KTM RC250 Café Racer is the bike KTM should have built

This KTM RC250 Café Racer is a stunning example of what you can do with a small capacity sports bike and a bit of imagination

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I always wondered why KTM didn’t head down the café racer route, for a company with so much history, a retrospective model from the brand seems to me to be a sensible route. Well, I can wonder no more, as a custom builder has taken matters into their own hands and built this KTM RC250 Café Racer – and we love it!

The bike is the brainchild of Jonathan Evan of Indonesia’s Minority Custom Motorcycles (MCM), and he’s converted a KTM RC 250 into the perfect neo-retro cafe racer.

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It’s not that the sporty RC is an unattractive model, quite the opposite, the funky looking sports bike is one of the most popular choices for those on a restricted licence. Although you have to admit, this slim looking lightweight makes the donor bike look fussy by comparison.

To build the bike, Evan set out to highlight the RC’s best feature, namely the stylish looking trellis frame. After stripping off all the RC bodywork, replacing it with MCM’s own fuel tank, seat unit and side fairing panels.

Crowning the front end of the bike is a neat looking headlight featuring an LED ‘halo’ arrangement, flanked by RC’s sporty and narrow clip-on handlebars. From there, the bike got a new pair of custom-built rear-set footpegs, completing the café racer ergonomics.

Finishing off the right side of the bike is a naughty sounding Scorpion carbon fibre end can that’s mated to a custom-built stainless steel exhaust.

The cockpit of the bike hasn’t missed out on the makeover, with the LCD dash of the RC being replaced by tiny tacho and LCD read-out, all nestled behind a minimalist headlight cowling.

KTM design team, if you can read this – please build a full factory version!