Photo: Valen Zhou
Sometimes when you embark on a new project and set out to build something, your initial ideas might not exactly pan out in practice. However, you’re so passionate about the project that you don’t simply give up but move along with what you have and see what happens. This is how things went with the sprint motorcycle you see here.
This odd contraption is the brainchild of Valen Zhou, a Chinese photographer based in Milan, with a deep passion for motorcycles, and it’s his very first attempt at building one from scratch, which explains the sketchy look.
“The entire motorcycle is actually my imagination,” Valen confesses. “It is my own concept bike. I am not a professional engineer or a real designer, but because I love motorcycles, I just want to realize my sprint idea—and I hope everyone who sees it finds it super cool.”
It’s true that race bikes prioritize function over form and are the most minimalistic motorcycles, possessing only the essential components needed to go around a circuit, but Zhou’s build seems to take minimalism to a whole new level. And the builder himself admits it’s not exactly practical and says that, when he realized his ideas were not going to pan out, he decided to approach it as a concept bike of sorts.
The wannabe sprint racer is built around a handmade chassis that blends elements of a road bicycle frame and a vintage double-cradle design and includes a slew of bespoke off-the-shelf components, such as custom-built dropped bars, the bicycle saddle and seat post, a full-custom suspension setup both front and rear, with handmade shock and linkage out front and a single-sided tubular swingarm at the back.
As for the bike’s wheels, the front setup is comprised of a Honda CG125 hub, a motorcycle rim, and aero bicycle wheel covers. In the rear, the builder fitted a spare car wheel wrapped in Maxxis rubber.
The beating heart of the build is a motor taken from a Kawasaki KZ250 dirt bike. It’s an air-cooled 246 cc single delivering a modest 19 Nm (14 ft-lb) of torque. As for braking, the build is equipped with a single rear disc borrowed from a motocross bike.
The riding position is odd, to say the least. It seems quite uncomfortable, considering the rider is supposed to handle the machine from a bicycle seat, using the dropped handlebars and a high-mounted set of fixed foot pegs.
“It’s not very comfortable, but it feels like the wind resistance is very little. Your arms get particularly tired, though!” Valen Zhou admits.
It doesn’t take an expert to realize this wannabe sprint motorcycle has many issues and is not actually usable, but it embodies a man’s passion for motorcycles, and we can choose to look at it as a piece of rolling art. And as art, in general, has little practical purpose, let’s just see it as an artistic expression and don’t question what’s underneath.
“The entire motorcycle is actually my imagination,” Valen confesses. “It is my own concept bike. I am not a professional engineer or a real designer, but because I love motorcycles, I just want to realize my sprint idea—and I hope everyone who sees it finds it super cool.”
It’s true that race bikes prioritize function over form and are the most minimalistic motorcycles, possessing only the essential components needed to go around a circuit, but Zhou’s build seems to take minimalism to a whole new level. And the builder himself admits it’s not exactly practical and says that, when he realized his ideas were not going to pan out, he decided to approach it as a concept bike of sorts.
The wannabe sprint racer is built around a handmade chassis that blends elements of a road bicycle frame and a vintage double-cradle design and includes a slew of bespoke off-the-shelf components, such as custom-built dropped bars, the bicycle saddle and seat post, a full-custom suspension setup both front and rear, with handmade shock and linkage out front and a single-sided tubular swingarm at the back.
As for the bike’s wheels, the front setup is comprised of a Honda CG125 hub, a motorcycle rim, and aero bicycle wheel covers. In the rear, the builder fitted a spare car wheel wrapped in Maxxis rubber.
The beating heart of the build is a motor taken from a Kawasaki KZ250 dirt bike. It’s an air-cooled 246 cc single delivering a modest 19 Nm (14 ft-lb) of torque. As for braking, the build is equipped with a single rear disc borrowed from a motocross bike.
The riding position is odd, to say the least. It seems quite uncomfortable, considering the rider is supposed to handle the machine from a bicycle seat, using the dropped handlebars and a high-mounted set of fixed foot pegs.
“It’s not very comfortable, but it feels like the wind resistance is very little. Your arms get particularly tired, though!” Valen Zhou admits.
It doesn’t take an expert to realize this wannabe sprint motorcycle has many issues and is not actually usable, but it embodies a man’s passion for motorcycles, and we can choose to look at it as a piece of rolling art. And as art, in general, has little practical purpose, let’s just see it as an artistic expression and don’t question what’s underneath.
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