Doing a quick scan of the September issue of Cycle World, something caught my eye. In a follow up article on the new S&S X-Wedge engine, it was noted that since the engine’s mounting points were incompatible with frames designed for Harley Davidson engines, S&S would start building their own frames and rolling chassis. Most of their kits would be right in line with the standard chopper and custom market but the test bed shown above, something they whipped together with a Ducati 749 fork, wheels and brakes, would be further revised to look a bit sleeker (like the tail section for instance). It seems when they rode these test platforms to several biker events, there was quite a bit of interest from the onlookers and they thought, “Hmm …” It’s a big twin rolling chassis with sporting pretensions, ready made from S&S to accept an emissions compliant X-Wedge engine. Not a bad start for an interesting project. Just add a bit of labor and accessories of your choice.
The engine itself should run in the $8500 to $9500 range. A bare “Hidden Shock” chassis is $2700, though I didn’t see any numbers for the rolling chassis shown above, which is not of the hidden shock variety.
The magazine test revealed a few teething pains still exist with the engine, which is still in development. It certainly isn’t surprising when you consider this is a small company working to build a brand new fully emissions legal air cooled V-Twin engine from scratch. No small task.
This rolling chassis and engine combination may prove interesting. We’ll keep an eye on this.
Link: S&S
Link: Cycle World
Related: S&S X-Wedge V-Twin Engine
Clive M Sanders says
The swingarm looks to be off of a ducati sport classic series.
OTTOMAN says
WELL I DEFINALLY LIKE THE ENGINE. BUT DIDNT THE CYCLE WORLD ARTICAL ALSO SAY IT WAS GOING TO PUT ONE IN A BIG DOG?
chris says
wonder how long it takes S&S to become a full on bike maker. . .
Clive M Sanders says
Are those rear sets? Or forward controls… i cant tell. But either way, it seems the ergonomics would be crippling..
todd says
They definitely need to spend some money on a designer…
-todd
Pete P. says
Its better to LOOK good than to feel good.