| Author | Message | ||
     Anonymous |
Quote: The Firebolt is going to be built in Kansas City, like the the V-Rod, and not in East Troy, Wisconsin. WRONG! The bike will be built in E.T. | ||
| Aaron |
What's different about the cylinder? Except the fins in the "V" of course. Did they shorten the rod and the cyl so they could shorten the motor? | ||
| Davegess |
Court, there are meds for this? I forgot. Dave | ||
| Aaron |
To get 740cc out of a Blast would take almost a 4" stroke (at 3.8125 bore). | ||
| Tripper |
Says who?  | ||
| Jima4media |
OK, anon, will the whole bike be built in East Troy or will just the motor be built in Kansas City? I'd like to get this right. Jim | ||
| Jima4media |
Aaron, Reg didn't say what the difference was. Maybe anonymous could fill us in. He was certain about the 740cc Blasts though - mentioned it a couple of times, and alluded to the same people doing the same tricks with the Firebolt motor. He also said the Firebolt is at about 75% of what it could be. They held back some to sell in the future rather than really going for it with the intro model. This is also a "Platform" in the sense that the "Sportster" was a platform back in 1957. Many, many years ahead of it, with numerous variations on a theme, provided it is successful. And it has to be sucessful, because this is a "bet the ranch" kind of gamble on Buell Motorcycles' part. Jim | ||
| Court |
>>>The bike will be built in E.T. Cool but, under the best of business case scanarios only a fraction of the B.E.P. quantity could be built in East Troy. UNLESS......Buell has plans for ANOTHER (for bonus name the number of locations Buell has manufactuered motorcycles in) NEW plant. could be. Frankly, as much as I love and respect the folks at East Troy, I'm hoping that someday (and it must) that "hand built" appeal yields to the consistancy the HD's state of the art K.C. facility can provide. If Buell (and I trust the anonymous post) is going to build the XB9R in East Troy, I'd wager it's temporary and rooted as much in apperance "America's Hand Built" motorcycle as in good business sense. There is a critical number that Buell will have to produce. Absent significant changes in the scope of the plant, as configured, the boys and girls would have to build a bike about every 6 minutes. Buell, and I am sure things have changed since 1995, in the beginning wrangled some GREAT office space in the KC Plant with a story you guys would love about the importance of "natural light" on the creative process. I'd bet by now that HD folks, relegated to the dank inner offices, have figured out they were snookered.....hey...it was fun for a while One way or another...I still want one! | ||
| José_Quiñones |
To: Dave & Court Re: The V-Rod engine has:
Let's play the quote game! From the HD Enthusiast, Summer 2001: How has H-D's drag racing and VR1000 Superbike inspire the V-Rod? For starters the new 1130 cc H-D Revolution engine is a street-legal descendant of the engine that powers factory H-D Racers Pascal Picotte and Mike Smith, and the VR 1000 Superbike. From Cycle World, September 2001: Jeff Coughlin, Harley Engineering powertrain manager for the V-Rod, notes that the resulting engine still has a lot of VR in it. "We kept the layout the same," he notes. "It still has an intermediate shaft in the vee, driving the four cams and the water pump. The single balance shaft stayed, in about the same position behind the crank and under the transmission. The clutch is in the same position." More obviously, it remained a 60-degree V-Twin with four valve downdraft heads. But what changed was also extensive. The VR was dry sump; the revolution has a wet sump, "to get rid of the oil tank and plumbing," says Coughlin. The VR was limited to 1000cc by racing rules; the Revolution was sized, says Coughlin, "to get the 115 crankshaft horsepower we wanted, in a lower reve range with a nice flat torque curve; that's how we got to 1130cc.... | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Engine weights: According to Road Racing World: The WET weight of the XB9R engine, including the DDFI stuff, is 178 pounds It says that the V-Rod engine weighs 176 pounds, but it did not say if that included fluids, or the added weight of the radiator. | ||
| José_Quiñones |
How about "Hail Mary Pass!" The platform and 75% comments fall into line with what I had predicted back in March. The current Firebolt can probably rev to at least 8500 safely, so that's the first place to look for extra power. The BIG "Firebolt" will probably displace 1340cc (3.8 bore x 3.6 stroke) as the current TILLEY PRO THUNDER BUELLS. In race trim they are reported to crank out 120-130 hp (Thunder Press Aug 01, Brian Griffin's Buell Backstage Pass), so figure maybe 105 in EPA trim? | ||
| José_Quiñones |
I buy way too many magazines! | ||
| Imonabuss |
Crush63, Believe me, the external dimensions of the V-ROD motor are nothing like the VR1000. The V-ROD is MUCH bigger! | ||
| Peter |
OK, I want to buy a Firebolt. If this is only a 75% model, then I'll wait until the 100% models are available. I imagine others would too. Is this 75% model a good ploy by the company if they are betting the house on the sales of it? Or is there a racekit coming out that releases the missing 25%? I like what I've seen of the bike, but I don't want a watered down version. PPiA | ||
| Mark_In_Ireland |
I'm in agreement with Peter on this one, it'll be 3 years before I buy a Firebolt even though I want one now.....its a case of once bitten, twice shy. All of the Firebolts problems should have been ironed out by then! |
