Suzuki Hayabusa
Translated, Hayabusa is Japanese for Peregrine Falcon — a bird of prey that tops 200 MPH just to snag a snack. Launched in 1999, the Suzuki Hayabusa did its namesake justice. Depending on whom you believe, the enormous dual-overhead cam, 1300cc inline-4 churned out upwards of 170 hp. That was enough to launch the 500-pound ‘Busa across the ¼ mile mark in single digits and demolish the old top speed record by 10 MPH (186 MPH). So fast and powerful was the Hayabusa that a “gentleman’s agreement” was coerced by the Western World to impede others from laying waste to future benchmarks and lives. Its aerodynamically sculpted bodywork didn’t win over everyone, but it certainly works for us.
Royal Enfield Bullet
The Royal Enfield Bullet currently enjoys the world’s longest production run with 83 years under its fenders. That alone warrants iconic recognition. The first Bullet was fired in the land of Tea ‘n Crumpets in 1931 and featured an overhead valve, single-cylinder 350cc motor that soon found itself enlisted for the British Army and Royal Air Force. The simple design and surefooted performance that earned the Bullet’s stripes at war also made it a mainstay for civilian duties. Production has since moved offshore to India, but the Bullet remains virtually unchanged: “Made like a gun, goes like a bullet”.
1940 Indian Chief
Crafted for the first time with a sprung frame, the ‘40 Indian Chief perked ears by easily outperforming Milwaukee’s finest with regard to ride and handling. It was, however the debut of Indian’s trademark fenders that really set tongues wagging. More than simple slices of steel, the flowing skirted fenders found on the Chief gave the bike an immediate stance and presence that was — no, is — undeniably gorgeous. Now, sixty years after the last true Chief rolled off the line, a new breed is ready to hit the road… And from what we hear, they aren’t half bad, either.
Confederate R131 Fighter
The designers at Confederate Motorcycles don’t mess around. Straddling the line between kinetic sculptures and mechanized, apocalyptic “horses”, their bikes are what Satan would ride if he had the balls. Case in point, the Confederate R131 Fighter. In-house milled Aircraft grade 6061 aluminum abounds, along with carbon fiber wheels and a carbon/ceramic/aluminum matrix compound for the brakes to hammer home that function dictates form. A huge 2.1-liter, thumping V-twin is used to push a mere 460 pounds in the Fighter, meaning it will undoubtedly pack a punch. With an extremely limited production run and pricing at just over $100k, we may want to start being nicer to the devil.
2002 Harley-Davidson VRSCA (V Rod)
Harley-Davidson’s decision to buck 99 years of tradition and turn to liquid-cooled technology for the V-Rod was met with mixed reviews. Some embraced the forward thinking and extra grunt that rad’s afforded while others scowled and kept on keepin’ on. In our eyes, the V-Rod looks like a muscle-bound thug in a sharkskin suit, and it has the power to back it up. The Revolution engine was developed in conjunction with Porsche (another traditionally air-cooled aficionado) to develop a whopping 115 horsepower, enough to make it the most powerful H-D to date. Sadly it still polarizes the public and hasn’t enjoyed the success it deserves. Haters gonna hate.
BSA Goldstar Clubman
The Gold Star was a pin awarded to riders able to lap the Brooklands circuit at an average speed north of 100 MPH. In 1937 Wal Handley came out of retirement, hopped on a BSA, recorded a lap speed of 107.5 mph and the BSA Goldstar was born. To back the new nomenclature now emblazoned on their tanks, BSA dedicated their efforts and dominated the Clubman TT up until it ended in 1956. The 500cc single-cylinder Goldstar was hand assembled and sold with factory test results alerting owners to the horsepower they would sidle. Later models could even be optioned with a first gear capable of hitting 60 before shifting was necessary. This led the factory catalogues to indicate that this bike was a racer first and foremost and not suitable for road use. Thankfully, this would only made them more popular.
Honda CB750
In 1969, Honda introduced the masses to the transverse-mounted, inline-four cylinder engine. Credited as being one of the first true “superbikes”, the CB750 was the game-changing result of Soichiro Honda’s obsession with cracking the American market. Delivering incredible bang for the buck, the CB750 could smoothly and comfortably top 120 MPH thanks to its race proven inline-four layout. Front-mounted disc brakes were another mainstream first that revolutionized the motorcycle market. An electric start, a kill switch, the use of an overhead camshaft and easy maintenance were the icing on the cake.
Gilera CX
Approach the Gilera CX from its right side and you’d swear it was floating on solid, spun-steel wheels; that was very much the point. Drag coefficiency is often denoted using C over X, and Federico Martini’s inspired work when penning this Gilera is its mechanical interpretation. Everything about the CX’s styling evokes speed. The long, flat nose leading the slippery bodywork, the single-sided rear swingarm and that ingenious Paioli front suspension system along with tapered mirrors finish the job. A 125cc two-stroke engine hides behind the plastics and revs freely to 12,000 rpm while your chin rests on top of the 45mm alien looking suspension cap and you whoosh to over 100 MPH. Ciao bella!
Moto Guzzi LeMans
Powered by a low-tech lump mated to a car-type transmission, the shaft-driven Moto Guzzi LeMans often felt like two different animals. Lethargic and twitchy at low revs, the bike had serious frame twisting when riders got on the throttle — making corner exists a dicey affair. On the right road though, with your knees being sucked into the carbs at full bore, this Latin lovely transforms into something sublime. Matte black plumbing took the place of chrome and complemented the sculpted tank and low-lying windscreen to give the Guzzi its trademark cafe racer stance that is often imitated on lesser bikes today.
