Posted on 10/15/2009 11:06:45 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
No thanks...I’ll stick with my $700 650 nighthawk for the time being...
I’ll bide my time and wait for a used S3T some day...
Twins are allowed that to compensate for the multi-cylinder motors’ inherent advantage. That goes back quite a few years now. But, by the same token, all must weigh the same.
Back when we raced two stroke against four, fours were allowed additional engine capacity, as well.
IN OTHER NEWS: Harley ALSO is shedding MV Augusta (which included Cagiva), which they just bought a year ago!
Boy, does this remind me of AMF (1969-1981), and the “Management Group” buyout circa 1981-1986. No more Holiday Ramblers, and more importantly, no more practice bombs or bomb targets, Harley’s fallback cash cow. No more investment in Aermacchi.
Life is beginning to suck...hard! LOL
That’s total BS, and everyone knows that.
Besides which, that only lasts until the Japanese get annoyed and make a V-twin of their own, at which point it slaughters everyone. See the Honda RC51 and what it did to the Ducatis in its first year of World Superbike. In fact, it was so much of a walkover, that most of the money and top talent left WSB and moved to MotoGP.
Sweet.cant beat a $500 nighthawk!
I never have figured out how to post a pic on here..if someone wants to give me a clue I’ll post a pic.
1. Complain to admins about lame HTML only board that is difficult to use, driving off users, not with the current standards, easily exploited and a security risk and tell them to adopt proper BBCode before you'll donate. A proper search engine THAT ACTUALLY WORKS would also be an incentive to donate.
2. Then read this: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/575774/posts
*snicker*
What’s total bs?
And the move to Moto GP had nothing to do with Honda beating Ducati in it’s first year out (Ducati beat them the following year). That was what, 2000? Then Bayliss (I think) on a Ducati won in 01, then there was the famous Imola, where it all came down to that race for the championship, either could have won, but a crash cost Bayliss the race, and Colin took it home.
The switch to Moto GP was motivated by money, Superbike made an absolute 1000cc rule for all entrants, which meant heavy investment for those on twins, Moto Gp made some new rules that made in financially more advantageous to race.
BTW, IIRC, Honda did race in 03 and got their clock cleaned by Ducati...again. That was the ONE race where the Petronas actually beat all the Honda’s. LOL (poor KR)
Compensating for twins’ lameness by giving them double the displacement.
You also remember incorrectly. Honda mopped the floor with Ducati in 2000. Ducati barely squeaked out their overall win in 2001, with Honda being more reliable with better speed and power but not quite as good riders. In 2002, Honda mopped the floor with Ducati again and captured the AMA Superbike title as well.
Having made their point, Honda stopped campaigning the RC51 in WSB after they levelled the playing field with the 1000cc limit for all.
As for the 03 Ducati win, that would be the factory Ducati team beating up a privateer Honda effort. One does not expect a privateer to beat a factory team and usually they don’t.
I’ve never liked it either, but, that’s racing.
OK, I was by a year it was 2000 H, 2001D, 2002H, 2003D.
BTW, Hitoyasu Izutsu was factory Honda rider. Not a privateer.
Gott’a go, wifey’s home...
It was WSB protecting their precious Euro boutique maker. Poltics, not racing.
Izutsu was a factory rider, but he was on loan to the privateer effort, as I recall. Honda switched factory support from the RC51 to the CBR1000RR in 03.
Don’t forget that when HD needed a “real” performance twin for the V-Rod, they had to go across the pond for an engine design. That’s one reason the V-Rod is water-cooled.
And even at that, the V-Rod is underpowered for its weight and displacement.
Even Porsche (who H-D hired to design the engine) couldn’t make the Harley engine not suck. :P
Too bad; I always liked Buells. I had my eye on one of these:
http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes/adventure/XB12X/features.asp
Agreed, but because HD management is way too conservative. I saw a prototype V-Rod with the engine worked over (even better than the Stage III kits for the 45 degree motors), and it made pretty good power. At least the V-Rod motor has more potential. Sorry to say, it remained just a prototype.
Pretty as a speckled pup, IMHO. :)
Do you know what the Harley engines don't suck at? Sales. Harley alone accounts for 50% of the heavyweight (750cc and up) motorcycle sales in the US. (And 30% of the world's)
Speaking of H-D build quality... my 2007 FXSTC has 23,000 trouble-free miles on it.
Yet my 1997 Suzuki Marauder (bought new) wiped a big end bearing at 10,000 miles. I rebuilt it and that same bearing wiped at 20,000 miles on it despite a brand new crank and connecting rods. Like clock work.
My 2001 Honda RC51 has intermittent electrical issues. The kind that cause the engine to hiccup at the least opportune moment, such as in corners.
Funny that my Harley is the most reliable street bike I've owned. Fit and finish is top notch too. I think your "usual HD lack of build quality" comment is a bit outdated and you know little of what you speak.
Apparently, ‘eagle’ is oblivious to the fact that healthcare costs American families FAR MORE out of pocket than any other industrialized country (while we still having lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality). Hmmmmmmm.....
If catastrophic healthcare costs weren’t BANKRUPTING American families, they just might have more money for things like motorcycles.
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