If you’ve been paying attention these past few months you’ll have noticed two things about our interest in motorcycles—the first being we’re suckers for go-anywhere dual sport scrambler style bikes, and the second that we’re huge fans of the dual citizen bike builders at Federal Moto. A while back we rambled on about their CB360 Tracker, and now we’re excited to feast our eyes on their their sixth official build, the Lil’ Kim Scrambler. Released earlier this week after some serious IG teasing, the Edmonton, Alberta portion of the operation (the other being now based in Chicago) created a genuine standout in a category that’s saturated and quickly going the way of the café racer—done to death with more bullshit iterations than respectable builds. But not this one, she's a keeper.
Commissioned by a design-minded owner of Kimberly, British Columbia brewery Over Time Beer Works, and working off a 2006 XR650L, the build was destined to be both a joy to ride and look at. The workhorse of a donor ticked all the boxes, being both utilitarian and capable of handling city streets as well as fire roads. Federal Moto made quick work of the beast, dropping all non-essential parts, and adding a number of custom one-off designs to give ‘er some personality—most notably a rad vintage Yamaha XT500 tank outfitted with updated decals done in the original graphic style, sleek exhaust system, handmade leather seat, and a seriously attractive skid plate.
Minimal across the board, the barebones bike is surely linger in our minds for some time as the perfect execution of a vintage-styled, modern scrambler. Well done fellas.
