Thank Goodness, The Guy Who Just Won That Viper V10 Custom Motorcycle Plans To Ride It

No, not Henry Cole, the other guy who isn't Allen Millyard in this photo. Congrats to him, and to what seems like a fantastic plan!

Photo by: FBHVC

Janaki Jitchotvisut

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Jul 28, at 8:51am ET

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What kind of motorcycle rider are you?

On the face of it, that might seem like a relatively simple question. Maybe you like racking up the miles and only stopping for fuel, or to pee, or hastily gobble down a little bit of food. Or maybe you'd prefer to wander off into the woods and explore new trails, and maybe you'll be home by dinner and maybe you won't. It's all good!

Both examples given above (and of course, there are countless others we could all probably give) involve riding your bike. Notice that I didn't specify any type or brand of bike; only that it's your bike. Because really, at the end of the day, that's the part that matters. It's your bike, and you're out there enjoying it however you see fit.

Anyway, the reason I'm contemplating all this in public is because I don't know about you, but I really appreciate it when motorcycles, even if they're very historic or special, actually get ridden. I don't have to be the one riding them, and I'm not going to publicly smack-talk anyone who'd rather keep them put away somewhere so they're safe for posterity.

But it does truly bring an extra little spark of joy to know that someone is out there actually riding a very special motorcycle, and helping it do the thing it was built for. It's one of the reasons that I truly appreciate what folks like Matt Walksler and the Wheels Through Time Museum do; they bill themselves as The Museum That Runs, and aren't afraid to go the extra mile to get totally historic (and sometimes one-of-a-kind) machines running again, even if they haven't run for decades.

Over across the pond, it seems that the UK's National Motorcycle Museum just sold Allen Millyard's V10 Viper custom to a longtime supporter who plans to do exactly that. His name is Tim Whittaker, and he's got a background in automotive engineering. And in fact, he told the Federation British Historic Vehicle Clubs exactly what motivated him to want to own this unbelievable piece of motorcycle history.

"When I first saw the V10 Viper a few years ago, I immediately recognised I was looking at an incredible feat of engineering. With my background in automotive engineering, I couldn't quite believe that one person had designed and built something so extraordinary. When I heard it was coming up for auction, I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"I didn't want to see such an iconic motorcycle disappear into a private collection. It deserves to be ridden and enjoyed, and I'm looking forward to learning from Allen how to ride it properly.

"I'm incredibly proud to become its next custodian. Just as importantly, I'm delighted it will stay in the UK and that I can lend it to the National Motorcycle Museum during the winter months so visitors can continue to enjoy this remarkable machine."

Seriously, is that not everything you could possibly hope would come from the next owner of such a fantastic machine? I mean, Millyard himself built it to ride, and he even put over 10,000 miles on it taking it everywhere before he finally decided it was time to let it go. You might consider the idea of a Viper V10-powered motorcycle to be more than slightly mad, and that's a fair assessment; but one thing you definitely can't say about it is that it's all show and no go.

What do you think?

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And that, seriously, is the perfect way for this sales story to end. Sure, it racked up £130,000 (nearly US $173,000 at the time of writing) for the UK's National Motorcycle Museum, which is also great news. Speaking as someone in the US, I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping that museum stays healthier than our own National Motorcycle Museum unfortunately did.

As someone who's gone through motorcycle trainings before, I definitely wonder what the learning curve will be like to get to grips with the intricacies of operating this machine. No idea if its new owner has any plans on documenting his journey via video, but it'd surely make for some excellent viewing if he felt compelled to share it on YouTube. No pressure; video editing takes a lot of time and effort, but I imagine there would definitely be an audience for such a special bike.