“One of the things I love about motorcycles is the variety of people who are fanatics about them—you tend to have this idea of a motorcyclist as either a super trendy tatted café racing hipster, or a Sons of Anarchy denimed-up gangster.

But the truth of the matter is that people who love escaping into the hills on motorcycles are about as varied as they come,” reveals Maxim Deputy Editor Nicolas Stecher, who also happens to be co-author of Assouline’s new uber-luxe The Impossible Collection of Motorcycles coffee table book. “That means that the type of motorcycles that were built to appeal to these passionate riders over the past 150 years are about as varied as Ben & Jerry’s.”

For the second edition of The Impossible Collection of Motorcycles, Stecher and co-author Ian Barry added ten new 21st-century bikes to the hundred they collected for the first edition, which focused on the previous century.

Featuring only the rarest, coolest, and most pivotal motorcycles since 1900, this new edition adds to Assouline’s vaunted Impossible Collection series, which has previously shined a light on everything from wines to Patek Philippe timepieces to even Formula One cars—which also happens to be included in our Ferrari F1 feature in Maxim’s September/October issue.

And these aren’t just routine coffee table books, mind you. They’re massive in scale (16 x 19 inches), and boast beautiful time-consuming and rare printing techniques such as hand-tipped images and hand-binding; the 170 images come presented on thick, archival-quality cotton paper with a PVC clamshell case and metal plaque.

With Barry’s pedigree designing and building museum-level custom bikes under the Falcon Motorcycles marque, and our esteemed editor’s long history in automotive journalism, the hundred bikes assembled here are each a gem worthy of the book’s title. Consider Evel Knievel’s famed Harley-Davidson XR750 on which he leapt over the Caesars Palace fountains, breaking countless bones upon impact when his jump fell awry.

Or early unicorns of engineering, such as Glenn Curtiss’s iconic 1907 V8, for which the famed aviator impossibly bolted a massive 4.4-liter V8 engine onto essentially a glorified bicycle frame to create a true spectacle of mechanical force. Hitting 136 mph, the Curtiss V8 shattered the land speed record and held it for decades.

But which is our deputy editor’s favorite? “That’s a tough one,” Stecher struggles, seemingly running through the hundred motorcycles in his mind. “I’d say my two favorites are the BMW R7, which graces the cover—an unbelievable one-off specimen of German engineering and art-deco design that was thought lost for nearly 70 years until discovered in 2005 in a BMW warehouse. What a story, and what a bike. And maybe the Britten V1000—a superbike entirely designed and built by a New Zealand madman in his garage, which beat factory teams with infinitely deeper wallets. That’s another thing: I really dig the visionaries behind these bikes, all of them the best kind of rogues and renegades this planet needs.”

Of course, a tome of this rare scale and quality boasts a $1,400 price tag to match. Find The Impossible Collection of Motorcycles (2nd Edition) at Assouline.com.

This article originally appeared in Maxim’s September/October 2025 issue. Follow Deputy Editor Nicolas Stecher  on Instagram at @nickstecher and @boozeoftheday.

As the roar of MotoGP engines echoed through the Tuscan hills, Ducati once again proved its mastery, not just of engineering, but of racing spectacle. Timed to honor last month’s Italian Grand Prix, the Borgo Panigale factory created a truly bespoke machine: the “Genius of the Renaissance” livery, a motorcycle makeover that celebrates Italian art’s influence on the country’s premiere motorcycle maker and race team.

Inspired Leonardo da Vinci, the special Desmosedici GP25 features intricate designs that weave together the spirit of the Renaissance with the raw power of a Grand Prix prototype. Every detail is designed to tell a story of innovation, much like the sketches and inventions that flowed from Da Vinci’s own hands. It boldly transforms the already beautiful GP bike into a canvas where speed meets classical artistry.

Accompanying the bike is a matching racing suit, crafted to mirror the livery’s artistic flourishes. With the “Genius of the Renaissance” livery, Ducati seemingly declares that its latest special edition isn’t just about winning races—it’s also about celebrating Italian racing heritage, and reminding us that true genius knows no bounds, whether on canvas or on the racetrack. Check out the eye-catching bike’s hype video below.

