Lightweight Motorcycling on a Janus

Janus Lightweight Motorcycles – What are the benefits of lightweight?

Janus 250s weigh about 260 pounds. That’s nearly 150 pounds lighter than the lightest traditional mass-market motorcycles. The Halcyon 450 weighs 365 pounds. At 30 hp, that’s nearly identical to the power-to-weight ratio of a Sportster 883!

Our Motorcycles are truly featherweight, and provide a completely different riding experience.

While it’s easy to compare Japanese liter bikes across eras and makers, or compare big, new, American iron… the choice to ride a Janus is truly a choice. It’s a different motorcycling experience altogether!

Lightweight Motorcycling provides several distinct benefits and makes the act of riding a Janus 250 a truly different motorcycling experience:

1) YOU are the pilot. On a lightweight motorcycle, you’re in control.

So many modern mass market motorcycles rely on horsepower wars and a displacement arms race to sell units, but they don’t think about what that means for regular, everyday riders. It means the machine you get on requires more and more skill, poses a greater consequence if you make a mistake, and offers so much power a regular rider will never safely use.

On a Janus Lightweight Motorcycle, you are the pilot of the machine. Janus Lightweight Motorcycles are built to inspire confidence, all while amplifying and highlighting the kinds of riding we all love: long sweeping curves, joyrides, beach cruises, and state-park excursions.

2) Use the whole bike every time.

A lightweight bike paired with a small-displacement powerplant gives the rider a true “roadster” experience every time you ride. You get to use every bit of the engine nearly every time you ride. Part of the fun of motorcycling is the “art” of riding: shifting, braking, cornering, accelerating out of a turn… you get the picture. It’s FUN to ride a machine like a Janus, and you get to use it all every time.

3) Go more places

Want to see more of the world out there? Take your Janus along for the ride. A simple hitch rack, a couple square feet in your toy hauler, or the bed of your pickup truck is all the space you need to take you Janus along on an epic trip. For RV’ers, this is an amazing “once you’re there” option: set up camp and explore your location in style on a lightweight, easy to load, easy to ride, road-ready bike. For those with a family, bring the bike with you on family vacation and have a little sunset cruise every evening. A Janus 250 is a perfect national park exploration machine, where views are abundant but top speed is limited (no one wants a federal speeding ticket).

4) Hop on and go

Getting ready to ride a big bike is a big production. Just maneuvering the bike out of the garage is a feat. Gearing up, getting the car out, finding parking… all the “big bike baggage” is sometimes so heavy it prevents us from even wanting to ride. On a lightweight motorcycle, it’s as easy and scooting it out of the garage, grabbing your gear, and going. The barrier to riding is much lower.

5) Never get “up a creek”

What would you do if you were on a solo ride on your big bike and you set it down? Not a lot… hoisting seven or eight hundred pounds is often impossible depending on your location. Set down a Janus? It’s MUCH easier to prop back up, and the plastic-free bodywork is remarkably resilient for such an artistic design.

6) Feel fast

Riding a lightweight motorcycle to its full capacity is a completely different and fun sensation of speed. We’re not saying there’s no place for a big bike—sometimes its fun to hop on I-90 and barrel out to Sturgis with your dog, your spouse, and 6 days of supplies. But it’s a different sense of freedom and speed to enjoy lightweight motorcycling. It’s a completely different type of riding and a completely different category of motorcycling. It’s worth enjoying even if you are a “big bike” rider, too!