The old question has been asked more and more lately. What defines a fighter? Well, depending on how many people you ask, you’ll usually get as many different answers. We’ll get the obvious out of the way. Sports-oriented motorcycle stripped of everything unnecessary for its function. Usually stripped of most of the bodywork, fitted with taller handlebars, smaller, lighter parts to reduce weight, and as many performance mods as are available to make it blazingly fast. So now that we have the basic idea in mind, I would like to expand on this view of how fighters are perceived around the world.

Let’s start with the homeland of Streetfighters. The Great Old United Kingdom Home of Big Ben, Fish and Chips, Teatime and the Queen Mum. Some will argue that it started in the 50’s with the Café Racer. Some say the real fighters start in the early ’80s with bike messengers battling London traffic and messing up their fairings. Bike messengers don’t exactly earn big salaries, so instead of replacing their war-torn bodywork, they just took it off.

The basic style has remained constant throughout the decades. Remove the fairings, add flat bars, secure the dual headlights, and jack up the rear. For the most part, the style has remained somewhat reserved. Swap out your rear section for a more attractive OEM unit from another model. Some painting and polishing tricks. Maybe upgrade running gear to get the latest and greatest in fast hardware. To top it off, we crank the engine and build an octane-chugging monster or replace it all together with the biggest, fastest lump that will fit.

Some things never change. There have been some genre crossovers in recent times. Longer bottom bikes are starting to become more popular. Not exactly hit, but set up for better launch control. Additionally, Paint has become more detailed with large murals and wild colors. The drag racing scene is most likely to have brought this new trend. But we also see a return to the old school with some retro style Café fighters. Embrace history in a very positive way.

Then we move across the channel to Germany. Fast luxury cars, cold beer, hot sausages, and leather pants, huh? OK, the last one is probably not that prominent, but he made you laugh, right? Now here’s a scene that pulls out all the stops. Insane amounts of polish and chrome, extreme amounts of custom Billet parts, high-powered engines, wild almost demonic bodywork, Fat Rubber, and paint that’s chipping off the sheet metal.
Walking into a Fighter show here looks like a candy-colored horror movie. Maybe Rob Zombie should take a look at this.

Maybe not the creators, but definitely the innovators.

And here we can definitely start to dissect the genre. Here we can see many unique ideas that started in this area, but there is also some Euro Cruiser/Chopper inspiration. Fork tube caps are more and more present. These covers generally smooth out the front end to make more of a seamless tube from top to bottom. Some have even gone so far as to machine grooves and designs into them to add a little extra bling to the front of the bike. Further influence from the custom scene is found by dressing the cables in bright braided lines, cleaner and brighter engine covers, stylized billet grips, hidden axle covers, integrated handlebar risers and clamps. The list is endless.

Their big claim to fame is highly exaggerated tail heights combined with short tail lengths. And the crazy looking bodywork that has the world of fighters wanting more. Heavily sculpted and aggressive looking. And along with the sculpting on motorcycles are some of the tank mods that look like they’re straight out of scenes from a Friday the 13th movie.

Tire sizes seem to be getting wider all over the world, but instead of just focusing on the rear tyre, they pay just as much attention to the front. Enlargement of the front wheels to except the width of the rear tires. 180 and 190 section tires combined with 240 and larger rears. Bringing a whole new look to the fat tire set.

If we go north we find the Nordic fighters. The land of the long night brings out some very bad bikes when the ice melts. With less than 6 months of daylight and much less favorable riding weather, it leaves plenty of time to play in the shed.
These new age vikings like to go FAST!

Turbos are not uncommon when they start building fighters. And with the burgeoning drag racing scene building in the warmer months, long and short goes along with fast and mean theory.

The cool thing is some of the paint schemes that come with these bikes. Leaning a bit towards the American Hot Rods of yesteryear, the Flames are the most notable. Although, they are not necessarily traditional llamas. Some opt for tribal licks or place them in candies and flakes.

But the other scene that is gaining ground is Stunt riding. MX bars, cages, 12 bars, handbrakes strapped to naked bikes and decked out with all the sponsors and flashy paint they can get their hands on.

The Land Down Under is stepping up the game with some very clean and tasty fighters. They have some of the most well designed and flashy fighters I have ever seen. Taking on a global wrestler style, but also giving it an Australian twist. Very unique ideas and adaptations are happening. It is a good mixture of English cleanliness together with extreme German. High-powered bikes definitely abound along with a healthy touch of gloss and shine.

Here in the good old USA and our friends to the north, Canada, the wrestling scene emerged through the world of stunts. Once again, form followed function as the plastic snapped learning all the crazy tricks and combos.
Some felt they had more maneuverability and control on a naked stunt than on a full faired bike. Soon, naked bikes began to appear more and more.

Some saw a resemblance to the chopper crowd, but liked the power and handling of a sport bike compared to the heavy sled of a cruising machine.

Others grew up on the pegs of a dirt bike and felt the natural switch to big bars and tall seats.

Others remember the height of the Japanese invasion and wanted to recreate the classic CB, GS and KZ. Some simply felt the need to stand out from the crowd and build something different.

We are also taking bits and pieces from all over the world and creating our own style.

From caged and barred stunts to lean evil thug machines to customs rivaling any big bank account chopper.

Looking around the world, we see many different styles that share a key piece of their culture, but we also see a mix of cultures filtering down to create new and interesting ideas. What’s next to come out of garages, sheds and workshops around the world? Only time will tell. With our global world, the possibilities are limitless. What will you create to set the world of fighters on fire?