Lord Hesketh, who ran the Formula 1 team of the same name, originally launched the brand in 1980, but it has been in the doldrums for years. The name was revived last year with a model called the 24 (pictured above) at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and it has already begun looking towards the future
As the name suggests, the current bike is limited to just 24 copies, and in less than a year on the market, the company has just eight left to sell, according to The Telegraph. The cycle uses an air-cooled, 2.0-liter V-twin making 123 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque, and it's all wrapped in somewhat retro styling. Each one is priced at 35,000 pounds ($54,100 at current rates).
With the 24's production run mostly complete, Hesketh plans to launch a new bike in 2016, and the company is aiming for the top. "If the 24 is like an Aston Martin, we're working on a Bugatti Veyron," said current owner Paul Sleeman to The Telegraph. Those ambitions are pretty massive given the company's six employees and the modern world of high-performance motorcycles. Over 200 horsepower isn't uncommon today, and Kawasaki promises 300 hp from its track-only H2R.
According to The Telegraph, Sleeman paid less than 200,000 pounds ($309,000) to buy the rights to Hesketh Motorcycles and reportedly spent 1 million pounds ($1.5 million) on the brand since then. "We're in this for the long run," he said to the paper. We look forward to seeing how the brand plans to fulfill its lofty promises.
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