American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 180 July 2014 | Page 19

Paul Sleeman with the Hesketh 24,
the first new motorcycle design
from the historic British
manufacturer for 30 years

BRITISH motorcycle brand Hesketh has returned to production with the launch of a new
limited edition S&S x-wedge powered model. The "24" is the first new model
manufactured under the Hesketh name in 30 years, and comes four years after current
owner Paul Sleeman acquired the British motorcycle manufacturer.
esketh Motorcycles was first
established in 1980 by Lord
Hesketh following his success
running a winning team in
Formula 1 car racing with British
driver James Hunt. The original Hesketh
V1000 motorcycle was a 1,000cc, V-twin
powered sports inspired machine, and this
was followed by a faired touring model
known as the Vampire.
In 1984 ownership of Hesketh transferred from
Lord Hesketh to Mick Broom, who was a member of
the original development team, and he continued to

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make a limited number of original Hesketh
motorcycles along with maintaining existing
examples, and it was one of the Broom built bikes
that led Paul Sleeman to the business. It was while
Sleeman was out on a road trip concerning another
of his businesses when he saw an unusual
motorcycle parked up. It was so unusual that he had
to stop and take a closer look. Already a collector of
classic British bikes, he knew nothing of the Hesketh
brand until he returned home and did an internet
search, which led him to Mick Broom, with whom he
began discussing buying a new Hesketh V1000.
However, he soon changed his mind and decided to

buy the entire Hesketh motorcycle business. Now,
four years later, he has launched the completely new
Hesketh 24.
Sleeman’s original idea for the 24 was to design
the new bike around an entirely new British-made
engine. However, the time scale and costs involved
in creating a motorcycle engine from scratch proved
to be too excessive and so he then began to look at
off-the-shelf options, which led him to discussions
with S&S Cycle and the eventual decision to use an
117ci X-Wedge, air-cooled V-twin.
Modifying the engine especially to suit the
Hesketh 24, the company uses British tuning >>
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - JULY 2014

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