Hesketh Motorcycles->ke4820 returned from the grave with a bang in 2014, raising hopes that the company could finally sustain the level of success it had during its first run to prominence.

The once-proud British motorcycle company is already on the verge of selling out the

Hesketh 24, a bike it built in 2014 that has proven to be a rip-roaring success for the brand. Now, company boss Paul Sleeman told the Telegraph that it’s looking to build an even more exotic machine that he describes as a “Bugatti Veyron->ke1112” compared to the “Aston Martin->ke13” that is the 24.

If anything, you can understand Sleeman’s optimism for this new bike, especially after the 24, which was named after the racing number of James Hunt, who famously became the last driver to win a Formula One race for a private team. The company announced last year that it planned to roll out 24 units of the 24, priced at £35,000 ($53,800). It’s already sold 16 units of the model and expects to clear all until by the end of the year.

So without a new model earmarked for 2016, Sleeman and Hesketh are setting its sights on building a new bike that it’s already promising to be faster and more powerful than the 24, hence the admittedly ambitious comparison to the Veyron. Whether the company can live up to its claims is another thing altogether, but for the sake of its survival, I’m hoping that it can back up its words and gives us a bike that’ll make the Veyron proud.

Click "continue reading" to read more about Hesketh's plan for its new motorcycle.

Why it matters

Now we’re talking. First of all, comparing a bike to the almighty Veyron immediately puts expectations to unfounded levels. Sleeman already went out on a limb by christening the 24 as the company’s version of an Aston Martin so he clearly has high hopes for the brand after purchasing it from retired custodian Mick Broom in 2010 for “less than £200,000 ($307,000).”

Now I'm not the type to scoff at somebody else's ambitions, and I don't plan on doing that this time. I just hope that for the sake of Hensketh Motorcycles, Sleeman isn't biting off more than he could chew by promising us the motorcycle equivalent of the moon, and then producing a bike that doesn't live up to all the hype being showered on it.

That's my immediate concern, although I'm prepared to give Sleeman and Hensketh the opportunity to prove that it's got the capabilities to not only throw out these comparisons, but actually back them in the end.

They've earned as much thanks to the success and popularity of the Hensketh 24. Hopefully, the company rides that momentum and builds a successor that will really put Hensketh back on the motorcycle map.