From its iconic ride beneath Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 in Terminator 2 to its appearance in Sons of Anarchy and many updates over a 35-year lifespan, the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy has long been arguably the most iconic hog. Fitting then that H-D is giving the Fat Boy an Icons Motorcycle Collection treatment, arguably making the musclebound cruiser with a factory-slammed suspension look better than ever for a limited-edition run.

Then again, the genesis of the seminal 1990 Fat Boy—the one that Arnie rode through Los Angeles spillways into pop culture’s vehicular pantheon—was sparked by aesthetics. According to H-D, executive Jerry Wilke spotted a Softail platform variant called “Lowboy” that had been created in 1987 by the brand’s Montreal dealership. He had an example, which featured a slammed suspension, aluminum disc wheel, fiberglass fender and wide handlebar, shipped to HQ in Milwaukee, where it was used as a reference by a styling team headed by Willie G. Davidson and Louie Netz to create the first-gen Fat Boy.

“On the 1990 Fat Boy model, the wheels are the defining characteristic,” wrote Davidson in his book 100 Years of Harley-Davidson. “The idea was to create a distinctive look using solid-cast disc wheels. We pushed this distinction further with a silver monochromatic paint job and silver powder-coated frame. Since the entire bike was silver, we needed something bright to set it off. I added yellow trim to the rocker boxes, the derby cover, the timer cover, and the ignition switch. We built a Fat Boy prototype, and I took it to Daytona so we would get one-on-one feedback from the riders.”

“The original Fat Boy model took the look, proportions, and silhouette of a 1949 Hydra-Glide and completely modernized it for a new generation of riders,” added Brad Richards, Harley-Davidson’s creative director and vice president of design whose own custom bike recently made it into the pages of Maxim. “Those riders appreciated our post-war design DNA but also found themselves drawn to the clean simplicity of contemporary industrial design.”

For the Icons Motorcycle Collection, H-D introduces the Fat Boy Gray Ghost, designed to shimmer in sunlight as if it “was machined from a solid alloy billet and polished to a mirror finish.” To create such an exceptional burnish, H-d employed a metal-treatment method favored by fine watchmakers called physical vapor deposition (PVD). Also known as thin film coating, the process involves vaporizing solid material in a vacuum and deposited onto the surface of a part, in this case the fuel tank and motorcycle fenders. Following the deposition process, the part is painted with a standard clear coat finish. Chrome plating is traditionally how customizers achieve a similar sheen, but PVD offers significantly more corrosion resistance to meet H-D’s quality standards.

Classic Fat Boy style cues include a round air cleaner, yellow accents on the lower rocker covers, powertrain covers, and tank console insert. Additional details—such as a leather seat valance with lacing and tassels, and a black leather tank strap with laced edging—add an extra hit of nostalgia, as do the 3D fuel tank medallions replicating the iconic winged graphic from the original Fat Boy. A commemorative tank console insert is etched with the bike’s unique serialization number, while the Icons Collection medallion is positioned on the rear fender. On the power front, the new Milwaukee-Eight 117—named for the eight total valves in its 45-degree V-twin and the 117-cubic-inch (1.9-liter) displacement—develops 101 horses and 122 pound-feet of torque, a slight increase in output over the Fat Boy 114.

Priced from $25,399 and limited to 1,190 examples globally, the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy Gray Ghost is available to reserve now.

The ultimate race-bred bike for the road just got an injection of serious supercar style. Uniting the lineup-leading production vehicles from two titans high-octane performance, the Ducati Panigale V4 Lamborghini marks the third collaboration between the Italian brands, following 2023’s Ducati Streetfighter V4 Lamborghini and 2021’s Diavel 1260 Lamborghini.

“With the Panigale V4 Lamborghini, the partnership between these two icons of Italy’s Motor Valley is enriched by a new chapter that confirms and reinforces the values that inspire us: Italian excellence, sportiness and performance, with a design that is always distinctive,” said Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati. “We were inspired by the Lamborghini Revuelto, thus creating an association between the two companies’ most exclusive and representative models. This choice confirms our constant desire to offer enthusiasts unique collector’s items of extraordinary beauty which can provide the most exciting on-road experience.”

