Feuling W3 Powered Motorcycle Headed to Bonneville
June 3rd, 2007 by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider"
Ever wonder where all of those Feuling W3 engines have gone? I don’t think very many were produced before Jim Feuling passed away and you seldom see them anywhere. Cory Ness used one to build a custom bike a couple of years ago but other than that they just disappeared in shops here and there. I heard of one in the possession of a law firm connected to the Fueling estate, not sure if they still have it, but that’s about it.
So it was pretty cool to see one turn up in a bike being built for Bonneville by a pretty well known Harley Davidson builder in Europe, Ruedi Steck of Switzerland. In its present configuration the W3 displaces 2458cc with almost 150 horsepower. Reudi is one of two racers, the other is his friend, Markus Saegesser, who is running a 230 horsepower turbo V-Twin.
From what I could gather on the Castrol Power 1 Tour web site, Ruedi and Markus, were inspired by Burt Munro’s run on the salt flats and decided it was time to do something like that themselves. So they made plans to build a couple of bikes and try to set a couple of speed records. They picked up the sponsorship of Castrol which is running a Power Tour across Europe to build a bit of publicity for their effort after which they’ll fly over here and see how fast they can go.
Whether they set any records or not, it’s always nice to see someone taking a shot at it and it’s especially nice to see a W3 running in anger instead of cruising around in some show bike. Good Luck guys!
Link: Castrol Power 1 Tour via MotoBlog.it
Related: Jim Feuling
Posted in Motorcycle Builders, Motorcycle Racing
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6 Responses to “Feuling W3 Powered Motorcycle Headed to Bonneville”
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June 3rd, 2007 at 5:47 pm
That W3 would look completely at home hanging on the frontend of a hotrod Morgan-esque 3-wheeler. Always was interested in those engines…
June 3rd, 2007 at 8:31 pm
I agree with jp. The only thing I find odd about them is that the third cylinder looks tacked on. Perhaps it’s just the way the bike was built.
June 4th, 2007 at 1:07 am
I saw a Feuling W3 at the Del Mar Concours back in the ’90s and watched Jim Feuling fire it up. I have to say the sound the bike made was truly magnificent and very memorable. If the Swiss guys manage to run one at Bonneville the sound will be memorable to everyone even if a record isn’t set.
Doug
June 4th, 2007 at 1:37 am
it’s not state of the art, but for the pushrod class it’s only real competition is from the harley style twins. not a bad starting point… although I’d probably destroke it and run it against unsuspecting evo based designs, rather than the monster displacement race shop motors…
June 4th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Great Engine.
Ugly Bike.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
2.5 liters.
150 horsepower.
Haha, pushrods…