Dakar-style retro on the way from CCM?

British factory CCM might have made its name building competition-ready off-road bikes, but in recent years it’s focused its attention on creating a selection of seriously stylish retro-styled scramblers, flat trackers and café racers for the road.

And now it looks like the Bolton-born firm could be preparing to marry the two periods of its history in the most perfect way – with a Dakar-inspired bike built from the bones of its Spitfire roadster.

It’s all go at CCM. The news about the pseudo desert-racer (which was first revealed to the public at the Adventure Bike Rider Festival alongside another concept called the Beach Cruiser) comes not long after the launch of its Maverick scrambler, and even more recently, its yet-to-be-released Street Moto and Classic Tracker were spotted undergoing final testing ahead of going into production.

Admittedly, the snappily-tilted ‘Retro Trailie’ is still in the early stages of development, and CCM has said it’ll be gauging the response to the bike before it cracks on with production. But if the initial excitement from potential punters is anything to go by, hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer to see this bike in the flesh.

Getting into specifics, the prototype bike makes use of CCM’s tried and tested 600cc liquid-cooled single which kicks out a healthy 56bhp and 43lb-ft of torque, which is cradled neatly in the usual handcrafted tubular steel frame. So far, so familiar.

As you’d hope, it comes kitted out with 21-inch front and 19-inch rear alloy-rimmed wire wheels which are shod with some proper knobblies; gets a high-mounted mudguard up front; a big Dakar-style tank; front fairing and screen combination; numberboards; and a retro enduro-style bench seat.

It looks to get the same wavy disc set up as the Spitfire (likely grabbed by J.Juan callipers) up front, although it does feature a pair of long-travel USD Ohlins forks instead of CCM’s favoured Marzocchi forks for suspension – and there’s also a set of old-school Öhlins twin shocks at the rear.

One of the best bits about it is its glorious Camel Trophy paint job, which completes the bike and gives it a real retro Dakar racer feel. It’s also been rumoured that CCM is considering a Marlboro paint scheme instead, paying tribute to Gaston Rahier’s 1985 win on a works BMW GS.

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