Falcon Motorcycles

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Falcon Motorcycles is a private motorcycle builder based in Los Angeles. It was started in 2008 by Ian Barry and Amaryllis Knight to create custom bikes built around rare engines. Their project is The Falcon Ten, a line of ten motorcycles named after falcon species: Bullet, Kestrel, Black, White, Altai, Merlin, Peregrine, Grey, Saker, and Vespertine.

So far, three bikes have been completed: The Bullet (2008), The Kestrel (2010), and The Black (2011). The Bullet uses a customized 1950 Triumph Thunderbird; The Kestrel centers on a modified 1970 Triumph Bonneville engine with most parts handmade or CNC-machined; The Black is built around a 1952 Vincent Black Shadow engine.

Founder Ian Barry has moved from working with a larger team to designing, engineering, and machining nearly every part himself, with the exception of the engine, carburetor, rims, and tires. He uses CNC machines and hand fabrication, starting with a rare engine and crafting an entire motorcycle around it.

The work has earned praise. The Kestrel was named one of Cycle World’s 2010 World’s Coolest Bikes for its purity and attention to detail. The Bullet took more than 1,000 hours to complete and was commissioned by skateboarder and actor Jason Lee. The White is based on a 1967 Velocette Thruxton motor and gearbox and was under development around 2012. The Black was shown at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles in the Custom Revolution exhibit in 2018.