Best of British

Watch the evolution of enigma on-line

Posted: 13 December 2011
by mark forsyth
It's so British it's even got a stiff upper lip
A headstock even Valentino would approve of
Donor bike

Enigma 1050 is a new, all-British motorbike based around a Triumph 1050 Speed Triple engine.

It's being put together by a small team of people headed by former MCN editor and lifelong fan of British engineering, Jim Lindsay.

"The driving force behind the project," says Lindsay, "Is to showcase some of the amazing expertise that exists in the British motorcycle industry."

Enigma is being designed as a sharp-handling road bike with all-day comfort as one of the key goals.

The frame is being built by Dave Pearce of Tigcraft who is known worldwide for his championship winning lightweight frames. The main frame is already done and weighs just 8.2 Kilos - over two kilos lighter than the trellis chassis of the Daytona 675.

Derbyshire based suspension specialists, K-Tech, are providing the forks, the rear suspension unit and have also made their CAD facilities available to the project team. K-Tech manufacture high quality suspension upgrade kits for road and track as well as their forks and rear units which are used by race teams worldwide.

All the alloy components are being machined by small Leicestershire company Promach. (The late great Dave Jefferies would not use anybody else's rearsets for his TT campaigns). Promach undertake a lot of one-off development work for Triumph and owner Mick Edwards was part of the Devimead Ducati team that took Steve Hislop to BSB success.

Wiltshire outfit Dymag are providing the Carbon Fibre wheels on which the finished bike will run.

Brakes discs, calipers and master cylinder are all coming from Coventry based AP Racing.

And how more British can you get than tank maker Terry Hall who is based near Shrewsbury? Terry, who will be hand beating the tank from aluminium, learned his metal shaping craft as an armourer for The Household Cavalry.

The prototype is due to be ready for testing by the end of April 2012. The team plan to market the bike both in kit form and as a complete machine.

However, according to Lindsay, the team are concentrating on getting the prototype right first. "If we do the job that we know we are capable of and turn out a top quality motorbike then there will be people who want to own one," he said.

The team also has plans for two other bikes but details of those are not available at present.

You can follow the project here



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Triumph, Enigma, 1050, Tigcraft, Dymag, K-Tech
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Discuss this story

kit form ! better start looking for a ropey Speed Triple

Posted: 13/12/2011 at 12:54

Wow. That be pretty... *Picks tongue up off the floor*

I'd better tell the missus that the deposit for the new house has "magically" disappeared...

Posted: 13/12/2011 at 13:46


RK
:) V Nice..... kit form..be sticking hold of my speedy

Posted: 13/12/2011 at 16:45

Thanks Guys.

Got any questions, post them up here and I'll answer best as I can.

Jim

Posted: 13/12/2011 at 21:20

yesterday I thought I knew which bike I wanted. Today I do. Nice

Posted: 13/12/2011 at 22:17

Thanks Adey. New visuals to reflect the development of the bike as it is being built will be up in the new year.

Cheers.

Jim

Posted: 14/12/2011 at 17:26

just looks like a shitty 675R...
...which is probably more expensive

wants a more practical head fairing, some lower fairings or an aggresive, angular belly pan, and that swing arm wants writing off and replacing with a polished scaffold style single sided swingarm.




if you want to do something special, take a speed triple, make a full fairing kit for it that resembles a 675R, and bolt it on. Job done.

i run a Speed Triple 1050, and it eats Sportsbikes for breakfast.

Posted: 14/12/2011 at 21:07


MF

http://s3.visordown.com/members/images/232185/gallery/pringlearchive-csm.jpg?width=350&height=350&mode=max



Posted: 14/12/2011 at 21:30

looks sweet to me. i'd want it with a yellow frame / wheels and matt grey for the tank / cowl and other bits. red is so obvious and dare i say it boring.

Posted: 14/12/2011 at 21:36

It reminds me a lot of the BMW R1200s that I had. It also needed a bigger screen and bellypan...

Posted: 16/12/2011 at 15:53

Mmm, Pringle, you're not much of a diplomat are you?!

Single sided swinging arms require more weight for the same strength so we won't be going that way.

Not sure about a bellypan. We'll be doing some sketching over Christmas and it is one option we are looking at.

Don't agree with what you say about the standard bike just needing a fairing. The frame is OK but the handling is nothing like as sharp as it should be and at 220kg it's heavy.

We're going for a road oriented bike that will make the best of what we consider to be one f the best road going engines around.

Cheers.

Jim

Posted: 20/12/2011 at 17:26

Red is a bit obvious, you're right. Personally I favour a red frame with white bodywork but first we need to get the visuals redrawn.

Best.

Jim

Posted: 20/12/2011 at 17:28


bim
Why is the frame in reality nothing like the concept drawings with the full trellis frame ? The trellis was very bimota and looked way better imho.

Posted: 31/12/2011 at 13:29

Excellent work! Really like it a lot. The fairing is somewhere between a Jap superbike and Ducati 999 and it makes a nice blend. The frame is artfully executed and attractively styled.

At 60 years of age the bar/seat ratio is a bit unkind and the pillion even unkinder as I like my Sparerib along for my rides.

Good job though.

Guess my 'Busa is as radical a I can go. Getting old sucks! If I was younger - would this be on my shopping list? U betcha.

Posted: 07/01/2012 at 09:18

Looking at the bike the frame reminds me of a Ducati and then the fairing of the 999 which not many liked.
As with any design I think it is different but not in the right direction. Maybe you can be bold and change the look of the fairing which will move me more to liking the bike. Exhausts also are a feature that I look at when scanning the bike over and as it evolves from the engine is nice but then half way from the the end it looks like a scooter with the ally cover. Could it be moulded or shaped to change on the latter part.
Maybe you could sell it with different exhaust systems direct from other manufacturers. I still have my standard exhausts in the shed and never intend to use them. Sounds like a hair dryer with them on.
I wonder what look termiogini or yoshi would place on the bike.
vinnychoff

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Posted: 14/01/2012 at 02:15

Best of British ..... Looks a lot like a copy of a certain Best of Italian to me

Posted: 15/01/2012 at 19:45

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