We’ve got an electrifying selection this week, with the debut of the £90,000 Arc Vector and a look at BMW’s surprise Vision DC electric concept. Plus a 144 hp Honda scrambler and a racy Royal Enfield from chassis legends Harris Performance.
Honda X11 by Lions Den We don’t see many custom versions of the CB1100SF. Honda’s turn-of-the-century naked is big, weighs 254 kg wet (560 lbs) and is hard to find on most secondhand markets.
But the short-lived ‘naked Blackbird’ has a lot going for it in the engine department, with 136 hp in the European version and a top speed of over 150 mph. It’s also tough and reliable and a good used buy if you can find one.
This light custom job comes from Lions Den Motorcycles of Hertfordshire in England, who focused on losing weight and getting rid of the huge stock tail section. A new subframe now bolts to the aluminum frame, topped with a racy single seat.
Other mods include a very clever new instrument/ignition housing at the front, a powerful LED headlight from Motodemic, and stainless steel mufflers from Spark. New finishes in dark graphic and gold—even on the wheels—add a lovely touch of luxury. [More]
Arc Vector electric motorcycle The British company Arc positions its Vector electric motorcycle as “the world’s most advanced” bike. And for £90,000, one should expect nothing less.
Next weekend, the Vector will be ridden in anger in public for the first time at the legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed. Arc’s CEO Mark Truman will pilot the ‘neo café racer’ up the famous 1.1 mile hillclimb course, showing off the reported power-to-weight ratio of 650 hp per tonne.
Goodwood visitors will also be able to get a closer look at the bike when it’s on static display. The battery module forms part of the carbon monocoque, the front end sports a hub center steering setup, and the 399V electric motor should be able to shred tires at will.
If you’re impressed by what you see and you have the cash to spare, you’ll be pleased to know that the first Vector model will be limited to 399 units. Customer deliveries will begin in the summer of 2020. [Arc]
Honda CB1000R scrambler by Brivemo We see some oddball mashups here, but this is one of the weirdest. The Swiss Honda dealer Brivemo has taken a CB1000R—yes, the 144 hp naked sportbike—and turned it into an Africa Twin-style scrambler.
Cleverly nicknamed the ‘Africa Four,’ this balls-out scrambler is sporting the front end from a CRF450R motocross bike, a new headlight and offroad bars, a new seat unit, and a custom 4-into-1 exhaust system with a lightweight carbon fiber muffler.
The current Africa Twin has just 92 hp, which most folks would consider plenty enough for a proper offroader, so the ‘Africa Four’ will probably be a handful in the rough stuff.
But Brivemoto are considering putting this bike into the next edition of their annual ‘Africa Twin Raid,’ a blast through the deserts and backroads of Tunisia. If the rider can manage to physically hang onto the bike and the TKC80 tires don’t give up the ghost, we reckon this CB1000R will leave every other bike in the dust. [More]
Royal Enfield x Harris Performance 650 café racer After working in the background for many years with Royal Enfield, Harris has become a part of the Indian company’s financial empire. And now the esteemed British chassis specialist has stepped out of the shadows, with a factory-sanctioned custom 650 twin.
Enfield’s design boss Adrian Sellers describes the ‘Nought Tea GT650’ as a “retro style race bike, using all Harris Performance parts.” There’s a full set of Öhlins suspension, modified to suit the Continental GT 650 and installed with the help of custom-made yokes.
The airbox has been swapped out for a pair of intake pipes, and gases exit via a full custom exhaust system. There’s a custom fairing up front, a big bore kit on the engine, a new subframe and seat unit out back, and a terrific paint job that took hours of masking to create.
This cafe racer version of Nought Tea is designed for display at shows, and there’s a more hardcore v2 on the way that will be pressed into service on the racing scene. [More]
BMW Vision DC Roadster BMW sprung a surprise on the moto world this week with the Vision DC, which provides a clue to the German company’s future. To our eyes, it’s one of the most successful electric motorcycle designs of late, even accounting for the inevitable flights of fancy you get with concept bikes.
BMW hasn’t provided any specs or launch details, but the direction is clear: the company is sticking with design cues from the iconic boxer motor, even if that motor is replaced by a battery pack.
It’s a smart move, and one that avoids the usual focus on the upper visual architecture of electric bikes. Apparently the design will help with cooling, and BMW has also retained the cardan shaft drive and Duolever fork it’s known for. The rest of the styling is slick and modern, although the grills would be a nightmare to clean.
BMW has obviously put a huge amount of thought into this roadster concept, and we suspect that a watered-down production bike featuring many of the design elements will be hitting showrooms in a couple of years. Intriguing stuff.
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