hesketh Motorcycles is a British motorcycle manufacturer, originally based in Daventry and Easton Neston, Northamptonshire, England.
the company was founded in 1982 by Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Lord Hesketh, following the development of a prototype in 1980. After two rapid restructurings of his company, the brand has been maintained and enhanced since 1984 by Broom Engineering, based at Turweston airfield on the border of Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, also in England. The brand's most recent location since 2013 is based in Kingswood, Surrey, England.
the project was inspired by Lord Hesketh, who intended to revive the moribund British motorcycle industry, and at the time the last private team to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix, with James Hunt at the wheel. Lord Hesketh wanted to use the skills and facilities built up in this way to enhance his image, and then the production of a quality motorcycle was born.
the Hesketh motorcycle was developed on the Easton Neston estate, with the prototype running in the spring of 1980 using a special Weslake engine. The twin-cylinder V 1000 (loosely based on the charismatic marketing of Vincent motorcycles, but with a more contemporary take on the Ducati 860 GT), offered all kinds of advances; for example, it was the first British motorcycle with four valves per cylinder and two overhead camshafts (technology common on Japanese machines).
after two years of development, the project was announced to the press and partners were sought for its manufacture. However, none was ever produced. Lord Hesketh then founded Hesketh Motorcycles plc. In 1982, a modern factory was set up to manufacture Hesketh V1000 motorcycles in Daventry.
however, there were many problems. The bikes were heavy and tricky to ride; and unreliable, with numerous manufacturing problems adding to overheating of the rear cylinder due to lack of ventilation. The resulting bad press, combined with an underdeveloped motorcycle, lack of cash flow and a sluggish market, condemned the company to receivership after the production of 139 bikes.
cagiva visited Daventry in September 1982, with a view to absorbing Hesketh. Disappointed by the attitude of certain people in the English company, and by the lack of industrial tools, Cagiva did not follow up this takeover attempt.
triumph also sought to buy the rights to Hesketh's machine, as the brand lacked new models beyond the aging Bonneville. A V1000 machine appeared for a time with a Triumph badge on its tank, but Triumph also lacked the funding to buy and develop the machine.
in 1983, Lord Hesketh formed a new company called Hesleydon Ltd to manufacture a redesigned V1000 with a full fairing, christened the Vampire. However, although the company produced a bike with some export potential, the Vampire retained too many of the V1000's faults and only 40 were produced before the company closed in 1984.
development after closure
mick Broom was the development engineer / test rider for the original Hesketh team. When Hesketh Motorcycles plc went into receivership, Broom was part of a team funded by Lord Hesketh to support the owners of the original machines, offering maintenance and modifications to the motods sold. This team eventually became Hesleydon Ltd, which obtained the necessary certification to sell abroad and continued to develop the Vampire after requests for a touring version of the V1000.
combined with the general slowdown in the motorcycle market, the high cost of parts and the inability to raise funds to implement ?broom continued to support and develop the bike alongside development work for other factories and customers.
based in the very place where development of the V1000 had begunbroom and his team set about improving the V1000 with a view to making it a more reliable long-distance tourer for gentlemen. This included solving overheating by increasing oil flow to cool the rear cylinder. Broom produced up to 12 bikes a year, and also developed the conceptual Vulcan and Vortan machines.
silverstone
in 2006, after being forced to leave Easton Neston following Lord Hesketh's sale to Leon Max Leon Max, and the latter's intention to turn the premises into a call center for his Max Store clothing brand, Broom Engineering moved to Turweston Aerodrome near the Silverstone circuit. However, just before the move, and at a location where most of the parts were in packing crates, a theft took place with a total value of £40,000 - including irreplaceable documents, tools and motorcycles. This slowed down the planned improvements to small-scale production in the new premises.
brand renaissance
under new ownership and management since Mick Broom sold the brand in 2010, Hesketh Motorcycles Ltd plans to relaunch production of new models over the years.
in early 2014, Hesketh Motorcycles announced the release of the Hesketh 24, which would be the first new Hesketh model to be produced in some 30 years.
hesketh models :
- V1000: V-twin gentleman's tourer. The original machine comes with a nickel-plated Reynolds 531 chassis.
- Vampire: touring version of the V1000, with optional fairing and panniers.
- Vortan: a boring 1100 cc sport version of the V1000 with a highly modified chassis.
- Vulcan: a V1000 with a series of modifications including a 1200 cc engine.
- Hesketh 24: limited series edition with twin 1917 cc S & S, engine named after James Hunt's 1975 F1 car.
- Sonnet 2200: top-of-the-range Café-Racer
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Source: Wikipedia article Hesketh Motorcycles (authors)