Comments on: Jesse Rooke’s Slotard http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/05/05/jesse-rookes-slotard/ Motorcycle News for Positive People Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:51:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Curt Winter http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/05/05/jesse-rookes-slotard/#comment-30859 Curt Winter Mon, 19 Jun 2006 04:40:39 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=1006#comment-30859 Modifying engines and transmissions is always cool. I've relocated trannys before and while it did shorten the wheelbase, the labor involved greatly outweighed the performance gain. A chassis that has a 59" wheelbase can function as well as one with a 56" wheelbase. It's all about weight placement, swingarm length, swingarm pivot location, kneck angle and trail. We all know that a big twin Harley motor is best suited for a cruiser, but that doesn't mean they can't be put in an agressive chassis and handle realy well. Trying to modify one to compete on a national level is a bit far fetched. Look at the money and recorses that Buell has spent and still not capable of beating a bike half its displacment. I would love to see aftermarket componys design shorter primary and tranny assemblys, but unless everybody suddenly wants to start building Harley race bikes I think it will be limited to the one off designs. As a frame builder I would love to see it. Somebody please prove me wrong !! Modifying engines and transmissions is always cool. I’ve relocated trannys before and while it did shorten the wheelbase, the labor involved greatly outweighed the performance gain. A chassis that has a 59″ wheelbase can function as well as one with a 56″ wheelbase. It’s all about weight placement, swingarm length, swingarm pivot location, kneck angle and trail. We all know that a big twin Harley motor is best suited for a cruiser, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be put in an agressive chassis and handle realy well. Trying to modify one to compete on a national level is a bit far fetched. Look at the money and recorses that Buell has spent and still not capable of beating a bike half its displacment. I would love to see aftermarket componys design shorter primary and tranny assemblys, but unless everybody suddenly wants to start building Harley race bikes I think it will be limited to the one off designs. As a frame builder I would love to see it. Somebody please prove me wrong !!

]]> By: hoyt http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/05/05/jesse-rookes-slotard/#comment-8827 hoyt Wed, 10 May 2006 05:30:33 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=1006#comment-8827 "they didn’t even try to get away from the dunstall/norton look." Mike Cook wanted the Norton look with an American hot rod influence (open primary, gold flake paint, flat black). With the 103 twin cam motor, I would be surprised if it didn't beat a hellcat, wraith, & ecosse in a road course comparison. The man deserves a lot of credit as he and Curt Winter are the only ones that I have seen that are pushing the custom bike scene in a better direction (sport -ing chassis that will make use of that torque.) A direction beyond posing. “they didn’t even try to get away from the dunstall/norton look.” Mike Cook wanted the Norton look with an American hot rod influence (open primary, gold flake paint, flat black).

With the 103 twin cam motor, I would be surprised if it didn’t beat a hellcat, wraith, & ecosse in a road course comparison. The man deserves a lot of credit as he and Curt Winter are the only ones that I have seen that are pushing the custom bike scene in a better direction (sport -ing chassis that will make use of that torque.) A direction beyond posing.

]]> By: hoyt http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/05/05/jesse-rookes-slotard/#comment-8784 hoyt Mon, 08 May 2006 19:28:04 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=1006#comment-8784 Mike Cooke's ACR does have a home-built/modified transmission. The wheelbase seems to be a bit too long, and if I had the money, I wouldn't want an open drivetrain. Somone does need to come out with a gear driven primary for the aftermarket big twins (although, the aftermarket motors might have to have the rearward bottom re-shaped to accomodate the gear-driven primary (look closely at Yamaha's big twin and you can see how the bottom is "cut-out" to allow for a very tidy gear-driven primary). Victory's big twin gear driven drivetrain is still too long because it doesn't seem to have this cutout. this project should be encouraged....not for a false promise in successful motard racing, but to push the envelope of the industry he is spending his time. I'm sure Rooke is well aware of the many naysayer comments & facts about applying this engine to this bike style (the half of the motor he is using still probably weighs more than other motard engines). ------ I saw a new Hyosung 650 sport-twin the other day. cool frame and stacked headlight look. ------ I'm hoping the design contest is not for some time as I have to learn the modeling software I picked up. Mike Cooke’s ACR does have a home-built/modified transmission. The wheelbase seems to be a bit too long, and if I had the money, I wouldn’t want an open drivetrain.

Somone does need to come out with a gear driven primary for the aftermarket big twins (although, the aftermarket motors might have to have the rearward bottom re-shaped to accomodate the gear-driven primary (look closely at Yamaha’s big twin and you can see how the bottom is “cut-out” to allow for a very tidy gear-driven primary).

Victory’s big twin gear driven drivetrain is still too long because it doesn’t seem to have this cutout.

this project should be encouraged….not for a false promise in successful motard racing, but to push the envelope of the industry he is spending his time. I’m sure Rooke is well aware of the many naysayer comments & facts about applying this engine to this bike style (the half of the motor he is using still probably weighs more than other motard engines).

——

I saw a new Hyosung 650 sport-twin the other day. cool frame and stacked headlight look.

——

I’m hoping the design contest is not for some time as I have to learn the modeling software I picked up.

