MOTORCYCLES and F1 drivers go hand in hand, the list of those that have sat on the F1 grid who loved riding motorcycles is probably longer than the all-time winners list.
And another name should be chalked up alongside Senna, Webber, Vettle and Hamilton is Charles Leclerc, as the Monegasque has been spotted picking up a rather lovely looking custom-built Husqvarna.
The bike is called the 701 Serie Apex 2.0 and has been created by the French-based custom outfit, Bad Winners. They are now offering the machines out to members of the public in four flavours, from Stage 1 to Stage 4. Each bike on the range gets more potent, more exclusive and more expensive as the number increases. Ending up with the bike we can see Charles riding here, coming in at a cool €20,990.00.
The bike features a custom-built frame and bodywork, which will be swapped out for the carbon fibre you see here if you opt for the more trick versions! The top-spec machines also get a mechanical overhaul in the form of a full system exhaust and decat, Power Commander V, Li-Ion battery, SC-Project end can and gorgeous looking DYMAG carbon fibre wheels.
Speaking to BikeExif, Walid from Bad Winners explains how Leclerc’s bike came about:
“It started with a simple message on Instagram. A message from Charles Leclerc to the Bad Winners account! At first, I thought it was spam.
“Charles said, ‘I’ve been following you for a while, and I really like your motorcycles. Would it be possible to make me one?’”
Still feeling like this might not be the real Charles Leclerc, Walid fired his mobile number over to confirm the identity of the person! From there Leclerc admitted that an older bike built by Bad Winners was the machine he was after but based on the modern Husqvarna 701 instead.
The final machine is the result of many hours of CAD and 3D modelling, with Bad winners even going as far as creating an entirely new HMI for the machine, that allows the rider to tailor the dash layout – a version of which will be released in the coming months for other bikes too.
If the €20,990.00 machine that you see in the pictures is too much, the team at Bad Winners will also create a less expensive version with less carbon fibre and more parts carried over from the donor bike for €14,690 – a much easier number to get past your significant other!
