You may have caught spy photos of it on the internet forums last year, read about it online, perhaps even dismissed it as some Eurocentric anomaly. But now it's here in the States and it is for sale.
The "it" we're referring to is the Travertson V-Rex, a sci-fi artist's rendering brought to life by Christian Travert. Not only has Travert built a street-legal machine-unveiling it to the masses at Daytona last year-but it seems that he made the daunting jump from fantasy sketch to working model pretty cleanly. The lavishly detailed computer illustration and the running bike look shockingly similar.
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, though-the man behind the V-Rex already has quite a portfolio. For one, Travert's credited with engineering and building the 250-mph "Y2K" jet turbine-powered bike-still regarded as the world's fastest street-legal motorcycle (just ask Jay Leno). And he brought plenty of his way-out ideas to bear on the V-Rex as well.
That front end, for instance (are you done gawking yet?)-the unique patented leading link fork assembly has more in common with a rear swingarm than any telescopic fork setup. Its geometry isn't just for visual kicks, either-the flex-and-dive characteristics of a traditional front end have been quelled, so the Travertson front is said to control bumps better. Preload and damping adjustments on the custom EMC-Travertson shock also help dial in a compliant ride. The rear suspension goes for a more Softail approach, with state-of-the-art EMC dampers featuring variable rebound and damping controls in an external cage design that allows for preload adjustment as well (they'll be available from Travertson for aftermarket applications). Those suspension components, as well as the structural ones, are created from proprietary aluminum castings in-house.
Take the gas tank or "backbone segment" just forward of the rider-it's a structural element that joins the single-sided rear swingarm to the motor and subframe, supporting the steering arm and front fork (both also cast aluminum) in the process.
About the only recognizable element in this alien mix is the Harley-Davidson Revolution V-Twin in the engine bay. The VRSC 1250cc motor sports a Travertson-built air intake assembly and a 2-into-2 custom exhaust to maximize performance without compromising emissions. Power gets to the supersize Metzeler 280/35-18 rear tire via a final belt drive, and thankfully the braking combination is just as stout-a massive floating front disc featuring six-piston inverted front calipers with a two-piston Brembo unit out back conspiring to help slow the beast.
Perhaps even more impressive than all the trick hardware is that Travert's company-Travertson Motorcycles of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-has built more than one of these V-Rexes. In fact five have already been sold to customers, and more are on the way. One of the new owners is Jack Reynolds of Newport Beach, California, a chap nice enough to let us take a closer look at his proud new purchase just weeks after he took delivery. He even invited us to come ride it.
And so it was down on the sunny Palos Verdes peninsula in Southern California that we met the V-Rex in person.
First looks can kill, though. We had to admit it was otherworldly, postmodern-looking stuff, but with its 280-section rear tire, thin, suspended seat and extended front fork, the long, rangy V-Rex didn't exactly invite spirited sprints along the seashore. After all, the bike was created from a concept drawing incorporating quite a few forward-looking ideas-some of them less than practical for a road-going motorcycle. Two-wheel drive via a fluid mechanism in the wheel hubs for example, is just . . . not quite ready for prime-time.
Throwing a leg over the V-Rex, the first thing you notice is that steering is remarkably light for a bike of this heft. Controls and instrumentation are standard-issue Harley-Davidson V-Rod, so it was easy to figure out how to get the bike started. As we let out the clutch and nearly 700 pounds of painstakingly machined metal started moving, though, we braced for the unexpected.
Happily, it never really came. Christian Travert's V-Rex is far more practical than its two-dimensional alter ego. The steering remained light in the straightaways, but with the front 140/70-18 Metzeler-shod wheel so far out in front I was skeptical that the front end would work as advertised. At the first turn I was relieved to find that things remained surprisingly sedate-the front end tucked, but not as much as I expected, and settled itself once a line was chosen.