Amidst the rumble of Ducati’s climax to their world premiere with the DesertX, Triumph falling smack into the discovery of their oldest prototype and the tongue-in-cheek ‘release’ of Damon Motors’s HyperFighter Colossus electric motorcycle, comes a small but mighty bit of gossip from across the Atlantic that immediately cocked our ears just so.
Guy Martin, a dynamic, helluva motorcyclist with lickety-split verbiage and no survival instinct whatsoever (see project involving a ‘turbine-engined speed cannon’), has apparently tested two new motorcycles from a British motorcycle brand called Dot (short for “Devoid of Trouble”) – and the two retro, Kawasaki-powered 650 twins have already secured a slew of orders upon the completion of the weekend’s NEC show.
They are the Reed Racer (named after company founder, Harry Reed, who took victory at the TT in 1908 on a Dot) and the Demon – two bikes that have had their engine taken right out of a Euro5-compliant Kawasaki Z650, with the end result punting out 67.3bhp @ 8000rpm and 47.2lb-ft @ 6700rpm.
That’s less than a Yamaha MT-07, but the populace doesn’t appear to mind, especially seeing as MCN tells us both bikes are guaranteed by the brand to be made from start to finish in the UK – something that is becoming more and more uncommon (see Triumph’s recent percentage of bikes made in Thailand).
Both motorcycles purportedly feature Brembo dual 300mm disc brakes, with Bosch ABS and the added perk of adjustable 40mm Showa forks and a monoshock, both of which are purportedly “sprung to the riders’ weight before being delivered.” (it’s the little things, you know?)
“We’ve got CNC machines, we’ve got autoclaves, so we can make all the parts in-house,” says Dot’s Dr. Anthony Keating to MCN.
“Customers can have whatever colors they want.”
With that higher echelon of pampering comes a price – and it’s a tad stiff.
“The scramblers start at £18,500, and the cafe racers start at £21,000,” admits Keating.
“We can’t make the bikes for any less than that because everything’s made in the UK.”
The report also states that the company is currently working on an electric bike – so stay tuned for updates, be sure to check out other recent news from our archives, and as always – stay safe on the twisties.