What do you get when a Swiss watchmaker known for its hyper-engineered timepieces shakes hands with a legendary motorcycle manufacturer? A machine that doesn’t just move — but makes a statement. Unveiled at this year’s Le Mans Classic, the RMB 01 is the first-ever motorcycle to bear the Richard Mille name, and it arrives with the kind of detailing you’d expect from a Swiss vault and a racing paddock at the same time.
Crafted in collaboration with Brough Superior, the RMB 01 is built for the racetrack and nowhere else. That’s not a tagline — it has no lights, no indicators, and no interest in road legality. It’s been created purely for performance, and of course, with only 150 units slated for production.
Underneath its sleek carbon skin lies a 997cc V-twin engine that’s been carved out of billet aluminium. It’s turbocharged, it breathes through an air-to-water intercooler, and it delivers roughly 130 horsepower to the rear wheel. No rider aids, no flashy ride modes — just a slipper clutch, a cassette gearbox, and pure, mechanical fury at your disposal.
The chassis is equally dramatic, with a Fior-type double-wishbone front suspension and a swingarm at the rear, both mounted to a carbon-fibre frame that uses the engine as a stressed member. Even the wheels look like something out of a Richard Mille caseback — full of skeletonised spokes and razor-edged symmetry.
From the hand-stitched Alcantara seat to the exposed gear-driven speedometer, the RMB 01 is a physical ode to both form and function. While official pricing remains under wraps, whispers from the paddock peg it somewhere around the €200,000 mark — making this not just a high-performance track tool, but a high-stakes collector’s gamble. Then again, Richard Mille never did play in the shallow end of the pool.
