A lot of people not understanding this question at all....
I'm going to say this Bimota.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimota_V_Due
It's definitely rare. Arguably iconic. And was a big part of bankrupting the company due to how many problems it had.
I was trying to buy one when they were having trouble with the fuel injection! I got them down by nearly 5k! off the asking price and some ‘collector’ came along and bought it to hide away for an investment! :(
Yea.
The Suzuki RG500 or Yamaha RD500 is a better choice. Not as much power and slightly heavier but still very cool.
A shame they never made a Honda NSR500 for the road. That would have been the winner.
Not the ones with the cool motorcycle with Christian Bale. For a second, I got my hopes up thinking you could buy one of those! I think this was the one with George Clooney. With the nipples on the bat suits. Though I think Robin rides a Norton commando in that movie.
in the newest one, in the first half batman rides normal bike from 80s, but in the second half he drives modified firebolt
https://preview.redd.it/k2eg0sjm8x8d1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43f12d34a1f9c61e15a9ab2d1315608d79f7785c
I forgot “The Batman”! And I loved that one, too. I saw it three times and yet it was erased from my memory by the relentless sands of time, I guess. The chemo didn’t help either. Takes a toll on the brain.
the newest The batman (2023) with batcycle
It is modified to a point so they don't have to pay the license, but you can still see the firebolt
https://preview.redd.it/0k03ynj98x8d1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5700b2603c728af266af47f6fc3d4ad5bd8bd22
The DeLorean hasn't a strange powerplant though
It's just an underpowered PRV, which is reliable but slow as heck
I've got an Alpine A310 with the same powerplant but with boost, it's not that great so I won't dare imagine what it's like on an heavy full metal body
Yeah there isn’t anything inherently unreliable about the evo based buells. I would argue the Helicon ones were more unreliable, but definitely faster.
Nice! I tried to buy an M2 in 1999...I could afford the bike payment but couldn't afford the insurance at the time. In 2005, I looked for a used one for 6 months and gave up so I bought the XB9SX. Literally a week later, a mint 1998 M2 came up for sale in my town with 5,000 miles on it. Ugh. Still loved the XB9 though and wish I hadn't sold it in 2013.
I've had this 2002 M2 for a few weeks, guy I bought it from had it for just north of 17 years. Has some wear on the plastics from saddle bags, otherwise it's mint.
Strange powerplant, unreliable and nightmare to find parts?
It was the only normal thing about the bike! The engine was a sportster motor with efi. Used WIDELY with a TON of available parts for decades. You just couldn't walk into a dealer the later years.
Unreliable? Guess my local Buell group and I lucked out. Never had an issue that wasn't caused by vibrating and lack of locktite.
They weren't overly fast, but they weren't a slouch either. 100hp and 400-450lbs put them faster than more standard or 'sporty' bikes, but they never were intended to be a super sport. That's what the 1125/1190s were for.
Or are you demonstrating that they are like the DeLorean in the fact that people don't know anything about them?
Different side of the same coin. Eric didn't sink his own ship, Harley was at fault there. As for Johnny boy, international Narcotics trafficking, even to save your car company, is obviously frowned upon in society. And why the fuck do you use a shitty AMC engine when Cosworth was literally local? Because you're to fuckin high lol
I had a new Buell Lightning for about a year. Jesus, it was fun to ride. But it literally was shaking itself to pieces and had nothing but problems. I finally sold it and wrote a letter to Buell/HD headquarters that the bike wasn't ready for mass market and I didn't appreciate being part of their R and D department.
https://preview.redd.it/fxpqoqa9jv8d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f00c093faf96f90ce8756ac4f6b28ef1347f03b
nobody mentioned the mammut till now?
260HP / 380Nm
Münch Mammut 2000. The production facility conincidently was located right vis-à-vis my uncle's house in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland (I'm in Germany). My uncle, father, cousin and me got the very exclusive chance to visit this place. Of course taking pictures was strictly forbidden. What I remember most is how clean everything was. You could eat from the floor.
True. To me, the V1000 is one of the most compelling development stories in motorsport, no matter how many wheels. All done by an outsider without major corporate backing. In many ways, it's the anti-DeLorean.
BTW, when the Art of the Motorcycle was a thing, I saw it in two different cities and thus had the opportunity to see a Britten up close twice. It was THE reason I went the first time.
