Falcon Motorcycles, creator of the 'Bullet' above, is preparing to unveil its latest custom motorcycle called the 'Kestrel' at the upcoming Quail Lodge Motorcycle Gathering.
Following the smashing success of the “Bullet,"
Falcon Motorcycles will unveil its latest creation, christened the “Kestrel” after a species of falcon that hunts in the open plains.
For Falcon, the "Kestrel" is an evolutionary leap from the "Bullet," with the level of sophistication and build quality elevated to an entirely new level. Ian Barry has outgrown the customization of existing vintage motorcycles and is now designing and fabricating motorcycles from start to finish, with only a few parts not made from scratch.
The heart of the "Kestrel" is the engine from a 1970 Triumph Bonneville, which Falcon cut in half and completely re-engineered. With the exception of a few critical pieces (crankcases, gearbox, and 10 inches of the original Triumph headstock), everything – including the frame, girder front fork, gas and oil tanks, exhausts, handlebars, levers, even the cylinders – was fabricated in-house from blocks, sheets and rods of steel, brass, aluminum.
Over 2000 hours of artful machining, stretching, hammering, rolling and hand-carving have been labored into the Kestrel, intended by Barry as his final bow to a decade of building custom Triumph-specific twins. The result is a bespoke, one-of-a-kind motorcycle; truly functional art.
The "Kestrel" is the second of Falcon’s Concept Ten, a series of custom motorcycles designed around the engines of iconic pre- and post-War British motorcycles. The third, the z'Black Falcon," is already under construction with its 1951 Vincent Black Shadow engine drenched in California racing history. Next in line is a 1967 Velocette Thruxton, one of only seven very special “Squish Head” engines made by Veloce Ltd, which led from start to finish and won the 60th anniversary Diamond Jubilee Isle of Man Production TT race.
The first Concept Ten machine, the "Bullet," was commissioned by actor/rider Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl, The Incredibles, Vanilla Sky). When his friend and fellow actor/rider Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar, Flight of the Phoenix, Gone In 60 Seconds) purchased another Ian Barry motorcycle, Lee was smitten. The Bullet Falcon was unveiled to much acclaim at the 2008 Legend of the Motorcycle Concours, winning the Best Custom award, given by fellow builder Jesse James. The Bullet was subsequently acclaimed in magazines around the world, including
Forbes, GQ, Playboy, Robb Report, Garage, Esquire, Men’s Journal, and many more, even capturing the December 2009 cover of
Los Angeles magazine.
The unveiling of the Falcon Kestrel takes place at the Quail Motorcycle Gathering on Saturday, May 8th at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley, California.
