America 1: Gold-Plated Superbike
America 1: Gold-plated superbike
ROUNDUP
HEY, YOU, THE GUY with the Rolls, Rolex and Bimota, the guy who thinks he's got everything? There's bad news, and there's good news.
The bad news? You don’t have everything. The good news? Samuel Klambaur, a 26-year-old Swiss artist, will be delighted to sell you that last artifact to add to your col-lection of ultimate artifacts.
He’ll sell you one of his America 1 motorcycles, a goldplated, carbon-fibered, airbrushed, monster-motored megabike he bills as, “A synthesis of European, Japanese and American motorcycle technology, with the planning and design from Europe, the engine from Japan, and the paint and airbrush technique used to decorate the bike from America.” The too-eager collector can purchase the prototype shown here, a 1988 Yamaha FZR1000. He’ll pay 120,000 Swiss francs for it, at current rates of exchange, $86,600. But the truly discerning collector will order one of the planned 50-bike production run, which will sell for be-
which will sell for between $140,000 and $180,000. This piece de resistance will use a modified FZR1000 engine; the rest of the machine will be composed entirely of custom components.
Says Mr. Klambaur, “It shall be the most exciting, most expensive motorcycle ever produced, with only the best materials, and much more per-
performance than the standard Yamaha. It will fulfill all the dreams of the connoisseur of exclusive and fast machines.”
He’s not kidding. He’s talking carbon-fiber bodywork, but if you’ve got the bucks, that isn’t all that hard to find these days. Much more unusual is Klambaur’s plan to plate every unpainted metal surface, including the special aircraft-alloy frame and swingarm, exhaust canister and carburetor bodies, with 24carat gold. The object of this, he says, is that even in 50 years, the bike will have absolutely no corrosion on it.
Klambaur also says that the America 1 will punch its way through the air all the way to 200 mph. He’s promising an engine tuned to produce 170 to 180 horsepower in a chassis
with a dry weight of 396 pounds.
But Klambaur, who says he’s an enthusiast who rides Japanese hyperbikes and British classics, is keen to point out that this bike is as much for looking at as it is for riding.
“It is a question of
“It is a question of art,” he says, “I am an artist. This will be a work of art, an homage to the motorcycle. I want to use the finest materials and techniques to produce the best motorcycle ever made, but one you don’t need to ride to enjoy.”
Klambaur (Choice Design Projects, Blumenbergstr 9, CH-8633, Wolfhausen, Switzerland; FAX 011/41/55/381716) plans to accept orders for his America 1 Superbike through December, 1992. Delivery, he says, will be on a first-come, firstserved basis, with the last of the 50 planned units complete by 1995.
—Jon F. Thompson
