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| Rear wing still under development |
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Turns out, though, that America wasn't quite ready - or was socially beyond the point of acceptance - for the SportCycle. Around 10 were sold in the States after its 2001 creation, but legislation had effectively ended the project before Mackenzie stepped in. He sensed an opportunity in the UK, where specialist and kit car makers still thrive - provided that their products are up to scratch. And contrary to visual impressions, the SportCycle is.
It's a wonderfully simple concept. The donor bike - a Honda Blackbird, in this case - is used virtually intact. Bodywork, forks, bars and front-wheel are removed, but the entire wiring loom is retained, joined to an intermediary loom in the car. The bike's dials and switchgear are re-located into the tubular steel cockpit, and once you're nestled into the high-quality cabin, with its laid-down driving position and full harness, you'll notice that mix of car and bike controls - steering wheel and three pedals from car, minor controls from bike, and a sequential gear-lever, mechanically joined links to the bike's regular gearbox.
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| Steering wheel nestles alongside bike controls |
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All that mechanically changes on the bike is, in fact, its rear tyre. If you've seen those big superbike back tyres, you won't be entirely surprised to learn that a regular 205 profile car tyre (a BF Goodridge in this case) slots straight on. Front tyres are Yokohama A048Rs; developed for road/track use, I know from experience that they're super-sticky, and given that this SportCycle is running the optional wide-track front suspension with wing-profile arms (which look very cool, incidentally), I'm expecting a lot of front-end grip.
And less at the back.
Marvellous.
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