2003 PETRONAS FP1 BRIGHT GREEN BUT BARELY SEEN...

Kicking off our run of truly special bikes is a super trick triple, built first and foremost for racing.

-  BIG MAC

Why is it special?

On the list of things from which one or two are required for a bike to feel 'special', the Petronas FP1 probably ticks ALL of them - and adds a few of its own. The reason for its very existence is bonkers: the story about how it was then conceived, engineered and produced is so full of folklore, urban myth and conflicting stories of skulduggery that it's worthy of a Hollywood film script.

Even to this very day, getting your hands on a Petronas FP1 is the stuff of legend and involves knowing the right person... who in turn knows another person, who in turn, depending on what day of the week it is, might be able to put you in touch with someone who might have an FP1 for sale, but only if he likes you.

There are believed to be as few as a handful and as many as a few. dozen still out there, somewhere, from the original and only - batch ever made back in 2003. Some might have engine internals, some might not. Some might be mint; some might have had their logos removed with coarse sandpaper and rattle can paint. 

There is no importer, no dealer, no official way you can get your hands on one, and if you do, there is zero support or back-up - you're on your own. For the full story on all the nitty gritty on the FP1's murky backstory, take a look at Fast Bikes issue 384.

Then there's the engineering and design of the bike, which also makes it genuinely special in its own right. It was originally designed to meet the then World Superbike rules, which allowed 900cc bikes as long as they were three-cylinder engines - which the FP1 has, only for the rules to change the very next season for its debut.