You want to buy a brand new motorbike, and let’s say your budget is unlimited and you’ve got the bike finance sorted (or perhaps you’ll be paying cash). What should you get? Well, if you only want the best, your only option is to buy an…
Ecosse Titanium Series FE Ti XX.
Likely to set you back a cool USD$300,000 plus the cost of shipping the bike to Australia from Colorado in the US where it is made, you’d need to be pretty certain this is the bike you want. But if you want or need the most expensive, then this is it. Why the price tag?
As the name of the machine implies, the whole framework of the bike is made from titanium and is powered by a titanium 2400cc (that’s 2.4 litre in carspeak) engine that puts out 225hp (168kW). The pipes are made of ‘Grade 9’ titanium with a ceramic finish and the bike has a hydraulic clutch and a carbon belt drive. It also comes with a wristwatch. We’re guessing not a Timex.
Ecosse Moto, the company that makes the bike, had already claimed the title of world’s most expensive bike with their previous model, the Ecosse Titanium Series RR, and the company’s bikes have been featured many times in the world’s press, winning the Forbes magazine “Bike of the Year” in 2006 with their Heretic model, as well as winning the Robb Report’s prestigious “Best of the Best” award multiple times. Men’s Vogue magazine even commissioned a one-off limited edition of an Ecosse bike for one of its 2008 editions.
The company sees their bikes as works of art, and one of their Chinese customers agrees with them – he ordered an Ecosse but specifically asked for it to be ‘dry (ie no internal fluids) so he could put it on display as a work of art at home. The bike is in his daughter’s favourite colour (we don’t know which colour) and he’s named it after her.
As a little side note, further research on the web indicated that there may be a bike even more expensive than the Ecosse, but there’s a little bit of controversy over this one, as it might not be classified as a bike. The Dodge Tomahawk (top speed 676km/h and a cool US$555,000) actually has two front wheels and two rear wheels. Which perhaps makes it a car, but it certainly looks like a bike, with the front and rear wheel pairs very close together. It’s powered by an engine if not identical then very similar to the one that powers the Dodge Viper. The only other slight problem is, although it has a price tag, it was never sold to the public. This hasn’t however stopped a resourceful Chinese company from selling a copy of the bike for around US$1,400, but since it’s powered by a single cylinder 150cc engine and not the original’s V10, we don’t think you’d get quite the same ride experience.
So, in conclusion, if you’re after the best, trade in the Harley/Ducati/Ferrari/house and get yourself an Ecosse. And give us a call if you need to arrange a bike loan for it. 😉
