Home grown hero: UK-designed Mutt DRK-01 range features liquid cooling for the first time

Birmingham-based Mutt Motorcycles have revealed two new pared back roadsters at the Eicma international tradeshow in Milan.

Although it’s hard to make out too many details in the darkened imagery, the DRK-01 range will arrive in the spring of 2023 as either a liquid-cooled 125 or 250 option – the first bikes to ever be produced by the brand to not feature air-cooling.

Many other machines in the firm’s range are based around a Suzuki GN125-derived motor, with these new bikes designed from the ground up by the Mutt team at their Kings Norton headquarters.

Granted, the new engines were not developed in house, but it represents a significant step change for the company, who began trading less than a decade ago. In an interview with MCN earlier this year, Mutt bosses also revealed a larger capacity motorcycle was also in the works and would be the company’s first to eclipse 250cc.

Back to the DRK-01s and both DOHC single-cylinder motors feed power to the ground via a six-speed gearbox. Providing plenty of motion lotion are generous 16.5-litre fuel tanks too – with the 125 tipping the scales at 147kg dripping wet and the 250 arriving at a slightly heavier 155kg.

Sticking with the 125, which is likely to prove more popular in the UK, there’s a competitive peak power of 13.4bhp at 9500rpm, with torque sitting at a claimed 7.7lbft at 7500rpm.

Both upright models are available in matt black only and both get a manageable seat height of between 780-800mm. There’s also a CNC machined LED headlight, plus twin piston front caliper to bring you to a stop. A single, part-analogue clock completes the look.