Falcon Motorcycles
 |
|
| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motorcycles |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Key people | Ian Barry, Amaryllis Knight |
| Products | Custom motorcycless |
| Employees | 6[1] |
| Website | www.falconmotorcycles.com |
Falcon Motorcycles makes custom motorcycles in Los Angeles, California.[2] It was founded in 2008 by industrial designer Ian Barry and his partner Amaryllis Knight, and specializes in the design, engineering and fabrication of one of a kind machines, built around the derelict engines of pre- and post-war British motorcycles.
Contents |
[edit] Motorcycles
Falcon Motorcycles' first motorcycle, the Bullet Falcon, won the Custom Culture Award at the 2008 Legend of the Motorcycle International Concours d’Elegance.[3] The company and its motorcycles have been featured in newspapers and magazines, and credited by Popular Mechanics's Nicolas Stecher with, "helping kick-start the British track-racer movement".[4]
The Bullet, based on a 1950 Triumph Thunderbird, is the first in Falcon's Concept 10 collection, each of which is to use pre- and post-war British engines with racing pedigrees.[5] Commissioned by skateboarder and actor Jason Lee, over 1,000 hours went into fabricating the board track racer inspired Bullet. Each Falcon Motorcycle was named after a species of Falcon.[6]
The second motorcycle in the collection, the Kestrel Falcon was launched at the 2010 Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel, California,[7] where it won the Best Custom Award.[8] Barry said it took over 2,000 hours to fabricate.[4] It was built around a 1970 Triumph Bonneville engine that was cut in half and modified to work with a BSA transmission. Ten inches of the original Triumph headstock were used, and some other pieces such as a BSA transmission and the tires, while rest of the Kestrel was fabricated by Falcon, including the front forks, frame, fuel tank, and aluminum cylinders.[9] The Kestrel was named one of Cycle World's 2010 "World's coolest bikes" and was noted for its "its purity and depth in both aesthetic and functional execution" and for the "mind-bending volume of time spent on the details, and its hand carved, graceful and organic shapes."[10]
Falcon says remaining eight in the Concept 10 series will use engines from a BSA, an AJS, a Brough Superior, a Vincent, a Norton, a Velocette, an Ariel and a Rudge.
[edit] Marketing
In July 2010, American Express featured Falcon in their national "Start Booming" TV ads promoting their Open, or Plum Card, small business products,[11] lauding businesses for innovation and success.[11]
[edit] Founder and designer
Ian Barry is a industrial designer who designed and built motorcycles based on British brands for over 10 years. His clients included Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme and actor Giovanni Ribisi.[6] In 2008, after a decade of building bikes under his own name, he started Falcon Motorcycles with his business partner and fiancée Amaryllis Knight.
[edit] References
- ^ "Falcon Staff
- ^ "Diamond in the Brough" The Robb Report.
- ^ "Collecting Motorcycles" CNBC: High Net Worth
- ^ a b "The Raw Mechanics Behind the Hand-Fabricated Falcon Kestrel Motorcycle" Popular Mechanics
- ^ "Redesigned British Classics" The Kneeslider
- ^ a b "This custom has some history" The Los Angeles Times: 2008
- ^ "Quail Motorcycles" KSBWNEWS: Beautiful Bikes in Carmel
- ^[dubious ]"Exclusive. The Falcon Kestrel Custom Motorcycle By Ian Barry" Cyril Huze Blog
- ^ "Ducati Multistrada and Falcon Kestrel to Debut at Quail Lodge" The Auto Channel
- ^ World's Coolest Bikes 2010: The Kestrel and madness in the details. Cycle World
- ^ a b[better source needed]Falcon Motorcycles In American Express Commercial" (TV Commercial) Cyril Huze blog
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Falcon Motorcycles |
|
||||||||