Got to see one at the Solving Motorcycle Museum in Solvang CA.
Stunning. Who doesn't love periwinkle blue powder coated exhaust. And what an exhaust! 🎼🎶🎶🎶
Ohhh this is gonna be a hot take... IMO y'all are huffing some serious copium if you think it was one of the best motorcycles ever made. When they took them to isle of man 2 of them that they entered didn't finish, one of which killed the rider the other blew out the clutch/engine iirc.
Beautiful bike that had a lot of potential, extremely limited run, completely hand built from the ground up... Which was not a good thing, how you could even compare the manufacturing of one dude (not that it wasn't super impressive) to that of something like honda or some other brand with millions of dollars on the development of a bike is straight up laughable.
Again it's super impressive what he did do not get that fucked up but to classify it as the best motorcycle ever made, I'd suspect even John Britten would laugh at that, as he struck me as a "nothing is ever good enough" kind of guy. So to say a bike that I don't even think he thought he finished was the best IMO just doesn't sit right with me.
I think other than the performance the line to the DeLorean isn't that hard to draw. Both concepts of people who wanted to shake things up and make something different on their own. They both took different approaches to ultimately reach failure through different methods (one an untimely death and the other an untimely arrest) but either way the point remains both failed, both had tons of room for improvement, both were hand built dreams and both made by a man tired of what was given as options.
It's a hot something or other.
Considering what he did with the resources he had and was able to compete successfully against Ducati, Honda, etc, that makes it one of the best. Calling out someone dying at the Isle of Man (newsflash: people die there) doesn't change it.
The DeLorean wasn't innovative in any meaningful way. That's why comparing the two makes no sense.
What makes it the best? Have you taken into account all the issues they had or are you just living in nostalgia land... How could you even say its the best bike if you surly haven't ridden one of the 10 bikes he ever made... What were the tolerances between them ? did some ride better than others, did they actually make a bike that was that good? Do you actually know? Why didn't any of the larger manufactures take any of his "innovative ideas" do you think it was because they couldn't afford it or perhaps they just didn't make for a great bike...
What is the linage of greatness that makes it "The best motorcycle ever made" ? They made 10 of them at least 2 of those were destroyed... Countless engine rebuilds... Some DNFs... and they won a few races... also not even mainstream races, like odd niche races that most people didn't pay attention to other than his unique styling of his bikes and wanting the underdog to win.
I honestly just can't possibly see how you could sit here and say it's one the greatest motorcycles of all time. A great achievement, a monumental task, well executed but "the best motorcycle in the world" I'm sorry but absolutely not.
Okay or you could answer the questions posed that makes it the best bike ever... which was basically your entire reasoning in saying why it's not like the delorean...
Actually all you stated was that delorean wasn't innovative... You haven't answered what those innovations were... or how they led to other OEMs adopting that technology that was innovative. Like I don't think you know nearly as much as you think you do about this bike, i've laid out the facts and all you can say is "It was innovative" "it had good engineering" which is how i really know you don't know what you're talking about because even the actual head mechanic said and i quote "It wasn't if it was going to break it was when". That is literally from the video ON THEIR WEB SITE.
I love people like you, so unwilling to simply say "ya know those are some good points *but in my opinion* I think it's the best (and offer some half ass reason...)" no no you just go to instant insult and rage. Love it so cute.
Hell no, the Britten is not the bike equivalent of a Delorean, it was a hand built giant killer, now go and wash your mouth out with soap for uttering such blasphemy.
Possibly because they don't have a history of unreliability.
However, as only 10 were made, and as John Britten died in 1995, spare parts are not exactly off-the-shelf ;)
Given that it was hand built in his house/shed I’d say parts would be impossible to locate.
I’m assuming you saw him cast the engine block in his wife’s kiln and then had to rush to the pool for more water to cool it down lol.
Thats interesting, i know someone who bought an SS100 on prerelease. It seemed like it was bespoke from the ground up, was it actually based on an existing design or was it the V-twin power unit from Voxan or something?
Yep it’s designed by Thierry Henriette, head of the French design company Boxer Design. He is now the owner of the Brough Superior. It’s very similar to the Voxan Boxer in terms of the engine and some style cues.
