1983 Hesketh Vampire

Carburetion: 36mm Dell’Orto PHF x 2
Transmission: 5-speed, chain final drive
Electrics: 12v, Lucas RITA electronic ignition
Frame/wheelbase: Reynolds 531 nickel-plated steel trellis-style frame; engine as stressed member/59.5in (1,511mm) wheelbase
Suspension: Marzocchi telescopic front fork, dual Marzocchi shocks/swingarm rear
Brakes: 11in (280mm) dual Brembo discs front, 11in (280mm) single Brembo disc rear
Tires: 100/90 x 19 front, 130/90 x 17 rear
Weight (wet): 550lb (250kg)
Seat height: 33in (838mm)
Fuel capacity: 6gal (23ltr)

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One in particular is British-born Lord Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, Third Baron Hesketh, otherwise simply known as Lord Hesketh. After competing with his privately owned team in Formula 1 racing to some measure of acclaim from 1972 to 1978, Hesketh decided to build a motorcycle — the 1983 Hesketh Vampire seen here was essentially Part Two of the Hesketh story. We’ll dig into that in a moment.

Although it was hoped to revive a mostly moribund British motorcycle industry, the Hesketh project was an overly ambitious venture, and one that, unfortunately, never met with serious commercial success. Throttlestop Museum co-proprietor Jim Balestrieri is fascinated by these kinds of stories. It’s a story he’d not been aware of until he took up watching the Netflix series Drive to Survive. “I’ve never really been much of an F1 fan,” Jim explains. “I find it a little too over the top. I’m more of a homegrown, grassroots kind of race guy. But Drive to Survive, I think, kind of opened me up to F1, and perhaps even opened America up to the sport, because there’s an F1 race happening in Las Vegas later this year.”

As a result of his newfound interest in F1, Jim began to learn more about the sport’s history. He also explored the background of some of the people involved in its earlier years, the ones who helped make F1 racing what it is today. “These current teams and drivers are really living in the slipstream of those who came before,” he explains. One of those who came before, of course, is Lord Hesketh. With driver James Hunt, Hesketh’s team won the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix. Regardless of results, the team became rather well-known as much for their partying as their racing.

And Jim, being a motorcycle enthusiast and collector of machines with unusual heritage and engineering, was even more fascinated to learn of Hesketh’s powered two-wheeler venture. “I really admire people who have visions,” Jim adds. “And Hesketh had a vision. Not every motorcycle needs to be a Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki or Yamaha — there are other bikes out there and this Hesketh is now a machine with a cult following.”

Development begins

In the late 1970s, Hesketh began working with British-based Weslake Research and Development to create a 992cc, 90-degree V-twin engine using a 95mm x 70mm bore and stroke. Featuring four valves per cylinder head and chain-driven dual-overhead camshafts, this powerplant had a geared primary drive to its 5-speed transmission. Sending power to the rear wheel was a chain final drive. A Lucas RITA electronic ignition provided the sparks. Looking similar to a Ducati engine, it formed a stressed member of a nickel-plated trellis-style frame constructed of Reynolds 531 tubing. Fiberglass bodywork included a small handlebar mounted fairing. These were Hesketh-derived and built components, while the two-piece built up alloy mag wheels were Astralite — all made in Britain.

In fact, the bike was purported to have 90 percent English-made components, something that was eventually touted as a selling feature of the machine. Sourced components from foreign suppliers included the Marzocchi front and rear suspension, while the brakes, dual 280mm discs up front, single 280mm disc out back, were Brembo items.

In the public eye

Seat height was a tall 33 inches and the machine weighed 550 pounds with fuel and oil. Designed as a luxury tourer, in the mold of a Brough-Superior, in its first iteration the motorcycle was called the V1000 and five prototype machines were built. At a swanky press launch in April 1980 at Hesketh’s family Easton Neston estate, Mike Hailwood was the only rider to swing a leg over the V1000. He apparently rode it up and down the estate’s driveway. Development was rushed, however, and that hurt initial reception. And, unable to fund the full production cost, Hesketh had to take the company public that September. Shares sold out quickly, but machines weren’t delivered to customers until February 1982.

Motorcycle engineer Mick Broom, who took a job in 1978 with Hesketh at the age of 34, was interviewed and quoted in a July 2012 story in The Classic Motor Cycle. According to Broom, who was speaking about issues with the early V1000s, “We should have thrown the whole motorcycle and engine away, and started again.” He continues in the story, “It definitely needed more money and development time. I was an engineer, but suddenly I found myself involved in all sorts of political decisions, having already sent a memo which stated that the bikes weren’t good enough for the press to ride.” Two major problems were a notoriously cranky transmission, and oil pressure that, Broom says, “could reach about 250 pounds when cold and when hot could suddenly drop to zero.” As well, it became apparent that in production engines, the pistons were incorrectly installed and the bearings did not like the heat created by the engine cases.

