The Ransom Archangel Is A Modern Art Creation On Two Wheels

This one-off single seater marries high tech with outlandish style

We all like customised bikes, more so those built from the ground up. And then there are some which just leave us wondering, like the one we see here. Meet the Archangel, created by American custom bike builder W Robert Ransom. This may be a one-off single-seater with a long wheelbase and raked-out front, but it’s as far as it could be from the 'typical' American chopper. Here’s why:

Starting off, we have the engine. While most cruisers employ a torquey air-cooled V-twin – usually from a Harley-Davidson bike – the Archangel features a 1000cc inline-four. Sourced possibly from a previous-gen Suzuki GSX 1000R, it makes a claimed 185PS at 13,000rpm. Next, the scooped seat and high, curvy tank (wrapped around the custom trellis frame) offers a forward-biased, though not really aggressive riding position, supplemented by the wide handlebar. 

Moving to the rear, the suspension is a linked monoshock unit, with a chunky single-sided swingarm wrapped around a thick tyre. So at first glance it seems like a typical ‘display-spec’ creation. However, the Archangel has a trick up its sleeve, in the form of air suspension, and more importantly, launch control!

 

 

 

 

 

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So granted, the low ground clearance and likely 19-inch front and rear alloys mean it’s far from a corner-carver, but the high-revving motor and long, low dynamics mean it’ll be an absolute hoot in a straight line. Moreover, did you notice another easter egg hidden in the front? If not, check out the video again, and you’ll notice that when the suspension is lowered, the headlight is concealed behind the front fairing!

Now, bikes like the Ransom Archangel are patently impractical for anything beyond carving (very gentle) corners and going fast in a straight line. And in any case, this “one-of-one” bike retails at a stupendous $2,29,000 (or roughly Rs 1.87 crore, excluding taxes) putting it out of reach for 99.9 percent of the populace. And yet, the Ransom Archangel fulfils its brief of being a puzzling, other-worldy creation to a T.