“When two unmistakable design languages meet, such as those of Lamborghini and Ducati, the result is the perfect expression of values such as our Italian spirit and beauty that set us apart,” added Stephan Winkelmann, Chairman and CEO Automobili Lamborghini. “With this partnership, Ducati has managed to masterfully interpret and translate the extreme sporting spirit and exclusivity of the Revuelto, including details and identifying elements of our stylistic DNA on the bike, creating a unique object that combines performance, excitement and character in pure Lamborghini style.”

Ducati’s Centro Stile customization division collaborated with Lamborghini’s designers to develop unique details directly inspired by the Revuelto, among them forged aluminum rims, the supercar-inspired lines of the tailpiece and wings, and a livery featuring a black carbon fiber base with green and gray accents. Numerous other components are also crafted from carbon fiber, utilizing the same twill weave found in Lamborghini cars, including the bodywork, heat shield, heel guard and mudguards. Combined with an Akrapovič titanium silencer, these carbon fiber parts contribute to a weight reduction of 5 pounds compared to the Panigale V4 S on which the special edition is based, making the Lamborghini version the lightest in the V4 family at 408 pounds. The diet should allow the 1,103-cc “Desmosedici” V4 engine and its 209 horsepower/90 pound-feet of torque to push the bike to its limits just a little bit quicker.

Limited to 630 numbered examples priced at $78,400 each, the Panigale V4 Lamborghini comes presented in a custom wooden crate with matching stand, a certificate of authenticity and a dedicated motorcycle cover. That’s already exclusive, but 63 current Lamborghini owners can make their Panigale V4 a one-off by paying $100,400 for an example from “Speciale Clienti” series. Ducati Centro Stile will work with each customer to color-match the bike to their Raging Bull, which includes customizing the schemes of the triple clamp and the paint on the rear stand.  

The first Ducati Panigale V4 Lamborghini deliveries hit North American in December 2025.

“It’s priceless to me.” A conclusive sentiment that anyone who has spent time and cash on motorcycle mods will understand—the monetary value of a custom bike seldom reflects its subjective worth to an owner. However, the source of that particular quote was telling Maxim about his 1962 Harley-Davidson “Lucki-Pan.” And unlike the tastelessly chromed- and raked-out choppers polluting the pages of Facebook Marketplace, this minimalist one-off is actually objectively beautiful—and therefore valuable.

No surprise, as the Lucki-Pan was built by and for Brad Richards, creative director and vice president of design at Harley-Davidson. The H-D literate will immediately connect the latter half of its name to the “Panhead” engine, a historic V-twin named for the cake pan–like rocker covers topping its cylinder heads. “The Panhead motor is simple to look at and understand,” Richards tells us. “It has the perfect balance of polished and raw surfaces. Its proportions look confident and powerful—and it is.”

As for the “Lucki” prefix, Richards explains, “Post-WWII green bikes were avoided due to their perceived connection to the military motorcycles, and riders of the time thought a green bike was ‘unlucky.’ I thought this could be a great moment to use the color,” which ultimately came from Nissan’s 1986 palette.

This 1,200-cc power plant was the first piece of the Lucki-Pan’s puzzle, which was actually acquired in Detroit by Richards while on lunch break at his previous gig as chief designer at Ford Motor Company. It was sent to Terry Godschalk of Clarkston, Michigan’s T.G. Speed Equipment for a rebuild, and Richards began working closely with fabricator Ry Seidler, the owner of RAS Moto Detroit, to bring the rest of his design to fruition over a seven-year period.

“There’s a design language within choppers. I was playing with this language and rearranging the poetry to suit my vision,” Richards says. “I was basically mixing a classic ’60s chopper with a ’60s drag bike. Most of the key parts—like the engine, frame and wheels—all existed, so it was the smaller details I needed to bring to life.” A revered designer always, Richards went on to explain the first-second-third-read design concept, which deals with the way details become increasingly perceptible as the physical distance between the viewer and subject decreases.

“This is a concept we use inside the Harley-Davidson Design studio while creating our modern motorcycles as well, Richards says. “The first read is the furthest physically away from the bike—100 to 200 feet away—it’s the silhouette, color, proportion of major parts like the wheels, fuel tank, and tail section. If you can create something interesting with the first read, it draws the viewer in closer for the second read, which is from 20 feet away or so, where you begin to see certain key details much closer.  You may be drawn into mechanical details of the motor or the design of the seat and handlebars. The color and graphics are also easier to read at this distance, so they begin to do their work and bring you in even closer to the machine.”

