco Streaker article), I bought a brand new Honda XL600R. I was an Army Spec-4 at the time, living on-post at Ft. Lewis WA, smack dab in the middle of a nearly inexhaustible web of wide, dusty tank trails. Like my own, private unpaved Interstate highway system, the range was just perfect for a big, powerful off-road cruiser like the 600R.