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First Look at Ronin’s Pikes Peak Race Bike “Oishi Yoshio”

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When we first saw Magpul’s custom Buell motorcycle, called the Magpul Ronin, we were smitten. Thankfully, the Colorado gun accessory firm spun the project into its own company, with 47 Ronin motorcycles to be produced.

You may have seen the Ronin on our pages here at Asphalt & Rubber, or in person at shows like The One Show in Portland or The Handbuilt Show in Austin, and if you did, you probably noticed the supreme workmanship that’s gone into these bikes.

So maybe it’s a bit worrying that a Ronin plans to partake in the 93rd Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which is being held June 28th. The bike question is a special machine too, it is Ronin #1 — named Oishi Yoshio, after the samurai leader of the same name from the “47 Ronin” story in Japanese history.

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Ronin – 47 American Street Bikes Like No Other

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You will have to go back almost five years to remember Magpul’s Ronin motorcycle concept. Based off the Buell 1125R chassis and engine, the Magpul Ronin was very refreshing and different approach to an American street bike.

Fast-forward to the present, and Ronin Motor Works (the company spun out of Magpul to make the Ronin motorcycle) is ready to sell its first 12 units of the avant-garde bike.

Key items on the Ronin include a linkage fork design, with a Penske shock handling the bumps traveling up the aluminum girders. Our favorite feature, the radiator has been place high up, near the handlebars, and features an integrated headlight design.

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Magpul Ronin 1125R – A Samurai Looking for a Master

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It has been some time since we saw the Magpul Ronin concept bike, a re-imagined Buell 1125R that was built by the folks at Magpul Industries — a company more well-known in the gun community than than in motorcycling. Making waves with the design though, Magpul setup a new company, Ronin Motorworks, to explore the idea further. Hiring a team of designers and engineers from the motorcycle industry, the result of this endeavor is the Magpul Ronin 1125R sport bike, of which 47 examples will be made, in honor of the 47 Ronin story from feudal Japan.

A fitting metaphor for the story behind the closure of Buell Motorcycles, the 47 Magpul Ronin 1125R bikes will be built from new Buell 1125 chassis that were stored from the original inventory. While a limited-production machine, one of the cooler details of the Magpul Ronin 1125R is that instead of a number plate scheme for the 47 motorcycles, Ronin Motorworks will name each bike after one of the samurais from the original story.

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Magpul Ronin Gets Closer to Production

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You may remember that we drooled over Magpul’s take on the Buell 1125R. While we often give Buell motorcycles a hard time, we admittedly fell head-over heels for this concept.

Hinting at the time it debuted that there could be a limited production run or a kit for current Buell owners, Magpul has taken the feedback and attention from the Ronin, and refined the motorcycle further. Photos and more after the jump.

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Magpul Ronin: An Alternate Reality of Buell

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With the Magpul Ronin, we’re not sure what gun/rifle magazine innovator Magpul is doing making a motorcycle, but we like the outcome of that awkward yet happy merger.

Buell owners don’t have much to look forward to right now, but imagine a world where Buell Motorcycles was still in business, and the American sportbike industry is overrun by gun manufacturers making motorcycles. Now add in some wayward samurai warriors, and the end result could be what you see above.

It’s life Jim, but not as we know it…photos and more after the jump.

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