When you buy a new dirt bike, you expect the factory to offer you a stripped-down, light-as-can-be machine, ready to ride away. But in the early days of off-roading, this wasn’t the case.
Most dirt bikes were essentially road bikes that customers stripped down and lightened themselves, with no dedicated off-road steering or frame geometry. This 1956 Triumph TR6 ‘Desert Sled’ is a typical example—and that’s how Seth Neefus of Portland, Oregon likes it.
“I always dream about what a dirt bike or dual sport bike would look like if it rolled out of a factory back in the 1950s,” says Seth. “Just something simple and fun, with a little bit of style—to catch the eye of people when the motorcycle came roaring through the streets and off into the desert.”…