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Purple-Sizzling Milestone: The one thousandth Janus Halcyon 250…
Janus Bikes is a small-batch motorbike producer based mostly out of Goshen, Indiana, who construct three fashions of small-displacement bikes: the Gryffin 250, Halcyon 250, and Halcyon 450. A number of years in the past, we had the chance to talk with the corporate’s founders and study extra in regards to the model at an official Janus take a look at trip.
What impressed us most was the best way they’d leveraged the experience of native craftspeople, lots of them Amish or Mennonite — carriage-makers, leatherworkers, and many others. — to construct the vast majority of every bike inside 25 miles of their headquarters in northern Indiana.
“Janus Bikes characteristic sturdy supplies, hand-crafted particulars, and serviceable, easy powertrains. Janus builds about 300 models a yr (and rising), and employs many native craftspeople, fabricators, machinists, and motorbike specialists to design, manufacture, and construct their bikes…” -Janus
Whereas the single-cylinder, air-cooled engines they use to energy their machines are manufactured abroad, they’re based mostly on time-honored, bulletproof designs just like the Honda CG250 and the SWM “Basic 440” — a redesign of the beloved Honda XR400 enduro engine. These is probably not high-torque twins or howling inline fours, however they’re robust, sensible, confirmed designs that may take a licking and carry on ticking for years to come back.
Just lately, we heard straight from Janus saying the supply of their one thousandth Halcyon 250 — a customized bike in-built collaboration with the bike’s proprietor, Tom Neel. Neel, a long-time motorcyclist and Janus buyer, had a Halcyon 250 that he put practically 14,000 miles on in two years of possession — that’s loads of miles on a 250cc machine! In truth, Neel liked the bike a lot that he reserved Halcyon 250 serial quantity 1000 for himself over a yr in the past.
Neel and a Janus crew led by Richard Worsham, the agency’s founder and lead designer, labored to create a singular motorbike constructed with the 50s “Sizzling Rod” look that Neel desired.
“A vibrant pink colour was chosen by Neel — and the bodywork and body, fork, kickstand and different gadgets have been all completed to match (a regular Janus, whereas obtainable with bodywork in lots of colours, would usually have a black body, fork, kickstand and different mechanical components).”
Polished aluminum fenders have been additionally crafted for the one-off construct, and Neel specified that the airbox — usually painted to match the bodywork — be polished to point out off its all-alloy development. Varied engine components and parts have been eliminated, bead blasted, and polished.
The gasoline tank was polished and painted by hand with gold and black pinstripes, together with the Janus feather emblem and medallion from the agency’s Halcyon 450 mannequin. There’s additionally a particular engraved gasoline cap with Tom’s identify and the bike’s #1000 serial quantity designation, in addition to a singular #1000 polished aluminum quantity plate on the entrance of the bike mounted simply over the headlight.
When he’s not driving his new customized creation, Tom is planning to enter the bike in a number of motorbike exhibits in 2024.
“We’re excited to share this distinctive construct for Tom, who needed one thing extra ‘red-hot’ for this milestone bike. We’re additionally happy with our crew of builders who work laborious each single day to make lovely, useful artwork.” -Grant Longenbaugh, Janus President
Founder and lead designer Richard Worsham famous how nice it was to work with a repeat buyer like Tom:
“Janus is understood for making hand-built bikes with extra customization choices than every other motorbike producer. We love seeing what we will do with these bikes together with our repeat clients like Tom.”
We will attest from speaking to different Janus house owners how pleasant and tight-knit the Janus possession neighborhood is. Few small-batch bikes are reasonably priced sufficient for the common rider to afford — base worth for the Halcyon 250 is simply $6995. In fact, most bikes in that worth vary are constructed solely abroad.
Add to that the relative rarity of the Janus fashions, the basic design that recollects the bikes of a century in the past, and the benefit and practicality of a easy, air-cooled, all however bulletproof engine, and we wouldn’t thoughts having a Halcyon within the BikeBound steady sometime.
Construct Video
Element Photographs
Comply with the Builder
Net: janusmotorcycles.com
Instagram: @janusmotorcycle
Fb: Janus Bikes
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