KTM 950 Adventure
Austrians are an exacting bunch. Ten years of research and development were devoted to the KTM 950 Adventure. Before their dual-sport was given the final green light, it had already been tortured in Tunisia and had brought home a win at the Rallye des Pharaons. Its long suspension travel, featherweight frame and angular bodywork beg to play in the dirt. The all-new 75-degree V-twin packed enough twist and shout (72 lb-ft, 102 hp) to make mountains into molehills and devour everything in between. It’s not unheard of for KTM 950 Adventure riders to log over 100,000 miles in all types of terrain. Hell, we even like the color.
1937 Triumph Speed Twin
Edward Turner’s Triumph Speed Twin could be one of the most influential motorcycles ever designed. The 500cc parallel-twin packed more power into a package that was lighter and narrower than the current crop of single-cylinder thumpers. Within a decade, a version of this engine could be found in every competitor’s model. The gold pinstriping and Amaranth red paint of the original made the mechanicals shine while the fuel tank design set a standard that remains today. The bike that ensured Triumph’s survival after World War II would eventually evolve into that other icon on our list, the Bonneville. The dog’s bollocks, indeed.
1923 BMW R32
After the war, German aircraft manufacturing was grounded and BMW found themselves in search of purpose. Five years before they would begin building Ultimate Driving Machines, Bayerische Motoren Werke would build motorcycles. In 1923, engineer Max Friz designed what would go on to epitomize BMW Motorrad: The R32. Powered by a boxer-twin engine, the horizontally opposed heads were ideally located in the airstream to increase cooling. This combined with the use of a drive shaft all but eliminated the common motorcycling issues associated with putting power to the pavement. This drivetrain arrangement would be used exclusively at BMW until its first chain drive effort in 1993 and is still prominent today on all of its boxer bikes.
Norton Commando
So successful were the Norton Commando race bikes that the term “unapproachable Norton” was coined in pit row. Interestingly though, what made the Nortons so tough on the track was how approachable they actually were. Taking what Triumph had started with the Speed Twin, Norton employed a former Rolls Royce engineer to develop a package for the larger 750cc Norton parallel-twin. The revolutionary use of rubber mounting for the mechanicals meant that the vibrations inherent with high strung twins at speed was all but eliminated. Riders could now push harder for much longer stints. It also meant riders would often go for broke — early Nortons were famous for leaking a bit of oil here and there, but we’re pretty sure they were just sweating horsepower.
1987 Honda CBR600F
Better known in North America as the Hurricane, the CBR600F was Honda’s first sportbike to come wrapped in full plastics. Powered by an 85 hp inline-4, this new breed of sportbike was instrumental in developing the worldwide “crotch-rocket” market. Able to rev freely to 11,000 rpm and peak at 140 MPH with riders comfortably tucked behind its tiny windscreen, the Honda CBR600F was essentially a racer for the everyman. An immediate sales success, the CBR600F evolved over the years to deliver increased gobs of power from the same 600cc displacement. Honda’s keen awareness of rider ergonomics in their fully-faired sport bikes is what set them apart with the original Hurricane, and it remains a constant corporate philosophy to this day.
FN Four
Like most European marques, FN began life as a munitions manufacturer before turning to two wheels. Unlike the single and two-pot efforts of their contemporaries, FN would introduce the world to the first bike powered by an inline-4 cylinder engine. At its debut in 1905, the 362cc FN Four offered a riding experience unmatched by its less-pistoned brethren: where single cylinders and twins of all contrivances were rough and buzzy at speed, FN’s inline-4 was smooth and almost vibrationless. This easy operation lead to immediate growth in popularity, ccs and horsepower. Strangely, this engine arrangement did not translate to wins at the track for the Belgian innovators, despite its unparalleled success there today.
Ariel Square Four
Prior to revolutionizing British big-twins at Triumph, Edward Turner developed an incredible new concept for a four-cylinder motor. A monobloc of two parallel-twins grafted together that shared a common crankshaft, the Square Four engine was unlike anything before it. Most bike makers scoffed, save a tiny Birmingham-based bike builder, Ariel. The Ariel Square Four used a 4-speed constant mesh transmission with a suicide shift; it was bragged that the transmission allowed the bike to accelerate from 10 to 100 MPH in top gear. This was incorrect. The early models would struggle to hit 90 and would stalled under 13 MPH in fourth. It would take Ariel over 20 years, an additional 500ccs and two more exhaust pipes to get their unique approach to finally “run the ton”, yet it remains a marvel of engineering worth celebrating.
BMW R60/2
On the market for thirteen years, the R60 was BMW’s go anywhere, do anything tourer of the 1960s. Originally designed for sidecar duty, the combination of a punchy flat twin and an Earle’s fork design made it an incredibly capable bike both on- and off-road. So formidable was the R60 that rider Danny Liska took his beautiful black beast for a 95,000 mile ride from the Arctic Circle to the tip of South America. Then he decided to pave the way for Boorman and McGregor and made the trek from Northern Europe to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa — without a support team, satellite phone, GPS or any foreign fixers.
Cagiva C593
The 500cc Big Bang V4 found behind the veil of flame-red plastics in the Cagiva C593 could produce 175 hp and screamed to a 12,500 rpm redline. So powerful was this Grand Prix racer that Cagiva was forced to search out riders who could control the beast. Four-time champ Eddie Lawson was tapped first. Lawson notched a win in Hungary in 1992, proving the Cagiva had what it takes, but it was his feedback to engineers that proved most valuable. 1993 saw Lawson take a backseat to John Kocinski, a wild and desperate rider just looking for a contract. Kocinski would deliver two consecutive fourth place finishes to start the season before taking the checkered flag at Laguna Seca. The wins didn’t continue though. The bike was just too powerful and twitchy. Cagiva almost went bankrupt in pursuit of Grand Prix fame, but in the process showed the world what an obsessed Italian was capable of — utter madness.
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