The final level is perhaps the most important in Richards’ opinion. “The third read is where the execution of the bike is judged. For instance, how dynamic is the paint? Is there some interesting element within it like mica, or does the color shift from warm to cool depending on the shapes and contours of the bodywork? How are the many mechanical cables and electrical wires handled?  Can you even see them?  We call that ‘cable hygiene.’ But the most important element within the third read is the “easter eggs”—the subtle little details that a rider may not even notice until the bike gets its first wash, and a beautiful piece of branding is noticed.  It’s the jewelry. The whole point of the three reads is to create desirability with each step closer to the machine. Hopefully the whole bike hangs together with each read, creating a complete and engaging story.”

The Lucki-Pan definitely tells an intriguing tale of motorcycle craftsmanship peppered with Frankenstein-style procedure. The mid-1950s H-D “Straight Leg” frame, named for the frame’s straight front downtubes, came from New Jersey, while the 18- and 21-inch Akront rims could be considered readily available by comparison. But the “little details” that make the Lucki-Pan a paragon of artful customization are how the parts that Richards and Seidler made from scratch cohere. As a Cycle Source article notes, they cut down a Honda fender to match the rear tire. The oil tank, purchased for $14, was restored from a nearly destroyed state by Seidel. The handlebars, handlebar risers, hand-operated “jockey shifter” and foot-operated clutch were all conceived by Richards and crafted by Seidler.

“Building and riding a bike like mine provides a deeply emotional experience that removes you from the day-to-day and delivers you directly into the moment,” Richards says. “It will make you feel alive like nothing else. I’d highly recommend trying it.” You won’t find that feeling on Facebook Marketplace.

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2025 issue of Maxim.

If you want to buy an electromod-style bike straight from the factory, Royal Enfield has you covered. The historied India-based motorcycle maker revealed the notably retro, all-electric Flying Flea. And much like the Harley-Davidson LiveWire, that’s the name of a new sub-brand, not just a model.

Unlike the LiveWire, though, the design ] is heavily informed by heritage. As BIKE EXIF points out, the original Royal Enfield Flying Flea was a feathery 125-cc moto that was compact enough to air-drop into Europe alongside paratroopers during WWII, hence the new parachute logo.

Royal Enfield enthusiasts will certainly see the new, electrified Flying Flea S6’s resemblance to the OG, especially in-profile. The original’s girder fork has been recreated from modern forged aluminum, the same material used to make the frame. The battery is enclosed in a magnesium case, and the silhouette line created by the faux gas tank and 1900s-style floating seat is among the most stunning and convincing homages to classic motorcycles that anyone has seen in some time.

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Royal Enfield crafted the look as thoughtfully and carefully as they crafted the technology in-house. According to BIKE EXIF, 28 patents have been filed to cover the Flying Flea S6’s various components in the last six months alone. Other details haven’t been revealed, but if you register interest here, you’ll likely be the first to get the skinny on output, range, and all other relevant performance specs.

Like the Cessna Skyhawk or Ford F-150, the Indian Scout has transcended its own mode over a century-plus timeline, which is to say that even non-riders are likely to at least recognize its name. But unlike the plane and the truck, the Indian Scout has yet to capture the largest share of its respective market.

That could change soon, as Indian Motorcycle recently gave the model its most substantial overhaul since Polaris reinstated the Indian Scout in 2015 to much acclaim, including a “Motorcycle of the Year” award from Motorcycle.com. Indian is attempting to make an already-beloved cruiser platform even better, and on paper, it is better.

“Our top priority was to uphold the iconic namesake of Scout and ensure the new lineup is as timeless as all its predecessors,” said Ola Stenegard, Director of Product Design for Indian Motorcycle. “For us, it was imperative to keep it clean, follow the iconic lines of Scout, and create a package that offered seamless customization. To achieve this, it all started with the steel tube frame and all-new, V-Twin engine.”

As Rider Magazine notes, its V-Twin has been reworked and bored out from 99m to 104 mm to increase displacement from 1,133cc in the old Scout to 1,250cc in the 2025 Scout. This new “SpeedPlus 1250” engine churns out either 105 horsepower or 111 horsepower and 82 pound-feet of torque, depending on the variant.

