| Author | Message | ||
     Nevrenuf |
what if h/d just bought m/v agusta just to get the engineering of the motors and were planning on building their own sportbike. now this is just second hand stuff. no proof or nothing. but it would be their way of getting into the street bike market without erik cause they just got a well developed motor. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
The V-4 rumor has been flying around for awhile.... their "Core" customers wont welcome it... and all the people they have pissed off in the last few months wont care..... but they need to do something. They don't have a thing on the showroom floor that make say "I gotta have that!" | ||
| Towpro |
I doubt it. Eric kept telling HD he couldn't use their motor for super bikes because it was to heavy (and slow), so he had to pay someone else to build one for him (with the profits from the ULY). If HD was going to do this, why not use Eric's expertise and give him the MV motor instead of reinventing the wheel? Eric is (was) just an employee of HD so it would not have cost HD anything more then his salary | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
are you talking about EriK Buell? | ||
| Nevrenuf |
you know how those high level corporate decisions go, my way or the highway sort of thing. | ||
| Ourdee |
+1 Wolfridgerider, Tell em It's Erik with a "K". | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
There's no way the motor in question would be small enough for a proposed street fighter. If said motor was actually under development. Or so I'm told by people who may or may not have knowledge of said motor in question. | ||
| Rick_a |
Seeing that their V-Twin "superbike" ended up being the V-Rod, the air-cooled streetfighter XR-750 replica is the XR1200...I don't have high hopes...and even if they did pull something off, it'd end up so diluted you'd have to be one of the Harley faithful that's been holding out for that kinda Harley to buy it...ya know? | ||
| Jerseyguy |
MV engines are an IL4 not a V4. | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
"Seeing that their V-Twin "superbike" ended up being the V-Rod," Actually, the VR1000 isn't the Revolution. | ||
| Midknyte |
If HD was going to do this, why not use Erik's expertise and give him the MV motor instead of reinventing the wheel? uh, first and foremost, because the Helicon was in development for a few years before the MV purchase was even made. Things take time... | ||
| Rick_a |
Obviously. Sorry, but I don't count the Poland homologation specials as real production bikes. It is the direction H-D took...and it is...well...what it is, I guess. | ||
| Roc |
NOVA!  | ||
| Skntpig |
http://www.bikerenews.com/AntiqueBikes/CodeNameNov a.htm | ||
| Greg_e |
What could Erik have done with the Nova engine as a base? Might not have needed to go to Rotax. I kind of like the green Nova, not so much for the red one pictured in that link. | ||
| X5thxgearxfreak |
I ride an RSV4, and knowing how many parts and stuff are needed to keep it running smoothly, H-D will never get their V4 to work, not with their 'hard headed' American engineering anyways. Why would someone buy a harley with a V4 in the first place? To brag? To say they've got the 'multi-million dollar' engine in their bike? I see no point in a performance engine being on a Harley. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
that red one is an fxrt of which i have one that was stripped of the luggage and fairing. been finding pieces here and there to get it restored one day. and believe it or not that was one of erik's projects at h/d before he went on his own. got to ask him about it at homecoming this year. from what i understand from other people, this bike was windtunnel tested and minus the luggage and fairing it became a favorite because of the way it handled. i could be wrong on my information, which wouldn't be the first time but no ones ever said different from what i've heard about the bike yet. | ||
| Jaimec |
As I recall the reports at the time, test riders said the Nova was overweight and underpowered. Seems to be a "Theme" with Harley. | ||
| Swampy |
There is no reason for Harley-Davidson to have a performance engine. If you look at what the FAGS are riding you will see they are riding around on bikes with 100 year old engine designs, sort of like the crowd that take their Model Ts out for the Sunday drive, take it to shows, drive it down to the Dairy Queen for ice cream on hot Saturday afternoons with the grandkids in tow. Sure the Model T gets you to where you want to go with a healthy dose of nostalgia, but it is NOT a high performance vehicle. That is what Harley-Davidson is trying to do, cater to people who want to experience the Harley-Davidson nostalgia, Fonzie jackets, outlaw motorcycle gangs, old board track racers, Then Came Bronsen and Easy Rider, it will never go any farther than that. And Thats That! | ||
| Ourdee |
I'd love to borrow a model T one fine summer day and go to DQ. What fun that would be. | ||
| Birdy |
The problem is you think H-D sell motorcycles. They don't they sell a "Life Style" THAT'S what drives there models and will be H-Ds undoing in the long run. The "V-Rod", Buell, the old H-D dirt bikes all killed off to make more chrome for the H-D "Core" riders. But they're all getting older and sooner of later H-D will be hard pressed to sell the Chrome Played Lazy-Boy they build. Then the'll be a "Part of History". In other words Short Sighted. | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
The VR isn't being killed off, its running until at least 2015. And on top of that, there's been Revolution baggers running around Milwaukee with MFG plates. Rumor has it that Willie G has blessed the move to liquid cooling in more bikes. (Message edited by buellinachinashop on December 20, 2009) | ||
| Luftkoph |
Then the'll be a "Part of History". In other words Short Sighted. Yeah I think thats the road BMW was on till they started making more performance type bikes and dirt bikes. I think HD is past their glory days unless they change their ways.But for myself they have P.O. me no matter what they might ever build I would never buy from them. B.F.H.N. | ||
| Rick_a |
Swampy...other makes of cruisers aren't all exactly high tech road-burners, either...with many still running rear drum brakes, crappy suspension, simple frames, and SOHC's with screw and locknut valve adjusters. The expectations here are simply too high. There are a few power cruisers out there and even H-D has one. ...and have you guys seen the Nova engine? What a POS. Huge and ungainly. Why do you think Buell went Rotax? H-D and performance engines don't mix. I'm glad H-D didn't try to make the Helicon engine...cause it likely would've fallen short in many respects, cost a fortune, and had a ridiculously lengthy development period. Buell's team designed the first VR1000 prototype. Had he only been allowed to continue...  Here's your Harley streetfighter   This was once a rumored high tech street tracker/street fighter.  It's a warmed-over XL that they have the audacity to compare to XR750's. While it's a fine bike, I see it as a subtle improvement and re-styling. So, yeah, I don't have very high hopes or expectations. Can a Harley really top this?  Well, I guess without Buell they won't have to. (Message edited by Rick_A on December 20, 2009) |
