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Raymaines
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 10:29 pm: | 
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You guys are going to love this:
From the May 2002, Cycle World. Page 28, ROUNDUP
“The Next Revolution-engined Harley-Davidson?
An alloy-bodied streetfighter is one likely possibility.”
“Be prepared for a new machine that will be sportier than the V-Rod. Harley, having consolidated its cruiser territory, is aiming to invade traditionally Japanese turf, particularly in the European market. Accordingly, a Monster-like streetfighter makes terrific sense. This type of machine has proven appeal on both sides of the Atlantic, and can be readily derived from the V-Rod. We should find out for sure at Harley’s 100th anniversary dealer show in July.”
And it’s NOT a Buell. What do you think about that? |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 10:48 pm: |
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Bring it on 
Rocket in England |
Eeeeek
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 01:36 am: |
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Ray:
I ssupect that is simply an artist's concept (not employed by H-D), no more vaild that the sketches of the stealth fighter that surfaced in the 80's. |
Dynarider
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 01:42 am: |
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It does say "possibility" in the print. Of course I suppose its also possible Harley could produce one with a linear propulsion system that hovers also |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:57 am: |
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It is also possible that monkeys may fly out of my butt. |
Mikej
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 10:08 am: |
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Depends on what you've been eating. |
Gomo
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:21 pm: |
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Well if HD makes a bike like the drawing, my only problem would be which bike of mine to dump to get it. Only so much room to store it. Hold it, I'll just build a bigger garage! |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 03:24 am: |
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Interesting artist's concept, as Vik pointed out on ATC. The thing has no frame! At least not one suitable for any kind of high power performance bike. |
José_Quiñones
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 07:24 am: |
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Doesn't look much different than the one on the sketch. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:35 am: |
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Forget the frame... where is the gas going to go? The shock is under the seat at a minimum, not to mention the battery. The downdraft intake is in the fake tank. There are a few other important pieces missing as well.
It's just a pretty picture... just like that NAS prototype Honda sportfighter. Nice to look at, but not to be confused with a real motorcycle.
Even if they could pack all that stuff in there, it's hard to get excited about a $20,000 sport bike when for that same price I could own perfect M2, AND an S1, AND an S3, AND a decent dual sport all at the same time. Now THAT would be a garage. |
Court
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 12:38 pm: |
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>>>>>.....just like that NAS prototype Honda sportfighter.
Shhhhhh....there are people lined up at dealers, waiting on that bike (along with the 17,000 RPM 200rwhp V4 Ducati and the 100RWHP KTM) while we are out riding our REAL WORLD Buells.
You make a good point....if they DID make it, it really changes my life little. I'd spend that sum on something else. It's not a matter of "I don't like it, it's simply I have finite resources and I don't PREFER it.
As a guy who has two kids going to college on HD stock bought for $9.00 a share 20+ years ago, I hope they build it and sell 954,000 of them the first year.
I'll still have my nose making prints on the glass lusting over a Firebolt and dreaming of finding an unsold 1996 S-1.
Just my opinion....
Court |
Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 04:34 pm: |
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Reepicheep, as far as the tank/air box goes, why could they do what Aprilia does and hacve the air box forward and the gas tank rearward? Not much room for fuel, but possible...(yes, I sweat the details of fantasy bikes...it entertains my throughout the day  )
Or, it could be a hard tail  !!! |
Raymaines
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 - 10:44 pm: |
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So Erik doen't want to build a water cooled Buell, huh? Well Harley Davidson says poop on Erik |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 04:54 am: |
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Where's the frame? I think it's just an artist's fantasy and CW marketing scheme.
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Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:27 am: |
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Maybe, Blake, but it's a sharp looking "neo-standard".
I would put that up there with the Brutale in the looks department. That there is a Harley I would like to own. |
Ara
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:35 am: |
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Is that a bevel drive tower between those jugs? |
Ccryder
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:40 am: |
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Ara:
Actually that is a water cooling tube. Willie G. needed it routed so it was pretty and symetrical.
Neil S. |
Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:41 am: |
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That would be a coolant pipe to/from the radiator (I can't remeber which). The VR1000 had it running across the bottom of the jugs. Willy G & co. thought it didn't compilment the v of the engine, so they ran it up the engine (IIRC). |
Al_Lighton
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:43 am: |
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Hmm, don't you think the v-rod would have a radiator that small if they could have done it? Blake's right, there's no engineering in that picture.