A steel tubular frame that better facilitates customization replaces the old aluminum design, and the Scout family has been expanded and diversified while retaining an approachable 25.6-inch seat height and weight ranging from 520 to 570 pounds.

The king of the model lineup is the 101 Scout, a name resurrected from one of the most collectable Indians ever made. This is the only 2025 variant that squeezes 111 horsepower out of its cylinders to take the title of most powerful production Indian Scout ever. The 101 Scout comes equipped with adjustable piggyback rear shocks, inverted adjustable front forks, dual-disk Brembo brakes, a gunfighter-style solo seat, a gloss black six-inch moto-style handlebar, a quarter-fairing, and a larger 19-inch wheel.

The Indian Sport Scout is equipped very similarly to the Scout 101 without the uptick in power—like all proceeding models, it produces 105 horsepower. The Scout Bobber returns with a slammed suspension, bobbed fenders, and drag-style handlebars.

The Super Scout is set up for the long-haul, featuring saddlebags with pull-tab openers, a passenger pillion, a quick-release windshield and three extra inches of suspension travel, while the Scout Classic brings retro vibes with a chromed exhaust and old-school flared fenders.

Accompanying the expanded, five-bike Scout family are three trims. The Standard Trim featured on the stock Scout Classic, Scout Bobber and Sport Scout is never the less an improvement over the Scout’s previous basic equipment thanks to standard ABS, brighter LED lighting, and fuel level/economy readouts. All three of those variants can be upgraded to a Limited Trim, which adds on creature comforts like traction control, cruise control, a USB charger and three selectable ride modes: Sport, Standard, and Tour. 

The top-tier Limited + Tech trim is also available on the Scout Classic, Scout Bobber and Sport Scout, but it comes standard on the 101 Scout and Super Scout. The major upgrades here are the keyless ignition and the Scout debut of Indian Motorcycle’s four-inch round RIDE COMMAND touchscreen display featuring GPS, route planning, weather and traffic info, and ride stats.

Priced from $12,999 for the Scout Bobber in standard trim up to $16,999 for the Scout 101, the Indian Scout family is available to configure and order online now.

The previous-gen Ducati Panigale V4 already verged on perfection. Its 1,103-cc “Desmosedici” V4 engine—so named for the desmodromic valve-timing system first implemented by Ducati in the 1950s to achieve more uniform power delivery—was developed from a prototypical race-only MotoGP powerplant. At the hands of rider Álvaro Bautista, the Panigale V4 has won the past two titles in the Superbike World Championship, the pinnacle competition series for production street bikes. It’s the two-wheeled equivalent of a Ferrari SF90 Stradale—a thoroughly race-bred machine that will test your ability at a track and then carry you home on public roads. In late July, Ducati announced the new seventh-generation Panigale V4. And the early consensus is that, even with a seemingly immaculate pedigree, the superbike has somehow gotten even better.

“Ducati’s mission is to enrich people’s lives through technologically sophisticated motorcycles characterized by sensual beauty,” declared Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali when presenting the bike during the Ducati World Première. “The new Panigale V4 continues a history of successes and unforgettable models, which represents the maximum expression of our values of style, sophistication and performance.”

This is the first Ducati in 30 years to employ a double-sided swingarm, which is arguably the most substantial change when compared to the preceding Panigale V4’s single-sided swingarm. There was something undeniably cool about seeing the rear wheel almost float in the space beneath the tail when viewing the old model on its throttle side, but as the RideApart site points out, MotoGP bikes employ double-sided swingarms in pursuit of ultimate performance because, among other reasons, they’re lighter. Indeed, this new Ducati Hollow Symmetrical Swingarm, connected to MotoGP-derived suspension linkages, helps shed 8.4 pounds off the rear. Thanks to the weight loss and a 37-percent decrease in lateral stiffness, the new swingarm should improve traction when exiting corners and increase feel under acceleration.

While the swingarm’s performance benefits may be obvious, many are contending that aesthetic value has suffered. Perhaps Ducati anticipated this gripe, as press materials cite the Ducati 916—widely praised for being one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever—as having inspired the new Panigale V4’s design. The similarities can best be seen in profile, where the balanced horizontal line, created by raising the Panigale V4’s front and lowering its rear, becomes most apparent. The rear-view mirror supports were mounted inside the fairing to further accentuate this line, while the rear LED unit’s “double C” shape and narrow tank are two more elements evocative of the 916.

