Most expensive bikes in 2021
Steampunk triumphs with the Neiman Marcus Limited Edition Fighter! There, that’s out first thing. Now to the details. Whoever saw it coming that Neiman Marcus Limited Edition Fighter would later claim pole position at any top ten list of big bikes is probably a seer of the highest order, especially when one considers how it began the market at a “humble” $110,000. And mind you, Neiman Marcus is a name you would rightly connect with department store rather than a superbike.
The unique clockwork design, however, seems to have taken care of all that. The bike’s eye-catching chassis, carved from a single piece of metal, proved to be an extreme hit with enthusiasts. As it turned out, even Apple just used the same approach for its new laptop case at the time. Many design experts agreed: this is styling at its best, where the utility of the vehicle is styled rather than hidden from sight. When reviewers first saw the bike, they were simply knocked over by its evolutionary style. Neiman rightly pounced on the immediate trance-like reaction and came up with this line: “It’s an evolution of the machine, at once taken back down to its core elements while being reinvented and re-engineered for optimal performance. It’s our street-legal sci-fi dream come to life, in the form of the limited-edition Fighter Motorcycles".
Despite the $11 million price tag and mean looks, the Neiman Marcus Limited Edition Fighter is completely street-legal, managing the road at a 190 mph top speed, the power coming from a 120ci 45-degree air-cooled V-Twin engine complemented by titanium, aluminum, and carbon fiber body parts.
A bike manufacturer with a rich history and winning racetrack heritage marred by several financial turbulence early on, AJS could only manage to produce 4 Porcupine units in 1949. As it turned out, one of these under the very able hands of Les Graham won the 1949 World Championship
An open frame, aluminium alloy, 500cc, DOHC twin engine with horizontal cylinders and heads give the Porcupine a low centre of gravity. It uses what’s called “Jam-pot” shocks and Teledraulic race forks. The design and manufacturing decisions made by AJS first through the original owners and then through the succeeding ones read like a virtual and veritable source of what-to-do ideas for any aspiring bike professional.
When a bike manufacturer requires even a professional driver to first take a two-week training before trying to ride one of its models, you just know something is up with this bike.
And why not, indeed. This is not two-wheel machine as traditionally defined: first, there is no chassis framework to speak of. Swingarm and rear suspension attach to the gearbox, and front suspension to the engine. The much touted 265 pounds speck of a weight comes from eliminating the extra pounds associated with transmitting front-wheel forces up a slender fork through a steering-head then back down to the rest of the machine. The front suspension consists of twin A-arms, projecting forward, their apices defining a steer axis and carrying an upright from which projects the front-wheel spindle. The lower A-arm is, in effect, a single-sided swingarm. To avoid the “muddy” steering feel of earlier articulated front ends, the handlebars are on the upward-projected steer axis, their motions so defined that resulting feel will be like that of the familiar direct-steering telescopic fork.
History is expensive, and at $3.5 million your purchase would send you back 124 years ago to 1894 when this first production motorcycle appeared on the scene.
Heinrich and Wilhelm Hidebrand were steam-engine engineers before they teamed up with Alois Wolfmüller to produce their internal combustion Motorrad in Munich in 1894. This momentous event started sending the flesh-and-blood steeds out of fashion, reinventing themselves as emblem of the refined gentry, while the special breed of men simply moved on and transferred their affections to the two-wheeled metallic petrol-guzzling steeds that took over the roads.
The first thing you would notice about the BMS Nehmesis is the yellow glitter and absence of side stand, making it look like it’s lying flat on its underbelly like a marooned whale. “Would it even run?” you ask yourself.
In fact it would: fully functional, it incorporates an air-ride system that, along with the single-sided swingarm rear suspension, can lift the motorcycle 10 inches or lower it right onto the ground. This renders a side stand unnecessary, as Nehmesis softly lands on its frame rails when it’s time to park.
As for the yellow glitter, that’s the 24-karat gold for you. This easily explains the $3 million tag price, and everyone sure would understand if you wouldn’t want to let it out of your house from the day of purchase. Most likely you’d want a showroom installed in front of the house, raised to a spectacular level so everybody gets a good view of your jewel. Make the showroom at least large enough to move about a bit with the Nehmesis for more satisfaction.
What used to occupy first place in many top-ten list of most expensive big bikes is now only good for a sixth position. However, it claims to have been sold at $3.5 million and is now up for sale at $12 million. If that happens, it should recapture the crown it once had—or not, since we don’t imagine the rest of the entries here would remain with static prices days ahead too.
Not a few people already consider most big bikes as a work of art in their own right, so making one that is a literal work of art is the next obvious step. Right? Harley Davidson appears to think so, and in their Cosmic Starship, they partnered with the famed rebel cosmic existentialist artist Jack Armstrong to apply yellow-and-red paint over a Harley V-rod and originally sold it at a flat $1 million dollars after much fanfare broadcast all over the world.
Harley Davidson appears to think so, and in their Cosmic Starship, they partnered with the famed rebel cosmic existentialist artist Jack Armstrong to apply yellow-and-red paint over a Harley V-rod and originally sold it at a flat $1 million dollars after much fanfare broadcast all over the world. If you bought a Cosmic Starship, though, you would want to think twice before parading such prized treasure all over the place.
If you think the Dodge Tomahawk V10 Superbike suspiciously looks like a 4-wheel Dodge squeezed on both sides, you won’t be alone. This Tomahawk V10 Superbike is a strange beast indeed, and not just because it uses a V10 four-stroke Dodge Viper engine that could easily power up any chassis with more than two wheels attached to it to give you the feeling of being dragged by a fleet of 500 supercharged ponies looking forward to storm the Bastille. Now talk about the soul of two-wheel steeds!
As introduced in 2003, the one-of-a-kind Tomahawk was operational and road-ready, but not fully road-tested. At the minimum, this Tomahawk is capable of reaching 60 mph (96.5 kph) in about 2.5 seconds with a theoretical top speed of 400 mph. In practice, it’s hard to imagine anyone willing to prove it. Evel Knievel probably, but he’s long retired at the time of the Tomahawk’s release and now he’s dead. Would you, however? You might have serious doubts riding this big bike, but certainly many enthusiasts are more than eager to walk this monster to their garage. This Tomahawk whose components were custom-milled from blocks of aluminum sure would not fail to catch the eyes of everyone in any showroom.
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