There's no shortage of insane motorcycle engine swaps online. And there's no shortage of insane motorcycle engines that come directly from the factory. I mean, recall that the MTT Turbine Superbike, aka Y2K, exists. As well as Kawasaki's supercharged H2.
But it takes a special kind of lunatic to build something so unapologetically unhinged, even we at RideApart have to go, "Are you sure you've thought this through?" Seriously, that's coming from us, the folks who've been known to laugh in the face of danger, "Ha, ha, haaaaa!"
Yet, our questioning the sanity of a project is exactly the case with this V8-powered motorcycle. A V8 isn't that unusual in the world of custom motorcycles, but what is highly unusual is where they sourced the V8 from, i.e. from a high-revving Ferrari. Oh yeah, that's a lot of prancing Italian horses saddled between your legs. And after months of work, it's finally running and driving. Just listen to this thing.
As we've talked about in a prior article, the V8 Hazan Motorworks used was pulled from a Ferrari F355 supercar, and was one of the best-sounding V8s the company ever built. The engine's life was one that lasted nearly 40 years, and was only retired ahead of the Ferrari F430's production, which saw the new Maserati/Ferrari V8 put into production. Make no mistake, though, as the prior F355 V8 could rev to nearly 10,000 rpm, which puts it into motorcycle territory from the jump.
The original spec of the engine made it so that it could put down 375-ish horsepower, which is more than enough to get the motorcycle to scoot about. OK, OK, that's more than enough as even today's superbikes have below 250 horsepower. That, however, didn't stop Hazan from a 400 horsepower figure.
That's distilled lightning. He also kept the individual throttle bodies, so you may get sucked into the engine upon full twist.
According to the shop's social media, the frame is a custom job (obviously), and they aimed to keep the whole thing under 600 pounds wet, which they did. It's also only the length of an adventure motorcycle, with Hazan tightening the whole thing up to just 63 inches axle-to-axle so as to preserve that sportbike look. It's still five inches longer than a sportbike, by Hazan's own account.
There's also custom headers and exhaust, custom suspension front and rear, custom bodywork, and custom, well, everything else as you can't just order parts from Italy for a Ferrari-powered motorcycle. The whole project, however, feels otherworldly, as who's nuts enough to ride it? I mean, it looks like Hazan has, and I probably would too if given the chance, but I'd have some serious talks in my head to remind myself I have three children and a wife to come home to.
But what about you? Would you be brave enough to ride this hellion? And be honest.