Broom worked on solutions to these problems, and developed what he called the EN10 package, which stood for Easton Neston Mark 1.0. Hesketh’s development facility was on the estate, and the engineers were ensconced in the laundry room of the riding stables. Approximately 140 Hesketh V1000s were built and sold. If early V1000 owners wanted these known issues fixed, they had to pull the engine and ship it to Hesketh where the EN10 upgrades could be made.

Despite its shortcomings, Miles McCallum wrote a review of the Hesketh V1000 for Cycle World in the February 1983 issue of the magazine that was as nice as he could make it. Of the starting drill, he wrote, “Pull the choke knob, mounted on the steering stem, and it always fires instantly, settling down to a very smooth slow idle that is a cross between a Vincent and a Ducati; that is to say, the exhaust beat is subjugated by an enormous cacophony of whirrings, wailing, and clattering of a lot of large bits and pieces thrashing around. Until you get used to it, or unless you lack mechanical sympathy, it’s quite unnerving.”

He added, however, “Pulling away is simple. There is an enormous amount of torque generated at very low revs; perhaps a little less than a Norton, but with a sweet clutch, infinitely preferable.” Hesketh claimed the V1000 produced 86 horsepower at 6,500rpm and 72 pound/feet of torque at 6,750rpm. After praising the Hesketh’s handling, McCallum wrote a tongue-in-cheek paragraph about the V1000’s transmission. “Every gear change, even after a thousand miles of experience and experimenting with every known permutation, is accompanied by a loud CLUNK. The initial impression is that there is something seriously amiss with the selector (CLUNK), but later comes the realization that (CLUNK) is definitely part of the character of the bike (!) and, despite the initial assessment that only once have you come across a worse gearbox (on a totally thrashed pre-unit Triumph with loose gearbox bearings and half the teeth missing), the action is faultless. Short, and slightly heavy perhaps, but very positive.”

Turns out the clunk McCallum makes light of is actually an “anti-throwpast device fitted to the selector drum, to prevent it rotating further than desired.” It was all for naught. In August 1982, Hesketh was unable to continue production, and was put into receivership. At the company’s auction of assets, engineer Broom bid on and purchased the transmission jig, and he managed to keep together a small band of engineers who’d been essential to the Hesketh’s production. In December 1982, Lord Hesketh re-acquired the Hesketh name and formed a new company called Hesleydon.

Another step

Broom tracked down many other Hesketh parts that had previously been sold at the liquidation auction and bought them back. This led to Part Two of the Hesketh story, as Hesleydon-built machines, launched in February 1983, were fitted with a full fiberglass fairing and sold as the Vampire model. Rather unfortunately, this venture didn’t stay afloat for very long, either. Sources differ on the precise number of Vampire machines built, but it varies between 40 and 50. By January 1984, little was left of the firm and only Broom and fellow engineer Pat Devlin remained. Shortly after this, Broom became responsible for any further Hesketh work under the company name Broom Development Engineering and continued with very limited production.

Other machines were dreamt of, and some were built, including a custom V1000 dubbed the Vortan. In 2012, Broom planned to launch a limited series machine called the V1200 Vulcan. Only one was built, and Broom’s company was soon sold to Paul Sleeman. Some Hesketh models, under Sleeman’s watch, were launched, including one powered by an S&S V-twin engine.

Super fan

As much as Jim of the Throttlestop Museum became a fan of Lord Hesketh, he also became a super fan of the Hesketh motorcycle. When he became aware of a 1983 Hesketh Vampire for sale at Yesterdays Antique Motorcycles in the Netherlands, he asked for more photographs. “I was interested in the Vampire because it’s Part Two of the Hesketh story,” Jim says. “It’s essentially the same machine as the V1000, but slightly more refined (with the EN10 upgrades) and with that fairing. I really like aerodynamic bikes, and, well, here you go.”

Jim made the purchase and had the Vampire shipped to the museum. It landed in Wisconsin in August 2022. “When you look at a picture, you can’t appreciate how big the Hesketh really is. I’ve ridden lots of Honda CB750s, and compared to one of those, the Vampire is on another scale — it’s long, it’s tall and heavy. I’m 6-feet 1-inch tall, and this bike fits me really well.”

However, Jim won’t be riding it any time soon. It’s pickled for display in the museum so others can see it as an example of what was hoped to be something of a second coming for the British motorcycle industry. “This Vampire has never been restored, but it has been ridden,” Jim says of his machine. “It’s got 16,158 miles on it and was last ridden in 2019. That’s the beauty of this bike; it’s been ridden but it’s in super nice condition.”

Perhaps Miles McCallum in his 1983 Cycle World test of the V1000 said it best. “I may as well admit it,” he wrote. “I fell in love with the Hesketh, and if I could have found a plausible excuse to hang onto it for another few days, I would have done so. It’s not without faults, some of them major, some of no real consequence, but it does deserve a place in the marketplace. That it is now history fills me with sadness.”

Jim adds, “I admire someone like Hesketh,” and he concludes, “he didn’t make any money at it, but he had vision and passion, and put his energy into getting a bike out to the consumer.” MC