Al |
Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:55 am: |
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Again, IIRC, Willy G didn't want to have a black box hanging off of the front of his bike.
Maybe their design thinking has changed a bit with the bike's intended purpose. |
Mikej
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:55 am: |
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Look a little closer folks, there is a v-rod format frame shown in the pic, and that radiator is close to if not the same size as the v-rod frame. If your local dealer has a v-rod in stock, take that picture down there and do a close-up comparison. Granted it's an artist's conception, but who knows.......... |
Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:56 am: |
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Oh, the only thing I do not like about the bike is the rear header...love to see some version of the XLCR siamese headers on it. |
Loki
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:09 am: |
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I see a frame in there....Just like the toob Buells just covered up and hidden. |
Loki
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:11 am: |
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Rocket,
on the note of frames and such. I heard a rumor that Spondon was doing a frame for the sportster power plant. Wondering if you old worlders have heard anything.
Loki(wanting to go to a real pub again) |
Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:11 am: |
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it looks like a thinner tubed hyrdo-whatever frame.
I thought I read that they would keep the same frame due to tooling costs on whatever next gen bike they bring out. |
Lsr_Bbs
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:18 am: |
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Artist rendering or not...the MoCo has awakened and smelled the coffee (that everlasting sales won't willingly beat your door down); don't be too surprised to see a derivative of this in showrooms.
It's obvious someone at corporate actually has their head on straight and is realizing that the years of unabashed growth for no reason is beginning to wan...cripes, they're running one hell of a commercial campaign (albeit stupid and cashing in on the 'mystique'). Course that yammie one w/ the burnout and that song is hillarious.
Neil Garretson
X0.5 |
Buelliedan
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:41 am: |
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That V bike is SCHWEET!! Only thing I don't like is the exhaust. I'm sure Yosh would make a nice pipe for it!!
My week just keeps getting better. On Sunday I received my MSF Instructor certification. Last night I fired up the X1 for the first time since it's accident in November. The new D&D pipe is awesome sounding. Very Force like raspiness at idle which smoothes out to a Kooks like sound at 3,000 rpms! This is the full race sytem by the way. Not the prettiest system but the chin spoiler hides most of it so I am very pleased!!! |
Mikej
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:44 am: |
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The only coffee the MoCo smells is Decaf. The XB is French Roast with a touch of cream/froma. The next rendition has gotta be full-on espresso, raw, pure, nothin' but go. Who's thirsty? |
Eeeeek
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 12:21 pm: |
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Niel:
Who says that artist's concept is from H-D? For all we know, Choptop could have drawn it and submitted it and H-D is not in the habbit of leaking out any concepts.
Vik |
Jrh
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 02:32 pm: |
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Regarding the "concept v-rod bike" discission;
Harley or Buell-make something like this.the v-rod engine never seemed to make much sense to me
in a cruiser style bike but if it succeeds in that role,great,congratulations to H.D.That engine could of course also make a Buell a true
superbike that could hold its own against the big
4 japanese open classers and its in production'just waiting to be used.I want to be
loyal to Buell and my country as much as the next
guy,so ill keep my old Buell,not buy an R1,which i just did sell(and was an incredible machine).
Ill also not be buying a 984.The bottom line on
that bike,according to the press is: in its present form,a decent middleweight with some nice
features,like light weight,great brakes and handling.For me the styling does nothing,just like my R1 and all the other Jap. bikes ive owned.Was the Buell S1 styling just a lucky fluke?I am the old "young geeky kid who wants to go out and scare himself with raw horsepower Eric
Buell was referring to in his new model press interviews.Enough whining out of me! but one last
question-this website has been viewed well over 1
million times(even if 1000 of them was me)WHY didnt Buell come here for our opinions? THANKS for letting me state my opinions,hope i didnt offend anybody,thats not my intention |
Lsr_Bbs
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 02:45 pm: |
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Vik,
Never said or implied it did come from the MoCo...I don't know, or really care. *But* the sporster is next up for a re-design/replacement. The vrod motor (or it's derivatives) will be more widespread than the vrod model. HD see's the writing on the wall (with successes like the monster, speed tripple and the like) and might actually take the sportster back to it's roots.
