The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Janus Motorcycles – Hand Made Small Displacement American Motorcycles

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The Janus Halcyon 50 built in Goshen, Indiana
The Janus Halcyon 50 built in Goshen, Indiana

Devin Biek and Richard Worsham decided to build something a little different and from what I can see, they’ve definitely done that. The team formed Janus Motorcycles in Goshen, Indiana and they’re hand building their bikes, with styling cues from various motorcycles of the 20s and 30s, though not really copying the style of any one in particular, though you might see some Brough influence in the long polished tank.

Their first model, shown here, is the Halcyon 50, powered by a water cooled 50cc two stroke running through a six speed transmission. It’s equipped with a sprung leather saddle seat and panniers, wide handlebars, and a long, low polished aluminum fuel tank. The hard tail, steel tube frame sports 18 inch wheels and the bike carries 3 gallons of fuel and 1 quart of oil. Top speed is 55mph at about 60 mpg.

Biek also runs a business, Motion Left, which tweaks, tunes and supplies parts for mopeds, so he has lots of experience with the small engines. He says the 10 horsepower 2 stroke in this motorcycle can be upgraded in just a couple of hours to produce about twice the power. Both the engine and hydraulic forks come from Italy.  The forks come from Italy, the engine comes from Spain. He contracted with an Amish fabricating shop to bend the tubing and weld the frames.

It was actually his other business that gave him the idea for this endeavor since the young people were spending a lot of money to essentially turn the mopeds into motorcycles, so why not build a real bike? Janus is a federally licensed vehicle manufacturer and each of the bikes comes with a VIN number and is titled and road-legal.

Actual production is slated for early 2013 though I saw no mention of price. Interesting.
Thanks for the tip, Keith!

UPDATE: Prices are now posted on the site:
Halcyon 50 MSRP (including delivery) $5,300
Halcyon 50 Basic MSRP $3,900

Link: Janus Motorcycles

Comments

  2. I’m trying to find ways to express how much I LOVE this concept.

    Two Moped Army hipsters, in Central Indiana, start a motorcycle manufacturing business using an awesome, Euro-spec Derbi engine, Amish labor, a classic moto-fan aesthetic and a ton of Moxie.

    This effort shows that the dream is alive.

    Go Boys Go! I’ll try to be a customer to support your beautiful, quixotic quest.

    Timble

  3. I think it’s cute, and I like the American built aspect of it, and applaud the entrepreneurship involved.

    I’m a little skeptical of the success potential of something so limited, almost in the mo-ped category.

    But, it definitely has a look of coolness about it.

  4. I give them high marks for actually doing it. It is a natural offshoot of the moped business, from the sounds of it, but it could easily be one of those ideas that sits on the back burner forever. They took it to the next step and made it happen.

    How successful will it be? I have no idea, but once you’re in motion you can adjust and adapt to the market. If you never try it to begin with, you’re guaranteed to fail. I hope they do very well and wish them much success.

  5. Love the concept. I think it’s a really nice looking bike. My only aesthetic critique is that the cable, wire, and hose management looks like an after thought. Aside from that, the rest of the bike looks really handsome.

    10hp is enough to be fun if the bike is light enough. My 150cc Peugeot scooter (Piaggio powered) is similar in output, 240lb, and it’s fun to buzz around town on. The nice thing is that there are tons of tuning parts for these little H2O cooled 2 strokes. One could probably double the power output with less than $300 in parts and a few hours of his or her time.

  6. I think the reason that there was not a price, is, because it’s over $5000.00. They can correct me, if I’m wrong. But they had a booth at Rockerbox in Milwaukee this past summer, and that is what the price was. Think about what you can buy for $5000.00. The new Honda’s are out at that price. There is no dealer network. To their own admission, there has been very little endurance testing. This summer they had built around 10 bikes. One more thing that won’t be around in a year or so.

