8 Worlds Most Expensive Motorbikes

Luckily, there are many bikes that aren't so expensive, and they're pretty affordable to a lot of us. But that does leave us curious as to what the most expensive bikes are that the world has to offer.

Today, We Buy Any Bike have done some investigating to find the worlds most expensive motorbikes - 7 of these are over the $1mill mark!

8. Dodge Tomahawk V10 Superbike

Price: $550,000 (£430,870)

It’s built like a motorbike(ish), it’s got an engine, it moves, but you’re not actually allowed to ride it. It’s still technically a motorbike that is worth a lot of money, so it’s made it on the list. We think the Tomahawk was simply made to break all records at being the fastest motorcycle ever created. Reaching speeds of 420mph is exactly why you’re not allowed to ride it, sorry.

According to the designers, this beast which looks like it should be in The Terminator, this is simply an ‘Automotive Sculpture’. They say this after they’ve put an engine in it. It also has a large element of Aluminium – that’s all the silver on it!

What makes this bike so expensive?

• 500 Horsepower
• 12 x 5-Watt LED Headlights with Beam-Modifying Optics
• 8 of the same Taillights
• Rear Suspension Switch Locks for Parking
• 2-Speed Custom Transmission
• Front Double Arms & Rear Trailing Arm
• V10 Viper Engine
• 13.2L Fuel Tank
• Blue Anodized Brake Callipers
• Aluminium Brake Discs; 16 in the front, 8 at the back.

Only 10 of these were created; only 9 sold to the public!

7. Harley-Davidson Panhead ‘Captain America’ from Easy Rider

Price: $1,350,000 (£1,057,590)

In our opinion, this iconic bike should definitely be lower down on this list. We say this because the reason it’s made it on here, is because it went up for auction back in 2014. The starting price was $1million; and we’re quite surprised that it didn’t really creep up that much before the hammer fell at just $1.35million.

If you’ve seen Easy Rider, you may be curious as to where the other 3 bikes are... the answer is, nobody knows. Shortly after production ended, the others were stolen at gun point from stuntman, Tex Hall. The last remaining bike (Captain America) was rebuilt by actor Dan Haggerty following destruction from filming. Until 2014, the bike was stored at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa.

The new owner of the bike is Californian Businessman, Michael Eisenberg. Michael is a former co-owner of a motorcycle-themed restaurant. The other owners were Easy Rider stars, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper; so they’re keeping it close to home!

WHAT MAKES THIS BIKE SO EXPENSIVE?

• Fishtail Exhausts
• Forward-Angled Front Wheel & Handlebars
• Teardrop Shaped Gas Tank

Related post: 15 Worlds Most Famous Motorbikes

6. Harley-Davidson Cosmic Starship

Price: $1,500,000 (£1,175,100)

This bike is simply a heavily decorated V-Rod. The decorator in this instance is Andy Warhol’s friend Jack Armstrong, who is a famous artist himself. Armstrong is a huge fan of Harley-Davidsons and has been riding them since he was 16 years old. Back in the day, he used to live in Switzerland. Here, he made friends with F1 racer, Michael Schumacher. The pair enjoyed riding Harleys together.

Back in 2010, Armstrong whipped out his acrylics and set to work painting the world’s first acrylic-painted Harley. Along with 37 layers of clear coats and a handful of what looks like pom-poms, the job was complete. If you rode this bike in Pompeii or Iceland, residents would have the fright of their lives because the bike looks pretty much identical to lava... it does to me anyway.

Luckily, the owners are from California, and it didn’t stop them from buying this machine for $3m. It seems 9 years is enough for them though; the bike is now for sale for $10m. It has been for sale for 2 years now... but it doesn’t look like they’re dropping the retail price.

WHAT MAKES THIS BIKE SO EXPENSIVE?

It's been painted in a very unique way by a world renowned artist!

5. Yamaha BMS Chopper

Price: $3,000,000 (£2,350,200)

This one had me thinking... If I had an identical twin, and we both lay on the floor next to this 11ft beast, we’d probably measure the lot. You could imagine that, but you probably don’t know how tall I am, and to be honest... neither do I!

Nicknamed ‘Nehmesis’, this whopper was created by BMS Motorcycles; designed by founder, Sam Nehme, along with head machinist, Ron Tilson, and Fabricator, ‘Jonesy’. Oh, and they had a little help from their 50+ employees during their 3000+ day project too. BMS must be pretty good, they’ve even got customers such as P. Diddy and Flo Rida.

