The chassis is a triple load-path carbon fiber monocoque design (a technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin) with an aircraft grade CNC billet bulkhead and the oil housed in the frame (backbone). The fuel tank is a 3.5-gallon aluminum fuel cell that's been form-fitted under the chassis with a fill port on the right side of the bike. The swingarm is single sided and machined from aircraft grade aluminum as the frontend is a double wishbone design, machined from the same aircraft grade billet aluminum linked to aerodynamically designed carbon fiber wing blades. The wheels are made of carbon fiber with the front measuring 17x3.5, as the rear is 17x5.75 inches. The stopping power is handled by a CNC machined, billet four-piston caliper up front with a 320mm carbon fiber rotor, and the rear is a Brembo two-piston caliper with a 220mm steel rotor. From what I could tell there is room to add a dual disc setup for the front, which would help to stop a bike like this with all this power.
I headed north to the foothills of the Angeles Crest Mountains to test this bike in and out of the miles of switchbacks. From my starting point it was about 40 miles or so to get the base of the road, by the time I had gotten there I had noticed the many number of cars that had tried to keep up with me to get a better look at the bike. Then, as I stopped to top off the bike with fuel I met the one guy who did. He was still trying to figure out what I was riding. For the next hour or so I was talking to all the sport bike riders who had also stopped to get gas, trying to answer all their questions about the bike. This is a bike that gets more attention than anything I have ever been on, even more than the widest and longest bikes out there.
Once I was able to head out, I had a trail of riders that wanted to see the bike in action. So the pressure was on, and the bike performed very well. Every time I pushed the bike over into a turn, it responded back with a solid feel in the handlebars and the frontend. As I accelerated out of the turns the short wheelbase made the bike feel as if I was going faster than I was. At one point it felt as if I was pushing 75-plus mph only to be at 55 mph at a smooth 2,200 rpm. Back out on the highway I was able to open the bike up a bit more, this is where the riding position was important, as the wind was pushing on my chest I needed to tuck low to the frame like on a sport bike and had to hold my chin against my chest in order to keep the wind from pulling my head off. Overall, the bike was fun to ride, handled great with a lot of power once you got into a comfortable riding position this may not look like the bike you would ride cross-country, but if you did you would get there fast. As long as you don't mind feeling like a rock star with all of the attention the bike will get. You'll need a rock star salary to afford one of these special machines as the limited quantity and preciscion components come with a $90,000 price tag. Check out the Confederate website to learn more about the bike.