WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
You want electric irrelevancies? You got it.
Access is through an electrically operated door. You snuggle down into a luxurious heated AMG leather seat, and clip in with a three-point seltbelt. From your car-like feet forward position you turn on the DAB stereo, adjust the air conditioning, play with the GPS and reversing camera via a touchscreen, and peer at the world through a heated windscreen. So far, so very Mercedes-benz. Except then you tap a button to retract the side wheels and whoosh away balanced on two wheels, leaving everyone in slack-jawed disbelief. Czech firm Peraves call this a Cabin Motorcycle. They’re far from the first to try and crossbreed a bike and an automobile. German gun manufacturer Mauser created a vehicle in the early 1920s that looked like cars of the era, complete with steering wheel, but only had two wheels and leaned in corners. It carried two people in tandem, used a hand-cranked lever to deploy stabiliser wheels at standstill, and was called the Einspurauto in Germany and the Monotrace in France, where it was manufactured under licence. Name, seating plan and pivoting side wheels are where similarities end between the Monoracer and its 100-year-old predecessor. Peraves’ composite shell hides an integrated steel safety frame, fat upside-down forks with radial Brembos and a single-sider, with a 160/60 R18 front tyre and 200/50 R18 rear. And with weight carried low it loves to lean. The firm started work on fully-enclosed bikes in Switzerland in the mid-80s, before moving to the Czech Republic in 2009 and launching the device with BMW’S rowdy K1200 inline-four engine stuffed in the back. But this is 2021, so the Monoracer is now electric. A watercooled motor produces 173bhp and 148 lb.ft, allowing the 676kg torpedo to hit 60mph in under five seconds. Top speed is limited to 155mph. Peraves also claim a range of up to 248 miles and a five-hour recharging time. At 79,950 Euros (£69,000; visit peravescz.com) it could be the pricey answer to a question nobody asked. Who cares? Imagine silently going inside a GSX-R on a trackday at 45˚ of lean, wearing shorts, flip-flops and no lid, with Radio 4 at full tilt. Wonderful indeed.