This Stunning All-Aluminum Motorcycle Looks Like An Alien And Is Somehow Road Legal

There’s no shortage of metal fabrication artists out there who prove that motorcycles can be more than just transportation. However, most of these rides aren’t legal and if they are, they’re not meant to be ridden, anyway. Here’s one that stands out. The Bandit9 Eve Odyssey is a work of art that looks like an alien, but the company actually expects you to ride this 156 mpg weirdo.

I’m a firm believer that motorcycles can be art and I love seeing what artists can come up with. Lots of fabricators create functional motorcycles, but you can tell that they really weren’t meant to be ridden. Look no further than the Box39 Guido to see what I mean. Yes, it’s a real motorcycle, but even its creator admits it’s not really for public use. Then there’s the Ransom Archangel, which is another real motorcycle sold as art, but its seven-figure price tag ensures none of them will ever be ridden.

Thus, you can imagine my surprise when Bandit9 is not only advertising its new production Eve Odyssey as a piece of art, but also as a thrifty form of transportation the company seemingly desperately hopes you’ll actually ride. Unfortunately, there are still a few caveats.

Science Fiction Brought To Life

Daryl Villanueva is like so many of us and loves the world-building presented in science fiction films and comic books. Yet, like the rest of us, he felt that reality always fell so short. Why couldn’t we have at least a taste of those colorful, futuristic worlds?

Villanueva founded Vietnam-based Bandit9 in October 2011 with the mission to make at least some science fiction a reality, from the firm’s website:

At the time, heritage, vintage, retro, remakes, reissues had completely taken over. And we were perfectly satisfied. Where is the ingenuity, the pioneering spirit, the boldness? This was the most frustrating part of it all. It felt like we just gave up. It felt like we just didn’t give a damn. Were we to resign ourselves in an endless loop and rehash what has been?

Someone needed to look after the future. So I started a motorcycle company that focused on what could be rather than what was. I get it. Are we so arrogant to say that it is us that will alter the course of the industry? No, not at all. We do, however, believe we can inspire someone out there who can change the future.

Our cars and our motorcycles symbolize possibilities and I think that’s why so many collectors, museums and individuals gravitate towards our work. They demonstrate the notion that if we can think it then we can make it.

Villanueva spent over a decade building incredible one-offs set to perhaps unexpected themes. For example, the Supermarine (above) is supposed to look like leaping Mobula Rays and its frame resembles a coral reef.

Meanwhile, Royal Enfield commissioned two medieval-themed motorcycles from Villanueva, one based on what was then the new Continental GT (below) and another based on the Bullet. These weren’t just art pieces either as 18 lucky Royal Enfield fans got to buy an example of both customs.

Then there’s the Monaco electric track car, which packages Tesla Model S running gear into a shape reminiscent of old Formula 1 cars while offering up to 250 miles of range.

All of this is to say that Villanueva doesn’t make a ton of vehicles, but you can’t accuse him of building vaporware. He also has a knack of trying to make sure his vehicles are road-legal at least for some jurisdictions.

The Eve Odyssey has a predecessor, the original Eve from a decade ago. To build the Eve, Villanueva took late 1960s Honda SS pressed steel motorcycles and converted them into hyper-minimalist future machines. Here, take a look at a stock SS:

And Villanueva’s creation:

The original Eve was decked out from top to bottom in chrome and featured bronze accents for that extra pop. The turn signals were milled out of aluminum and the brake light was made out of quartz. Like all of Villanueva’s creations, just a handful were built and it was a stepping stone to Villanueva getting better and better with his builds. Villanueva says the Eve was such a work of art that it ended up in the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Haas Moto Museum, and the Barber Motorsports Museum, which is pretty awesome.

Now, we get to see what he’s capable of after so much tinkering and a year of development.

Your Own Space Odyssey

When it came time to evolve the Odyssey, Villanueva and his team decided to go bigger, lighter, faster, stronger, and with a greater focus on fuel economy. As I said before, Villanueva doesn’t want his bikes gathering dust in some person’s garage. He wants you to actually ride these space race-inspired things.

The new Eve Odyssey starts with a fuselage-style frame. The old Eve transformed the original steel Honda SS frame. This time around, the all-7075 aluminum frame is of Bandit9’s design and is given its brushed finish by hand. Villanueva says the aluminum frame underneath is box-style and the aluminum fuselage structure is placed on top to create a sort of unibody. The goal is to make the motorcycle’s main structure appear to be built out of a single piece of aluminum.

The whole thing resembles a bullet flying through the air or perhaps one of those tank racers that speed down Bonneville in the blink of an eye. I could also see it being the ride of an alien in a sci-fi movie.

The level of detail is incredible and includes a tiny taillight in the rear tip of the body and even a minimalistic instrument cluster also milled out of aluminum. Everything from the brake fluid reservoir to the foot controls are all made out of one-off parts built by Villanueva’s team.

The engine is just about the only unsophisticated thing here. Power comes from a 125cc single-cylinder engine sourced from a vintage Honda with a four-speed manual transmission. That’s good for 13 HP and Bandit9 says its 265-pound motorcycle is so light and aerodynamic that it’ll get 156 mpg. I’m not too surprised there given the pint-size power.

Real, And Probably Uncomfortable

To further illustrate that this is supposed to be a real motorcycle, Bandit9 lists out a spec sheet that includes custom telescopic forks, a monoshock rear suspension, a single-sided swingarm, and aluminum wheels. The motorcycle even has a short options list that includes a leather or neoprene seat, some tuning to add a little extra power to the engine, and an optional titanium exhaust.

The bike even comes with a real headlight and easily-removable mirrors so you can be legal when you need to. All of that is pretty cool. So many of these custom machines are seemingly built as art and leave the whole functional part out.

This bike might also be affordable for a boutique build. Bandit9 hasn’t released pricing yet, but the original Eve was $11,950. Bandit9 was targeting a $15,500 early bird price back when the Eve Odyssey was announced last year. So, who knows where the actual price will land, but that’s not a ton of money for a custom like this.

Sadly, I do see some problems. I’m not sure I’ve seen a worse motorcycle saddle in my life. There’s exactly no padding on that seat so while you may get 156 mpg and a nice 2.1-gallon fuel tank, I’m not sure your butt will last long enough for you to enjoy it for that long. The riding position also isn’t going to be a particularly comfortable one. So, it’s a real motorcycle, but still a compromised one.

Importing one of these seems like it should be fairly easy. Bandit9 has titled its previous builds as the donor bikes it gets its engines, frames, and other parts from, so I would expect something similar here. Since Bandit9 sources its parts from some really old Hondas, the 25-Year Rule shouldn’t be that big of a deal. There’s a Bandit9 Ava currently for sale in California that’s titled as a 1967 Honda SS.

Bandit9 is currently taking reservations for the Eve Odyssey. The firm hasn’t said when production begins or how many will be built.

I know boutique bikes are all sorts of silly. They usually aren’t at all practical and they’re often just something extremely expensive for someone to show off rather than use. I like that there’s someone out there who wants to combine both worlds. I also like that the price is in the lower five figures rather than starting at six figures. Maybe, just maybe, you or I might see one of these at a local bike show one day.

(Images: Bandit9, unless otherwise noted.)