There?s not much that still surprises us these days, but you can?t beat a crazy suspension setup. And they don?t come much stranger than the bizarre cantilever arrangement used on Fabrique Nationale motorcycles.
Variously known as a ?wheelbarrow? or (more respectfully) a ?trailing link girder fork,? there?s never been anything else quite like it, before or since. And thanks to this amazing restoration by Retrospeed of Wisconsin, we can get a closer look.

FN deserves a higher profile outside of the Low Countries of Europe. It?s one of the most storied names in motorcycling and like BSA and Royal Enfield, the Belgian company has a background in small arms. Today, it?s one of the biggest firearms makers in the world, but sadly, it stopped making motorcycles in the mid 60s.
This Model 13 from 1947 is the kind of restoration you?d expect to see from a grizzled old veteran with a huge Monarch lathe in the corner of the garage. But it?s actually the work of a very talented 27-year-old from Wisconsin: Donovon LeVan.
In Retrospeed?s Ozaukee County workshop, Donovan focuses on European and Japanese motorcycles. He handles everything from basic servicing to concours-level restorations, and for someone so young, he?s remarkably good at his job.

That?s probably because he?s already been riding for well over a decade. ?I got my first bike at 15?a 1975 Yamaha XS650,? he reveals. ?I moved to Milwaukee to pursue architecture as a career, but dropped out of school because I thought t...