The powertrain has also been improved—the base Panigale V4’s standard alternator, oil pump and gearbox drum come from the hardest-core performance-minded variants of the previous Panigale. Most of the engine remains largely unchanged; it’s still a stressed element of the chassis, and it’s got four camshafts that move 16 valves. The U.S. version’s power output changes negligibly, with a peak 209 horsepower coming at 12,750 rpm and 89.5 pound-feet of torque at 11,250 rpm. However, several new pieces of MotoGP-inspired componentry have been brought aboard, one of which is Ducati Vehicle Observer. According to Ducati, this algorithm “is able to evaluate a high number of kinematic and dynamic parameters that influence bike behavior and calculate acceleration, forces on the tires and the maximum torque that the vehicle can support.” This capability further enhances the Panigale V4’s comprehensive rider-aid suite, which includes traction control, slide control, wheelie control, launch control and engine brake control.

The all-new dashboard is also lifted straight from Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini’s MotoGP bikes. The 6.9-inch screen, which was optically bonded to ensure readability in all conditions, features a “Track” display that shows a series of new parameters. Among them are “g-Meter,” which indicates the g-force value when leaning, accelerating and braking; “Power & Torque,” which displays the percentage of power and torque delivered in any given moment; and “Lean Angle,” which shows the instantaneous lean angles alongside the throttle level and the pressure exerted on the brakes. A time-split table, with T1, T2 and T3 icons indicating the performance obtained in different sectors of a track, uses the same white, gray, orange, and red colors seen in MotoGP.

Perhaps the single most promising piece of data provided by Ducati is that the Panigale V4, priced at $25,995, is one second quicker than the outgoing model around the company’s test track. And that’s just the base bike: For $33,895, the Panigale V4S offers even racier features, like lighter alloy wheels and an upgraded electronically controlled Öhlins NPX/TTX suspension, ensuring more milliseconds will be dropped from lap times. The next-generation Panigale V4R, the ultimate expression of the Ducati Corse racing program in a road bike, will likely be announced at some point in the near future. Who knows? This generation of Ducati Panigale V4 just might bring about superbike perfection

In addition to a fleet of side-by-sides and ATVs, Can-Am definitely has the market cornered on three-wheeled motorcycles, including the excellent Spyder RT Limited. But for the first time since the 1980s, the Canadian is putting two-wheeled motorcycles on its dealership floors, and they’re all-electric. The brand’s anticipated Pulse street bike and Origin adventure bike share an proprietary Rotax electric motor that instantly produces 47 horsepower and 53 pound-feet of torque—there is no shifter hovering by the left peg or a clutch on the left handlebar. The lighter Pulse (390 pounds) will hit 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, while the heavier Origin (413 pounds) will get there in 4.3 seconds.

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Being electric, the big question is how much range will riders get out of the 8.9-kWh battery, which Can-Am says has been vigorously tested at hot and cold extremes. The Pulse’s estimated city range is 100 miles, while the Origin’s is 90 miles. There is an opportunity here for Can-Am to actually deliver on the billed estimated ranges—if these figures hold true, they’re right up there with the actual ranges of Harley-Davidson LiveWire S2 Del Mar and the Zero FXE. Can-Am also promises that the liquid-cooled system that disperses heat from battery, charger, inverter and motor “significantly limits battery degradation over time while simultaneously optimizing range and charge time.” Regardless of the climate, the battery will be replenished from 20 percent to 80 percent capacity in 50 minutes on a Level 2 charging station.

The Pulse, which is designed to rip around city streets, features a 10.25-inch touchscreen with four ride modes and Apple CarPlay through Can-Am’s BRP GO! infotainment system. There’s also an Active ReGen system that provides enhanced control and smooth deceleration while giving more power back to the battery. An upgrade package dubbed “Pulse 73″—a reference to the year that spawned the first Can-Am two-wheeler—brings LED lighting, a gauge spoiler, and a special paint job.

