Although it weighs a 255kg (wet), the Hesketh 24 hides its weight well. It’s pretty easy to paddle around, considering, and a combination of well set-up Ohlins (the 24 is developed on the Isle of Man), revised steering geometry and sticky Pirelli Diablo Rosso II rubber gives a plush ride, decent control in the corners and good grip. It’s not a scratcher-hooligan machine, but it will be a blast rumbling through sunny B-road Britain on a summer Sunday morning. The upright riding position is reminiscent of a Tuono or S1000R.Powerful brakes do a fine job of bringing 255kg of British beef to a halt, but they don’t have the instant bite of a 1299 Panigale’s Brembo’s, say. But then a Panigale is a good 50kg lighter...
Powered by the same 2100cc S&S motor that you’ll find in the Morgan 3 Wheeler, the 125bhp V-twin motor has just the right amount of growling vibration to make it interesting and characterful. The vibes fizz the mirrors, but they won’t shake your filings out and spoil the ride. It’s actually a lot smoother than you’d imagine a 2.1-litre engine to be and it has a perfectly smooth throttle, delivers sizzling acceleration and of course, making 144ftlb of torque at just 3500rpm is perfect for all-day, top gear cruising. Hand-made MHP twin underseat pipes exhausts rumble nicely with their baffles in, but remove them and Hesketh 24 spits flames and the 120 decibel din sets off car alarms...
Build quality is up there with the best hand-made Italian exotica. You shouldn’t have any problem with the cycle parts and that big V-twin motor barely revs, so shouldn’t give any reliability problems.
Not everyone dreams of a hand-built, high-quality, sporty cruiser – or has the disposable income, but if you do, the British made Hesketh 24 will make you smile.
Dymag carbon fibre wheels, Ohlins suspension, Stack dials, LSL bars, Beringer calipers, a Metmachex swimgarm (that doubles up as an oil tank), carbon fibre dash, tank cover and bodywork and LSL bars.