2003 Yamaha XV 1700 Road Star

2003 Icon Tifighter

Most bikes earn their numbers on the racetrack. The TiFighter earned hers in Federal lockup.

Wanted by Interpol, she was a international element trader with a penchant for the exotic. It was unclear how she came by her means, suffice to say her means were mighty. While most in her profession lusted for Platinum and Gold, the TiFighter preferred the elemental darlings of performance – titanium, carbon, and magnesium.

Looking distinctly like an abandoned cannery machine in profile, her visual girth belied her true nimbleness. Assembled from the finest components the world had to offer, she was a superbike on paper, but a rat fighter in the flesh. At just a tick over 300 pounds and armed with guile and cunning, she was the peoples champion of the western seaboard.

Unfortunately her free days, like her hubristic front plate, were numbered. Lack of DOT approved lighting and her questionable VIN, combined with an illadvised mid-town wheelie, would lead her into the treacherous arms of Interpol agents. Entangled in their massive web of paperwork and false promises, the TiFighter would remain confined to moto-gitmo until such time as she could justify her existence. And justification of a $40,000 rat bike would be very difficult indeed.