Nope, you just don’t run into Confederates every day, but when you do, it might as well be a flying saucer as that’s the look I’ve observed at shows where people ran into one for the first time. Some people seem to be afraid to get too close and others just spend their time trying to find something, anything that looks familiar. The barest of principles connect it to what they’re riding and that’s what they walk away thinking “WTF?” I’m guessing. That exact same thing is also what makes them so attractive to their owners who are part of an exclusive fan club once their name goes on the title.
Confederates have always been about the “What if . . .?” factor with each an every design being a whole ‘nother ball game of mechanical zaniness where no rules of style, trend, or practicality are ever part of the final equation. It is what it is and if you don’t like it, I don’t think anyone at Confederate Motorcycles Inc. in Birmingham, Alabama, cares. The design and produce what they want, the way they want and hopefully there are enough like-minded individuals scattered throughout the world to keep them going to the next level of strangely appealing motorcycles. So far, they’ve been able to pull it off, but that comes at a price ─ a very high price for most of us.
Out of a total run of 61 units, 31 are like the raw machined aluminum version you see before you and 30 are black (very, very black). The blonde sells for $113,900 while the black rips it up to $119,500 and for most of us, that’s the end of this story, but for 53 people out there somewhere, there’s the motorcycling equivalent of a UFO parked in their garage. There’s still a few spots left if you’ve got some spare capital around as Confederate’s website says there are three blondes and five black P51s left for sale. That’s just shy of a millions bucks for eight motorcycles and somehow that new Harley seems affordable now.
Hey, I’m not saying they’re not worth that to the right people as there’s a hell of a lot going on here in true Confederate fashion. So, you’re thinking, what do you get for your $113,900 or $119, 500 anyway, besides the automatic answer of “What goes on outside the box?” You get everything you get in a Harley but in a completely different way resulting in a completely different motorcycle if there ever was one. The monocoque 6061 aluminum frame combines the headstock, fuel tank, engine and transmission into a single chunk of togetherness unlike any Milwaukee-based product. Especially those Steampunk-like portholes containing the air filter up front and fuel down below in steerage. A single rear custom Race Tech shock with linkage operates on the left side of the massive swingarm in a look you’ve probably never seen before. Hey, it’s a Confederate so you just assume it must work and work well too.
Up front there’s another of Confederate’s home brewed girder forks that often are the biggest point of style contention from casual observers I’ve spoken with. Another Race Tech coil-over shock does its best to keep things on the up and up when the going gets testy at speed. BST carbon fiber wheels front and rear weigh almost nothing and I’m not kidding. Pick one up sometime at a show if you get a chance and tell me otherwise. Although they’ve been around for quite some time, the super high tech Beringer 4D brakes up front are something else altogether. Check out the small dual rotors in each of the trick radial calipers and tell me you’ve seen something like this before. They are just a trip. Out back another Beringer caliper strikes a big single rotor and the brake deal was done. Trick, quick and slick braking if there ever was now labeled as Confederate on the calipers.
Although Confederate doesn’t say it, that 132-inch monster of an engine has a hint of S&S X-Wedge to it especially the 57-degree V-twin architecture. Hey, I’m just sayin’. But, the end result of Confederate’s tomfoolery with engine has resulted in 200hp and 170 lb-ft of torque. To put things into perspective, a ready to ride P51 weighs possibly a bit less than a stock Sportster and all that additional power can’t go unnoticed. Hopefully nobody at Confederate thought a quick action twist throttle like those sometimes used on dirt bikes and the occasional street bike was necessary to make their point. I mean a 200 horse, air-cooled, naturally aspirated motorcycle weighing 560 pounds ready to rock is quite an achievement just in itself.
I doubt this bike is gonna lead the pack on track days as it’s still a bit beefy for that but as far as attracting attention, wanted or otherwise, it’s going to be tough to beat. Fire this baby up and I’m sure the accumulated crowd will be checking out just what kind of person owns a bike like this as well as the shocking design of the G2 P51 Combat Fighter as it sits. If that’s the kind of action you’re looking for in a bike you know will still do that 10 or 20 years from now, get in touch with Confederate while you still have a choice of blonde or black. All it takes is some six-figure cash and a click on the Internet.