FEATURE
P58
BIENVILLE LEGACY V4 PROJECT
MASTER CRAFTS
J.T. Nesbitt gets to build exactly w
BY ALAN CATHCART
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHIL HAWKINS
W
e've all had the same
dream, haven't we? It's
the one where a total
stranger comes up to you with
his checkbook out, and says
he'll bankroll anything you want
to do – or even better, if you're a
creative kind of person, to make
whatever you want. As if….
Except, this particular dream
actually did come true for Louisiana motorcycle designer J.T.
Nesbitt, and the Bienville Legacy
that's been taking shape in his
New Orleans studio for the past
18 months is the result. And after
making its public debut in 90 percent completed form at the City
Bike Night street party in Birmingham, Alabama organized by Motus owners Lee Conn and Brian
Case – suppliers of the V-four
engine that powers the Legacy –
it's clear that Nesbitt is in the process of creating something completely original. It's something
that owes nothing whatsoever in
terms of concept or execution to
any motorcycle built before, beyond having two wheels and an
engine.
Oh, and the girder fork from
one of his previous concoctions,
the über-minimalist Confederate
Wraith, which JT conceived as a
tribute to his design hero, visionary Kiwi John Britten.
Nesbitt, 42, is a fine arts graduate who as a student assembled
a motorcycle in the art facility of
Louisiana Tech, then closely
avoided being kicked out of there
after he rode it up and down the
second floor of the building.
"I needed to make sure it'd run
okay before I stripped and painted it!"
He later practiced sculpture in
between waiting tables and bar-
