Motorcycle specifications LangenLightspeed LS12 2025 Evening tiara

A big twin with lots of watts, you immediately think of Ducati, then KTM, or even BMW with its flat 1300 and 1800, maybe Harley-Davidson… Forget these market behemoths for a moment and deviate towards British exclusivity. Or eccentricity, take your pick. Her Majesty’s standard lends itself willingly to both. What is being prepared in the Langen workshops is enough to excite the senses and the appetite.

Langen Motorcycles is an unpretentious warehouse 500 meters from a karting circuit (the Three Sisters). A building so anonymous that the trees steal the show. However, this is where an admirable and powerful bike will take shape: the Lightspeed. The second model of the young brand, just as captivating as its predecessor.

Sports? Roadster? Custom? We don’t really know. The only certainty is that the design was treated with care, attention to detail and a desire for refined elegance. As if the designer's hand was floating, swimming, "clouding" on the drawing board. Pay attention to the Smiths speedometer, worthy of an Aston Martin from the Belle Epoque. Langen wanted to make it light, in order to stay in the framework of his first creation, the 2-Stroke (and its 112 kilos). With a lot of carbon reinforcement, by adopting CNC machined aluminum rims, by installing parts cut from the mass everywhere, the Lightspeed weighs 185 kilos. A providential figure because it matches exactly the power of the engine.

A block that is already in use on the other side of the Atlantic. The 1190 cm3 twin installed in the LS12 is none other than the Rotax engine built for Buell and its Hammerhead. Impeccably installed in a tubular steel trellis frame, it sends big with its 185 horsepower at 10,600 rpm. The torque moves seriously, with nearly 14.1 mkg at 8,200 rpm. Values ​​similar to that of the American but a character that promises to be different. Langen has developed its own engine management and the latter is fed by enormous 74 mm injection bodies – for your information, the Superquadro of the 1199 Panigale was stuffed with 67.5 mm bodies.

The small English box has thus manufactured its own ECU, developed its maps and built its cooling, exhaust and frame elements. Good work for the swingarm in steel tube trellis, as we saw for the frame. The two are connected by a duo of Öhlins shock absorbers. The front axle is of the same vein. The braking is already a nice piece of equipment with HEL radial 4-piston calipers biting 320 mm discs. But the choice piece is this Öhlins inverted fork of 48 mm in diameter, reference FGRT 301.

Langen did not dwell too much on the electronics. Mentions of ABS, traction control and Driving Modes were mentioned but no more. The clientele will be more sensitive to the design and charm of this machine; as well as to the customization possibilities provided by the workshop.

To ensure a successful launch, Langen will play it safe. A first series of 185 Lightspeed LS12 will be launched in 2025 on the English market, with the island standards in force. From there, production should expand to 370 units, technically reworked to meet the standards of other countries. This second batch would not be launched before 2026 or even 2027. This leaves time to save the 37,000 pounds needed to take possession (plus VAT, taxes, etc.).

M.B. - pictures : manufacturer