ICON SHEENE MOTORCYCLES

The Icon Sheene  built by Icon Motorcycles

The world’s most powerful production road bike makes its debut today (March 18, 2010), on the world famous Goodwood hill climb; at £107,000, the all-new, British designed and built Icon Sheene also becomes the world’s most expensive production road bike.

 

Conceived as a tribute to one of motorcycle racing’s most charismatic and successful figures, the late Barry Sheene, and almost five years in design and development, the 250bhp, handcrafted Icon Sheene uses a turbocharged 1400cc four-cylinder engine to propel it to an extraordinary top speed of 200mph.

 

In all senses, it’s a new breed of bike: the ultrabike.

 

Barry Sheene’s heritage has been extremely important during the development of the Icon Sheene; where possible and desirable the expertise and components behind the bike have been sourced from the companies, individuals, friends and family who helped Barry Sheene to two World Championships, together with scores of other titles and wins.

 

Production of the Icon Sheene is strictly limited to 52, one for each year of Barry’s life. To make every bike unique, each is decorated with a different playing card held by a 1940s-style pin-up, hand-painted by Mike Fairholme, the man responsible for the artistry on Barry’s helmets.

 

The fortunate 52 owners of an Icon Sheene will have their bikes personally fitted, during a session when they will also meet Sheene’s ex-team-mate and best friend, Steve Parrish; Steve is also Icon Motorcycle’s chief test and development rider. They will also have the option of ordering a bespoke helmet, hand-painted by Mike Fairholme.

 

 

The Icon Sheene: who is behind it?

The driving force behind the development and launch of the Icon Sheene is successful businessman Andrew Morris and Joss Nicholas. Andrew whose portfolio of companies includes several world-leading shipping and logistics organisations is no stranger to building successful business and Joss also an award winning businessman both have a passion for all thing automotive.

 

Andrew originally conceived the ultrabike as he rowed across the Atlantic in partnership with Mick Dawson (who later also rowed the Pacific) in 2005. “During the two-month journey while I rowed and Mick rested, I planned out precisely what specification and shape the bike should be,” reveals Andrew. “But although certain aspects of the Icon Sheene have evolved extensively since then, there has been one constant throughout – the desire to create the ultimate road-going motorbike.”

 

Although Andrew never met Barry Sheene face-to-face, the iconic racer was an inspiration to him from a very early age. “Even as a young boy watching Sheene race on my parents’ television, it was clear that here was a man with tremendous style and panache.

 

“He was such a passionate racer and so supremely talented; as long as he was still in contact with his bike, even if he was a long way down the field, you always had the sense that Sheene could still pull off the impossible. And so often, he did! Until the chequered flag fell, he just didn’t ease off, didn’t lose faith.”

 

Sheene’s persona off the bike also resonated with Andrew. “Check out the photographs of Sheene; in so many of them he’s grinning. He seemed to have an irrepressible spirit, even after huge accidents, a love of life and enjoying himself. And I truly admire the fact that he always was himself, never felt he had to conform to anyone else’s standards.”

 

Andrew believes that Barry Sheene’s spirit is encapsulated in the Icon Sheene. Says Andrew: “Sheene lived life to the extreme, and extremes are what our ultrabike is all about: extreme power, extreme performance, extreme specification.

 

“You couldn’t really pigeonhole Sheene and the same goes for our bike; it lies outside regular boundaries and classifications, which is why we refer to the Icon Sheene as the first ultrabike.”

 

Creating and developing the Icon Sheene has introduced Andrew to many of the great characters associated with Barry during his career, both on and off the bike. “It has been an honour and privilege to meet and work alongside people who knew Barry well. You don’t twice become champion without a great team behind you, and the fact that we have been working in collaboration with some of those very same people makes me feel proud and humble.

 

“Having the backing of Barry Sheene’s family is also a tremendous honour. I truly believe that we’ve captured some of the great man’s energy and passion in the Icon Sheene – I’m sure Barry would have approved.”

 

Endorsed by Stephanie Sheene…

Stephanie Sheene, Barry’s widow, has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Icon Sheene throughout its development.

 

“To have a motorcycle designed, built and dedicated to the memory of Barry is the ultimate accolade,” says Stephanie. “I know he would have had fun being involved with this project whilst at the same time putting his own special stamp of approval on the detail.

 

“The Icon Sheene captures everything he stood for and I take great comfort in knowing that it will be a unique tribute to an extraordinary man. If you are lucky enough to become an owner of one of these rare motorcycles, remember: life is for living and bikes are for riding.”

 

…and by Sheene’s best friend, Steve Parrish

They raced alongside each other in the Suzuki factory team and later became best friends – Steve Parrish remembers Barry and comments on the Icon Sheene:

 

“I am so very pleased the Icon Sheene has been sculpted, a living, shrieking, whirlwind of a tribute to a great man: for me, Barry was like having a father, brother and mate, all wrapped in one amazing person.

 

“Now 52 lucky people can revel in a legacy that will remind them of how Barry Sheene inspired the whole motorcycle industry around the world. Barry would have been very proud to see this astonishing piece of British engineering excellence, unique in every way, just as he was, being owned and ridden fast by like-minded people.

 

“Barry’s last words to me were: ‘Stavros, at least we are not going to die wondering.’ Which meant that if you ever wondered what something was like, you ought to experience it for yourself. That was our philosophy and we lived by it.

