We don?t see many custom KTMs, but they tend to be spectacular?like Max Hazan?s supercharged art bike, or the two-wheel-drive monster built for REV?IT!
Upholding this fine tradition is a striking build from Ryan Stephen, which broke cover at the ?Motorcycles as Art? show at Sturgis earlier this year. Curated by famed photographer Michael Lichter, the 2017 show focused on younger builders?and it?s obvious that Ryan is a name to watch.

By day, he?s a brake designer and test engineer for Hayes Brakes. In his spare time, he races supermoto and on ice, and provides engineering support to the Scheibe Racing/Hayes Brake BMW race team.
?I built the bike to test my skills, and push the limits of what I can do in my personal shop,? he tells us.
Ryan lives in Racine, Wisconsin, about 30 miles south of Milwaukee. ?In this area, with Harley and Indian in our backyard, motorcycles are in our bones,? he says. ?Long winter nights and weekends are usually when the bike building happens, so it was a serious time crunch to get the KTM ready for the show.?
The bike is a 2015-spec 690 Duke, and the first KTM Ryan has owned. He drove five hours to pick it up form a retired gentleman, who had put 1,500 easy miles on it. And then he set out to build a ?super fun? street bike: ?Something I could spend a few hours riding, and at the end of the day have a smile on my face.?

It?s a pretty extreme looking custom, but the functionality of the bike is unchanged. ?With the occasional track day i...