Arguably, there’s less real estate available to make a motorcycle look that much different to the one you’ve already just seen. But don’t tell that to Lazareth, the French custom builder more known for its quad bikes has just produced something that would not be out of place in a Tron movie.
Meet the LM 847; a 32-valve, 4,691cc V8 Maserati powered machine. The LM 847 is a curious beast, as on closer inspection it actually has four wheels rather than the expected two. Yet these two pairs of wheels are teamed close enough together to enable the bike to lean and handle like a traditional two-wheeler, thanks to some sophisticated intelligent suspension courtesy of Dutch company TFX, who you might know as a supplier of suspension parts for BMW motorcycles.
Surprisingly, all that Maserati power is coming from just a single-speed gearbox and hydraulic coupler connecting to a dual chain final drive – each rear wheel has its own chain drive and sits on individual powerful swingarms. The upshot of this is of course, that accelerating doesn’t involve any manual gear changing – hold on tight…
Each rear wheel is not suspended individually as one might have expected, as the custom TFX setup consists of a transversely mounted rear shock. Up front, two more swingarms grip a wheel each and here, each wheel has its own separate shock.
If you’re looking at the front of this bike and think you can actually see three wheels rather than two, you will be looking at the carbon fibre aerodynamic shield that separates each wheel.
That Maserati engine pushes out a huge 470bhp with 458lb ft of torque – scary enough in a car, let alone a motorcycle… Comfortingly, Brembo supply some reliable braking on 420mm front rotors and 255mm rear, and that familiar looking rear section comes from a Ducati superbike, the 1299 Panigale with minimal tweaking.
The Lazareth LM 847 debuted at the Geneva Motor Show and is a 400kg, 2.6-metre long monster of a superbike (or quad bike, depending on how you decide to look at it) that is more than a wild concept scribbled out on a computer screen, it exists. Maybe in part, with thanks to a recent change in French law that has done away with restricting motorcycles travelling on French roads to 100hp…
Images: lazareth.fr
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