| Author | Message | ||
     Duphuckincati |
Interesting article in the June issue of "Motorcycle Sport & Leisure", a British magazine, by Alan Cathcart about Buell(s). (This is a great magazine but pricey on US newsstands if you can find it) In any event, a Rotax development chief named Stefan Leiber stated that the Helicon engine was underway to be the successor to the Aprilla RSV1000 motor, and that the timing was such that Aprilla was bought by Piaggo who would build their own motors for Aprilla. Anyone add to this? | ||
| Ezblast |
poppycock and fiddle faddle - April fools already came and went, why this wrong tale? - thank goodness I didn't pay to read that. Thanks for sharing and the warning about inaccurate reporting. EZ | ||
| Smoke4ndmears |
highscore suggested something like this as well. | ||
| Dannybuell |
I don't know the particulars. May I suggest that every engine builder has another idea. That's how they stay in business. Who makes Aprilia's longitudinal V-4? | ||
| Xbud |
Piaggio or Aprilia designed their new engines. V4 and Vtwin. Supposedly a new 1200 V Twin is on the way, but we will see. | ||
| Duphuckincati |
Ok, here's something I found on the web from a 2007 articale, again same magazine and author but more clarity- "Cathcart describes the engine that the new Buell is using and is made by Rotax. If Piaggio hadn't bought Aprilia, it would seem very likely that the engine would be the one that a new Caponord would have. Here's the excerpt from the test: Although the new engine will remain exclusive to Buell, and was developed for them by Rotax in conjuction with their own engineers, there's an interesting sidebar to its creation. For Buell first canvassed Rotax to develop the Helicon motor for them four years ago, says 1125R project leader Tony Steffanelli - the exact moment when the Austrian company's prime European client Aprilia was about to go bust. This left Aprilia as ex-Rotax customers, especially after the Italian marque was acquired by Piaggio, who diverted development and manufacture of future Aprilia engines to its own Pontedera technical base. So, does this make the Buell 1125R motor the successor to the RSV-R that Rotax had already begun to develop for Aprilia? "It's true - the Buell 1125R engine is the product of our experience with Aprilia in creating and developing the RSV Mille engine", says Rotax development chief Stefan Lieiber. "It's logical that we should have built on our experience in this field with them, in producing an improved design for Buell". With a claimed output of 146bhp at 9800rpm, and 82ft-lb of torque delivered at 8000rpm, the Buell unit is both torquier and more powerful than the smaller 1000cc RSV-R motor. And on paper at least it has a near-diagonal power curve matched to an almost horizontal torque curve - exactly the kind of delivery that Buell has asked Rotax for ..." | ||
| Court |
Like life itself . ..... Part fact,, part fancy. | ||
| Ezblast |
Exactly! |
