Wednesday 24th February
PGM V8 bike: Time for Tea?
Thought eight cylinders in a motorbike really wasn't possible? Think again!
With the honourable exception of Bill Lomas's Moto Guzzi 500cc racer from the mid-1950s, most eight-cylinder bikes have been silly things staggering under the weight of physically enormous Chevy car engines.
Step forward then the wonder that is Aussie Paul G Maloney's PGM V8, a beautifully packaged 2.0-litre V8 that is the thoroughbred racehorse to the carthorses that have gone before.Billed as the world's most powerful production motorcycle, the PGM is powered by a purpose-built 1,996cc 90-deg V8 featuring sand-cast aluminium crankcases, 40 valves, a billet crank and eight 45mm Mikuni throttle bodies. That little lot adds up to a handsome 334hp at 12,800rpm (yes!) and 158lb ft at 9,500rpm.
Though it is a flat-plane V8, the PGM's extraordinary revvability must surely more than make up for any perceived shortfall in sonic character. The video can only give you a taste of what this must sound like in the open air through the Akrapovic titanium exhaust system.
Judging by the PGM's cycle parts spec, there's no reason to feel daunted by the PGM's riding experience either. It all sounds right. The seat height is a friendly 840mm - the same as a Kawasaki Versys 650 - and the wheelbase is 1,540mm, which again to give you some perspective is the same as a Triumph Tiger Sport or Yamaha XT1200 Super Tenere.
With carbon fibre bodywork the wet weight is a perfectly manageable 242kg, about the same as a Suzuki Hayabusa or VS1400 Intruder, distributed 51/49 front to rear. The suspension is pukka too with fully-adjustable 48mm Ohlins FGRT301 forks and an Ohlins TTX Mk 2 damper attached to a chrome-moly tube trellis front chassis and a CNC-machined aluminium rear section. To stop the beast you get 320mm discs up front and a 220mm rear, clamped by Brembo GP4 nickel plated calipers.
All very normal. The only thing that isn't quite so normal is the price: $180,000 Australian, or just over £92K at current rates. It is rather fabulous though.
Watch the video.