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With an off-road mission, the Origin adventure bike will likely be the more scrutinized of the two, at least by Can-Am fans with long memories for the brand’s motocross bike successes in the 1970s. With dual-sport tires, an adjustable KYB suspension offering 255 millimeters of front-fork travel, and two Off-Road riding modes, the Origin is ready to tackle trails and carry its operator home on paved roads afterward. An optional “Origin 73” package adds LED lighting, LinQ windscreen, and a special paint finish.

“Today, we are reclaiming our two-wheel heritage by bringing new excitement to the electric
motorcycle industry,” said José Boisjoli, President and CEO of BRP, Can-Am’s umbrella company. “50 years ago, Can-Am celebrated many victories with its Track ’n Trail motorcycles, and we are bringing that pedigree back with a focus on modern electric power, connectivity and thrill. We intend to become a global leader in that space with true innovation designed to simplify the riding experience for new riders and introduce electric motorcycles to all.”

Priced from $13,999 for the Pulse and $14,499 for the Origin, both of Can-Am’s electric motorcycles are available at dealerships now.

“My love of motorcycles was born when I was 3 years old and my father threw me on a three-wheeler,” W. Robert Ransom tells Maxim. Unlike many arguably overeager fathers, Ransom’s dad wasn’t even particularly interested in motorsports—rather Wayne Robert Ransom Sr. gifted his kid a motorcycle for a reason as old as time itself: as a scheme to get his girl back.

“My parents were actually divorced at that point and he needed a way to get my mother back to the house,” Ransom Jr. recalls with some amusement. “So he said, ‘I’m going to get this kid a three-wheeler and then he’ll have to be brought to my house, and I’ll get to see my ex-wife!’ It was a ploy that worked out in my favor.”

Unfortunately for Wayne Sr. the Trojan horse Yamaha TriZinger YT60 strategy failed in getting his ex-wife back full time, but it did succeed in sparking a love of motorcycles in his son that would define the course of his life. “It’s crazy,” Ransom remembers wistfully, “when I ride by the dealership that’s no longer there, I can still see where it was sitting the day he took me to pick it up. That memory is that vivid.”

While buying a 3-year-old a 60-cc two-stroke trike notorious for their ease in flipping over might seem mind-boggling for 21st-century parents, the auspicious gift accelerated a prodigious aptitude for all things engineering and innovation. When Wayne Sr. passed away only four years later, suddenly Wayne Jr. was burdened with the responsibility of caring for and maintaining his own motorcycles—gapping spark plugs, cleaning air filters, and changing the oil. By the age of 12 he’d begun customizing his bikes, and at 19 opened his own service and light performance shop in south New Jersey.

These skills grew until lightning struck at the age of 24. At the time he had not yet practiced any motorcycle fabrication, nor knew how to shape sheet metal. He didn’t know how to TIG weld or engineer a chassis, either. But he envisioned a new motorcycle concept, and through seven months of hard work and self-learning, Ransom taught himself how to build one from the ground up.

Obsessed with speed, The Serpent was built on the concept of optimizing a motorcycle’s ability to translate power to the asphalt. In other words, allowing a sport bike’s Herculean torque to transfer to the tires and stay planted in order to experience the full head rush of torque without flipping the thing over. So Ransom extended both the front and back wheels, stretching out the entire chassis and dropping the engine for a super low center of gravity and seat height (only 17 inches).

“We’ll just say for the record, I took it out to an unnamed location in Mexico and I ran it up to 150 miles an hour,” Ransom laughs, shaking his head. “I was sitting there—it didn’t hit me until I got back to my facility because the bike did it so effortlessly—that I’m a 24-year-old kid, no formal education in engineering or metal shaping fabrication, and I’m looking at this bike and I’m like, I cannot believe that I just did 150 miles an hour on something that I built in a 600-squarefoot facility with minimal hand tools! And my mind just started to go wild with possibility.”

With zero empirical or academic engineering or construction knowledge, the idea of a super sport bike’s tidal wave of power unleashed onto a homemade chromoly steel chassis seems like the recipe for home cooking a 150-mph roadkill mash. But it worked. Moreover, at the time Jesse James and the revival of American choppers were all the rage, meaning bikes centered around big American V-Twins. Naysayers seriously questioned, if not mocked, his use of a Suzuki GSX-R1000 powerplant. But Ransom committed wholeheartedly to his vision and didn’t waver, despite the overwhelming contemporary trends. “I always just had an innate ability to know what would work,” Ransom marvels, “and what wouldn’t.”

