I know we sound like a broken record but if you braved the crowds at Bike Shed London 2015 then you’ll have no doubt come across the Motokouture stand, along with it’s gregarious engineer and proprietor Steven. For the Paris show we were treated to the Blokbeest, a BMW R NineT based challenge of molten aluminium and sand. After a few beers Steven began to get animated about his secret new project, this, the Buell MK24 AP (Américain Préparé). How does steak tartare compare to a motorcycle? Well, raw, obvious and uncompromising in its constituent parts; but in this case no egg on top.
Erik Buell’s pen doesn’t exactly do subtle in the first place but Steven wanted to take the XB 12 Thunderstorm design a bit further, drawing influence from the American Northrop B-2 Spirit, or Stealth Bomber as it’s affectionally known. Let’s make no bones about it, those things were designed to search and destroy and the MK24 AP looks like it’s on a mission to do similar. Driving licences, speed limits, rear tyres, forearms, and ear drums may all be damaged at the hands of this v-twin monster, but unlike the inspiration there’ll be nothing stealthy when Steven rolls into town.
The beating heart is the tried and tested 1203cc Thunderstorm motor with Screaming Eagle components, kicking out over 100 wild stallions, and telling anyone within a 2 mile radius about it through the Zircotec coated exhaust. As if that wasn’t enough the K&N filter looks as if it sucks all the available fresh air from just under the rider’s chin, the intake roar must be stupendous to say the least.
The Buell signature rim mounted brake disc never really caught on, despite the obvious weight saving and stopping power. Erik Buell persisted with the concept and this build is all the better for it, that massive rotor looks so unequivocally purposeful. Progressive springs inside the forks keep the front tyre wedged firmly into the asphalt.
And before the health and safety brigade wheel out the high-viz soapbox, there is a headlight, just not in the usual position. Why would it be, look at the thing. Nothing says conformity quite like a big 7-incher up front and two sets of indicators. Buried in the throat of the beast, the air intake for the rear pot, is an array of high output LEDs, presumably to create a lovely affect in the sky as the MK24 wheelies into the darkness.
With so much aggression on show, the fiddly and more fragile components such as the wiring harness are best kept out of sight. Steven has buried the modified loom inside the frame with the only evidence of sensibility being the tank mounted rev counter; Motogadget of course, and a couple of flight deck style switches. A small-as-capable lithium battery is housed out back in the modified tail and subframe, not too far from the ECU to ensure the signal of “chuck more coal on the fire” is heard loud and clear. Awkward shaped relays, CDI units etc have been banished to a new home inside the swing arm.
Pushing the MK24 around Tobacco Docks the other week reminded me how diminutive Erik Buell’s creations are. As custom donors they are relatively inexpensive and the results can be quite staggering, as Steven has so clearly demonstrated. Motokouture can seem to do no wrong at the moment, experimenting and pushing the envelope with each build. We enjoyed looking at this one but unfortunately the fun police at Bike Shed London wouldn’t let us fire it up. Maybe we’ll get to hear it run this summer, Wheels & Waves perhaps…
Photography by David Marvier
via The Bike Shed
