The Confederate Wraith is perhaps one of our most favorite custom motorcycles ever produced, and it happens to be the product of JT Nesbitt’s supreme imagination.
Working now out of his own shop, Bienville Studios, Nesbitt has produced the first of his ultra-premium, tailor-made, American-born motorcycles, dubbed the Bienville Legacy.
Beyond the radical lines, there is the familiarity of things like the Wraith’s carbon fiber girder front-end style, the Motus MST’s V4 engine, and…that is about it.
The rest of the Bienville Legacy motorcycle is unlike anything else on the market, which should surprise no one considering its source (Nesbitt) and the fact that Bienville is setting out to make commissioned bespoke machines for its patrons.
While there is certainly a lot to soak up here in the photos, we would at least like to draw your attention to the bow-like frame suspension (in red, near the gas tank), which arcs across the length of the Legacy.
This leaf spring is made of composite materials, and keeps the chassis under tension at all times. According to Bienville, this means that the the steering forces are decoupled from the suspension and the brake forces, with the sole tension points being the central spring mount and the swingarm pivot.
Because of this design, the suspension damping is handled by downhill mountain bike parts. Other pieces include ISR brakes, BST custom carbon fiber wheels, and hours of painstakingly hand-crafted pieces.
Headlight transforms into the instrument cluster, while the saddle is custom-fit to each owner’s buttocks. Astute readers will note that the front and rear girders are exactly the same in design, though operate differently, significantly. Say what you will about the aesthetics, but adjustments to the chassis are easy to make, and require only one allen key.
Only three of these machines will be make, to the specifications to their respective owners of course, and Bienville plans to take them to Bonneville to show how they go. With a 300hp supercharger in the works, we imagine they’ll go pretty good. In the meantime, we have got high-resolution photos to chew on below.
Different? Yes. Art? Surely. Your cup of tea? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Bienville
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