Founded by Francois-Xavier Terny and Edward Jacobs (a former designer at Confederate Motorcycles), Vanguard is America’s newest motorcycle company. They debuted their Roadster at the New York International Motorcycle Show a few weeks ago and their plan is to create another option for those of you looking for a premium motorcycle. In an attempt to spread the word through the series of tubes that is the Internet, they’ve come up with a program to pretend like they want feedback from “real riders” about their prototype…and guess what? You could be one of the 3 real riders who they’ll ignore as they instead defer to engineers and professional test riders! Sarcasm aside, this really could be a fun opportunity to try a bike before 99% of the population and meet some dedicated motorcyclists who are trying to bring a new bike to life. But come on, would you really want to buy a bike where the company took into account the feedback of your crazy friend Bob?
The bike itself is an interesting proposition – there’s some styling elements I adore and it’s hard to go wrong with a big V-Twin as a motor. This specific powerplant is a modified S&S X-Wedge that displaces 1,917cc and puts down 110 pound feet of torque. It’s full of quality components like Brembo brakes, Metzler tires, and Ohlins suspension, plus trick parts like the SSSA, LCD screen, and a rear facing camera in lieu of mirrors. Cost for the prototype? 2 million dollars. Hopefully a few more dollars will go towards adding a front fender and…front brake lines, which I don’t seem to see in any of their press photos. Now that’s some easy test rider feedback right there!
Vanguard is planning on releasing their Roadster in 2018 with a MSRP that’s a Lincoln short of $30k. Before that happens, of course, they’ll need to test the hell out of their prototype (and raise awareness among potential customers), so you can do both by trying to join Vanguard’s development team for a day by clicking here. (Full disclosure – I’m using my powers for evil. If you click that link and enter, I get extra entries into the contest myself).
Or if you’re looking for a long-term commitment, it looks like they’re hiring a “motorcycle builder/rider”. Go apply for that! Other openings are available here.