Is Higbee still racing? I'd always try and pit near him just to gawk at his Buell. I thought it was cool as hell.
This. Their MX bike (project Griffin) was moving along, they had a pretty good guy overseeing it (Dave Osterman, he was head of the Yamaha 250 team for a few years as well as Chad Reeds team manager) so I would assume it was going in the right direction before HD pulled the plug. Never heard any details if it was more of a traditional bike or if he was trying to re-invent the wheel ala Cannondale or how far along they were able to get with the design/bikes. Also heard lots of rumors of crazy HP naked bikes (turbos and such) test mules but HD constraints never let them pan out...
I visited Erik's shop in Mukwanago back in 1985 with the race team from Yamaha of Killeen TX. We were heading to the AMA round at Road America and Erik had some interesting brake discs to try. They were made from an aluminum rotor with stainless steel sheet as the braking surface that contacted the caliper pads. I can't remember how the stainless was attached to the aluminum but it saved seven pounds off the front end of the TZ750. It turned out that it didn't work as IIRC the stainless part got hot spots and warped. I do remember seeing a couple of the RW750s in Eriks shop too.
What were his feelings when the Motor Company acquired MV Agusta and how was his relationship with Matt Levatich.
That was the one part of R&D that I wasn't allowed to see. The bike(s) must have got crushed or they're in a HD warehouse ala Raiders of the Lost Ark. Would be nice to hear that story.
I know one of the directors involved at the time was a Chris Nelsen. A young up guy and a good guy. He had some good stories to share and gave me a glimpse of things shortly after the program was canceled. I'm not aware of any surviving units.
The switch to the Rotax platform was so promising. The test ride I took on an 1190RS was both amazing and bittersweet for me because the tea leaves were already cast. The Eslick/May era of AMA Pro racing was also a career sweet spot. He should be very proud of his accomplishments. People who love Star Wars somehow find a way to hate George Lucas. Erik deserves his roses while he’s here.
Id like to know if he thinks there is still room for the little guy innovating in his garage anymore? Engineering and design has gotten to such a high level are the quirky shade tree innovators ever going to be able to mount another david v goliath attack like Britten or Buell? Id also like to hear his take on the fate of ICE with the rise of eletric. What parts of the bike are left/ripe for innovation? Whats the first mod/favorite mod for all of his personal motorcycles?
AWESOME answer on the brake setup. Some really good info, including Brembo wanting to use and upgrade the system, then ultimately cancelling it. Really good info!!!!
How he got involved with Harley dealers!!! On a fucking Harley Cruise and just went for it! Fucking awesome!!!
There are several ways to listen. Usually within a week it comes out. This one is over an hour but slam full of awesome info. Some is known, others is probably breaking news. Really fun episode.
