If it wasn't for Norton

comnoz · Oct 21, 2013

If it wasn't for Norton I would have to spend some serious money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNQ__5sb ... e=youtu.be

Hobot · Oct 21, 2013

Gosh if it just sounded more pleasant Jim. Wonder if such refinement implies much maintenance and replacements like some other twins around. It calc's out to 1 lb torque per 3 lbs of bike itself, which lands in Ms Peel's expected zone but with me on it of course. If this lever power/wt can be hooked up it implies upper 9 sec 1/4 m times. Even though its got a fat rear tire its not a flat drag slick so still only about 2" wide patch. Snagged a big 8 pt buch on car grill last pm about 25 mph and would of missed but he got curious about the horn noise so stopped and looked instead of one more leap to clear brush/fence. Means another time money set back on my dream machine.

bwolfie · Oct 21, 2013

Close to $300K, yep serious money.

acotrel · Oct 21, 2013

It doesn't really grab me. The frame looks silly, and the motor is too big, and sounds like a tractor - like all Harleys, the cam has no overlap. All the little bits look really beautiful, however the application ..... ? Do you think it would be better than an Aprilia V twin ?
Somebody should buy the rights to the Britten, and develop a sports bike from it. Brand loyalty doesn't help the effort much.

bwolfie · Oct 21, 2013

+1 on the Britten. Now there is a V twin I want.

acotrel · Oct 21, 2013

It doesn't look like a Harley, however probably goes a bit better ? C'mon fellas, I know you Yanks have got the smarts and money to build a decent motorcycle, all you need are some tighter race circuits on which to develop them .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM_aNwaodd4

bwolfie · Oct 21, 2013

I got sucked into a 2 hour Britten documentary last week. Wow, what a man and what a machine.

Nothing like pulling 4th gear wheelies past the competition at speed.

comnoz · Oct 21, 2013

acotrel said:
It doesn't really grab me. The frame looks silly, and the motor is too big, and sounds like a tractor - like all Harleys, the cam has no overlap. All the little bits look really beautiful, however the application ..... ? Do you think it would be better than an Aprilia V twin ?
Somebody should buy the rights to the Britten, and develop a sports bike from it. Brand loyalty doesn't help the effort much.

No competition for an aprilla v-twin on the track.

They really don't fit any category of bike very well but I will have to say they are fun to ride on the street. They kind of feel like a giant dirt bike with a ton of torque. Good for nothing but hooliganism. Want to wheelie past that car in front of you. No need to downshift -just roll on some throttle.

$300K was the price for the TI model which is basically the same bike with an all titanium frame and a blower with fuel injection. I don't know what this model sells for but it is a lot less. Not that it matters as I would never spend that much money for a bike anyway -even if I could. [sorry Don] Jim

acotrel · Oct 21, 2013

At least it is an attempt. I suggest you guys are spoilt by your much larger markets. It is no coincidence that Burt Munroe and John Britten both come from New Zealand. It is the most beautiful place on earth, however you might as well be living on a rock, their economy is so small. If you want to survive there, whatever you do must be truly excellent. The Australian state of Tasmania is similar, however to find any sort of job there is almost impossible. Notably the wooden boat building which is done at Franklin is absolutely superb.

I think the Harley Sportster engine is very good, and Harley almost had it right with the XR750 road racer, even though the frame was abysmal and the timing side bearings gave problems. An S1 Buell is an almost decent bike, sad to see their demise.

lcrken · Oct 21, 2013

For anyone interested, there is one on eBay right now with 600 miles for $36,500.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Other-Makes-Ico ... otorcycles

Not really my style, but definitely interesting.

Ken

Hobot · Oct 21, 2013

Ok here's more like it for some new American Muscle that I love its loud throttling through turns. May be like the forever delayed delivery of the new Norton yet not no 300K. Got the sexy canted engine tip to it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DByGC5AlY0
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/12/motu ... 0-horsepo/
https://www.google.com/#psj=1&q=Motus+M ... +Sportbike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhaRdPJI3sU

ggryder · Oct 21, 2013

May be not quite so exclusive, but this might scratch the same itch: -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_QbYOcoALM

wakeup · Oct 21, 2013

Didn't like the original subject of this thread. Frame looks 'orrible, some of the detailing is nice if you like that sort of thing. To me it looked a bit like an industrial designers wet dream, the sort of thing that 14 year old boys doodle when they're bored at school.
The Motus is pretty close to being spot on. At first I queried the engine, do we really need a 1.6 litre capacity? It certainly sounded nice and the "big" capacity should give it long legs though, so I suppose we do need the bigger capacity on what is supposed to be a sports tourer. Once again I'm startled that a bike with no obvious competition credentials should have a chain final drive, rather than a shaft. People who are going to shell out the likely cost of this should, in my opinion, expect a drive system that's more 21st century, than 19th century. Overall a very very nice bike.
cheers
wakeup

Hobot · Oct 21, 2013

I've been where m'c were the most sensible in the world so mostly 50cc with quite a bit less 125's-250's with a scattering of slow stroking 350's. Rationality dissolves with anything more but where's the fun in sensible, if money to burn.

comnoz · Oct 21, 2013

ggryder said:
May be not quite so exclusive, but this might scratch the same itch: -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_QbYOcoALM

That looks like fun. The riding position on the Yamaha looks like he should be heading to the grocery store.

I still rather doubt the Yamaha will match the urge of the Enginuity's 2.1 liter in the Ecosse at 460 lbs. Jim

Mark · Oct 21, 2013

Heck Jim, you can pick up a Harley V-rod engine w/tranny on ebay for about 3K.
You could stuff it into a sportbike chassis like and build your own.

I'd bet you could do it a lot cheaper than the Ecosse and get comparable performance.

comnoz · Oct 21, 2013

Mark said:
Heck Jim, you can pick up a Harley V-rod engine w/tranny on ebay for about 3K.
You could stuff it into a sportbike chassis like and build your own.

I'd bet you could do it a lot cheaper than the Ecosse and get comparable performance.

No doubt you are right -but then I couldn't pretend I was a movie star.

Hortons Norton · Oct 21, 2013

Erik Buell just rolled out his new street bike the other day! My S1 and S1w are the most fun bikes I have ridden to this day, they handle well and have lots of torque. I just have a bit of a problem keeping the front wheel on the ground.

worntorn · Oct 21, 2013

comnoz said:
Mark said:

Heck Jim, you can pick up a Harley V-rod engine w/tranny on ebay for about 3K.
You could stuff it into a sportbike chassis like and build your own.

I'd bet you could do it a lot cheaper than the Ecosse and get comparable performance.

Click to expand...

No doubt you are right -but then I couldn't pretend I was a movie star.

In this little corner of the universe you already are a celeb :wink:
I thought the Ecosse motor sounded good, more like a big Vincent rather than a Harley.

lcrken · Oct 22, 2013

Mark said:
Heck Jim, you can pick up a Harley V-rod engine w/tranny on ebay for about 3K.
You could stuff it into a sportbike chassis like and build your own.

I'd bet you could do it a lot cheaper than the Ecosse and get comparable performance.

I thought about that a while back, but the V-rod engine is a really big lump, and would take a lot of chassis re-work to fit into a featherbed, if you could do it, not to mention finding a place for the radiator.

Ken

If it wasn't for Norton

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