Falcon Kestrel - Specifications & Review

Company History

Falcon Motorcycles operates at the couture end of custom building. Ian Barry’s studio in Los Angeles became famous for The Falcon Ten—an ambitious series of one-off motorcycles each built around a historically significant engine and finished with hand-formed frames, tanks, and controls. The work is archeology and sculpture as much as mechanics: original crankcases are rebuilt to jewel-like standards, while every bracket, lever, and fastener is fabricated or reimagined to suit the narrative of that specific machine. The result is functional art that wins concours trophies yet can be ridden—carefully—on real roads. Falcon’s cadence is slow by design; months or years can distill into a single tank seam or linkage detail. That monastic focus reset expectations for what a ‘custom’ could be in the 2010s, shifting conversation from catalog curation to total-environment design. Historically, Falcon’s influence is less about volume and more about raising the ceiling: it reminded the scene that bikes can be coherent works of art without sacrificing mechanical integrity. Owners become custodians rather than mere riders, and the public learns to read craftsmanship in weld beads and cable runs. In a disposable culture, Falcon argues for permanence—the motorcycle as heirloom, story, and standard of handwork.