Roughly a dozen one-off bikes later and Ransom Motorcycles has grown from a workshop the size of a walk-in closet to a serious manufacturer, building motorcycles for wealthy fanatics spread across the globe. The trilogy of its series starts with the Valiance Collection, the “entry-level build” that launches with the Archangel—a spiritual prodigy of the earlier Serpent bike. Designed for an orthopedic surgeon, the weekend track racer found himself riding way too fast on streets. So he commissioned Ransom to build a bike that would still challenge him, but at lower speeds than he’d have to push his sport bike. Ransom imagined a two-wheeler with a fat rear tire and increased front rake, one that would slow down velocity but still engage the rider in corners like they were racing twice as fast.

“So I took The Serpent and stylized it, squashed it, stretched it, and that’s where we end up with the Archangel,” Ransom explains. Other clever touches include a hidden headlight, cantilevered engine and pneumatic suspension with its air reservoir concealed in the swing arm.

Then there’s the Legacy Collection, which launches this summer with the world’s first all-titanium motorcycle, the Titanium Transcendence (more on that below). As next level and mind-blowing as that creation might sound, Ransom aims to supersede even that with the Majesty line.

“It’s no holds barred, no budget needed, as big and as exotic and as luxurious as we can go,” the ambitious builder promises. More than simply a two-wheeled vehicle, Ransom sees the first edition of the Majesty Collection, Reign, as a piece of museum-level sculpture that electronically transforms into a rideable motorcycle. So far requiring a simply ludicrous 10,000 hours to build, the solid bronze–bodied work resembles a polished gold Anish Kapoor sculpture that unlocks and transforms on command like the star of a Michael Bay blockbuster.

“I’m a sculptor by creed,” Ransom reveals when asked where the vision came for such a singular eye-warping piece of machinery-meets-art. “Sketching is very difficult, but sculpting for me is like breathing.”

Ransom’s Titanium Transcendence Puts Pedal To The Metal

If the proposal of an all-titanium motorcycle sounds unnecessarily challenging, that’s because it is. Highly sculptural body work or fairings in the motorcycle industry are usually made of fiberglass or composites, rarely metal. And never, ever titanium. Why? Titanium is not only incredibly expensive, but the low-density, high-strength metal makes welding notoriously difficult, and its thinness is unforgiving—planishing out flaws or errors can be both arduous and time-consuming. Overall one can expect labor to be three to four times more complex over steel or aluminum.

“It really exposes all the flaws that you have as a shaper,” W. Robert Ransom admits. “The artistry is making the metal look like it was molded.” His justification for the added challenge is simple: Ransom sees the Legacy Collection as prioritizing performance, acceleration and straight-line speed over the sculptural emphasis of the Majesty Collection, while the Valiance Collection plays the Goldilocks Solution bridge between the two.

Throughout the Transcendence build the New Jersey workshop detailed the process on Instagram, and Ransom found followers fascinated by the titanium craftsmanship. “They were wondering if I had a background in aerospace, because normally you’re not seeing the work being done by people who shape titanium online. They’re getting paid by places like Lockheed Martin,” Ransom says of fans DMing him on IG. After all, titanium is usually reserved for aerospace and spacecraft work done behind the secretive veil of nondisclosures.

Ransom estimates that 95 percent of his inaugural Legacy offering is crafted of titanium—the entire chassis, swing arm, exhausts, fuel tank, side pedal, upper cal and body work—all titanium. About the only parts other than the Suzuki Hayabusa engine not fashioned from titanium are its carbon fiber wheels.

So it’s extremely light for its gen-two 1,340-cc, inline-four Hayabusa engine, once the powerplant for the fastest production motorcycle on the planet. Weighing in at a svelte 375 pounds dry, that should make the Titanium Transcendence not just a gorgeous objet d’art to admire but also a terrifyingly fast two-wheeler to ride. “This one’s for guys at the red light,” Ransom muses, smiling. “It’s gonna blow away all other bikes.”

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Maxim magazine.

Follow Deputy Editor Nicolas Stecher on Instagram at @nickstecher and @boozeoftheday.