Thunder From Down Under
THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER
DOES THE WORLD REALLY need another V-Twin-powered cruiser?
Haven’t we learned a lesson from the imploding “clone” market, the Excelsior-Henderson debacle? Haven’t we figured out that, now that there are enough gen-u-ine Harley-Davidsons to go around, no one has to settle for anything less?
Yeah, well, maybe we have, but down in Australia, Harleys are still pretty hard to come by, not to mention expensive. And besides, never mind
that whole descended-from-prisoners thing, maybe Australians want to feel the belly-swelling pride of riding something Madein-AUS.
That’s what Down Under entrepreneur Rod Hunwick is banking on. Owner of a chain of motorcycle dealerships in and around Sydney, Hunwick and former partner Paul Hallam burst on the biking scene in
1996 with the Boss Power Cruis-
er, a sort of Harley thrown on the barbee powered by a liquidcooled, fuel-injected, four-valve -per-cylinder 90-degree V-Twin of their own design. Shortly thereafter, the duo unveiled the X1R, an avant-garde Superbike unlike anything seen before. Or since, for that matter, because
after two years’ racing development, Hunwick and Hallam went their separate ways.
But now Hunwick is back with a new partner, Ron Harrop, a new company, Hunwick Harrop, and a new creation, the Phantom 1500. An evolution of the Boss, the Phantom is powered by the same basic V-Twin engine, with displacement upped from 1385cc to
1493cc. Claimed output is a respectable 102 rear-wheel ponies at 6250 rpm, and 101 footpounds of torque at 4250 rpm.
If you can get past the unusual “integrated” styling, you’ll note that the engine is a load-bearing part of the chassis, and the resultant lack of frame tubes lets the Phantom weigh in at just 530 pounds. Not only is that light for a cruiser, that weight is carried close to the ground thanks to a low, 27.2-inch-high saddle, underseat fuel tank and under-engine battery.
Rod Hunwick turned up at the recent Indianapolis Trade Show to gauge interest in bringing the Phantom to America. In typical Aussie fashion, his business plan is unencumbered: Bikes will be ordered over the company’s website (www.hunwickharrop.com), and distributed via a worldwide network of approved dealers. Limited production will commence this fall, with 325 Phantoms to be built this year as 2002 models, and a subsequent 600 to be built in 2002 proper. Each machine will be made to order, with the customer choosing from a dizzying array of paint colors, metal finishes, exhaust styles, etc. Cost will be in the vicinity of $20,000 U.S.
Inexplicably, 70 percent of the inquiries thus far are said to have come from America. There’s just no saving some folks.
Brian Catterson
