American Twins

American Twins

How much hot-rod can you handle?

Lucky 13

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM HOLDS THAT CRUISER RIDERS don’t care about performance. That’s what various OEM spokesmen tell us in rationalizing their latest 50-horsepower mega-cruicmdsers, and it’s a position that’s supported by recent new-bike sales figures. If it weren’t true, then why are these motorcycles selling so well?

Ah, yes, but if it were true, then why is the HarleyDavidson aftermarket so strong? We’re not just talking highway pegs and sissybars, either-we mean bonafide gofast parts such as bigger pistons, stroker cranks, fuel-injection systems, even machined-from-billet heads! (To say nothing of nitrous-oxide injection and turbochargers...) Yessiree, it would seem that some cruiser riders do in fact care about performance-enough to spend many thousands of dollars hot-rodding their Hogs.

Traditionally, the route to Hog Heaven has begun with a stock Big Twin, such as the 1998 Dyna Low Rider included in this comparison. Today, however, we’ve entered the era of the boutique bike-pre-fab customs sold by everyone from the local bike shop to The Sharper Image and Neiman Marcus.

Bike of choice, of course, remains the Harley-D, but with the demand for Milwaukee’s finest having far exceeded the supply in recent years, a new breed of American custom has sprung to fill the void. Labeled “clones,” these motorcycles are exactly what the nickname implies: bikes that look and sound and ride like Harleys, but which are built using aftermarket parts.

So lucrative is this business that a couple of clone-makers now claim to produce upward of 1000 units per year. More telling, an increasing number of these bikes now comply with DOT, EPA and CARB standards, and come not with specialty titles, but with pink slips listing the maker’s name as the manufacturer of record. Hey, if the DMV says they’re legit, who are we to argue?

Titan Gecko RM

$30,275

Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider

$14,270

That being the case, it would seem a glaring omission not to include them here. So we selected two of the more established players-Kansas-based Big Dog and Arizona-based Titan-and asked them to provide bikes for our mega-cruiser mega-comparison.

What we wound up with was a sliding scale of looks, performance and price. The $14,270 Dyna Low Rider is pretty much standard Harley fare, which is to say that it was built to The Motor Company’s very high standards. Every aspect of the machine has been optimized to the point that it just feels “right.” Controls respond to a light touch, gear changes are crisp, brakes are strong yet linear, suspension is plush but not spongy, and the exhaust manages to be quiet without losing its trademark rumble. And despite being equipped with a chopperesque 32-degree rake and 19-inch front wheel (our testbikes’ spoked rims are a $320 option), steering doesn’t feel particularly heavy, even at parking-lot speeds.

The last remaining Harley bugaboo, a too-stiff clutchlever pull, was recently rectified by a redesigned clutch, leaving us without much to complain about. Our only real gripe concerns the handlebar, which is too narrow from grip to grip and bends down too far at its ends, feeling like the bars we used to remove from our old Schwinn Sting-Rays when setting them up for BMX racing. Something wider and flatter would be better. Easily done.

While the venerable 80-inch (1340cc) pushrod V-Twin puts a paltry 51 horsepower to the rear wheel, it boasts a fairly respectable 63 foot-pounds of torque. Moreover, its dyno runs produced enviable graphs, with arrow-straight

horsepower buildup and plateau-like peak torque virtually from idle to redline. To put it in biker’s terms, there might not be that much beer in the keg, but it’s always on tap.

Multiply the Low Rider’s cool factor by 150 percent, and you’ve got the $22,500 Big Dog AeroSport. Dripping in chrome, polished aluminum and marbleized burgundy paint, this is one “stocker” that wouldn’t look out of place in a custom bike show. Cables and brake lines are braided steel, wires are routed inside the handlebar, and everywhere you look there are machined-from-billet parts-even the mirrors and tumsignals are trick. The parts list reads like a Who’s Who of the motorcycle aftermarket: Corbin seat, Avon tires, Performance Machine brakes, Progressive Suspension shocks.

More impressively, the Big Dog’s performance is as eye-opening as its appearance. How eye-opening? How does second-quickest in this 13-bike comparison sound? Most notably, the AeroSport positively spanked the Low Rider, fully 2 seconds quicker through the quarter-mile and 18 mph faster during topspeed testing. That’s a huge improvement! Credit here must go to Big Dog itself, because rather than bolting the ubiquitous pre-fab S&S motor into its frame, the company assembles its own engines in-house using parts from various aftermarket manufacturers. S&S supplies the cases, cylinders and carb, Edelbrock the heads, Delkron the transmission housing, Rivera the clutch, and so on. The result is an 88-inch (1442cc) powerhouse that pumps out an impressive 76 horses and 83 foot-pounds of torque.

Moreover, it’s a tribute to Big Dog’s R&D testers that the AeroSport feels as polished as it does while packing such a considerable punch. Sure, the rubber-mounted engine vibrates more than your standard Harley; the Thunder Header exhaust is waaay too loud; and both ride quality and cornering clearance have been compromised by its slammedto-the-ground stature. Even so, it’s a mighty fine ride.

But while the AeroSport offers a glimpse of a Big Twin’s true performance potential, the Titan Gecko RM (for “rubber mount”) flaunts it full monty. The Big Dog was fast, but the Titan was blazing! The Gecko was the only bike to get into the 1 Is at the dragstrip, and it posted a scary-fast 133mph reading on the CW radar gun during top-speed testing. Our white-knuckled test pilot reported that it was all he could do to hold on during that pass.

What makes the Gecko so much more potent than the AeroSport? In a word, size. Its Titan-assembled S&S motor measures a full 96 inches (1573cc), and chums out an astonishing 87 horses and 95 foot-pounds of torque. Those are the kinds of numbers recorded by that monster-motored megacruiser, the six-cylinder Honda Valkyrie.

The Titan also scores big points in the looks department. Surprisingly similar in componentry and appearance to the Big Dog (its marbleized purple paint job looks to have been sprayed by the same artist), the Titan just has that little extra bit of pizzazz that makes it look that much more finished. Examples? How about a Softail-style frame mated to an Arlen Ness-style double-rail swingarm with twin Works Performance shocks? Or a Wide Glide front end with machined-from-billet 54mm inverted fork and 21-inch front wheel? Or a chromed primary case and braided-steel oil lines?

The only parts that look incongruous on the Titan are the standard-issue Harley mirrors (which in their defense offer a much better view of the road behind than the billet mirrors on the Big Dog) and turnsignals. But as is the case with most clones, you can custom-order your bike any way you want it, mixing and matching parts and paint.

But enough about looks. It’s the Titan’s ride that addicts.

Big Dog Aerosport

$22,500

This thing flat gets with the program, smoking the rear tire and wheelying (sometimes both at the same time!) like no VTwin cruiser we’ve ever sampled. One twist on the throttle, and you’re hooked. Downsides? All we can think of is that the seat’s too hard. Otherwise, we wouldn’t change a thing.

With a list price of $30,275, there’s no denying that the Gecko is not for the fiscally challenged. But you get a lot for your money-more, one local Harley expert opined, than you could get if you bought all the parts and built a bike yourself.

No, the Titan Gecko isn’t a better Harley; but it is a better custom Harley. Take that to mean it’s the best of the American Twins. -Brian Catterson