  7. Thanks for the comments everyone! Check out our website for prices on the Halcyon which currently include delivery. We are also currently offering a very competitively priced and upgradable base model with the same level of hand-made in America quality, style, and customization that goes into each of our bikes. The motor is a Spanish unit with 15 years commercial success. These motorcycle are designed and built to be ridden. Stay tuned for our new 2013 models!

  8. I Like the bike and determination but I just wonder is it that difficult to actually build such a small displacement engine in the USA to truly make something like this American made?

    • Even for something as simple as a 2 stroke, there are easily dozens of parts to design or source. There is then the task of controlling quality and repeatedly assembling an assortment of tight tolerance moving parts to an acceptable standard.

      Once you’ve done that, you still have to make sure your new engine meets US emissions standards. Derbi used to sell motorcycles and scooters in the US. I imagine their certifications have expired, but if the engine has been around 15 years, and still passes in Europe, I imagine it was more a matter of jumping through the bureaucratic hoops than reengineering the thing.

      To my knowledge, there aren’t any engines of both comparable size and power output available from a North American manufacturer.

        • I donno, Todd. The C in CARB stands for California. I thought that they have laws against weed-whackers (…and weed, for that mater).

  9. pretty awesome. Pretty much every motorcycle manufacturer in long term business today started out with bikes with less-than 10hp. They’re better off than trying to jump right into business with a 200 horse model. The styling definitely is unique but I’m not sure it entirely matches the current styling trend in modified mopeds. Bonus points for using good old fashioned Amish blacksmiths.

    -todd

    • Oops…that comment was supposed to go under Timble’s comment above. It looks like there’s a bug – if you click Reply to a comment & get the Captcha wrong, then re-enter a new Captcha, it puts your comment at the bottom instead of at the original comment you intended to reply to

  11. Pity there the FIM no longer runs ultra lightweight world championships. The 50cc, 80cc and 125cc street bikes were very popular in europe back in those days. The street bikes were promoted by the racing and vica versa. No we just have boring racing on extremely expensive bikes that bear no resemblance to street bikes.

  13. Very nice, old school style. Notice I didn’t say “retro”. With a nice buck and a quarter four stroke, it would be even nicer. Mel Beaty

  14. $5300 is a lot for a 50cc bike, but you can see where the money goes. It’s basically a hand-built custom. For my taste there is a bit too much free space in the frame though.

    Is it for everyone? No. But if you’re the kind of person who would spend $5000 on a custom moped, then this makes just as much sense.

    • I was thinking that too. Then I looked up the MSRP for the Vespa LX50 4v, it’s $3,399. I checked the Aprilia SR50, $3199. You’ll probably see anywhere from $300 to $600 added on for freight and dealer set up. That puts either of those scooters in the $3,500 – $4,000 range.

      If you can buy a Janus at the basic MSRP by picking it up yourself, you’re not terribly far off in price. Of course, my hypothetical assumes a potential live in Goshen, Indiana, or is willing to go there to pick up a bike.

      Now where it gets interesting to me is that for a Vespa LX150IE, which should offer similar performance, the MSRP is $4599. Tack on $300 – $600 for freight and set up, and all of a sudden you’re within striking distance of the MSRP of the Janus with delivery.

      Why am I comparing it to a Vespa? It’s the smallest displacement bike sold as a luxury product in the US. The Janus is touted as handmade, which is undoubtedly meant to evoke high quality. Assuming the quality level is excellent, $5,300 doesn’t seem out of line.

  15. I saw this bike and met the company owners at Rockerbox a few months ago. I also made the comment that it seems a little pricey for something so small, but if you so see one in person, you see know where the money went. It’s a quality piece. In the midst of our conversation, a few hipsters on modified mopeds buzzed past, and even from 20 feet away, he spotted 3 of them using their tuning parts. That brought up another good point- they don’t need to sell a whole ton of these things, because they make enough profit to keep going on all the other stuff they sell. They make enough profit on each bike to make it worthwhile, but it’s more a labor of love than a business idea.