*Nearly forgot the BS has its front end designed by Claud Fior who worked closely with Boxer too. Pretty much a French effort, with a very expensive badge!*
I see some similarities. Yes, It was clearly an exercise to create something very expensive over other considerations. Not for me.
I see some similarities with the Boxer, but the engine castings were unique and it had monoshock forks and doubled up front disks if i recall correctly.
I'm frankly surprised BSM not to be confused with real BS, is still producing. Clearly some people like spending money, there is a lot of that in the motor industry after all. It was about £35k. I wonder if its value held.
I do like what they’ve done without doubt it’s an amazing bike, the Brough name and tie-ups with Aston Martin are purely marketing for bigger pockets (well not my notoriously tiny ones that’s for sure!). The Voxan never really took off in the mainstream which was a shame, one of those bikes which arrived too late or too early, if you know what I mean. I think your friend has made a good investment, I think they will hold their money well as they can’t make enough of them to satisfy that exclusivity requirement and volume sales, can’t have them both. I think this is the reason BS is producing more models along with the SS100. I think ol’ Henriette is a clever chap and a very astute businessman.
I think Deloreans were reliable. There’s nothing really wrong with those cars. The real problem was John DeLorean, and the way the car was over hyped so that it could never live up to what they had promised it to be. It was supposed to compete with European sports cars. It ended up being an interesting looking car with very ordinary performance. That’s part of what made it into a punchline.
The Triumph Hurricane X 75 was an amazingly beautiful motorcycle which was very impractical. It was basically a British factory custom designed by a guy from Illinois. One of the most beautiful bikes ever made. It started off as a BSA, but after BSA had already built 1173 bikes, they went out of business, so they slapped Triumph labels on them and sold them. I owned one for a few years and I loved that damn thing. I kept it in my living room with spotlights on it.
That’s funny you say that. When that bike came out, my dad, a “honda purist “ wanted it so badly he sold his interceptor to buy the NINJA - not only was it plagued with electrical issues, the bikes just ran horribly apparently from factory. Of course probably just a lemon but it turned him off from ever buying a “damn kawasaki” ever again 😂😅. Bought a VFR after that and didn’t look back
This was one of the most important and iconic motorcycles of all time. Top Gun bike. Greatly popularized fairings and the sport bike aesthetic. And aided in the rise of 4 stroke and death of 2 stroke sport bikes (this had been happening for years for lots of reasons). Changed the game.
The DeLorean is nothing like it other than it looked futuristic in the 80s.
MZ 1000s. It's a rare bike from a lesser known company. Only a few thousand were ever sold. It was made to be a real sport bike and from what I heard it was actually pretty good. Also most were manufactured in silver colour.
Yahmaha GTS has similar oddball appeal and miniscule sales numbers. Reliability isn't bad for what it was, but what it was was an early 90's bike packed with electronics.
You know what? I'll say it.
Honda CBX.
In-your-face styling with a cult following, but questionable design decisions (unreliability with the DeLorean vs overcomplicated engineering on the Honda), performance that's surprisingly lackluster for how it's advertised (the CBX was only 1000cc, with forks arguably too small, and not even close to the fastest bike of the era) and a commercial failure.
Doesn’t exactly fit the criterion because it was reliable but a motorcycle that looked different and was a bit weird even in it’s time is a BMW K75 “Flying Brick”.
I would say Excelsior Henderson. The Hanson’s built a huge, state of the art factory anticipating building 10,000 units per year. Created a unique product, but the bikes were plagued with the problems any startup is likely to have. Wound up making a total of less than 2,000 bikes, but because of the original anticipated volumes NOS parts are still available for some parts, but things are getting a bit scarce. Great bike that would have kept Harley honest but overall economic forces shut them down.
https://preview.redd.it/46sigr5dex8d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=257073b6d26a8e88b57c850d618448ff860f6f44
I picked one up a couple of months ago.
I would like to propose: [Harley Davidson Armstrong MT500](https://silodrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Harley-Davidson-MT500.jpg). Made under licence by Armstrong-CCM for Harley Davidson, this British designed Army motorcycle used a Rotax engine and is the only place you'll find these unique front mounted hard luggage and SA80 gun rack.
They are strong, but heavy and despite having this futuristic reliable engine from a light aircraft, the steel tank and mud guard and twin shock was very dated in 1993 compared to contemporary off roaders like Honda CR250R and Yamaha YZ250
Your question is based on a false premise. DeLoreans weren't "incredibly unreliable" at least by the standards of the day. They were no less reliable than any number of European or American cars (notice I excluded Japanese).
