Mac Motorcycles

Ellis Pitt is a British businessman and motorcyclist who believes that "the riding experience and the stories that go with motorcycle journeys seem to have been sanitized by technology and plastic." Se decided to do something about it. He's starting his own motorcycle company, Mac Motorcycles. His brief:

• Simple to maintain.
• Nothing surplus-to-requirements.
• Chopper and bobber references/details.
• The lines of a rigid frame but with suspension.
• Use a Buell Blast motor and exploit its shape.
• Harley posture, flat-tracker manners, Ducati handling.
• Exploit the power-to-weight ration of a 500cc single in a lightweight chassis.
• A return to the spirit of motorcycling - the journey is the experience/story.
  

Working with small but talented design firm Xenophya, they've designed four different motorcycles, all using the Blast engine. Mac says "There are 4 different modes; 'Spud' for dossing about on, 'Ruby', the motorcycle equivalent of 'the girl-next-door', 'Pea Shooter', for squirting to your favourite pub and gassing with your mates and the 'Roarer', a modern-day dinosaur-chaser!" If you're looking for the battery, don't bother. These are only computer renderings. But Pitt is a doer, not a talker. These bikes will happen.

I like the bikes, but that's not the point of this article. You can decide for yourself if you like them or not. The real story is the reaction of the online motorcycle community. The main sticking points are the engine and the price. Mac says they will sell for £8K-£10K. That's about $13K-$16K in the US. The Blast engine is really half of a sleeved-down Sportster engine making a leisurely 34 hp. You can buy big-bore kit that will make 50hp, but of course that will cost even more. On sites like Motorcycle Daily, MotorcycleUSA, Motorcycle.com, Hell For Leather, The Kneeslider and others are full of comments from outraged bikers demanding to know why they are asking so much for so little. How dare they sell bespoke, hand-built motorcycles at a profit? How dare they use a Blast engine when everyone know the (fill in the blank) engine is so much more superior. It's rather depressing. The world is full of people telling you why you can't do something. There are precious few people who actually do it. Ellis Pitt is a doer. His naysayers are legion but unimportant. There will be enough people who will but his bikes to make it a success. I'm far from having the money necessary to buy one of these, but if I ever get there, I'm highly tempted.