Rock 'n' Roll

When a full-blown off-roader is n’t on your wishlist, and a street bike won't cut it, what you need is the ideal balance.They’re called scramblers and we help you pick the best one

- Devesh Shobha

Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll pretty much defined the decade of 1960 in the West. And between all of that, a glorious decade of the rise of scrambler motorcycles was somewhat lost. For a select group of enthusiasts though, those heavily chopped motorcycles were their choice of weaponry when it came to racing from point A to B, charting out a route “as the crow flies”. Yes, it meant they rode through mud, ruts, slush, water and everything else that helped them cut time, which is why they stripped-down their street motorcycles to its skin, added long-travel suspension and fitted them with knobby tyres, giving them the ultimate go-anywhere attitude. That’s where they also got the name from – since they scrambled across the trails, the term ‘scrambler’ was coined.

Looking at its popularity, mainstream bikemakers couldn’t stay away from it, thus giving birth to factory-built scramblers in the ’60s. However, more purpose-built dual sport and motocross motorcycles developed in the ’70s forced the scramblers to then die a slow, natural death. Thankfully, the segment is now slowly but steadily being resurrected and more than half a century later, a barrage of scramblers have been born, two of whom have already found their way onto our shores, which is what you see here.