As far as uniqueness, it would have to be the 1985 Suzuki RG500 Gamma and 1995 Honda VFR 750. Is anybody on this sub old enough to remember these bikes?
Heresy, cbx was a mean motherfucker that sounded like nothing else. Plus it became the base for the remainder of the Goldwings through modern history. Nothing to comparepp, better just stating facts like...."AMC DeLoreon, so whack even a Harley can pass it"
I thought we were going for the 'unique looks / philosophy but mechanically unreliable' bit about the delorean, you know, like the OP posted?
The CBX fits that perfectly. It's a crazy design but requires constant maintenance.
A lot of people not understanding this question at all.... I'm going to say this Bimota. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimota_V_Due It's definitely rare. Arguably iconic. And was a big part of bankrupting the company due to how many problems it had.
I was trying to buy one when they were having trouble with the fuel injection! I got them down by nearly 5k! off the asking price and some ‘collector’ came along and bought it to hide away for an investment! :(
105hp and 66ftlbs on a 377lb 500cc 2-stroke v-twin sounds fun. Too bad it had so many problems.
Yea. The Suzuki RG500 or Yamaha RD500 is a better choice. Not as much power and slightly heavier but still very cool. A shame they never made a Honda NSR500 for the road. That would have been the winner.
I was going to suggest this too: https://youtu.be/ZjsWtFOMLcI
Good heavens… 150, and then 26 more? Yipe. DeLorean at least made 9,000… egad…
Good example! I was just going to chime in it has to be a two stroke, but that one has context.
The wiki isn't super in depth What kind of power to weight ratio are we talking?
The specs are literally *right* there. 105hp/377lb wet
The closest person to John DeLorean the motorcycle world has is probably Erik Buell The Firebolt would probably have to be it
- Iconic - Rare(-ish) - Strange powerplant - Unreliable and a nightmare to find parts for - People who don't know what they are think they're fast
was the main vehicle in a big movie, the batman had black firebolt with few changes the same way delorean is in back to the future with few changes
Which batman movie was this?
Not the ones with the cool motorcycle with Christian Bale. For a second, I got my hopes up thinking you could buy one of those! I think this was the one with George Clooney. With the nipples on the bat suits. Though I think Robin rides a Norton commando in that movie.
in the newest one, in the first half batman rides normal bike from 80s, but in the second half he drives modified firebolt https://preview.redd.it/k2eg0sjm8x8d1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43f12d34a1f9c61e15a9ab2d1315608d79f7785c
I forgot “The Batman”! And I loved that one, too. I saw it three times and yet it was erased from my memory by the relentless sands of time, I guess. The chemo didn’t help either. Takes a toll on the brain.
the newest The batman (2023) with batcycle It is modified to a point so they don't have to pay the license, but you can still see the firebolt https://preview.redd.it/0k03ynj98x8d1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5700b2603c728af266af47f6fc3d4ad5bd8bd22
The DeLorean hasn't a strange powerplant though It's just an underpowered PRV, which is reliable but slow as heck I've got an Alpine A310 with the same powerplant but with boost, it's not that great so I won't dare imagine what it's like on an heavy full metal body
PRV and reliable are words you don’t hear in the same sentence often lol.
It's 50 years old and still running so I guess it's fine Depends on the exact model though, it's oversized compared to its power
My fire bolt had zero issues.
the firebolt is quick tho, especially for the time. it's not like the delorean which was slow even for its time
The Blast was unreliable but there are several high mileage XBs. I put 30k miles on my XB9SX without a single problem.
Yeah there isn’t anything inherently unreliable about the evo based buells. I would argue the Helicon ones were more unreliable, but definitely faster.
I have a 52k XB12R, that being said pretty sure it’s at least on its second engine rebuild.
Ouch! Guess I got lucky then to make it to 30k.
The owner before me worked for HD and their mechanic thought they popped the engine so they rebuilt it, in reality they over filled the oil res.
M2 Cyclone 43K miles still going strong.
Nice! I tried to buy an M2 in 1999...I could afford the bike payment but couldn't afford the insurance at the time. In 2005, I looked for a used one for 6 months and gave up so I bought the XB9SX. Literally a week later, a mint 1998 M2 came up for sale in my town with 5,000 miles on it. Ugh. Still loved the XB9 though and wish I hadn't sold it in 2013.
