Modern classics are all about style, but the Triumph Thruxton RS boasts a healthy measure of sportiness too. Its parallel twin engine makes a respectable 103 hp and 112 Nm?plus it comes specced with fully adjustable Showa forks and Öhlins shocks, and twin Brembo brakes up front. So it’s the closest thing to a factory performance cafe racer you can get.
But cafe racers aren’t for everyone. As comfortable as the Thruxton is for its genre, some riders wish Triumph would pack the same features into a more roadster-like package. That’s what the owner of this Thruxton RS wanted?and the Spanish shop Tamarit Motorcycles obliged in spectacular fashion.

Tamarit has built its business on customizing Triumph’s modern classics, and their catalog is jam packed with bolt-on parts. But this is no paint-by-numbers build. Instead, it’s a beguiling mixture of off-the-shelf and one-off items, masterfully woven together to create a rowdy hybrid between a cafe racer, street tracker and supermotard. They’ve dubbed it ‘Ikigai,’ after the Japanese concept of having a sense of purpose, or a reason for being.

With good suspension and brakes out the box, there was little sense in messing with the Thruxton’s rolling chassis. Tamarit simply stripped and blacked out parts like the rear shocks and yokes, to better fit the overall color scheme.
They also swapped the wheels for a stunning set of tubeless Kineo hoops, and wrapped them in Heidenau K...