It doesn’t surprise us at all that this bike has a price tag of $3mil. If I was a 24k gold 700lb cruiser, I’d expect people to pay a lot for me too. This bike started off as a little Yamaha Road Star 1700. We wouldn’t usually call a Road Star little, but in relation to this one, it’s like a baby.

WHAT MAKES THIS BIKE SO EXPENSIVE?

• 1.7L Engine
• Semi-Automatic Clutch (replicating twitch grip shifter on a bicycle)
• Hidden Brake Callipers
• 102 cubic-inch air-cooled long stroke OHV 48-degree twin engine.
• 1700cc

4. 1894 Hildebrand & Wolfmüller

Price: $3,500,000 (£2,741,900)

Commonly known as the world’s first mainstream production motorcycle; do we really need to wonder why this brilliant invention is as expensive as it is?! Back in the day, 800 of these were made, which is quite a lot to say the only option was to make them by hand. There probably aren’t that many authentic machines out of the kind today, which we suppose explains the price.

Back in 1894, horse and carriage was still at large. A top speed of 30mph was certainly quite fast for the time, but we doubt the horses were very fond of it. Today, the Hildebrand & Wolfmüller can fetch you around the $3.5mil mark. However if you can hold onto it until 2044, you never know it might be worth a bit more! Don’t hold us to that one though.

WHAT MAKES THIS BIKE SO EXPENSIVE?

• 4-stroke Parallel Twin Displacing Engine
• Bicycle Brakes
• 1488cc

Rumour has it that you can see one of these icons at the Deutsches Zwelradmuseum in Neckarslum, Germany.

3. Ecosse ES1 Spirit

Price: $3,600,000 (£2,820,240)

Back in 2007, Formula 1 took the reins of Superbikes. The engineers of these groundbreaking cars, Richard Glover and Andy le Fleming teamed up with dirt bike rider Richard Tyrell to design the Ecosse ES1 Spirit. When this bike was released in 2007 it had an instant retail price of an astounding $3.6million.

Appearance wise, to us, this bike looks like you’ve found an old picture of the new V4 Panigale. This makes us wonder if it was actually inspired by the ES1 – although, it probably wasn’t. However, it does look far too futuristic for its time; it definitely looks like it should be electric.

If you’re one of the lucky 10 owners of this bike, you’ll recall getting exclusive championship-racer training when you bought it.

Along with a personal trainer, this bike also comes with:

• 250mph speed eligibility
• Carbon Fibre at every angle
• Over 200 horsepower
• Frameless Chassis
• Luxe Leather Seating

2. 1949 E90 AJS Porcupine

Price: $7,000,000 (£5,483,800)

AJS Motorcycles were bought out by Associated Motorcycles (AMC) in 1938. During their time of ownership they produced what would soon be an exclusive piece of racing history; the 1949 E90 AJS Porcupine. Not only is this a racing gem, it is also a very rare piece of art, with only 4 ever made! It is believed that AMC was under financial complications when this bike was created, which explains the 4 units.

One of the 4 was owned by Les Graham, who took this as his bike of choice to the FIM Grand Prix that year and won it. This win was responsible for this £7m price tag. Les was quite the star at the TT too, but he was unfortunately taken by Bray Hill in 1953 at the age of 41.

WHAT MAKES THIS BIKE SO EXPENSIVE?

• 500cc DOHC Twin Engine
• Teledraulic Race Forks
• Aluminium Alloys
• ‘Jam Pot’ Shocks
• Open Frame

1. Neiman Marcus Limited Edition Fighter

Price: $11,000,000 (£8,617,400)

Before we get into the bike itself, let’s see what we’ve got here. For all of our British readers (we’re British ourselves after all), Neiman Marcus is like a Debenhams but no shirt is under the $1k price tag. After researching that, I’m not surprised that this beast is so expensive.

Nicknamed the evolution of machine, these Limited Edition 45 models were made by Confederate motorcycles. Never heard of them? They’re an independent manufacturer from Birmingham in Alabama. After looking at all their bikes on their website, it wouldn’t surprise me if James Cameron himself hired the entire fleet for the next Terminator.

It really did make us laugh reading some old posts from 2009, when the bike was worth just $110,000 (yes, just). Blogs from this year showed people suggesting this bike as a gift for someone. If they could afford it then, we highly doubt you’d get many people forking out $11m to spend on their other half.

WHAT MAKES THIS BIKE SO EXPENSIVE?

• 1966cc
• 45-Degree air-cooled v-twin engine
• Custom Braking
• Ultra Light Carbon Fibre Frame. There are some aluminium and titanium thrown in there too.

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