The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

FGR 2500 V6 Naked Bike from the Czech Republic

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FGR 2500 V6
FGR 2500 V6

What we have here is the FGR 2500, a 2500cc V6 powered motorcycle, built in the Czech Republic. Weighing in at 595 pounds and sporting 240 horsepower, the bike is an impressive muscle machine. The FGR is the culmination of a 6 year project with participation of 44 companies from the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy.

FGR 2500 V6
FGR 2500 V6

Engine development began in 2005 and was completed in 2008, then a design competition for the actual motorcycle was launched. Stanislav Hanuš was the eventual winner from among the 40 designers taking part and the introduction of the completed build as seen here took place last week. A series of six is planned with first sale taking place in 2012. No price information yet.

FGR 2500 V6
FGR 2500 V6

I think the engine looks good and the tube frame and carbon fiber bike shows off the V6 to advantage. It may not be a lightweight corner carver but as a muscle bike, it works.

Since this is such a limited run, finding buyers should not be the concern it might be if it was intended for regular production. The fact that something like this is being built in the Czech Republic is very admirable and I wish them the best.

Link: FGR

Video below:

FGR 2500 V6
FGR 2500 V6

Comments

  1. Very cool! I’ve always wondered why you don’t see any V6 bikes other than the old Laverdas. I wonder if it sounds good.

  2. Looks like a 90° bank angle. This means a nice burbling sound, but also quite some vibrations without serious crankshaft and balance shaft work.

    Of course, given the apparently high technical level of the bike in general, they probably have this checked already.

  3. Nice looking machine — I do prefer the appearance of tube frames over cast. Props for the v-style six cylinder motor too, though the 90-degree layout sure makes for a huge lump to fit within the wheelbase. A 60-degree motor would be much more compact, or even a 15-degree design. My big question, though, is why not build more copies? Nothing like production volume to bring down the unit cost.

    Walt

    • Well, they actually say it’s the first miniseries of six in 2012, probably to see what demand is and if any problems arise. Perhaps they will eventually build a much larger run.

  5. Styling wise, this is very close to what I would have expected the Ducati Diavel to look like instead of the current alien-ish looking whale-bike thing.

  6. In the late 60s the shop I worked at sold Jawas and CZs. The wooden crates usually had a handful of postage stamp sized paper slips printed with the Czechoslovakian flag and “Free Czechoslovakia” – in English. I’m happy to see the Czechs have done well with freedom, creating a bike like this.

  7. I always wonder why they don’t go bigger. Why stop at 2500cc? If bragging rights is what you’re after they should have made it a 6 liter.

    -todd

  8. Holy shiznit. That bike has a bigger engine than my truck. The whole package looks very nice.

  9. Not for me…….but I like it all the same ! Still waiting for a 250cc everyman’s bike……………..

    • The Suzuki TU250 should be fine (if it is ever sold in California). Otherwise I’ve played with the idea of turning a Ninja 250 into a standard. Also worthy of note is the new CBR250 and the Hyosung GT250. My favorite was the ’70’s XL250.

      -todd

  10. That V-6 is a thing of beauty! Too pretty to hide behind bodywork — I hope the folks at FGR never feel the need to put plastic on this bike. With 240 hp it will have all the power anyone needs, but I suspect it can be punched out to 3 liters for a little extra urge. What a sweet car motor it would make!

  11. As far as a 2500cc V6 goes, it’s a good looker, both engine and the whole package. That being said, I don’t understand why a 2500…but I’m not the market, so I guess it doesn’t matter if I don’t understand it.

  12. I don’t get it. Sure it looks cool, and the idea of a 240hp V6 is cool, but it just weighs too much. 600lbs is too much. I will stick with 150hp and 400lbs, that accelerates fast enough for me and will out brake and out handle this any day.

    • Exactly. I mean it’s a great achievement, it’s a megalo-czech-super-bike, but is it for the real world?
      Look at reborn Horex, who build a high-tech three-cam VR6, “only” 1200cc but with a supercharger, putting out 180 – 200 hp without breaking a sweat. And that should be plenty! You’ll actually see some buyers riding those bikes.

  13. I love it, but it will obviously be very expensive. The styling and bodywork looks very similar to one of the modern Benelli 3 cylinder bikes.

    Much too big and expensive for me – I love 6 cylinder bikes and would buy one if there was one available at a sensible price – shame the Suzuki Stratosphere got canned.

    If it was 395 lb instead of 595 lb and somewhere between 600cc and 1000cc it could be my dream bike. Oh and six seperate pipes like a Benelli 750 Sei would be nice!

    Good luck to them I hope they become a successful manufacturer, but I do worry when or if this size obsession is going to end or whether it will be curtailed eventually by government legislation – I remember when 650cc and 55bhp was a big deal 2500cc and 240bhp is twice the size of my car and more than three times the power – there is already a 100bhp limit in France and (I think) Switzerland and we nearly got a 100bhp limit throughout the EU courtesy of a chap called Herr Bangerman.

  14. Just noticed it has got 6 pipes!

    Santa can I have one please? I’ll be very very good!

  15. Because the Nanny States limit the Horse Power,and the citizens accept it, should this limit the rest of the World?? I don’t need 240 HP but I’m glad somebody made it!! Life is Good!!