Neil Garretson
X0.5 |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 04:08 pm: |
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Guys: The VROD like the FZ1 has forward and lower frame tubes wrapping around and supporting the engine. The fantasy pic does not. A motorcycle frame needs to act like a truss (a'la Buell twins and Ducatis) or a beam (a'la P3, XB9R and a slew of repli-racers) or fully stress the engine as the primary frame structural component.
The fantasy bike lacks a viable/complete frame. The steering head has to attached to some BEEFY structure. It ain't there. No big deal, it would be easy enough to add the artist's missing frame members. Just seems strange and indicates to me that it is not a credible work.
It also appears that the repositioned radiator, now crammed improbably close to the front cylinder head, has displaced the battery. So consider...
Where does the battery go?
Where is the fuel tank (like the XB9R what appears to be fuel tank is actually airbox)?
Where is the rear suspension?
Recognizing the above design challenges sure makes you appreciate a bike like the XB9R. I don't think people really understand how revolutionary the XB9R really is. The more I study it the more impressed I get.
I'd rate that fantasy sketch a notch below Honda's NAS fantasy bike. The bar-end blinkers are kinda neat though.  |
Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 04:21 pm: |
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Blake, not to be nitpicky, but I see a tubular frame, just not drawn a wide as the real thing...
Up around the rear of the engine, into the radiator cowl, then two down tubes on either side of the front header then underneath the engine.
Or am I seeing things here? |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 04:53 pm: |
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Jim: That would have to be the radiator outlet tube. It's WAY too little to be a frame member. |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 04:56 pm: |
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Just noticed something else. The front header pipe seems to exit from cylinder instead of the head.  |
Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 04:57 pm: |
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if you look at the rest of the "Frame" it is the same size...
The funny thing is, I was doing drawings of the VROD engin/frame plus X1 forks, X1 tank cover and rear frame months ago...if I ever get a scanner, I'll put them up. Kind of a neat idea.
The Mo. Co. problem will be price...if this is to attract a new market segment to them, they had better keep it reasonable ( I would guess around the Brutale's asking price). |
Jim_M
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 05:00 pm: |
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"Just noticed something else. The front header pipe seems to exit from cylinder instead of the head"
Now you're getting picky
I'll see you inline to test ride it right after the NAS bike goes up for sale |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 05:00 pm: |
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Question: If HD could/did actually figure a way to build something close to the CW fantasy pic, and assuming it would handle on par with a 1200 Bandit (not as good as Buell), who here would ditch their Buell and buy one?
Not me. |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 05:10 pm: |
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I was wrong. (I hope y'all appreciate just how much it pains me to admit that ) I just received my copy of CW. The artist definitely intended the radiator tube to be one of two frame members. I can see it much more clearly in the magizine pic. Guess I'll shut my trap and wait for July. If they do build something like that, it will sell, BIG.
Blake (stillwonderingwherethefuelbatteryandrearshockare) |
Buellzebub
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 05:53 pm: |
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The rear shock ties into the rear head? you can just make out a bit of the spring in the V of the rear subframe |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 05:55 pm: |
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I'd be interested on the strength of that pic. However, these days I see Harleys as traditional or cruiser machines so it should say BUELL on the tank
Rocket in England |
José_Quiñones
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 08:50 pm: |
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Battery still goes where it's at on the VROD
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José_Quiñones
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:00 pm: |
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Rear shock is under the seat, like the Firebolt.
The gas looks like it goes over/around the airbox, like so many people are currently doing.
Here's a cool cutaway, courtesy of Aprilia:
The only see I can't tell where they placed is the coolant reservoir and the oil cooler radiator (The Vrod is BOTH Oil and Water cooled)
I guess HD will call it the VRSF as in Vtwin, Racing, Street FIGHTER!
I'm waiting on the VRST (Sport Touring) |
Davegess
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:03 pm: |
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That picture is pretty bogus as far as I am concerned.
No room for all the stuff you need.
I've said it before and I will say it again, the VROD is a great CRUISER engine. I don't think it will make a great sportbiek engine.
I will also make a pretty good muscle bike engine albeit a very large one.
Blake the 'bolt pacakaging is truly amasing isn't it?
Dave |
José_Quiñones
| | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:14 pm: |
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Yeah, they were able to stuff everything in there except the 20 more horsepower everybody wanted.... |
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A VROD Based Streetfighter?! »
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