A couple of years ago, JT Nesbitt released the first drawings of a new motorcycle, looking more like a fantasy concept, it was hard to believe it would ever be built, let alone look anything like what he envisioned. Yet here we are, two years later and the Bienville Legacy Superbike, has been built, three of them, in fact, looking just like the drawings we were originally shown.

It’s not sport bike or touring bike, it’s not cruiser or cafe racer, it’s something altogether different. There’s obvious DNA from earlier Nesbitt designs, but it’s truly in a class by itself. Powered by a 185 hp naturally aspirated Motus V4 (300+ hp supercharged version optional), suspended by a single composite leaf spring, it is a bike JT Nesbitt wanted to build without restrictions and he did.

JT Nesbitt is a designer and builder with his own ideas, going against the grain and often in entirely new directions, but whatever he builds, you can be sure it won’t be commonplace and, with this build, he doesn’t disappoint.

Press release follows:

Bienville Legacy Superbike by JT Nesbitt Unveiled

Three 4-cylinder motorcycles commissioned by the American Design and Master-Craft Initiative (ADMCi) prove a new business model for innovation, allowing a world-famous designer to achieve his penultimate work.

CHICAGO – October 27, 2014 – Bienville Studios, a design and engineering shop out of New Orleans specializing in motorcycle innovation, announced today the completion of its commission with the American Design and Master-Craft Initiative (ADMCi). This work completes two years of active design and fabrication on the heels of over eight years planning and design exploration. The result is an entirely new vehicle, reinventing how motorcycles function from the ground up.

Break-through suspension design and steering integration have already earned patent coverage with applications pending in bike setup and geometry. The look of the bike itself is a superb combination of form following function, establishing a visual design language unique to JT Nesbitt and his home in New Orleans.

Nesbitt notes, “I’ve waited a long time to make a design statement like this and I’m proud to be doing it in partnership with ADMCi. It would not have been possible without the extraordinary help and life-long friendships I’m so fortunate to have in this industry.”

Jim Jacoby, the founder and CEO of ADMCi, the sponsoring organization, adds, “As our first commission, it was crucial that the master-craftsman we engaged ‘hit it out of the park.’ There is no doubt JT’s accomplishment will advance our messages of universal design principles and the critical need for master-craftsmanship as a technological, economic, and cultural driver.”

Links: Bienville Studios – ADMCi