Flying Millyard review

You sit over the rear wheel of the Flying Millyard, with your arms splayed wide Photo: Phil Masters

It is powered by a gigantic, 5.0-litre V-twin engine designed for an

aeroplane, looks like a two-wheeled Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and was built

in a suburban garage in Berkshire. Yet when Allen Millyard displayed his

Flying Millyard amid the supercars at the Salon Privé exhibition in London,

it earned the rare distinction of winning two prizes.

Riding it is a unique experience. As the Flying Millyard – named after the

Flying Merkels that were among America’s finest V-twin motorcycles a century

ago – chuffs gently along a quiet back road, I could almost be aboard a

restored bike of similar vintage. Except that this recently home-built

machine is so big that it feels almost like a one-and-a-half scale model.

My arms are splayed wide to grip tiller-style handlebars and alongside the

enormous maroon tank is a lever for the hand-change gearbox. I’m sitting

over the rear wheel, bouncing gently on the bicycle-style saddle and

enjoying the long-legged beat of an engine that is revving at little more

than 500rpm.

It’s not surprising that the Thirties-vintage engine feels under-stressed,

because it was originally intended for higher things, such as the Lockheed

Electra in which Amelia Earhart took her final flight. The massive

air-cooled Pratt & Witney Wasp cylinders started out forming part of a

nine-cylinder radial aero power plant, before former MoD engineer Millyard

bought them for just £100.

Millyard is far from a novice when it comes to building unusual motorcycles.

He is well known for having created an 8.0-litre motorcycle using a V10

engine from a Dodge Viper sports car. “You could do better than that, Dad,”

said his son Stephen of Dodge’s V10 Tomahawk concept bike. Millyard’s

resultant handiwork has been timed at 207mph, and has lapped the Isle of Man

TT course

Earlier, Millyard had crafted a Honda SS100 V-twin, with two 50cc moped

engines on a common crankcase.

His 1,600cc V8 and 2,600cc V12 Kawasakis, based on the classic Z1000 four and

Z1300 six, are on display in the Barber Museum in Alabama, with one of the

four- and five-cylinder bikes he has built from Kawasaki’s two-stroke

triples.

Millyard created the 4,894cc engine by bolting the Wasp cylinders to

crankcases that he designed himself and had cast by the company that makes

the Bafta awards. His aim was to create a bike with a vintage look and feel,

to contrast with the brutish Viper. “I built it not with performance in mind

but to ride it sedately, watch the world go by and beep the horn

occasionally,” he says.

That horn is a genuine King of the Road item from the Twenties, but other

classic-looking parts including the girder front suspension, fuel tank and

exhaust system with its “fishtail” silencer were fashioned by hand. A

variety of vehicles provided components: the gearbox combines parts from old

MG and Morris 10 cars; the clutch is from a Honda Pan European; the two oil

pumps from Honda Fireblades; the drum brakes from classic Kawasakis; the

headlamp from a BSA Gold Star.

^{The V-twin engine in the Flying Millyard was designed for an aeroplane}

Bringing this gentle giant of a bike to life requires a determined leap on the

detachable kick-start. The engine fires with a puff of smoke and a soft,

slow beat from the exhaust. Maximum power is about 80bhp, modest for such a

huge lump. The payback is generous torque at all speeds. Which is just as

well, because the gearbox is an old-fashioned “crash” device, and using the

lever with my right hand would be confusing even if I didn’t also need to

adjust the fuel mixture and the ignition advance.

But it’s all very involving and fun, if not remotely relaxing. And once into

top gear, the bike barely requires a down-change even to negotiate

roundabouts. Handling and braking, while nowhere near modern standards, are

up to scratch for a tall, heavy bike that cruises lazily at 50mph and has a

top speed, its owner thinks, of about 100mph.

^{The Flying Millyard is just one of Alan Millyard’s creations}

Millyard enjoyed riding it this summer and will soon spend some time

fine-tuning its carburettor, but he’s already thinking about his next

project. “I like the idea of making another small bike, and I love those

tiny multi-cylinder racers that Honda had in the Sixties,” he says, eyes

lighting up.

“A six-cylinder screamer or V8 would be a lot of fun.”

THE FACTS

Flying Millyard

Tested: 4,894cc four-stroke V-twin, four-speed gearbox

Price/on sale: On application/now

Power/torque: 80bhp @ 1,500rpm (estimated)/not quoted

Top speed: 100mph (estimated)

Range: 80 miles @ 18mpg

Verdict: Huge and bonkers hand-built V-twin that takes the fashion for

retro styled custom bikes to a new level, and fully deserves its brace of

Salon Privé awards

Telegraph rating: Five out of five stars

A FEW HE MADE EARLIER…

Honda SS100

Even Soichiro Honda would surely have admired this early multi-cylinder

effort, a deceptively standard looking V-twin made using the engines from

two SS50 sports mopeds.

Kawasaki Z2300 V12

Kawasaki’s six-cylinder Z1300 was the biggest and most excessive of Seventies

superbikes; Millyard used two banks of cylinders to create an improbably

smooth-running 2,300cc V12.

Viper V10

“You could do better than that, Dad,” said son Stephen of Dodge’s V10 Tomahawk

concept. Millyard’s resultant eight-litre V10 has been timed at 207mph, and

has lapped the TT course.

^{The Viper V10 is capable of more than 200mph}

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Flying Millyard review