  16. While aesthetically not entirely to my taste, I do appreciate what the folks at Janus are doing here and am glad to see it happening. A few weeks back I happened across a CCW dealership in Albuquerque and I am currently digging in my couch to find the scratch to buy one, so I know at least in my world that the market for small bikes exists and has the potential to thrive. And if shops like CCW and Janus can create a little diversity in the marketplace then so much the better. Watch Bruce Brown’s On Any Sunday and notice how many marquees are represented on the starting line that are no longer around. That was before my time, so helping a new breed of small shops grow and compete makes motorcycling more fun.

  17. Interesting- good looking- American made- greenish- but I wad a hell of a lot more for a $5K expenditure.

  18. With the extra performance kit that they say is available to “double the hp”, then it could come very close to being an all-around bike.
    If it did get to 18hp, and that was at the rear wheel, then it could ride on all the 55mph roads. No Interstate highways anyhow, because they mandate 250cc or higher on the Interstates.

    That would make a big difference over 9hp.

    • I built-up a Chinese 150cc scooter (…because to blew tf up on its third tank of gas). At 185 cc, with a lumpy cam and all the usual hot-rodding tricks, It would do wheelies off the lights and fairly quickly top out near 70mph, though I read that the 50cc 2-smokes could do better. It was a total riot to run around with, but I never once considered taking it onto the local Interstate. Oh ya, it was still Chinese and about as reliable as that implies.

  19. I wish them well with this project , however , that is a hell of a price for something with such a limited appeal. $5000 + will buy you lots of good bikes with proven track records.

  20. Love the 1920s style! Needs something to fill that huge space under the tank, though; how ’bout an engine, rather than that little moped motor? OK, I’m not missing the point, and obviously they’re in love with that little Halcyon unit for its undeniable advantages — low cost, hot-rod-ability and easy maintenance, but it’s just so….. small. Oh, well, the build quality looks first-rate. BTW, todd, those Amish “blacksmiths” are using sophisticated bending and welding equipment; they’re not hammering frames out in the barn. The irony is that they don’t ride the bikes they help build, and drive to their jobs in horse-drawn buggies. But they do good work at a fair price, so why not? It’s American-made.

    • I have noticed from footage on documentaries that some Amish groups seem happy to use technology at work. Some even use diesel tractors or other farm machinery, as well as electricity for welders and so forth. I’ve also heard that some Amish communities have telephones, but they are installed in little sheds and are not allowed inside people’s houses.

  21. Cool concept, outrageous price. I could see making a bike like that priced cheap for the masses. You could buy anything from a new “comparable” Honda for thousands less to a used Harley Davidson for that price. It’s sad to see a $100.00 engine on a $6,000.00 bike.

    • well, this is what you get if you want American Made. If they had it assembled in China or India they could sell it for less than half and make a sizable profit. It wouldn’t be any less of a bike but it would be much less of a story. Someone needs to keep your neighbor employed.

      -todd

      • The fact that they aren’t churning out thousands of bikes a year probably has a huge bearing on the price.

  22. Motorcycles with a similar power output do come out of China and its invirons all the time, but they are not built to last. Every component on these cheap bikes is manufactured, assembled, and shipped with the least expensive materials and processes, and it shows, immediately. Janus Motorcycles are put together with the best components and fabrication available. The motor is a solid unit with many years commercial success. We’re not trying to build a budget bike in the sense of cutting corners, but rather a high-quality, distinctive motorcycle for people who appreciate small, light weight bikes. Don’t confuse what we are doing with what comes out of China. If there is to be a renaissance in American manufacturing, it’s going to be based on the idea of extrememly high quality products whose high initial investment pays off in the joy of using them, and of continueing to do so for many years.

  23. Who is making the engines? You say “Spain”, but who? i could use a little 50cc with a 6 speed for a lot of fun projects.

    i hate the Chinese version of the 50cc everyone seems to slap on a bicycle since they are so cheap. This is refreshing.

    The USCRA has a 50cc racing division. Hmmm…

    C.