Wakan Motorcycles

Wakan was a French motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1999 by Joel Domergue, a nuclear engineer who had entered the motorcycle business in 1993 by co-founding the Scorpa trials-bike company in Ales, France. After selling his stake in Scorpa in 2003, Domergue set out to build his own dream machine - a two-wheeled take on the Shelby AC Cobra, combining a big American V-twin engine with a sporty European chassis - through his company Engineering and More (Engmore). The resulting Wakan 1640 was shown as a prototype in 2005, with production running from 2006 until the company ceased operations in 2011. Later that year, investor Cedric Klein bought Wakan's factory, spare parts, prototypes, and patents, relaunching the marque under the new name Avinton.