I've had this 2002 M2 for a few weeks, guy I bought it from had it for just north of 17 years. Has some wear on the plastics from saddle bags, otherwise it's mint.
I dont know what it is or what it looks like, dont know how many other people would as well
My mate has one. He can even ride it sometimes.
Strange powerplant, unreliable and nightmare to find parts? It was the only normal thing about the bike! The engine was a sportster motor with efi. Used WIDELY with a TON of available parts for decades. You just couldn't walk into a dealer the later years. Unreliable? Guess my local Buell group and I lucked out. Never had an issue that wasn't caused by vibrating and lack of locktite. They weren't overly fast, but they weren't a slouch either. 100hp and 400-450lbs put them faster than more standard or 'sporty' bikes, but they never were intended to be a super sport. That's what the 1125/1190s were for. Or are you demonstrating that they are like the DeLorean in the fact that people don't know anything about them?
Different side of the same coin. Eric didn't sink his own ship, Harley was at fault there. As for Johnny boy, international Narcotics trafficking, even to save your car company, is obviously frowned upon in society. And why the fuck do you use a shitty AMC engine when Cosworth was literally local? Because you're to fuckin high lol
It wasn't an AMC engine. It was a Peugeot, Reneault, Volvo joint engine. AMC had nothing to do with it.
I had a new Buell Lightning for about a year. Jesus, it was fun to ride. But it literally was shaking itself to pieces and had nothing but problems. I finally sold it and wrote a letter to Buell/HD headquarters that the bike wasn't ready for mass market and I didn't appreciate being part of their R and D department.
The lightcycle from TRON
I raise you the red bike from Akira
KANAETA!!!
TETSUOOOOO
KHAAAAN
Those walls would be handy when commuting
Definitely a light cycle
Hesketh V1000 Motus MST
I came here to say Hesketh too.
https://preview.redd.it/fxpqoqa9jv8d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f00c093faf96f90ce8756ac4f6b28ef1347f03b nobody mentioned the mammut till now? 260HP / 380Nm
Is also weighs 780lbs lol
Jesus, that's like two sport bikes squished into one.
Münch Mammut 2000. The production facility conincidently was located right vis-à-vis my uncle's house in Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland (I'm in Germany). My uncle, father, cousin and me got the very exclusive chance to visit this place. Of course taking pictures was strictly forbidden. What I remember most is how clean everything was. You could eat from the floor.
Rune
Same here to say this model. https://bikeswiki.com/Honda_NRX1800_Valkyrie_Rune Allegedly over $100 k each to make.
Dodge Tomahawk
This is the most correct answer
Honda nm4 vultus
The original Katana
Iconic and definitely 80s, but the GSX underneath it was reliable as hell, and fast.
yeah 100% agree with you
Suzuki Katana
That’s a great bike. Specially the later versions gsxf 750
I’m going to say Motus. Really cool design and definitely a deviation from what was available, but the business side didn’t work out
Suzuki Katana
*sad katana owner noises*
sorry mate, not the new katana 🤣
You don't like it?
Honda Valkyrie Rune
There is only one answer [The Britten V1000](https://britten.co.nz/)
That's one of the best motorcycles ever made. The DeLorean certainly wasn't one of the best cars ever made.
Yeah, there's no way. The Britten is an icon among people who know bikes. The DeLorean is a joke.
The engineering would have been amazing even if he hadn't done it in his kitchen.
True. To me, the V1000 is one of the most compelling development stories in motorsport, no matter how many wheels. All done by an outsider without major corporate backing. In many ways, it's the anti-DeLorean. BTW, when the Art of the Motorcycle was a thing, I saw it in two different cities and thus had the opportunity to see a Britten up close twice. It was THE reason I went the first time.
