"Not just another bloody special": Wakan Motorcyles.

"Engineering and More Ltd is the company behind the Wakan, and was established in December 1999 by a Frenchman, Joel Domergue, with the specific intention of developing a new motorcycle.

The guiding principles of the Wakan, beyond the obvious exceptional performance and handling characteristics that were sought after, were to obtain a compact design that used the engine as the core technical element, to conceive a bike that could be built using modern industrial manufacturing and assembly processes, to limit the number of components involved, and to suffer no compromises in quality.

Design Criteria :

The result had to satisfy the following criteria :

Be exceptionally rigid for precise handling
Not to hide the engine, neither by the frame, the air-box, nor any other technical or aesthetic artifice.
Have a very low centre of gravity so as to reduce parasitic weight transfer during acceleration, braking and cornering.
Have a maximum weight of 180 kg.
Have a forward riding position to give more control to the rider.
Design Choices :

Linking the engine : via 8 fixing points to a tubular oil-carrying spine frame, thus creating a most compact load-bearing structure.
Tilting the inlet assembly : upwards 43° so as to site the air-box and forced-air inlet just above the engine, in a volume generally occupied by the petrol tank, thus leaving the engine slim and uncluttered, and leaving the rider unobstructed by any lateral projection.
Locating the petrol tank : under and to the front of the seat so as to lower the centre of gravity and reduce still further the width of the motorcycle.
Styling the motorcycle : to respect and follow the simplicity and rationality of the principal technical choices, whilst introducing a subtle mixture of innovation and authenticity.

A NEW DIRECTION, A NEW MOTORCYCLE"