Designer Terblanche joins Confederate

Famous motorcycle designer Pierre Terblanche has joined American bike firm Confederate in a three-year contract and he has already moved from Italy to America.

Terblanche is best-known for his work while he was the chief designer at Ducati when he penned the Ducati 999, Hypermotard, original Multistrada 1100 and the Sport Classic range along with the iconic Supermono.

Since then he has worked at various firms including Norton for a brief period followed by working as a consultant for the Piaggio Group and with a boat manufacturer in his native South Africa.

The three-year deal with Confederate will see him work on new bikes to join the likes of the Hellcat, Fighter and Wraith which are expensive and radically designed motorcycles owned by the like of actor Tom Cruise and other Hollywood stars.

For Confederate president Matt Chambers said: “Terblanche is a rebel who by nature is dissatisfied with the status quo, and this is imperative in advancing Confederate’s iconoclastic design.

Terblanche said: “As a designer, I’ve admired Confederate from afar for a long time, producing a series of motorcycles that have been truly ground-breaking and individual.It was too good a chance to pass up, to be involved in taking the company further forward, as it expands production but without losing one iota of its unique character.

“I’ll be revamping some details of the existing models to make them more production-friendly, but I’ve already started work on a completely new bike that’ll give an alternative take on an American V-twin cruiser even compared to what Confederate’s done before.”