By IOL Motoring Staff
Annecy, France - Lazareth describes the LM847 as a four-wheel tilting motorcycle, powered by a Maserati 4.7-litre V8. We describe it as insane but, since it has a single track (albeit with double wheels) and leans into corners it is, technically speaking, a motorcycle. Actually, a scooter, since it has an automatic clutch and a single-speed transmission. Scary thought.
The numbers are even more scary: the engine is rated at 345kW and 620Nm, driving via a torque converter (it has no clutch or gearbox) and individual heavy-duty chains to the rear wheels - but at 400kg the LM847 is a fraction of the weight of the car the engine came out of, and its straight-line performance must be awe-inspiring.
Each of the four 17 inch wheels is individually sprung, with rocking-arm linkages to make leaning into corners possible, albeit somewhat restricted by its hub-centre steering and 1850mm wheelbase. The rear swing-arms are pivoted about the output shaft axis so that chain tension remains constant, enabling the drive chains to handle many times the power of a conventional motorcycle.
Braking on this super-scoot is entrusted to eight-piston callipers on 420mm diameter perimeter discs a la Buell - and like any other scooter, both front and rear brakes are operated from the handlebars, although in this case the levers are pivoted from the outside (Lazareth maintains this gives extra feel and more precise braking) and the master cylinders are hidden, out of harm's way, inside the handlebars.
While we would prefer to see some sort of dummy fuel-tank over the engine, if only to deflect the considerable engine heat away from the rider, the LM847 is completely functional, as can be seen from the video below, and is actually street-legal in France, where it is made.
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