Motorcycle specifications Ransom Motorcycles 1000 Archangel 2024 The treasure in the sky

The United States abounds in tuners, from the most extravagant to the most talented. Let's turn the spotlight on Robert Ransom, a designer from New Jersey whose fecundity borders on the artistic, even the masterly.

That's what you might think when you see his sculptural Archangel. An unreasonably sublime show-bike, where insectivorous genesis transplants into a chimera with Ferrari-like reveries.

It's impossible to quantify the number of hours it took to imagine and bring to life these sidereal curves. The single-spoke frame is incredible, handcrafted and proudly holding an 18-inch rim surrounded by a 300mm-wide crown of rubber. The inverted fork is even steeper than a Cadillac-wheelbase chopper, yet as short as a hypersport.

The Archangel owes its low stance, with suspension travel seemingly wiped out, to pneumatic control of the front and rear.

With a view to presenting itself upright and in impeccable posture, it sits not on a side stand but on a pair of protrusions under the engine. Another surprising feature is that the nose of the bike drops forward to reveal the LED headlight.

Traditionally, the machines of this world are fitted with twin engines, often girthy. Manson prefers a more lively, excited engine. The tubular steel frame houses a 4-cylinder Japanese sports bike, spitting out 185 horsepower and vociferating through a particularly stylish stainless steel and titanium exhaust system. Only a 2012-2016 1000 GSX-R had this precise power figure.

The advertised price is very relative. The Ransom Motorcycle workshop can add a host of refined details and raise the price. Very high? We were talking about Ferraris ; these are low-cost cars compared to the Archangel.

M.B. - Manufacturer's photos