Icon Motorcycle reveals Barry Sheene tribute

News
Icon Motorcycle reveals
Barry Sheene tribute
LONDON, UK: New
manufacturer Icon
Motorcycles has launched a
limited production bike as a
tribute to the late Barry
Sheene. The British
motorcycle champion has
long remained an icon in the
public mind that has lingered
long after his death through
cancer seven years ago.
The brain behind Icon
Motorcycles is Andrew
Morris who made his fortune
in the shipping industry. It
was on a rowing trip across
the Atlantic in 2005 that he
came up with the idea of the
Icon Sheene motorcycle. “For
about a year and a half
following that it was no more
than a concept in drawings. I
showed them to Steve
Parrish, the 500cc World
Motorycycle champion in
1976, and Barry Nutley, the
radio and TV commentator,
both of whom were close
friends of Sheene, which led
me to getting in touch with
Stuart Tiller of Spondon
Engineering. This, in turn, led
to more contacts so that by
the end I had around 20 core
contacts who all got involved
in the project in one way or
another.
Everything about the bike
is bespoke from the handbeaten aluminium fuel tank
to hand-blown glass HID
headlamp and from the
keyless ignition to the
handmade swing arm with
unique integral polished
hugger and axle lifting
system.
The bike is powered by a
By William Kimberley
turbocharged Suzuki 1400cc
engine that delivers 257bhp
at the wheel and 133 lb ft of
torque. “We’ve set out to
make the bike quick and
powerful but also going back
to technology that was
around in Barry’s era,” said
Morris. “So what we’ve done
is mated up a Garrett
turbocharger to the last of the
really strong oil and aircooled GSX motors, with
which Barry would have been
very familiar. However, we’ve
stripped everything out of it,
put in Wiseco pistons and
Carrillo conrods, replaced the
cams and valves, oil pump
and clutch and have had
some engineers make all the
oil coolers. Using a MoTec
contol system and hours of
research and dyno time, we
have managed to make the
engine more manageable and
linear so that the turbo
doesn’t suddenly cut in with a
surge to spit the rider off in
mid-corner. Instead the turbo
starts to spool up as low as
2,000-2,500rpm making it a
very tractable and rideable
bike.”
active in British and World
Superbikes, who did the
install for us.”
Unlike the engine, though,
the 6-speed gearbox has not
really required any attention.
“It is bullet-proof,” said
Morris. “We know of
identical engines to ours that
have run up to 400bhp and
we are at 257bhp.”
The bikes has Bitubo front
forks and Öhlins at the rear,
but the final decision has not
yet been made as to which
suspension setup will be the
preferred choice. “In fact,
we’ve advertised it with
Bitubo but when we ran it
with Öhlins all round, it was
also very good,” said Morris.
Hydroforming gives a
unique seemless bend, the
difficulty about the process
being that there is only one
machine in the UK, so
Morris has had to look
further afield for a supplier
for his exhaust boxes. “The
down tubes and all the turbo
pipes, though, are all
hand-formed by a current
Formula One exhaust
engineer. We are also
running with only a minute
silencer because the turbo
damps all the noise out. The
bike is rorty but not illegal.”
Eight months to build but
each frame is made to suit
the individual buyer, the
information fed back to
Spondon Engineering that
will be making the 52 chassis
– each one having its unique
playing card logo carefully
hand painted onto it. Other
design features include the
handmade solid silver Daffy
Duck logo, a Barry Sheene
trademark, and the signature
of Sheene and his wife
Stephanie on the top yoke.
“Even the pressure from the
pen supplied has been
replicated in the CNC
machine with variable depth.”
The levers are all multiple
adjustable for reach and
pressure, the switchgear
inbuilt into the clamp. “The
have been made by Acke
Rising who used to race
against Barry in the ‘70s who
wanted them on his bike but
he wasn’t allowed to do so.
Acke runs ISR Brakes in
Sweden and he has made the
brakes just for us.”
Deposits are currently
being taken for the £107,000
bikes which are being built to
order. The only bikes not
being sold is the seven of
hearts, the current show bike
due to the demands being
placed on it.
Modern touches
Another modern touch is the
use of data cabling rather
than wires to keep the weight
down. “It cost thousands just
to have the loom laid up but it
has been worth it just to
eliminate a great deal of the
wiring. We are lucky to have
the services of Ben Morris,
one of MoTeC’s dealers
6 • August/September 2010 • Moto Tech
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Moto Tech • August/September 2010 • 7