New supercharged Harley powered sportbike >>

[TYSTYX]

Powered by a supercharged Harley Revolution motor.


http://www.roehrmotorcycles.com

[MICK]

I've been following Mr. Roehr's conversions for several years now. They began as a Harley / Ducati hybrid. A couple years ago he got Harley's blessing to produce semi production machines. Mr. Roehr is one of those uber rich motorcycle fanatics. There is no price too high for him.

His bikes are beautiful no question, but the cost for said bike and the performance it delivers is like every other high end exotic sports bike. Most of what you pay goes back into Mr. Roehr's pocket for R&D costs and one off production bits. A base model 1250sc costs $50,000. My $12,000 Jap twin will drag it around a track by it's collar.

[britincali]

A base model 1250sc costs $50,000. My $12,000 Jap twin will drag it around a track by it's collar.

Can you say blown buell

[MICK]

Can you say blown buell

Basically...

The last ride impression of his bike I read was early this year. Before he had the blower available. The riders could best describe it as "different". A 1098 Duc it is not...
What I think is pathetic is the 180hp claim? Last I read it had 120 naturally aspirated, +60 from a blower seems like mild boost to me? Mind you most budget consious V-Twin Superbikes these days produce over 160hp N/A. Add 15hp to Ducati's base 1098 for a meer $20000. Still 10k less than Roehr's. And less we forget, the 1250sc weighs 60 more pounds than a stock RC51, which already have a trackside reputation as "Piggy" to begin with. It was everything Roehr could do to the chassis to keep the bike from weighing as much as a small car. But as not to discredit the man's work. They look and sound sweet as hell. Which is all that matters when your sales target are among the rich and famous.

[MICK]

Dude now you gone and got me all jacked up about V-Twin Superbikes...

My personal biggest let down this year was the release of KTMs RC8. I was so looking forward to KTM producing an affordable track weapon to spank Ducs with and most importantly run head to head with any I4. Didn't happen...KTM gave us this expensive ass mediocre Twin that ain't any better than most guys could build there current Twins from for half the price...huge let down! Us V-Twin guys need more power and less weight. I thought KTM of all manufacturers could break this V-Twin barrier with all their wazoo engineering. I do give them credit however...it's a good first try, that's for sure.

KTM RC8:
1090cc
155hp
78 ft-lbs
441 lbs wet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THz3cB803Go

A vid taken from Dragons Tail. When I lived in NC my boys and I would ride this a couple time a year. 20 miles of nothing but up and down, left and right...good ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOfr_2zo ... re=related

[TYSTYX]

Wow...from all the reviews and tests Ive read the new KTM RC8 out handles the Italian and Japanese bikes, has good power delivery and a top speed of 178mph. They all complained about the gearbox and some vibrations in the footpegs, but overall this bike is killer.

[MICK]

It's a great bike. But for the money it's a bit lack luster...The let down more than anything was the price. For $20,000 you can build any current bike fast as shit. The problem here is the RC8 is not 20 Gs fast. It's the equivalent of any $14,000 track weapon. What good is a can of Whoop Ass when everybody has got one...and paid less for it? Ducati's base 1098 was an excellent move on their part. Providing racers and enthusiasts a serious moto weapon for a fraction of their previous model's cost. Yeah it lost some bling in the process but racers and V-Twin followers don't neccessarily want that anyway. We want some no bullshit performance for our hard earned dollar! The 1098 is wonderfull in this regard.

[Wheelie-Gene]

Harley and performance, what a joke. At least the V-Rod/Porsche motor was a drastic improvement just for the water cooling. A turbo'd Honda or Duc would have put shame to the huffed Harley. But hey....if someone needs a Hog to think they're cool, that's fine w/me.

We stopped in at a Ducati shop in Dublin. Some guy rode up on a 1098. It looked fast and sounded fast. Just idling (and the rattling dry clutch), the thing sounded bad ass...and when he left the lot and hit the street....my god.....now that's performance.

I'd pick an RC51 any day.