 

“Another of his famous insights was: ‘Never wait for your ship to come in; there are times when you have to swim out to meet it.’

 

“With these two thoughts in mind, now is the time for you to start swimming towards ownership of one of these fabulous machines.”

 

Built in Britain. By hand

The Icon Sheene is designed in Britain and will be hand-built in Britain by highly skilled craftsmen and engineers. The tank, for instance, is crafted from hand-beaten aluminium and takes the best part of a month to create.

 

The lightweight bodywork is all of hand-laid carbonfibre, while each of the four-cylinder 1400cc turbocharged engines will be hand-assembled and individually bench- and track-tested prior to delivery to its owner.

 

To achieve exclusivity, production of the Icon Sheene will be strictly limited to 52 units only, one to celebrate every year of Barry’s action-packed life.

 

The power and the glory

Nestled menacingly in the rigid embrace of the Spondon frame – the same Derbyshire-based company that provided frames for Barry Sheene – is a 1400cc turbocharged four-cylinder engine: with its finned cylinder casings, it was chosen in part because it actually looks like an engine, so has maximum visual impact.

 

Based on the excellent and well-proven motor from the Suzuki GSX 1400, only the cylinder block of the donor engine is retained. All other components are upgraded to competition-spec items, including pistons, rods, cranks, camshafts, valves and cylinder head. In addition there’s a bigger oil cooler, Bosch Motronic engine management with custom mapping and datalogging facility, and Formula One-specification cabling throughout.

 

The stainless steel exhaust system also employs racing technology; its manifolds are handmade and its main pipes hydro-formed for greater accuracy, superior performance and an excellent finish.

 

From its conception, the goal for the Icon Sheene was for it to be the world’s most powerful production road bike, and to achieve that aim forced induction is essential. The Icon Sheene is therefore fitted with a state-of-the-art Garrett turbocharger, selected for its speed of operation and absence of lag.

 

Even running with a comparatively low level of boost – 0.4bar – the Icon Sheene succeeds in its ambition to become the world’s most powerful road bike, producing 250bhp and an equally impressive 133lb ft of torque.

 

As a consequence the Icon Sheene also achieves another of its design targets – a 200mph top speed. 

 

New alliances with Sheene’s preferred suppliers

Brilliant as he was, Barry Sheene knew that to maintain and enhance his competitive advantage, he needed the best available equipment. Throughout his career, when he saw technology that might improve his prospects, he would hunt it down.

 

The Icon Sheene revisits several of Sheene’s preferred suppliers; while there are strong emotional reasons for doing so, the primary driver is that they remain the best in the business.

 

The Icon Sheene’s lightweight tubular aluminium frame, for example, is designed and manufactured by Spondon, the Derbyshire-based framebuilder that supplied Sheene during his racing career. The frame is purpose-built for Icon’s ultrabike, and from the outset its wheelbase and geometry were designed to optimise the performance characteristics of the 250bhp turbocharged engine.

 

Awesome stopping force is courtesy of a race brake system – including massive front discs and super-rigid six-pot callipers with superb cooling properties – from the renowned Swedish firm ISR; Barry Sheene was big fan of the incredible performance of ISR brakes when he was racing, and for a bike with as much power as the Icon Sheene, they were considered a must.

 

Forks and dampers are by another racing outfit, Bitubo. And despite its competition specification, this setup, in harmony with the bespoke frame, is tuned to give the Icon Sheene exceptional on-road agility and all-day riding comfort.

 

Although the cylinder block is pretty much all that is carried over from the base engine, the fact that it is sourced from Suzuki has special poignancy – Barry Sheene won his two back-to-back 500cc World Championships riding a Suzuki and it is the brand with which he is most closely associated with.

 

Beautiful details and intelligent innovations

Wherever you look on the Icon Sheene you’ll find something eye-catching and intriguing. Take the yolk on the front forks: etched with a facsimile signature of Barry Sheene, and inset with a solid silver disc – minted by the renowned Swiss luxury watchmaker Antoine Preziuso of Geneva – depicting Barry’s own take on the ‘Daffy Duck’ character. 

 

Or, discreetly located low on the rear fairing beneath the seat, a hand-painted image of a classic 1940’s style pin-up holding a playing card; each bike will feature a different card, until all 52 cards from a standard pack are used up. Therefore each Icon Sheene will be unique.

 

The brake and clutch levers are glorious pieces of cast alloy and are fully adjustable; the exhaust’s tailpipe is cut diagonally at its tip for a racier appearance, and is embellished with small scrolled badge with the Icon name engraved on it.

 

The fairings are stylishly finned and vented; the headlight is an HID unit for improved night vision. The rising section of Alcantara-upholstered seat is heart-shaped and embroidered with Sheene’s distinctive lucky number 7; lift off front fairing and the precision-engineered alloy plenum chamber also bears that iconic number.

 

Then there’s the glorious polished aluminium digital instrument casing; the keyless starter with remote start facility and integral alarm system.

 

And in a world first, the beautifully crafted swing arm has a hidden and unique axle lifting system.

 

Everywhere you look on the Icon Sheene you’ll find something fresh and extraordinary and exciting: when you get the chance to check one over, remember to give yourself plenty of time…