  18. In the gallery on their site you’ll find interesting pictures of the engine and it’s components. I guess that the startermotor sits inside the V on the left hand side. But what’s that sitting on the right hand side inside the V? Maybe still a balancing shaft?
    Anyway, I like the layout of the engine. For this capacity it’s more compact than anything else. Mount the engine lenghtwise, add a driveshaft and you’ll have a nice tourer to compete with a Goldwing.

  19. Mike, (or anyone who can enlighten me), why does a 90 degree v-6 need “serious crankshaft and balance work”? A 90 degree v-twin has perfect primary balance, or so I have read. Wouldn’t it just be a matter of arranging the firing order in the appropriate sequence to have the engine running about as smooth as an in-line 6?
    I do like the bike, and look forward to seeing more.

    • Grant, I don`t believe that a 90 degree V-twin has perfect primary balance. The term is often repeated but rarely scrutinized and, as a result, a common misconception is perpetuated. Instead of viewing the assembly as 3 “perfect“ V-twins running abreast, try to imagine a pair of in-line tripples that are joined at the hip. Does that help…

      • Okay, I’ll go along with that. Things are complicated enough with just two cylinders in whatever orientation. Thanks.

    • A 90° V2 is quite well balanced, but you can also look at this as two I3 banks – which are not. There are end-to-end vibrations over the crank. For some reason I have yet to grok, 60° V6 makes this better.

  21. Modern professional athletes of huge proportions would have a serious look at this if the physical size suits them and could afford the price tag.

  22. I’ve heard they will only built 6 bikes in 2012, and they will cost a excessive 41.000 euro. That’s twice the price of the Horex VR6 bike….

    But anyway; I like this Brutal, Monsterly, Speed Triple dad of them all very much !
    So bring it on !

  23. It would’ve been nice to see the bike pushed a little harder in the video. That sure didn’t show any of the 240hp. Looked more like a ride to the corner store for a pack of smokes than a test of a performance motorcycle.

    • It also seems to run quite wide through the turns even at the slow speeds they were doing. The one shot of it accelerating away from a stop was disappointing too; the rider was already shifting into fourth by about 40 mph. My 650 is just half way through first at that speed. With such a large motor you would think you wouldn’t need to shift nearly so often.

      -todd

      • I just watched the video. The riders take the corners like they knows that the kickstand is down. They look nervous. The fuel tank styling (or airbox or whatever) is rediculous.

      • It looked to me like they could barely get the thing around the corner. Going slow in a straight line was hardly a sales tool, but the cornering had a scary, quirliness to it, and that was for every rider that rode it. Motor is pretty though.

  25. I’m trying to deceid on a new bike – I don’t really need one but there are so many great choices these days!

    The VGR has the displacment and power of 10 cbr250r Hondas but is more expensive. In a race involving lots of straightways the FGR owner would most likely come in first and get to spray the champaign; you would also draw a bigger crowd at Tim Horten’s. However the accumulated points of position 2-10 would give the win to the Honda owner and you could also create quite a spectacle this way.

    Decisions, decisions!

  26. It’s a nice piece of work methinks… Looks like it works pretty well considering the ‘test riders’ are probably guys who worked on it and are terrified of dropping the only one in existence. (Note: open face helmet and dodgy CHIPS moustache)
    I thinks some comparisons are worthwhile:
    Note the engine ONLY weighs 100Kg (a Rocket engine is about 150Kg) and has 200nM torque (Rocket Roadster is 221nM, and weighs 367Kg or 807 pounds, and has about 100Hp less).
    The Horex is a bit lighter at 526 pounds, an can make around 200Hp, but with supercharging and still only ‘ >150nM ‘.
    The Bad Dog engine is 3500cc, makes 300Hp and 300nM of torque but is $40,000? And how much does IT weigh?

  27. OH! Be still, my heart!!! I think I am in love!

    Jeez, wretched excess…I want one! Modded with turbos and nitrous…

  30. I do feel like a bike like this would be a hindrance on all the roads I like to ride on. It’s funny to think that they are trying to sell a “high-performance” bike that would ultimately be slower than most other bikes in nearly all circumstances other than 1/4 mile drag racing.

    -todd

  31. right, when you have worked for 5 years or so on developping a bike, you surely want to push it hard for a youtube video just to entertain the random internet-based bikes experts that we are … c’mon guys

    As for the weight/performance, I can testify about seeing a guy (and his tiny little wife) who can ride their heavy-large-wide-low-piggy Goldwings faster than most sportsbike riders on the local twisty roads … no kidding. It’s not about the bike, it’s about the rider.

    • sure, and a good rider can get more out of a smaller bike than he can out of this. A bad (or average) rider won’t notice the difference.

      • exactly, therefore you can build a successful bike for the 99% of bad & average riders out there and forget the 1% of good riders who’d say “uh, too big, I’m way too good to ride that bike”

  32. Great bit of engineering and amazing how they managed to fit such a large engine into a usable and relatively lightweight motorcycle. As has been said here its all a bit unnecessary when a 600 will double most speed limits and probably run rings round this. Hoping the new Motus V4 looks as mean as this when it hits the streets though.

  33. So looking around i found that the FGR v6 weighs in at around the same dry weight (within 60lbs) as a Suzuki Hayabusa, the Hayabusa has 162 hp and 132 nm torque, honestly in my opinion the bike is a baby and has a lot of potential, and once it has been around as long a suzuki’s sport bikes, then it might be known for many things, it just doesnt have the pedigree yet, and btw my 78 Honda Goldwing weighs in at around 590lbs dry. best of luck to the Czech on this bike!