Icon's Triumph Tiger 800XC - “Dromedarii”

By guest writer Ian Lee.
via PIPEBURN
So you decide you are going to build a custom bike. From this starting point you have so many directions you can head in for the style of your build. Should your bike run motocross bars or clip-ons? Is it a good idea to lengthen your swingarm? Is it really a problem if you want to run both Firestones and pipewrap? All good questions if you are a run of the mill customiser. However, if you are in the same state of mind as the builders at Icon, then your ideas will stretch far beyond conventional means, to the realm of the post-apocalyptic. 

After seeing Icon’s bike starring in the Raiden Files ‘Portland to Dakar’, Triumph approached Icon to put forward the idea of a build. OEM & custom builder collaborations seem to be the flavour of the moment, with manufacturers looking to workshops to show what is possible when customising their product. Icon called all the shots on this build, with Triumph supplying the bike and letting Icon work their magic. With Icon not willing to call a bike a ‘custom’ unless it has had serious work done to it, this bike has had produced in the vision of what it would take to survive should society break down. 

A Triumph 800XC was chosen for this build, it’s plastic fairings being replaced with protective cage arrangements. An oversized fuel tank, stuffed with Rotopax fuel cells, replaces the factory unit. The fuel tank cap is part of a filler spout from a jerrycan, complete with handle. The rear subframe has been raised, and any superfluous bracketry taken to with a grinder, allowing easy viewing of the Leo Vince exhaust. Ohlins stiffened suspension help hold Continental TKC80 tyres onto the road, dirt, whatever terrain you come across. And to see what terrain is coming up the bike has been fitted out with PIAA high intensity discharge lighting. 

Finished in desert tan, it is exactly what you need to get around at the end of days. Take some time out to watch the video on Icon’s website, you will see why Triumph is willing to collaborate with them. Icon is a professional outfit, with a lot of show to match the go of the bike. They don’t fap about, don’t compromise on anything on the build, and their build quality is exceptional. Post apocalyptic exceptional, hopefully.