Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes Saw a writeup on the new 96 inch HD

Naturally, the writer was all impressed and such. But, they had a dyno chart. Now, keep in mind that 96 cubic inches is twice the displacement of the 790 CC Triumph engine. The HD does produce a mind numbing amount of torque, but the rear wheel HP was just short of... 61! Is that a coincidence or are they feeling the pinch from the rapidly growing Triumph sales and trying to emulate the Triumph Twins?
As best I can remember from way back when there were lots of magazine coverage on the Bonneville line, the 790's were putting some 55 to 57 HP to the rear wheel depending on the weather and chain condition. So, with double the displacement and very complicated fuel injection (no carbs on the '07s, not even piglets) they can't barely squeeze out a 10% power increase. That's sad.

I don't think HD is overly concerned about growing Triumph sales. HD will always have a strong share of the markett due mainly to the "sheep" factor. They may be a little more worried about Victory.

If anyone should worry about Triumph its the Japanese.I know for certain if it was not for the America I'd still be riding a Honda.

Well if Triumph doesn't come out with a decent looking(NOT Rocket 3 style) bigger twin in the next year or so, then I might be riding a Harley XR1200 instead. Might even buy the XR1200 anyway. Sure wish Mecatwin imported their bodywork for the Bonnie street tracker kit they do, but the frogs never have, and I don't think they ever will. I'd rather get a used Bonnie, slap a big bore kit in it, carbs, etc, that'll give me 80 RWHP, and turn it into this...



I think the biggest benefit for the 96 inch Harleys is that it'll be easier and cheaper now to hit the aftermarket for cams, etc. You won't have to bore it out to 95 inches, which was/is a typical upgrade on the TC-88. I've seen $2500-3,000 packages along those lines for the TC-88 that put out around 90hp and 100ft/lbs of torque without raising the compression ratio to unreliable levels.

Harley is negotiating building a new plant in Milwaukee. The unions have just given in to some concessions so that Harley can proceed. Rumor is that they will build an entirely new bike line based on the XR1200 concept.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=530834

When I saw the subject line of this thread I thought you were talking about a 96" High Def TV....

Hmmmm, let's see here....According to this article, H-D is expected to make $1 Billion(THAT'S with a "B" folks) in profits this year, but needs concessions by it's unionized workforce in order to build this new plant in Milwaukee, and not "hurt" the shareholders.(the vast percentage of whom I would guess wouldn't know a handlebar from a headlight)

MAN! I wonder how much those guys boltin' those things together make in that Wisconsin town??? I guess there must be a whole bunch o' blue collar millionaires in Milwaukee that I had no idea even existed there.(well..."Live and Learn", I always say)

OR, I guess it all goes back to that old sayin'...."What's good for "Wall Street" is bad for "Main Street", and vice versa!", huh?!

Cheers,
Dwight
(but then again....I suppose whatever it takes to build that VERY COOL XR1200 it'll be worth it...and BESIDES, I'd surely hate see ol' Willie G. in the "Poor House", ya know)

This thing is f-ing beutiful

Just measured my BA....that's damn near 96 inches front to back !!!!!

lets not kid ourselves, my BA is Freaked/Wiesco 904cc/D&D's/performance head machining etc,etc, so would be one of the fastest on this forum, but a Harley 96inch motor still laugh's at me at the lights.......................

it shouldnt

Frank

Something is wrong then if the HD is stock. Even with rush pipes, mine isn't near as quick as my America except for the first 20 feet or so. After that, all the excess torque is eaten up spooling up all the rotating mass. In addition to an alternator similar to the one that Triumph uses for a flywheel, the twincam has 2 more flywheels on the crank and heavier balance shafts that Triumph.

My friend purchased a RK (probably not a good comparison because they are a much larger HD than the rest) and my SM hangs with him all the way up to around 80ish. Man, you should have seen the look on his face, but being a motorcycle mechanic he knows that there is a lot less mass to the Triumph than his RK.

Don't even ask about hitting the twisties. Lets just say I have enough time at the bottom of the mountain to enjoy a cup of coffee by the time he reaches the bottom (A little hyberbole but funny nonetheless).

Best part of the 96 movement is that it should create a buyers market for used 88's, and that will be good news for those whom won't pay the rediculously high price of admission into HD world. Theres a bunch already in the classifieds here.

One of the articles I read the authors liked the fact that you can punch the 96" out to a 103" with "very little parts or labor"

SalMaglie- I have to agree that is one sweet lookin bike

most 96 owners have more issues with overheating

Frank

i heard of a guy with there top of the line cvo model 110 inch had his oil actually boil when he was sitting in moderate traffic on a 45 degree day, i was in some horrible traffic for at least 45 min on a 95 degree day on my america and it still didnt overheat (according to brents gauge)

Frank

The new HDs do have a heat management system that I think has different stages depending on temperature of the oil which is all controlled through the ECU. The problem with today's bikes is like every other manufacturer...they lean out the bikes at lower rpms to get the emissions down. So just like our bikes(blue pipes - remove AI), the new Harleys run better and cooler after a SERT or Power Commander install and re-map. Of course there's also aftermarket air cleaners and more open pipes to tune the system to take out the lean running conditions and give them more hp and torque. Yup, it's the Harley tax.