An MOT, TUV, rego check, no matter what it’s called in your country, an annual vehicle inspection can be a nightmare. Some places make it easier than others, but at least where I live, even when you take in your stock standard car, you worry the guy might fail you just for not having enough washer fluid for your wipers. Now, imagine you turn up on a crazy custom motorcycle, and the anxiety only increases tenfold as to whether you’ll get a pass and be able to actually ride the thing on the road. To take that stress away for their American clients, Spain’s Tamarit Motorcycles have setup in the US of A, they start with factory American-delivered motorbikes and then do all the hard work so that you don’t have to worry. The result is Byakko (White Tiger), a Triumph Thruxton RS that’s a limited edition apex-predator, ready to sink its claws in and take a big bite out of any backroad you point it at.
The road to a street-legal custom for the US market has been a long one for the Spanish kings of the Triumph parallel twin. They’ve been building the British engines for what seems like an eternity, have hundreds of customs to their name and even a range of limited production ‘Series’ bikes that can all be shipped around the world. And as we reported earlier this year, to further expand into the US, Tamarit built a bike called ‘Florida’ and took it themselves to the Sunshine State to test the waters. They also sold their Black Mamba Thruxton RS via a Triumph dealer, and their presence was being felt.
Thus was born the idea of this very bike, with some of the team staying stateside to build five examples of Byakko. This is an endeavour that takes a fair bit of courage and self-belief, you’re not just heading to the other side of the globe to do business, you’re taking valuable staff out of your hugely successful European workshop and then deploying them to parts unknown. And for this project, it also meant splashing out on five high-end Triumphs, the Thruxton RS, building them up to be the badass beast you see before you, and then hoping customers will come calling.
So, let’s take a look at what you get, should you decide you need a new pet, and a White Tiger seems like a fine way to ride. Each machine starts life as a brand new 2024 Triumph Thruxton RS, as Tamarit is committed to providing their clients with a warranty; Black Mamba came with 4 years! Next, the bike is stripped down and the boys get to work, with some minor changes to the chassis and a new shortened subframe for improved handling and cleaner looks. The bodywork makes up a big part of the transformation, and as always with Tamarit there is no holding back. The bike looks a little like RoboCop made sweet love to an old British cafe racer.
The front fender kicks things off, with that signature ridge and sharpened mounts setting the tone. Above you get a full front fairing, which is definitely a mix of old and new, with the classic lines running rearward to overlap with the tank. The sides have been heavily clearanced to ensure there are no fouling issues with the bars on full lock and the screen is a smoked-out item. The headlight package is really what defines the look, the big horizontal slit sports an LED headlight strip, while underneath you have a round LED headlight that is fully moulded into the fairing.
The half-faired look does things differently to the most famous exponent, the Ducati SS, and covers the bottom of the engine with the midsection of the engine left exposed. The Tamarit piece is really a work of art, a fully functional belly pan that climbs up the sides of the bike and then has all of the right mouldings to clear the exhausts, side covers and even the front section of the foot controls. The tail cowling on the other hand is very traditional, a shorter version of the cafe raser-esque Thruxton pieces we all know and love, while the race plates complete the package.
And this is the only part a customer gets to choose, what number goes on the plates, the rest is as spec’d by Tamarit, so that they can offer warranty and road registration. This means keeping the engine mods relatively simple, but the RS is already a heavy hitter. The airbox is ditched and the new forward-facing pod filters sit on handmade Tamarit inlet pipes. The exhaust too is a mix of fresh and factory, with the stock headers flowing under the belly pan and into a set of the company’s own mufflers, with custom end caps and neat badging.
There are plenty of those trademark badges and logos, with the mufflers, engine cases and tank all featuring the Tamarit branding, which helps to set off the stunning paintwork, where the main hue is given a boost thanks to gold and black highlights. The seat too is stunning, incredibly stitched like very few we’ve seen before and making for a hell of a comfy ride.
Then it’s on with the big dollar Kineo wheels, which are as cool as spoked items get, and match up nicely to the Showa/Ohlins suspension and monoblock Brembo brakes. There are a host of neat little touches and tricks, and it can all be yours if you’re stateside for $36,500, shipped to your door. But be quick, one has sold before the publicity campaign could even begin and the Tamarit freight train just keeps rolling along.