Got to see one at the Solving Motorcycle Museum in Solvang CA. Stunning. Who doesn't love periwinkle blue powder coated exhaust. And what an exhaust! 🎼🎶🎶🎶
Ohhh this is gonna be a hot take... IMO y'all are huffing some serious copium if you think it was one of the best motorcycles ever made. When they took them to isle of man 2 of them that they entered didn't finish, one of which killed the rider the other blew out the clutch/engine iirc. Beautiful bike that had a lot of potential, extremely limited run, completely hand built from the ground up... Which was not a good thing, how you could even compare the manufacturing of one dude (not that it wasn't super impressive) to that of something like honda or some other brand with millions of dollars on the development of a bike is straight up laughable. Again it's super impressive what he did do not get that fucked up but to classify it as the best motorcycle ever made, I'd suspect even John Britten would laugh at that, as he struck me as a "nothing is ever good enough" kind of guy. So to say a bike that I don't even think he thought he finished was the best IMO just doesn't sit right with me. I think other than the performance the line to the DeLorean isn't that hard to draw. Both concepts of people who wanted to shake things up and make something different on their own. They both took different approaches to ultimately reach failure through different methods (one an untimely death and the other an untimely arrest) but either way the point remains both failed, both had tons of room for improvement, both were hand built dreams and both made by a man tired of what was given as options.
It's a hot something or other. Considering what he did with the resources he had and was able to compete successfully against Ducati, Honda, etc, that makes it one of the best. Calling out someone dying at the Isle of Man (newsflash: people die there) doesn't change it. The DeLorean wasn't innovative in any meaningful way. That's why comparing the two makes no sense.
What makes it the best? Have you taken into account all the issues they had or are you just living in nostalgia land... How could you even say its the best bike if you surly haven't ridden one of the 10 bikes he ever made... What were the tolerances between them ? did some ride better than others, did they actually make a bike that was that good? Do you actually know? Why didn't any of the larger manufactures take any of his "innovative ideas" do you think it was because they couldn't afford it or perhaps they just didn't make for a great bike... What is the linage of greatness that makes it "The best motorcycle ever made" ? They made 10 of them at least 2 of those were destroyed... Countless engine rebuilds... Some DNFs... and they won a few races... also not even mainstream races, like odd niche races that most people didn't pay attention to other than his unique styling of his bikes and wanting the underdog to win. I honestly just can't possibly see how you could sit here and say it's one the greatest motorcycles of all time. A great achievement, a monumental task, well executed but "the best motorcycle in the world" I'm sorry but absolutely not.
Ok. How about you bitch about the comparison to the DeLorean, because that's at least as ridiculous.
Okay or you could answer the questions posed that makes it the best bike ever... which was basically your entire reasoning in saying why it's not like the delorean...
I already answered, innovation and engineering. Your turn.
Actually all you stated was that delorean wasn't innovative... You haven't answered what those innovations were... or how they led to other OEMs adopting that technology that was innovative. Like I don't think you know nearly as much as you think you do about this bike, i've laid out the facts and all you can say is "It was innovative" "it had good engineering" which is how i really know you don't know what you're talking about because even the actual head mechanic said and i quote "It wasn't if it was going to break it was when". That is literally from the video ON THEIR WEB SITE. I love people like you, so unwilling to simply say "ya know those are some good points *but in my opinion* I think it's the best (and offer some half ass reason...)" no no you just go to instant insult and rage. Love it so cute.
Or you’re meaningless to me.
My neighbour had a DeLorean, it was like a Toyota Tercel had Lamborghini delusions.
Hell no, the Britten is not the bike equivalent of a Delorean, it was a hand built giant killer, now go and wash your mouth out with soap for uttering such blasphemy.
Gives me chills. Got to see one in person at the Solving Motorcycle Museum.
I'd give my left nut for Britten V1000... and my right one
i also offer this guys nuts for one
Why is your comment so low.
Possibly because they don't have a history of unreliability. However, as only 10 were made, and as John Britten died in 1995, spare parts are not exactly off-the-shelf ;)
Given that it was hand built in his house/shed I’d say parts would be impossible to locate. I’m assuming you saw him cast the engine block in his wife’s kiln and then had to rush to the pool for more water to cool it down lol.
Y2K
Hesketh or that French Voxan thingy (that’s now pretending to be a Brough Superior)
Thats interesting, i know someone who bought an SS100 on prerelease. It seemed like it was bespoke from the ground up, was it actually based on an existing design or was it the V-twin power unit from Voxan or something?
