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Bandit9 just started taking orders on their latest hand-built motorcycle, the Panther. Like the rest of their bikes, they’re only making nine. After it sells out, it’s gone.
Each one of the Bandit9’s previous nine creations are completely different from the bike that came before. All that they share in common are the basic controls, a set of wheels and an engine somewhere in the middle. Customers never know what they’re going to get and have no say in the building process. But that’s not the idea. “It not about the looks, it’s not about the danger either. You should get the same joy riding a 1,200cc Harley as 50cc Honda Cub,” explains the proclaimed “Bandit Chief” of Bandit9, Daryl Villanueva. Riders looking to buy a Bandit9 creation are the one’s looking for uniqueness in handcrafted products.
“Uniqueness” and “handcrafted” are obligatory terms when describing custom bikes, but to achieve the sentiment truly is rarer than you think. Bandit9 is an operation that believes in building a bike from scratch, from the brainstorming all the way to final assembly. “We don’t look at motorcycles for inspiration, we look at sci-fi films,” says Villanueva. And it shows. The range of Bandit9 bikes range from a style akin to classic bobbers to what’s best described as minimalist space-aged cafe racers.
And then there is the Panther, which breaks the mold yet again. Based on a Triumph Bonneville T100, the Panther has healthy doses of stealth styling and post-apocalyptic overtones. Again, there will only be nine made, then they’re gone. Orders are open now, but not for long.