Building motorcycles in a small company environment is tough to begin with but meeting the EPA emissions requirements makes it just that much more difficult. Roehr now has their EPA certification and is able to begin deliveries.
Press release:
Roehr Motorcycles LLC is pleased to announce that the ROEHR 1250sc has been issued it’s EPA Certificate of Conformity. Company President, Walter Roehrich says, “We can now begin delivering bikes to our customers that have been waiting patiently for this process to be completed.”
The ROEHR 1250sc is built to be 50 state legal, however CARB (California) approval is still in process and should follow shortly. “We appreciate all the enthusiasm, patience and support from our California customers and plan to start delivering their bikes very soon as well”, states Roehrich.
Billy Pilgrim says
1250cc. American made. AMA/DMG Daytona Sportbike legal?
nobody says
No. But the race only 1250RR will be.
JR says
It sure would be nice if Harley used this engine in a sportbike of their own….
todd says
I’d like to hear what it takes to get approval, beyond adding compliant components. What is the red tape, the process, the fees, the long-term requirements of meeting EPA and then CARB approval? I understand it’s substantial but maybe someone from ROEHR can fill us in on the hoops they had to jump through to get to this point.
I think it would go a long way to helping people appreciate just how much bureaucratic crap they went through to bring us this bike.
Thanks!
-todd
Greybeard says
+1 with Todd.
I understand the ROEHR lump is modified but is it that far from compliance that HD established?
JustPete says
I think it would be worth a shot for H-D to pick up on this. A VMAX hunter? VR1250 Daytona special, with the Night Rod Special paint and a little Buell influence somewhere in there? ZTL 2, (MV Agusta) Exhaust (as long as it isnt the 1125R looking thing, and nothing wrong with the Akropvic), Translucent covers? Hmmmm??!!
kneeslider says
With the recent “nine new models” HD introduced, which were basically a parts bin sourcing operation, JR and JustPete have a point. In fact, why not send some Harley management folks over to have a beer with Walter Roehrich, come up with a nice number and just buy the whole operation? No engineering or design necessary, it’s ready to roll as is. Presto, a nice sporty bike with performance that will appeal to a whole new group of buyers. They already produce the engine, why not bring the project in house? They could produce it under the MV Agusta name if they wanted to distance it from the traditional Harley riders or they could come up with a Harley “Special Sport” group or almost anything. They could probably bring the price down below what Roehr is asking, the bike is obviously a quick bit of machinery and it looks pretty nice. It seems like a low cost way to truly expand the lineup at lower cost than most any route starting from scratch.
Just seems like it might work, all you need is someone inside HD willing to push a little outside the box thinking.
lostinoz says
Kneeslider and others bring up a good point, buy the friggin whole company…
But with the MoCo not being on a SOLID profit margin the funds might not be available. Add to that HD is SERIOUSLY stepping on Eric Buell’s toes with this bike…. he just crushed the blast cause it wasn’t in true sportbike, whats going to happen to the REST of the Buell line if the Roehr was in the HD/Buell stable?
The biggest problem would really be they’re taking the “red-headed step child” motor and putting it into the “cousin nobody talks about’s” category. Harley owners would dismiss it as “not a real harley”, Buell owners would dismiss it as “not a real buell” sport bikers would dismiss it as “just another bad harley attempt at a sport bike” and MV riders would dismiss it as a “low quality harley”
Who wins? Whoever buys one.
todd says
No, I think Roehr is better off on its own – to prove everyone wrong. As long as enough people can afford to buy one. I’d give it some serious thought if I had the cash and the desire for a big bike.
-todd
Jimmy says
do you all really think that engine is a good sportbike engine? erik buell would not have gone to Austria to get the 1125 if he had an in-house engine that would fill the bill. not only that but harley tried its hand at road racing in the 80’s and failed with a very similar design.harley’s best chance at road racing success lies with buell,
todd says
No, it’s kinda like a De Tomaso Pantera; take a truck motor and stick it in a sports car. It can be fun in its own right. It’s not like the Ducati twins are all that great of a sportbike engine either, it just makes it more fun getting as much out of it as you can. Not everyone wants a ZX-14.
-todd
Jimmy says
I hear what your saying Todd,I don’t get the comment about the Ducati twin’s, maybe just trying to pee in the corn flake’s. i bet it will get some comments.
Tin Man 2 says
The Pantara used a 351Cleveland power plant, The drive line was the best part of that car. Dont be one of the many who think the Windsor was the only 351 ever made,The Cleveland was one of the best breathing and free reving engines ever produced. On any continent!
todd says
Like the 351 Cleveland or the 2-valve Ducatis or Moto Guzzis… Just because the motor didn’t start out as a purpose built motor (OK, the Pantah 500 came from the GP500) doesn’t mean it won’t work in a sporty chassis.
I’ve built some really fun sport bikes using dirt bike motors and drag raced a VW bug. To me that’s more fun. Sure, I could have just bought a Hyabusa or a Keith Black engine but what fun would that have been?
The Roehr -while it’s a little too much of a bike to appeal to me- is built to be different, to get a foot in the door, and to answer a nagging question about the VRod motor.
-todd
Tom says
Congratulations to Roehr for joining motorcycle manufacturers Guangzhou Panyu Huanan, Ningbo Longjia, Cixi Kingring, Jinan QingQi, Tiazhou Xinba, Zhejiang Oianjiang and Xiamen Xiashing on the USA EPA approved products list.
kneeslider says
Tom, every one of those companies you mention is probably far larger than Roehr.
Chris says
The Moto Guzzi engine was purpose built, the tractor origins are an oft-told myth.
Kenny says
Speaking of Guzzi’s, why won’t they ressurect that V8 of theirs. Even if it was a carbon copy of the original, I still think the damn things would sell.
I know I’m a little off topic but come on. It was the silver arrow of the motorcycle grand prix world.
Tom says
Kneeslider – …and their US operations are far, far smaller – sometimes just a couple folks, some rented space and a dream. While a lot of folks are sitting around whining about how hard they imagine it to be to pass unique-to-the-USA EPA regulations, there are doers out there getting bikes certified and bringing motorcycles to American riders.
nobody says
So where are all these Chinese supercharged 1250 twins?
todd says
The Guzzi twin was designed, through sponsorship from the government, to win a bid to produce police bikes (the bid that the Ducati Apollo lost). Not quite sporty origins.
The cost and complexity of compliance with US and California regulations is an often cited reason why all the major manufacturers do not import the majority of their bikes. If that’s not the real reason then I’d like to know what is. It obviously costs more than what profit can be made from a certain number of motorcycles. What that number is must be pretty high. At what point would you break even from the investment, 500 bikes? 5000?
-todd
nobody says
I have an old Cycle magazine article describing how a certain California motorcycle dealer got to import and sell certain Italian motorcycles after a certain Japanese company allowed him to use their evaporative emissions test booth for free – something the Japanese company was not required to do.
I have serious doubts that the previous named Chinese bike companies became “certified” solely by the sacrifices made by a handful of energetic and hungry motorcycle enthusiasts.