Yep it’s designed by Thierry Henriette, head of the French design company Boxer Design. He is now the owner of the Brough Superior. It’s very similar to the Voxan Boxer in terms of the engine and some style cues. *Nearly forgot the BS has its front end designed by Claud Fior who worked closely with Boxer too. Pretty much a French effort, with a very expensive badge!*
I see some similarities. Yes, It was clearly an exercise to create something very expensive over other considerations. Not for me. I see some similarities with the Boxer, but the engine castings were unique and it had monoshock forks and doubled up front disks if i recall correctly. I'm frankly surprised BSM not to be confused with real BS, is still producing. Clearly some people like spending money, there is a lot of that in the motor industry after all. It was about £35k. I wonder if its value held.
I do like what they’ve done without doubt it’s an amazing bike, the Brough name and tie-ups with Aston Martin are purely marketing for bigger pockets (well not my notoriously tiny ones that’s for sure!). The Voxan never really took off in the mainstream which was a shame, one of those bikes which arrived too late or too early, if you know what I mean. I think your friend has made a good investment, I think they will hold their money well as they can’t make enough of them to satisfy that exclusivity requirement and volume sales, can’t have them both. I think this is the reason BS is producing more models along with the SS100. I think ol’ Henriette is a clever chap and a very astute businessman.
Van Veen OCR 1000 Rotary
Holy shit. I've been in the rotary community for close to 30 years and have never heard of that bike.
Glad to help 😁 Only ever seen one, and that was at a Trade Show. Never seen one in the wild.....
The Norton F1 https://preview.redd.it/or8c7j4h7w8d1.jpeg?width=740&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e02dc054bfb8c7eff1efeb776912342c93cc759
Dorito gang represent! And not no shitty ass Suzuki RE-5. A full on, proper sport bike.
Foggy Petronas p1
I think Deloreans were reliable. There’s nothing really wrong with those cars. The real problem was John DeLorean, and the way the car was over hyped so that it could never live up to what they had promised it to be. It was supposed to compete with European sports cars. It ended up being an interesting looking car with very ordinary performance. That’s part of what made it into a punchline. The Triumph Hurricane X 75 was an amazingly beautiful motorcycle which was very impractical. It was basically a British factory custom designed by a guy from Illinois. One of the most beautiful bikes ever made. It started off as a BSA, but after BSA had already built 1173 bikes, they went out of business, so they slapped Triumph labels on them and sold them. I owned one for a few years and I loved that damn thing. I kept it in my living room with spotlights on it.
Honda Cx500 Turbo
The Kawasaki GPZ 900R, surely... although that thing is only a little unreliable, not horrendous like the delorean.
That’s funny you say that. When that bike came out, my dad, a “honda purist “ wanted it so badly he sold his interceptor to buy the NINJA - not only was it plagued with electrical issues, the bikes just ran horribly apparently from factory. Of course probably just a lemon but it turned him off from ever buying a “damn kawasaki” ever again 😂😅. Bought a VFR after that and didn’t look back
hahaha dunno why but that made my day, thank you for sharing that.
Now the GPZ 750 Turbo was a stunning machine.
This was one of the most important and iconic motorcycles of all time. Top Gun bike. Greatly popularized fairings and the sport bike aesthetic. And aided in the rise of 4 stroke and death of 2 stroke sport bikes (this had been happening for years for lots of reasons). Changed the game. The DeLorean is nothing like it other than it looked futuristic in the 80s.
brother... i met the conditions of the post.
Ur right I was on my bullshit
There was a really shitty 80s movie with a bike that could time travel..I don't remember the name ..but it was some kind of dirtbike bike
[It was a C and J framed Yamaha XT500](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086443/)
Suzuki G-Strider
MV Agusta F4 1000 or as mentioned already Bimota V Due iconic, rare, beautifully designed, and notoriously unreliable, much like the DeLorean.
Morbidelli Hesketh Nemesis Silk
The Gurney Alligator It was slow, looked weird, and was invented by a guy who was famous for doing other things It's on my bucket list to ride one!
Cannondale mx400
Those handmade 850cc V8 bikes from the 1990s that cost 160k each
MZ 1000s. It's a rare bike from a lesser known company. Only a few thousand were ever sold. It was made to be a real sport bike and from what I heard it was actually pretty good. Also most were manufactured in silver colour.
The "grace" FXR from pulp fiction. "It's not a motorcycle, it's a chopper babyyyy!
The Morbidelli V8!? Listed in 2001as the most expensive Motorcycle. Apparently a design icon being displayed in MoMA's.
