Big Dog Vintage
BIG DOG VINTAGE
QUICK RIDE
Not exactly a Harley
IT'S A HARLEY" YOU THINK as you thump along. What else has that copy right-applied-for exhaust note, those majestic flywheels that guarantee stately engine response, those big, lulling torque pulses?
Why, a Big Dog, of course. In the last several years, the in creased availability of almost every part needed to build a Harley has coincided with shortages of certain models from the Milwaukee manufacturer. By almost natural law, a small number of clone manu facturers have sprung to fill the void. Big Dog is one of these.
The Kansas-based company stands apart from most of its fellow cloners, however, in that it resembles a real motorcycle manufacturer. Unlike those hir sute entrepreneurs building three choppers per year in their garages and sending out press releases about their thousand fold expansion plans, Big Dog actually built about 225 motor cycles last year, and plans to build 350 this year. And it is currently unique in offering NHTSAand EPA-approved motorcycles delivered not with an assembler's title, but one bearing the Big Dog brand.
The Vintage edition, like Big
Dog's other models, is based on a frame that blends FXR-style rubber mounts with a classic four-speed Harley frame look. Fuel tanks are Softail aftermar ket standards, as are most other parts-save for items such as the
Okiahoma-sourced stainless steel sidestand and Nebraska built brakes.
Big Dog assembles the 80cubic-inch engine and its trans mission from a combination of S&S cases, Harley flywheels and Edlebrock cylinder heads. With more cam timing and compression than a production Milwaukee engine, it runs particularly sweet and notice ably strong from 2500 to 6000 rpm-though it doesn't pull as smoothly just off idle as a stock Harley. But the transmission clicks through its Revtech gearset more precisely, and the rub ber engine mounts do their job of shielding the Big Dog's rider from most vibration. The handling is light for a Big Twin-thanks in part to the wide, 37-inch handlebar-with the straight ahead stability essential for a retro-tourer.
Add that strong-from-thecrate performance to a com fortable, in-control riding position (the seat height is about 2 inches lower than a Road King's), and you can see why the Big Dog might appeal to some Big Twin rid ers. The company seeks to enhance any attraction with a complete customizing ser vice that will fit your Big Dog to you like a bespoke suit-just send inseam, height and sleeve length-while painting it in any color scheme you can imagine.
Of course, when you fac tor in the $21,000 price of the Vintage, only the high est level of service is likely to keep Big Dog-or any of its peers-in business when Harleys once again sit on showroom floors, hawked by hungry salesmen willing to deal.
Steve Anderson
