First, bring a LOT of money to the table. Say $ 5 million for starters. A new engine is $ 3 mil. and on the cheap, $ 2 mil. for rolling development. That is just to get it DESIGNED.
That does not cover the cost of tooling, factory lines, etc.
Then consider this. Are we going to compete in a structured racing class? Yes? Plan on a major update every year, and redesign every 2-3 years. And not just the bold new graphics stuff. I'm talking leading edge material pushing stuff.
How many units will we sell in the 2 year life cycle of the product? Figure a safe number of 10,000 units. (based on Triumph & Buell sales #'s)
That will make it an expensive unit. Limited production, so parts, both OEM and aftermarket will be scarce and expensive. Which has the effect of limiting the interest in racing it, because of, get this, limited availability of race parts... bottom line, profit margin goes in the dump, parts support is a nightmare, etc.
Now, if we go the other way, and just go for a high performance bike, say a 1200, that will have a longer product life, as it is not designed to specifically compete in a class, we can plan on building say, 50,000 of them, with major changes every 5 years instead of every 2 years, suddenly, things get a lot more interesting.
Now, pipes, pistons, heads, etc. become a lot more affordable, because we (aftermarket pipe co) know that if we spend 8 months developing an exhaust and tooling it up, we will have 4+ more years of sales, with a unit base of 50,000 bikes, instead of 12-14 months with a unit base of 10,000 bikes.
Buell, Harley, and Victory get a lot of grief over the way that they do new models, but when you look at the reality of it, for what they are, they are very successful.
Harley will sell more Vrods over it's life cycle than Honda will of ANY of it's models over it's life cycle. Harley sold its 50,000 th Vrod with nothing but paint changes last year, and it was the slowest seller they have.
Buell will sell as many Firebolts over it's life cycle as Honda will of CBR600F5's over its life cycle.
Why?
I think because Harley & Buell builds a bike and let the customer figure out what to do with it, rather than building to a set of rules and trying to beat the other buy by 2 HP or a tenth in the quarter.
There are no rules on the street, and if you need to go faster, get out your credit cards.
I ride with the local sportbike crowd on sunday morning on my 99 Thunderbolt with a Penske shock, gold valved forks, a Buell race kit exhaust & ignition module, and EBC brakes.
My Buell is not the fastest bike out there, as I doubt it would top 140, but I have never been over a 100 on the rides we go on. I don't get left by Hayabusas or GSXR1000's, nor does any one bike have a real edge in the backroads.
Why? It's not a race. Yes, an equal rider on a GSXR1000 would smoke me if they tried, but that would be in the seriously dangerous realm that no one wants to ride in.
I think that is where the real success on these bikes lie. After all, they still sell V-Max's.
I am rambling, but I hope you get the picture as to how/why some of the decisions are made when it comes to new bikes from the American companies.
By the way, I would love a water cooled 390 lb. 1200 cc Buell as much as the next guy.