Written by Marlon Slack
We totally get show queens here at Pipeburn. Something built and polished to within an inch of its life, destined to live out it?s existence in a shop front window or a lounge room. That?s cool. But even better is a custom bike that?s going to be thrashed, dropped, flipped, and bounced off people?s heads. And here?s the best example of that you?ll see all week – a 2006 KTM 450 SX flat tracker built by Germany?s Hombrese bikes.

Hombrese?s been running for a few years now under the guidance of founder Uwe Kostrewa. He started by building a SR500 for himself before moving onto a GN Suzuki. And then the orders started piling in. Over the last few years he?s played with all sorts of motorcycles, classic Japanese bikes, a bit of American Iron and the odd Ducati.
But lately it?s flat track racers that have really caught his eye. And he can only blame his mates for that. A while ago he built a tidy little YZ450 flat tracker for a friend, who wanted to get into the whole ?left and left again? scene. And when the tidy little ride was finished Uwe took it for a test run out at the El Rollo race in Spain and again (just to be certain, right") at a track in the Netherlands. Uwe found himself completely hooked. He needed his own tracker. Stat.

So he fired up Ebay, had a click about and stumbled across a suitable donor. ?I bought the first KTM 450 SX I went to look at,? he recalls, ?and it was in a horrible condition.? Typical of a much-loved MX bike...