]]> By: aaron http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/05/05/jesse-rookes-slotard/#comment-8749 aaron Sun, 07 May 2006 06:25:21 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=1006#comment-8749 I think $10K may be delusional - quote, unquote - my opinion of the direction norton looked to be taking, two months ago. I'm a design freak, so $15K cool is (to me) better than $10k wallflower. I think that if sold back to back, triumph's 675 could do better at a $2k higher price point than an evolution of the daytona 650 , just because of it's style and "soul". I also think that at ducati the sportclassics could replace the monster and SS models. when sales slow, you could always release the monster mk2, faired and unfaired (and give heikki naulapaa a call for his input - his "demon" designs should do quite well...) whoa, got off topic there... bottom line is - a chopper is like runway fashion. beautiful, but stupid and painful in the real world. the slotard is designed with the chopper mindset. but at least he's trying - I would have pulled the front wheel in and moved the transmission back and down. but he's got the weight centralized much more than I would- a performance parameter that may oughtweigh the odd tranny layout. the antisquat may make this bike more efficent in a straight line, counteracting wheelies that are fun, but slow you down. and it looks like there's limited rebound at the rear, which should prevent the wheel from tucking too much. jesse has a motocross background too, which (along with some ama roadracing) should give him a rough idea of what this bike needs. maybe he found a decent compromise? acessible performance? hook yourself up as hyousung importer to wherever you can (bolivia? camaroon?), strip thousands of bikes and rework them to suit your needs. mass produce (injection moulding?) some beautiful, unique bodywork to fit a new frame, and hire a suspension wizard to design a tweak suitable for volume production and application to all those suspension components you've got lying around. If you can build (and sell) ten thousand bikes a year, at double the retail price of a hyousung, a bike that can turn heads (in a good way!) you might have a chance. but finding stable startup capital (20 to 50 million, to throw out the first number that comes to mind) will be a way bigger struggle than any design or production or marketing efforts. yeah, a forum might work... but I'd rather Paul spend his energy on the design contest first! I think $10K may be delusional – quote, unquote – my opinion of the direction norton looked to be taking, two months ago. I’m a design freak, so $15K cool is (to me) better than $10k wallflower. I think that if sold back to back, triumph’s 675 could do better at a $2k higher price point than an evolution of the daytona 650 , just because of it’s style and “soul”. I also think that at ducati the sportclassics could replace the monster and SS models. when sales slow, you could always release the monster mk2, faired and unfaired (and give heikki naulapaa a call for his input – his “demon” designs should do quite well…)

whoa, got off topic there…
bottom line is – a chopper is like runway fashion. beautiful, but stupid and painful in the real world. the slotard is designed with the chopper mindset. but at least he’s trying – I would have pulled the front wheel in and moved the transmission back and down. but he’s got the weight centralized much more than I would- a performance parameter that may oughtweigh the odd tranny layout. the antisquat may make this bike more efficent in a straight line, counteracting wheelies that are fun, but slow you down. and it looks like there’s limited rebound at the rear, which should prevent the wheel from tucking too much.
jesse has a motocross background too, which (along with some ama roadracing) should give him a rough idea of what this bike needs. maybe he found a decent compromise?

acessible performance? hook yourself up as hyousung importer to wherever you can (bolivia? camaroon?), strip thousands of bikes and rework them to suit your needs. mass produce (injection moulding?) some beautiful, unique bodywork to fit a new frame, and hire a suspension wizard to design a tweak suitable for volume production and application to all those suspension components you’ve got lying around. If you can build (and sell) ten thousand bikes a year, at double the retail price of a hyousung, a bike that can turn heads (in a good way!) you might have a chance. but finding stable startup capital (20 to 50 million, to throw out the first number that comes to mind) will be a way bigger struggle than any design or production or marketing efforts.

yeah, a forum might work… but I’d rather Paul spend his energy on the design contest first!

]]> By: dave http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/05/05/jesse-rookes-slotard/#comment-8740 dave Sun, 07 May 2006 01:07:06 +0000 http://thekneeslider.com/?p=1006#comment-8740 Hmm.. interesting, aaron... I need to say, while I do love Confederates, I'm NOT a harley guy (I was a service mgr @ a large southwest h-d dealership for years) I ride old hondas, and euro bikes. I *used* to work for Confed, until after Katrina wiped us out, and management decided to move to Birmingham. JT and I have elected to stay in New Orleans, and have started a design studio. We have been watching the other guys, and while some things are visually interesting, most are unridable, and very tired, unexciting design. Powerplants and drive systems aside, chassis and suspension should be rethought, and perfected THEN install an appropriate engine/trans for the design. The custom guys are building interesting things, but is that what you really want, as a consumer? Would you rather have a one-off ride that someone -arguably- threw together, or a vehicle that was designed/tested/and proven to go into production in limited quantities? How about $50k vs. $10k?? That's another point too... I think Paul has some good discussion going about "accessible performance" and honestly, we are designing something around that idea as I write this. We will see how the press and market research looks at what we're doing (and the segment as a whole) and go from there.. Paul, I think you need to start a forum for these discussions.. dave Hmm.. interesting, aaron… I need to say, while I do love Confederates, I’m NOT a harley guy (I was a service mgr @ a large southwest h-d dealership for years) I ride old hondas, and euro bikes. I *used* to work for Confed, until after Katrina wiped us out, and management decided to move to Birmingham. JT and I have elected to stay in New Orleans, and have started a design studio. We have been watching the other guys, and while some things are visually interesting, most are unridable, and very tired, unexciting design. Powerplants and drive systems aside, chassis and suspension should be rethought, and perfected THEN install an appropriate engine/trans for the design. The custom guys are building interesting things, but is that what you really want, as a consumer? Would you rather have a one-off ride that someone -arguably- threw together, or a vehicle that was designed/tested/and proven to go into production in limited quantities? How about $50k vs. $10k?? That’s another point too…

I think Paul has some good discussion going about “accessible performance” and honestly, we are designing something around that idea as I write this. We will see how the press and market research looks at what we’re doing (and the segment as a whole) and go from there..

Paul, I think you need to start a forum for these discussions..

dave

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