Page 12 - LHR November 2025
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It's mechanical poetry — a reminder that
typical superbike, churning out half
a thousand horsepower with the
kind of torque that could tow a
truck.
When fired up, it doesn't purr — it
roars, shaking the ground like a
muscle car trapped inside a two-
wheeled body. It's as much a
sensory experience as it is
mechanical — the vibration, the
thunder, the sheer heat radiating off
the headers.
Millyard used genuine Space
Shuttle heat shield tiles to manage
the exhaust temperatures — a detail
that says everything about how far
he was willing to go to make the
bike rideable.
The Man Behind the Madness casing itself. It's an elegant yet And make no mistake — this
brutal solution — a mechanical monster is very much rideable.
Allen Millyard isn't your average
builder. Working out of his modest exoskeleton that makes the engine Millyard himself has logged nearly
the structural centerpiece.
home workshop in Berkshire, 10,000 miles on it, including a trip
England, Millyard has made a name Everything else was custom-made around the Isle of Man. He even
for himself as a “garage genius.” by hand: the suspension, the used it to set a Guinness World
He's known for taking on projects swingarm, the exhaust system — Record for the fastest speed
most wouldn't even dare imagine — even the smallest brackets. There achieved by a motorcycle carrying
like grafting two Kawasaki engines are no off-the-shelf parts on this a passenger: 183.5 mph.
together to create a V8, or hand- machine. At Bruntingthorpe Proving
building a V12 superbike from And the suspension? Forget Ground, the Viper clocked a
scratch. traditional forks. The front end uses verified 207 mph, with Millyard
The Viper project began in 2007, hydraulic rams from a JCB confidently claiming it could reach
250 mph under ideal conditions.
sparked by an idea from his son. digger, modified with car dampers
They had been talking about the and custom springs. The rear
Dodge Tomahawk, a concept bike suspension features Yamaha R1
built around the same V10 engine shock absorbers, recalibrated by
that never quite worked as a real K-Tech to handle the immense
motorcycle. “You could do better weight.
than that, Dad,” his son joked. Speaking of weight — this isn't a
Challenge accepted. featherweight racer. The Millyard
So Millyard did what any mad Viper tips the scales at over 630
mechanical genius would do — he kilograms, nearly double that of a
bought a used 8.0-litre Dodge Harley-Davidson touring bike. Yet Form Follows Fury
Viper engine online and decided to despite its mass, the machine
turn it into the beating heart of a remains surprisingly balanced Despite its outrageous power, the
motorcycle. thanks to Millyard's meticulous Millyard Viper isn't some
engineering and clever weight overdesigned fantasy machine. Its
Building the Unbuildable distribution. styling is raw, mechanical, and
From the start, Millyard refused to brutally honest — a celebration of
take shortcuts. There was no Power, Fury, and Precision engineering over cosmetics.
existing frame strong enough to The bike's bodywork is minimal, its
hold such an engine, so he decided Underneath the polished metal lies purpose clear: to showcase the
to make the engine the frame. The an engine that barely fits the massive V10 at its core. The frame
front subframe bolts directly to the definition of a motorcycle gleams with industrial precision,
front of the V10, while the rear powerplant. The 8.0-litre V10 the polished alloy accents
swingarm attaches to the gearbox displaces ten times the capacity of a contrasting with the black-painted
12 NOVEMBER EDITION 2025
