Priced at a whopping USD 185,400, the quaint French-built Midual Type 1 motorcycle looks set to join the ranks of the world’s most expensive bikes. According to the Midual website, the Type 1 draws inspiration from French and British automobiles of the Thirties and Fifties, vintage Swiss watches, propeller-driven aircraft, varnished wooden runabouts, classic analogue instruments, and all things fine and exquisite. Founder Olivier Midy inherited his grandfather’s love of engines, discovering the motorcycle at a very young age. An incurable enthusiast, he rode on small country lanes. He learnt all about the history of the motorbike by reading and from the people he met, and at 26, he began designing an engine with a new architecture, bringing an engineer friend and then his older brother François along for the adventure.

In 1995, he filed a patent for a new “architecture of an internal combustion engine for the motorcycle”, which did not exist in the production processes of the time. It would take some 18 months to make two life-sized models for presentation at the Salon du Deux-Roues motorcycle fair in Paris in 1999. The MIDUAL 900, as it was named at the time, was a hit with both the public and the critics. In the end, no financing was obtained to develop this first model, but the MIDUAL project was to continue with the construction of the first engine. After several years on designing, sketching and modelling, the first parts were assembled and the engine finally started.

At the test bench, everyone held their breath, and it worked like a dream; the engine was alive! A closed-source machine that was fully developed in-house, the Midual sports a forward-facing, 1036cc flat-twin engine inclined at 25°, a unique architecture that fits perfectly with a modern chassis with a chain drive. Making 106hp and 100Nm of torque, the motor is mated to a six-speed transmission with a multi-plate clutch and an electric starter.

An engineer and perfectionist, Olivier did not believe that the mechanical qualities of an engine alone were enough to call a motorcycle exceptional, so he decided to combine the engine with an extraordinary chassis enhanced with a luxurious finish. He decided on an aluminium load-bearing hull, a valve body cast with a double wall serving as the chassis and fuel tank, extended by a slit-design grille that fits elegantly around the radiator. Other features on the 239kg Midual Type 1 motorcycle include a 43mm Öhlins FGRT fork at the front, Öhlins cantilever suspension at the back, Brembo brakes, 17″ wheels wearing Michelin rubber, and more.

Two working prototypes were shown at the recent Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the USA and Salon Prive London. Reservations are currently open for the Midual Type 1, but, unfortunately, only 35 motorcycles will be built, and that too for delivery to customers in the European market. Each Midual will carry the name of its owner inscribed on a plaque screwed to the top of the frame. Each motorcycle will be personalised using a wide range of factory options.