Feuling W3
Feuling W3
SUPER Standards
One hundred and fifty cubic inches of Harley power in a configuration not seen since the early part of the last century
STEVE ANDERSON
THE STRANGE THING IS HOW MANY PEOPLE DON'T GET IT. They drive or walk past the Feuling Motor Company W3 prototype, glance at it and keep on going. Even the guy on the Sportster who rode by as we were photographing the bike was unimpressed. "Just another Big Twin," you could almost hear him thinking.
Well, no. It’s big all right, but it’s not a Harley, and certainly not a Twin. It’s Jim Feuling’s latest project, a 150-cubic-inch “W-Three” a configuration that, while not unknown, has scarcely been seen in a motorcycle since a few specials were built around airplane engines at the dawn of motorcycling.
Jim Feuling’s heart pumps 50-weight. He is a gearhead who has designed and patented numerous improvements to engines, and has consulted with everyone from Oldsmobile (Quad-4 and four-valve V-Eight) to Ford to HarleyDavidson. His relationship with Harley is long; he once expensively tooled and offered a four-valve conversion for Big Twins, one of the first aftermarket cylinder heads avail-
able for the brand.
Indeed, when prototype Twin Cams were running hot enough to cook their pistons, Harley engineering set up its own skunkworks in Feuling’s Ventura, California, shop for a few months. During that time, the Twin Cam got both its big fins and its Feuling-patented exhaust valves and highvelocity exhaust ports.
Feuling became intimate with the Twin Cam’s design during that time.
Soon after, he realized that the Twin Cam could readily be given a 50 percent displacement boost by a simple act of cylinder multiplication. Clone
the front cylinder and its camshaft, rotate the new parts down 45 degrees, and the Twin Cam V-Twin would become a Triple Cam WThree. What made this possible was a masterrod-with-link-rods design, as used on radial aircraft engines to this day. As with the Harley knife-and-fork rods, the master and links keep the cylinders in the same plane, rather than slightly offset as on most V-Twins. The flywheels are stock Twin Cam parts, as are the crankpin and the big-end bearing for the master rod. Crankcases, though, are special Feuling-sourced castings.
Feuling is coy about some of the original motives behind his engine, but evidence suggests he may have tried to interest Milwaukee in such a project. “The original version
required only 10 new parts,” he notes. In any case, the W3 soon came to life as a Feuling Motor Company production. Seeing a market for a big-inch engine suitable for high-end customs, Feuling committed to produce the W3 himself.
The distance between the W3 and a Twin Cam has grown. During development, the Harley-style chain drive to the cams was abandoned, replaced with rugged-looking finepitch gears-something Feuling is likely to offer as an aftermarket conversion for Twin Cams.
FEULING IS COY ABOUT SOME OF THE ORIGINAL MOTIVES BEHIND HIS ENGINE, BUT EVIDENCE SUGGESTS HE MAY HAVE TRIED TO INTEREST MILWAUKEE IN SUCH A PROJECT, "THE ORIGINAL VERSION REQUIRED ONLY 10 NEW PARTS," HE NOTES.
Similarly, a new oil pump with 60 percent more scavenge capacity than its Harley counterpart is part of the package.
Early next year, Feuling intends to offer a 150-cubic-inch (2500cc) version of the W3 with its own FXR-like, rubbermount custom frame, the basic kit that either you or your favorite custom builder can transform into a running motorcycle. It will not be cheap (anticipated price is around $20,000), nor common. They certainly weren’t when we visited; the only prototype was built into a modified Dyna-Glide frame, and used the 37/8-inch bore of Harley’s 1550cc kit, rather than the 4-inch bore that Feuling intends to use on production engines.
Still, even a mere 2275cc is not to be denied. The W3 spins to life readily, the electric starter not struggling as it would with a big-inch custom Harley Twin. The uneven firing order gives a loping idle somewhat reminiscent of a V-Twin, but busier. Feuling intends to offer two exhaust systems for the W3, the very loud 3-into-3 shortie-muffler setup as fitted to the prototype, and a quieter 3-into-l system. Similarly, buyers will have a choice of intake systems, from a single carburetor and manifold to three individual carbs (40mm Dell’Ortos on the prototype) to fuel injection. In any case, the intake rasp of the individual unfiltered carbs and the bellow of the minimal mufflers on the prototype inform you very clearly that internal combustion is taking place nearby.
Twisting the throttle also tells you that this is one fast mutha. Feuling claims 128 horsepower at the rear wheel for the prototype, with about 150 foot-pounds of torque, and the W3 accelerates hard enough to make those claims believable. Using cams with less duration than those in a stock Harley, the W3 rolls on from 2500 rpm with real ferocity, confidently
challenging Suzuki Hayabusa or Yamaha V-Max pilots to topgear roll-ons. The engine is still pulling hard when the rev limiter kicks in at about 5200 rpm, and it’s almost scary to think how one built for top-end power rather than bottom-end grunt will perform. Based on uprated Twin Cams, it should be possible to get 150 horsepower or more from a still-streetable W3. And that’sjust from a 150-cubic-inch version; Feuling is already talking about a 180-cubic-inch model-or bigger!
Just cruising, the W3 hums along calmly with a unique exhaust note, halfway between the uneven beat of a big VTwin and the bass drone of the big radiais on a B-29. Vibration is well subdued by the rubber mounts of the FXD frame-a W-Three with 45-degree cylinder spacing is inherently smoother than a 45-degree V-Twin.
There’s still work to be done before production starts.
Some of it is problem solving: The Twin Cam gearbox doesn’t like the smoother-running W3 engine, and finding neutral once you’re stopped is almost impossible. The clutch, which is a cooperative effort between Feuling and Barnett, with 250 percent of the load capacity of its Harley counterpart, has been nicknamed “Clutchzilla.” Unfortunately, that’s how your left hand feels about it. At least you don’t have to shift much with all that torque. Similarly, the twistgrip requires way too much effort, and unless this condition improves, fuel injection with the promise of light-acting butterfly throttles may be an attractive option.
But those are details. What’s really impressive is the straightforward simplicity of the W3. Building on the Twin Cam foundation, Feuling has created a Harley-Davidson and a half-and then some. □
