Forgotten Failures & Flops

Message

canuckerjay · Fri Sep 30, 2005 6:08 am

dr_bar wrote:Back in 1982, Harley Davidson trotted out it's NOVA project for the board to see.

Why does that thing look like it has a rear fender on top of another rear fender? Bloody ugly if you ask me.

canuckerjay · Fri Sep 30, 2005 6:15 am

moshee wrote:Presenting, the Suzuki Madura.

Bloody ugly. Decent power, though.

oldnslo · #43 Unread post by **oldnslo** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 6:22 am

This bike appeared at the beginning of this thread, page 1 or so, and a lot of people liked it. Harley purists of course wouldn't, it looking different then standard-issue Harleys and being a V-4 and all, but I sure don't see any resemblance to a Madura.

Gummiente · Fri Sep 30, 2005 2:07 pm

A couple of more recent flops are the Kawasaki W650 (the local Kawi dealer STILL has an unsold '01 on the floor) and the Honda Rune.

oldnslo · #45 Unread post by **oldnslo** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 2:12 pm

As I recollect, the W650 was a bit weak on power, and I bet a lot of prople consider the Rune to be highly overdone.

moshee · #46 Unread post by **moshee** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 2:27 pm

The Kawasaki W650 was the company's second shot at capturing the essence of a British motorcycle. The Kawasaki W1 was the first attempt and was also the first 4-stroke produced by the company. The W1 borrowed unabashedly from the BSA A7.

http://www.khi.co.jp/mcycle/museum/w1/h ... dex_e.html

I remember seeing one (and just one) of the W1s. I was taking a walk, and being a fan of British motorcycles, noticed a shining BSA parked in my neighborhood. I walked over to admire it at close range and was shocked to see the Kawasaki name on the tank.
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Fri Sep 30, 2005 3:02 pm

there was quite a few of them sold here.

moshee · #48 Unread post by **moshee** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:51 pm

Then there was the Harley Davidson Sprint 350SS. It was really produced by Aermacchi but carried the Harley name. It was unique in that it featured a single cylinder engine with the piston going forward and back.

http://www.elscom.com/hdsprint/index.htm

I would love to own one of these so that I can go to one of those "burley chested men ride Harleys" meets.
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oldnslo · #49 Unread post by **oldnslo** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 7:08 pm

For that you would want the Harley "Topper", the scooter they built.

Gummiente · Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:48 am

moshee wrote:I would love to own one of these so that I can go to one of those "burley chested men ride Harleys" meets.

Make sure you wear your peaked leather cap and a pair of those "over the knee" boots. We like our biatches dressed up like that.