Workhorse Speed Shop wowed us two weeks ago, with a retro AMA superbike-inspired Indian FTR 1200 specced to the hilt. But that was just one of two FTRs that Workhorse’s Brice Hennebert had been working on. We’ve now got a look at the other?and even though the bikes were built for a pair of brothers, they couldn’t be more different.
This one’s called ‘Black Swan,’ and it’s a brutal, carbon-clad superbike that takes cues from multiple sources. Brice’s mental mood board on this project included 90s sportbikes, contemporary MotoGP racers, and even the Porsches of the German tuning company, RAUH-Welt. Think of it as Batman meets Top Gun, only much more radical.

Brice first had the idea to build something in this vein several years ago, while racing at the popular Wheels & Waves festival. ?I had the vision to build a sports bike for road use?really sporty, built like a GP bike,? he explains. ?It?s deeply inspired by 90s sports bikes, all made from carbon fiber.? ?The owner of the bike gave me total freedom around the project. So, I pushed all the levels to my maximum. It?s pretty unique and the most complicated build I?ve done to date.?

Brice isn’t overstating it?there really is a lot going on with this build. The biggest visual change here is the carbon fiber body kit. It combines the fairing, tank cover and tail into one piece, and it was considerably technical to execute.
Working from his own concept sketch, Brice...