This bike has been haunting the living shit out of me ever since I clapped eyes on it way back when it was released in 2001. That's over ten years ago for you'ze who is not good at doing mathamaticisms, and yet it still looks as fresh as a daisy (a daisy which is packing a 1000cc v-twin and twin projector lamps!).
I say 'haunting' because while its one of my favorite ever motorcycle designs, I've never managed to see one in real life and there are very few quality images around with which I can ogle it perversely from afar. There's not even much specification detail out there so I'll probably be making most of this article up (as always- corrections very welcome).
Its beautiful yet brutal (brutiful?), refined yet mechanical; its the Sachs Beast 1000 concept.
Sachs Motorcycles is/was/could be a German manufacturer, founded in 1886 which in recent years has had a bit of a rough time. Initially producing small capacity motorcycles, motorised bicycles, mopeds and ATVs the company suffered some nasty times through the late 80s and 90s with a bankruptcy and the ultimate humiliation of being reduced to assembling Chinese sourced scooters (not counting the MadAss: Sachs designed and made). Recently the company changed name to SFM and manufactures electric bicycles and scooters.
So given that history of sensible commuter transport where did the wild 1000cc Beast come from? Well, given the lack of available background to this story I would make an educated guess that the 'Millennium-Bug', rather than screw with everyones computers on NYE1999, actually implanted itself into the brain of the CEO of Sachs, compelling him to produce an incredible motorcycle (the Millennium Bug is an avid motorcyclist).
I won't speculate further on that at this point however one thing is clear; someone at Sachs got on the phone with someone at Target Design (designers of the Suzuki Katana) and asked them to draw up a beast of a bike. And they did.
The engine appears to be a Swedish built 1000cc Folan V-Twin. Its a mysterious engine; the Folan website is fairly 'information-free' however it seems to be a DOHC, 60 degree angle model with dry clutch which was eventually bought-out and put into use by American manufacturer Highland Motorcycles. The engine is a stressed member to the extreme extent that there isn't any visible 'frame' at all.
The Target Design website claims a 100hp und einem gewicht of 145kg which is kind of academic really since you and I will tragically, never ever ride the damn thing.
Front end gives me goosebumps: Paioli, little spoiler fairing things and projector lamps.
(Top) Exhaust is work of spaghetti-art (Bottom) Frosted PMMA panels for knee grip; tidy.
