[visordown.com] - Viking Concept previews new Lauge Jensen range

[Ninjette Newsbot]

IF you’re up to speed on cars as well as bikes then you might well have heard of Henrik Fisker – the former BMW and Aston Martin designer who set up his own car brand back in 2008.

Despite a promising start with the Fisker Karma, a high-performance electric car, that venture ended badly when the firm went bankrupt in 2013. Nevertheless Fisker remains a big name in car design, so it’s interesting to see how he interprets a motorcycle.

The Dane was commissioned to create the Viking Concept by Anders Kirk Johansen, owner of the boutique Lauge Jensen bike brand. It is said to reflect the appearance and design direction of future Lauge Jensen machines, which the firm says will be made in greater numbers and at a lower price than the company’s existing €42,000 Great Dane model.

The Viking might be just a concept at the moment but it’s been built to meet 2016 ‘Euro IV’ emissions regulations while still getting 100hp from its air-cooled V-twin. The concept was revealed at the Top Marques luxury brands show in Monaco (bit of a hint about the target buyer there).

Anders Kirk Johansen said: ‘We have been developing the Viking Concept for some time, so I am delighted to reveal it today here in Monaco. Potentially, it’s the next step for our company beyond our limited production Great Dane custom bike.

‘It’s great to have Henrik, one of the world’s leading vehicle designers and a fellow Dane working in partnership with us to help create a really special, emotional design. Revealing a concept bike is all about gauging demand but, if it’s there, I look forward to producing the Viking Concept for the mainstream market.’

Henrik Fisker said: ‘It’s been a dream of mine to design and create a motorcycle for many years and this is the first time I have the freedom to go and do it.

‘I hope people like what we have created and that we can make more of them – for sure there’s plenty more to come from this collaboration between myself and Anders.’

In terms of appearance, the bike isn’t overly radical, and certainly looks better than several attempts by car stylists to make bikes. Just look at the Pininfarina-designed Morbidelli V8 for an example as to how being able to style cars doesn’t automatically mean you know what a bike should look like…



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