A desert sled is a motorcycle that was built specifically for riding and racing across the desert. The original ones came out of Southern California in the 1950s and 1960s, where dealers and racers needed a bike that could finish a 150-mile race over deep sand and rough fire roads. Most of them were Triumph 650 parallel twins, set up the same way by people who knew what worked, and the format eventually became its own category.

They were called desert sleds because they were heavy bikes, by off-road standards, that skimmed across the sand like a sled rather than dancing across it the way a lightweight enduro would. A Triumph 650 weighs around 400 pounds. It pushes through the soft stuff under its own momentum, with the rider working to keep it pointed forward. The name was descriptive, not flattering, and it stuck because it was accurate.

Where the bikes came from

Southern California in the 1950s and 1960s had one of the most active off-road racing scenes in motorcycling history. The Big Bear Run, the Catalina Grand Prix, and the AMA District 37 events across the Mojave drew hundreds of riders every weekend. Johnson Motors of Pasadena, the West Coast Triumph distributor known as JoMo, ran a factory team that won most of them for about fifteen straight years.

The bikes evolved on the racecourse because the racecourse demanded it. The Triumph factory in Meriden eventually started building the TR6C the way American dealers told them to build it. The single carburetor was an American request. The high pipes were an American request. The dirt-specification gearing was an American request. The bike was, in effect, designed in California and assembled in England.

What made it a sled

A desert sled has a fairly specific configuration. Every choice on the list below was made for a reason that mattered in deep sand or on a rough fire road:

  • A 650cc British parallel twin, almost always Triumph, occasionally BSA.
  • A single Amal carburetor. Twin carbs were left at home for tuning consistency at changing altitudes.
  • High exhaust, both pipes routed up the right side, with a heat shield.
  • A small fuel tank and a single seat (usually a Bates solo) because weight slows you down off-road.
  • Stripped of road equipment: no chrome trim beyond what came on the engine, no large fenders, no extraneous lights.
  • Lifted suspension: longer rear shocks or stock shocks set firm, taller bars, more ground clearance than the road version of the same bike.
  • Real off-road tires. Period-appropriate is 4.00x18 K70 knobs at the rear, 3.50x19 at the front.
The name was descriptive, not flattering. It stuck because it was accurate.

The bikes

The Triumph TR6 Trophy (1956–1972) is the bike most desert sleds were built on. The TR6C variant from 1966 to 1971, which came from the factory with high pipes and dirt-specification gearing, is the most committed version. Pre-unit Trophies from 1956 to 1962 converted for desert use also qualify. So do BSA A65 Spitfire-derived dirt builds. Occasionally a Matchless G80CSR shows up at a vintage event and fits the spirit of it.

The desert sled is its own category, separate from the modern-styled scrambler. A modern Triumph Scrambler 900, for example, is a road bike with off-road styling, designed for paved roads and the occasional fire trail. A 1968 TR6C was designed for a 150-mile desert race. They share a silhouette, but they were built for different jobs.

A note about McQueen

Steve McQueen rode desert sleds, raced them, and helped popularize the look. He did not create the category. The bikes had been winning Southern California desert races for years before he became famous for being on them. He was one of many committed riders in the SoCal scene, and his fame brought the bikes to a wider audience. The category outlasted his publicity by twenty years.

If you want to see the original ones, come by the shop. We usually have a few in the rack.