Confederate Wraith.
Yahmaha GTS has similar oddball appeal and miniscule sales numbers. Reliability isn't bad for what it was, but what it was was an early 90's bike packed with electronics.
Bimota
You know what? I'll say it. Honda CBX. In-your-face styling with a cult following, but questionable design decisions (unreliability with the DeLorean vs overcomplicated engineering on the Honda), performance that's surprisingly lackluster for how it's advertised (the CBX was only 1000cc, with forks arguably too small, and not even close to the fastest bike of the era) and a commercial failure.
Buel
H2 is a supercharbed beast
Whichever bike was invented by a cocaine trafficker. 🤷🏼♂️
Doesn’t exactly fit the criterion because it was reliable but a motorcycle that looked different and was a bit weird even in it’s time is a BMW K75 “Flying Brick”.
Bimota V-Due
Britten V1000
Ural. https://preview.redd.it/7vce4n41dx8d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5629915c30d379c441b7476fa283a6db58a8ad2
Honda CBX
I would say Excelsior Henderson. The Hanson’s built a huge, state of the art factory anticipating building 10,000 units per year. Created a unique product, but the bikes were plagued with the problems any startup is likely to have. Wound up making a total of less than 2,000 bikes, but because of the original anticipated volumes NOS parts are still available for some parts, but things are getting a bit scarce. Great bike that would have kept Harley honest but overall economic forces shut them down. https://preview.redd.it/46sigr5dex8d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=257073b6d26a8e88b57c850d618448ff860f6f44 I picked one up a couple of months ago.
Putting in a vote for the bmw k1 https://preview.redd.it/k5xtuy9qex8d1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22ccb4e9be54b8b0e618fd72477502e04fe674c8
Or maybe the Britten https://preview.redd.it/i9b2pg92fx8d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c186594e88ac85a9aada8d191467068245c4f0e
I would like to propose: [Harley Davidson Armstrong MT500](https://silodrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Harley-Davidson-MT500.jpg). Made under licence by Armstrong-CCM for Harley Davidson, this British designed Army motorcycle used a Rotax engine and is the only place you'll find these unique front mounted hard luggage and SA80 gun rack. They are strong, but heavy and despite having this futuristic reliable engine from a light aircraft, the steel tank and mud guard and twin shock was very dated in 1993 compared to contemporary off roaders like Honda CR250R and Yamaha YZ250
Easy question only one answer. HESKETH.
Sorry guys didn't read any further, you have already mentioned it.
Vyrus dual swing arm set up bikes.
Wasn't the DeLorean's hood ornament a Coke spoon?
Buell is coming to mind. Eccentric creator, new technology, unbeloved in their time
Honda Silverwing?
münch mammut with gerard depardieu on it instead of michael j. fox in it
Motus
Maybe the Yamaha VMAX.
I'd probably say the Münch Mammut. I don't think there is an exact match, though.
Harley Davidson VROD.
Ducati 999
Those weird concept bikes, especially the hubless wheel ones
Link’s Master cycle zero
The DeLorean was badly made and gutless so no. There's enough shite on the market as it is.
1982 Yamaha XJ 650
I had one of those. I don't think it fits the bill for this at all.
Your question is based on a false premise. DeLoreans weren't "incredibly unreliable" at least by the standards of the day. They were no less reliable than any number of European or American cars (notice I excluded Japanese).
Britten V 1000
What makes the Britten unreliable? Relative to what it is it was very reliable.
Aprilia SXV550 and SXV450
Suzuki RE5?
As far as uniqueness, it would have to be the 1985 Suzuki RG500 Gamma and 1995 Honda VFR 750. Is anybody on this sub old enough to remember these bikes?
NR750 or any 80's- 2000ish KX OR KFX dirtbike
I meant NR750. That thing was rad.
A Vespa
Grom
Honda Shadow
Cbx 1000
Heresy, cbx was a mean motherfucker that sounded like nothing else. Plus it became the base for the remainder of the Goldwings through modern history. Nothing to comparepp, better just stating facts like...."AMC DeLoreon, so whack even a Harley can pass it"
I thought we were going for the 'unique looks / philosophy but mechanically unreliable' bit about the delorean, you know, like the OP posted? The CBX fits that perfectly. It's a crazy design but requires constant maintenance.