Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Hack

[gromit]

Hard to believe this 700+ Lb. doesn't sink in the sand



Full website here: http://www.hogwildracing.com/technical/index.shtml

[goose]

Re: Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Hack

It probly does. There was a not a single picture evidencing the thing even starts and runs let alone is dune worthy.

Crank heads with too much money... :

[Guest]

Re: Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Hack

Who's the Crank Head?

Here, I'll help you out:
http://www.hogwildracing.com/

And I suppose this video was all done in a Hollywood studio:
http://www.hogwildracing.com/Team%20...%20384kbps.WMV

[dirty_j]

Re: Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Hack

um..... yeah....... right.
someone is a little touchy about a harley motor in a ktm frame, running a race no one has ever finished on a side-hack. "please send us money!!!" and, um, doesn't this clip qualfy them for 'three-wheel thursday'?

[beauregard]

Re: Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Hack

Kooks.

But I like 'em.

[goose]

Re: Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Hack

Who's the Crank Head?

Here, I'll help you out:
http://www.hogwildracing.com/

And I suppose this video was all done in a Hollywood studio:
http://www.hogwildracing.com/Team%20...%20384kbps.WMV

http://www.hogwildracing.com/technical/index.shtml

In the POSTED link http://www.hogwildracing.com/technical/index.shtml there are no pictures of the bike running. You'll have to forgive me not spending any time scouring a website for a project bike with so little apparant purpose. I've never been a fan building something "just 'cuz I can". If it doesn't seem to be a good idea, I wouldn't spend my time or money. If I woke up one day and decided out of the blue that I just HAD to build myself a V-twin powered dirt worthy side hack project I would look into an RC51 powertrain as a platform but to each his/her own.

[Guest]

Re: Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Hack

In the POSTED link http://www.hogwildracing.com/technical/index.shtml there are no pictures of the bike running. You'll have to forgive me not spending any time scouring a website for a project bike with so little apparant purpose. I've never been a fan building something "just 'cuz I can". If it doesn't seem to be a good idea, I wouldn't spend my time or money. If I woke up one day and decided out of the blue that I just HAD to build myself a V-twin powered dirt worthy side hack project I would look into an RC51 powertrain as a platform but to each his/her own.

I didn't "wake up one day" or do it "just 'cuz I can". I've been doing this for over 30 years. My other web site follows Sidecar Motocross around the world:
http://SidecarCross.com
Dakar has been a dream of mine for many years, and being a sidecar guy, that's the way I want to do it. In my mind, a V-twin is a great choice for this for a sidecar. As I planned this project, the RC51 and Suzuki TL1000R were highest on my list of choices (KTM V-twin and V-Rod didn't exist at that time). I picked the TL1000R because it was far more available than the RC51, but very similar otherwise. During our desert testing it broke very badly (see photo: http://hogwildracing.com/misc/dirty_broken_shifter.jpg ). This was mostly due to it being "too light weight". The cases are too thin for this stressing application. The RC51 would likely have had the same or similar unfortunate end due to it's super light weight. After the Suzuki destruction I went searching for a motor with thougher cases but with similar performance characteristics. The best choice was the new V-Rod. When H-D offered me two motors for free, that pertty much sealed the deal. Since the V-Rod went in it has performed flawlessly in even more severe conditions than the TL1000R went through. You can't argue with those results. As it turns out, the H-D also gets us WAY MORE media exposure, which is great for sponsors. The bike was built primarily for two purposes, winning the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, and finishing the Dakar. So far it has proving "a good idea" as we've accomplished the first goal twice, and are now concentrating on the second. Neither could be done without a very custom sidecar like the one I built.

See ya at Pismo October 22/23!

[goose]

Re: Harley Davidson V-Rod Desert Hack

I stand corrected. You've obvoiusly done the R&R to do the project the way you want and have given it alot of thought. I apologize if I've offended but usually when I see a project like that all I can think is "Why? Why would anybody do that and what's the point?" A little research almost always shows "'Cuz I can" was the reason (does the world REALLY need a Harley powered margarita blender?).

Kudos to you for building it the way you like it for a real world purpose.

Good Luck!