Back In the Game?
Back in the Game?
SPECIAL CRUISER SECTION
No longer vying for the Indian trademark, Eller Motors unveils three new designs
POOR ELLER MOTORS. ON THE LOSing end of last year’s controversial court battle with Indian Motorcycle of Canada, the Lonnie Labriola-led, Bob Lutz-backed wannabe bike-builder had to mothball its stunning neo-Chief (Roundup, February). The ohv V-Twin was to be the company’s calling card, and the first in a series of all-new Indians.
With the judge’s decision behind them, Eller management is chin-up and moving forward with an updated model —-— range. “Right now, we’re finishing the contract language with (engine-maker) Roush Industries,” says Labriola.
“Twenty-six months after the contract is signed, we’ll be putting customers on motorcycles.”
Three new James Parker-penned machines-a sweeping retro job, a bruising stoplight racer and an apex-sniffing sportbike-will lead Eller into the next millennium. Real-steel prototypes will be unveiled sometime next year, Labriola says, with the two cruisers headed for production shortly thereafter.
The aforementioned court catastrophe gave Parker time to rethink the air-cooled, dry-sump, 50-degree VTwin. Displacement grew from 90 to 100 cubic inches (1647cc), and there now are three valves (two intake, one exhaust) per cylinder rather than the previous pair. The cylinderhead design is changed, too, but with patents pending on the cam drive, Parker is understandably tight-lipped. He will allow that hoped-for output is a healthy 75 rear-wheel horsepower with 85 foot-pounds of torque. As before, NASCAR-heavy Roush will handle mockups and development. “They have entire departments dedicated to specialties that we wouldn’t even be able to touch,” Labriola says.
Holdover chassis components include the twin-damper “Telespringer” fork, this time employing six-piston brake calipers in place of the previous fourpiston setup. The frame no longer uses lower cradles (the counterbalanced engine is a stressed member), and the single-shock rear suspension has minor mods. The slick spoked rims are back, still sporting low-profile tubeless rubber. Wheelbase measures 64 inches, while the green bike’s seat height is only 24 inches off the deck.
For now, the Eller prototypes are simply referred to as “the green and black bikes.” Official monikers will be announced later. “We have names and we’re filing to protect those names,” Labriola says guardedly. “The last thing I want is trademark problems.” Regarding price, he adds, “Our goal is to keep ’em under $20,000.” The carbon-fiber-trimmed black bike will be the more expensive of the two. Per previous plans, assembly will be completed on Indian-owned land in Oregon.
With the famous Indian script now in Canadian hands, what manner of logo will adorn the gas-tank sides? “If I were to guess,” Labriola says, “I’d probably say Eller Motors, or EMC.”
Not quite the same ring...
Matthew Miles
There’s a sportbike in Eller Motors’ future, too. The power source is a liquid-cooled crossways V-Twin with desmodromic valve actuation. James Parkerdesigned chassis
includes a RADD front end and single-sided monoshock swingarm that pivots in the engine cases. Of Parker, Eller President Lonnie Labriola says, “I was impressed with his attention to detail and ability to think ‘out of the box.’ ”
CRUISE NEWS:
• Cruisers continue to be the best-selling motorcycle category, reports industry analyst Don Brown. More than 150,000 such machines were sold in the U.S. in 1998, and Brown expects that number to climb to nearly 180,000 this year. Cruisers account for slightly more than half of all new streetbike sales, and HarleyDavidsons account for more than half of those.
• But while cruisers are selling in record numbers, not all cruiser owners are satisfied. According to the inaugural J.D. Power and Associates study of the motorcycle marketplace, cruiser riders rank second-to-last in overall ownership satisfaction. “It appears that with cruiser motorcycles, manufacturers have been concentrating primarily on looks and style, and may be neglecting to update the dynamic characteristics and functionality of these motorcycles,” summed up Gil Niv, manager of motorcycle studies.
• If that is indeed the case, then the emerging breed of high-performance cruisers should prove more satisfying. Hot on the heels of the Harley-Davidson FXDX Dyna Sport comes word that ExcelsiorHenderson and Victory are readying sport versions. Kawasaki is working on a performance Twin that could debut as soon as 2001. And Honda, which already has the most powerful production cruiser in the form of its six-cylinder Valkyrie, is also considering a hi-po Twin-probably one a lot larger than the current 1100cc Shadows. Says Ray Blank, “I think the next level would be something over 1500cc. Let’s just say we’re paying close attention to how Yamaha is doing with the Road Star 1600.”
