[pdad13]

It's "Roehr," by the way.



I've read about this one, too. They've only got a developmental prototype, and I don't think they have any kind of company yet. The Highland engine is made in Sweden, of all places, but it does appear to be more or less fully developed.



Unlike MotoCzysz, Roehr's immediate goal doesn't seem to racing.



The prototype on their Web site is ugly as sin, though. And it looks very rough, although, I guess that's the nature of prototypes anyway. Seems like a real long shot to me, especially at $25K.

 

[pdad13]

I didn't mean to knock Highland, it's just not the country I expected a hi-performance street bike engine to come from.



Nope, no foreign engines for Buell. You just can't call it the "American sport bike" or some similar thing when the motor is foriegn (even though most of us here think it doesn't really make much difference.) Suspension, yes. Brakes, yes. Wheels, yes. Controls, yes. Chassis? Maybe. But the engine is the heart of the whole thing. I really doubt Harley/Buell would ever completely outsource engine development



I'm hoping to see that Buell major product intro to which you referred. What have you been hearing?

 

[pdad13]

Well, I doubt it's that easy. The whole bike is essentially one unit; the engine is a stressed member, and the swingarm is attached directly to the motor. You've got a whole boatload of variables to deal with (engine length and fit being one biggie), so while I'm sure if you payed someone to do a ton of fabrication, it's possible. But then you've screwed with Eric's holy trinity and you really don't know what the result is going to be.



But it certainly would be interesting to find out, huh?

 

[pdad13]

I'd love to see it, too. Unfortunately, I think we've got a better chance of seeing porcine aeronautics.



Let's hope old Eric has got something special up his sleeve.



As far as converting a current XB to something other than Sporty-powered, I have to agree with you. We're no longer in the days where you could stick a Triumph engine in a Norton frame without too much trouble. Seems the Buell was designed around that motor, maybe even moreso than a lot of modern bikes. Obviously the factory could make the proper adjustments and figure out all of the variables without too much trouble. The guy in his garage, even with piles of money, might have a more difficult time making it work.



I also wonder if when they put a more powerful engine in the XB, say 120 hp and 80-85 ft lbs, if they might have to consider changing the steering geometry a bit. Hmmm...

 

[pdad13]

Isn't it amazing that they think they're going to snare investors with that *****-poor presentation?



For better or for worse, people will judge the bike and company at least partially based on that web site.



The problem: I'm pretty sure there are no marketing guys or gals, and the engineering "department" is probably the two guys who built the bike.



Jeez, you don't have to spend a ton of money to look credible. A good designer could have whipped up a site that was 1000 times better than that in one or two days.