HF355: The Ferrari V8 Custom Motorcycle

Maxwell Hazan’s HF355 is a handcrafted motorcycle powered by a Ferrari F355 V8, delivering 375 hp and a power-to-weight ratio that surpasses modern Formula 1 cars.

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In the world of custom motorcycles, outrageous ideas appear every year, but few reach the level of engineering, craftsmanship, and pure audacity found in the Hazan Motorworks HF355. Created by Los Angeles-based builder Maxwell Hazan, the HF355 is a handmade motorcycle built around a Ferrari F355 V8, a 3.5-litre Italian engine never meant to leave the chassis of a sports car, let alone power a two-wheeler.

Yet Hazan not only made it work, he also created a machine with a power-to-weight ratio higher than a modern Formula 1 car.

This is the story of one man, one workshop, and one of the most extreme motorcycles ever built.

A Ferrari Heart in a Two-Wheeled Body

The HF355 takes its name from its centrepiece: the F355’s 3.5-litre, five-valve-per-cylinder, titanium-rod V8. In the original car, it produced about 375 hp. On a motorcycle weighing roughly 250 kg, that number becomes something else entirely.

By comparison, a current F1 car sits around 1,297 hp per tonne. The HF355? Approximately 1,360 hp per tonne.

For a street-ridden, fully functional motorcycle, such figures border on science fiction.

Hazan says the engine, stripped of accessories and its flywheel, weighed just 107 kg, allowing him to build the bike around it with precision and minimal compromises.

Designed Around the Engine; No Frame Required

Rather than adapting a motorcycle chassis to fit the Ferrari V8, Hazan inverted the logic: the engine became the structure.

The V8 and gearbox act as the central load-bearing unit, with every other component, suspension, fuel tank, subframe, and electronics attached directly to it. Even the fuel tank contributes to the structural stiffness.

Weight reduction was the guiding philosophy. Every piece on the motorcycle was created to use space efficiently and eliminate unnecessary mass.

Custom Electronics for a Racing-Inspired Powertrain

Controlling a high-revving Ferrari V8 in a motorcycle required a complete electronic rethink. Hazan installed a fully programmable MS3 Pro ECU, tuned specifically for this very unusual platform.

The HF355 runs eight individual throttle bodies, one for each cylinder, calibrated with an Alpha-N map. The result is an instantaneous throttle response Hazan compares to the leap from CV carburettors to flat-slides: sharp, direct, and brutally immediate.

Every electronic system, from sensors to wiring, was handmade to suit the engine, reinforcing the bespoke nature of the build.

Keeping a Ferrari Cool on Two Wheels

Heat management is one of the biggest challenges when transplanting a car engine into a motorcycle, but Hazan engineered a solution that’s both compact and efficient.

The HF355 uses:

• a large radiator mounted under the engine
• four ECU-controlled electric fans
• a dry-sump lubrication system to stabilise oil pressure and temperatures

Freed from the insulation, catalytic converters, and enclosed bay of the Ferrari, the V8 actually runs cooler than expected.

“This engine doesn’t generate as much heat because it doesn’t retain it,” Hazan explains.

A Glimpse Into the Future of Custom Engineering?

The HF355 raises an intriguing question: in an era of mass-production EVs and electronically limited street motorcycles, can one-off machines like this influence the future of high-performance design?

While the HF355 will never be mass-produced, it proves something important: when craftsmanship meets extreme engineering, the boundaries of what a motorcycle can be are far wider than the industry usually admits.

And sometimes, all it takes is a builder with vision and a Ferrari V8 to remind the world that imagination has no red line.