The idea of putting the largest engine in the smallest frame, and then riding on what turned out, probably appeared along with the first car on Earth. So, I think I won’t surprise you much if I tell you that the V8 engine was in a motorcycle back in 1906. Glenn Hammond Curtis put a self-made engine on two wheels, originally designed for airships: the Curtiss Model B-8 with air cooling, two carburettors and a volume of 4.4 liters produced as much as 40 horsepower at 1800 rpm.
And this miracle of technology accelerated Comrade Curtis to 219 kilometers per hour, after which Glenn held the title of the fastest man on Earth for four years. His record was beaten only in 1911. Two facts are noteworthy: before Glenn, the speed record belonged to trains. And after Comrade Curtis, a car took the speed record: Glenn remained the fastest among motorcyclists until 1930. And, it seems to me, the problem here was not so much the inability to accelerate faster, as the fact that only those who completely lack even a hint of self-preservation instinct can accelerate to two hundred kilometers per hour on something similar to a Curtiss V-8 motorcycle.
After Glenn Curtis, a considerable number of people built their own version of a motorcycle with a V8 engine, but perhaps the greatest success in this business was achieved by Monty Warne. By some coincidence, Warne, like Curtis, is associated with aviation: Monty is a certified aircraft technician and a former pilot. Comrade Warne built his first V-eight bike in 1990, mostly just out of a desire to test his own abilities. It is not known exactly how further events developed, but already in the same 1990, Monty had his own team of engineers, and Boss Hoss, a company founded by them, acquired its first customers.
One of the Boss Hoss kit bikes. If you are familiar with modern Hoss products, then you can feel the difference and the long journey that the company has made since its inception in the 90s.
To date, Boss Hoss has a reputation for producing perhaps the most American bikes, except perhaps Harley-Davidson. But Boss Hoss started much more modestly: by selling not even the motorcycles themselves, but kits for their construction – the so-called kit bikes. In other words, the buyer got a frame, a single-speed gearbox and many other very useful parts, but the engine and a few other unimportant details had to be obtained somewhere else. The end result thus largely depended on the directness of the buyer’s hands. For these reasons, early Hoss’s often had a very self-made look, and sometimes even before the first trip they were overgrown with a set of spare parts designed for Harley-Davidson and Chevy.
This bike could easily be mistaken for another early Boss Hoss, but it's actually a Kannon with the same Chevrolet V6 engine that Monty Warne will use in his motorcycles. Unfortunately, Kannon's could not withstand the realities of the market and are no longer being produced. There is a minimum of information about them, but this 97 model is great for visual comparison with a similar model from the same year from Hoss.
Nevertheless, fans of rat bikes and other very crude-looking cars existed at that time. In addition, the well-built Boss Hoss was not the most comfortable, but still a full-fledged motorcycle. The few who used it on a daily basis were able to appreciate the difference in vibration between two cylinders and eight, and bikers who had not only Hoss but also Harley at their disposal often preferred the Boss at least in winter: the huge engine warmed their feet perfectly. In short, despite all the disadvantages, the number of customers was steadily growing, and therefore, in ’96, Monty Warne earned enough money to switch from kit bikes to building full-fledged motorcycles. This approach made it possible to establish full-fledged quality control, which quickly turned into improved design and construction.
One of the Boss Hoss bikes with a V6. Unlike the Kannon motorcycle, which looks a lot like the early Boss Hoss, this car already has a very recognizable second-generation Hoss design, custom parts like the exhaust manifold, and - importantly for the market - its own brand.
The V6-powered motorcycles produced by Warne in ’97 and ’98 were mostly experimental for the Boss Hoss brand. In particular, it was the six-cylinder models that were first equipped with a new two-speed automatic transmission. Plus, especially for a small 4.3-liter Chevrolet engine, the frame was narrowed and shortened. But despite this, the bike remained very huge compared to other motorcycles.
Some vintage photos from the 97th year article. Pay attention to the absence of a radiator casing: bikers could easily have removed it after buying a motorcycle, but it is unlikely that Boss Hoss would have provided the motorcycle to journalists in this form. Most likely, in the 97th, the company did not have radiator housings yet.
One of the articles, written in 1997, says in plain text that the first thing you need to do is get used to the size of the bike. But this is the only negative mentioned in the article. The author writes that the new automatic transmission works perfectly, and there is no need to be distracted by gears. Boss Hoss turns are expected to be reluctant, but at the same time the controls are “neutral and natural”: with a little practice, even a full U-turn can be easily performed in one movement. It is comfortable to sit on a motorcycle: the seat height is 66 centimeters, and the brake lever is located a little too far. On the other hand, it doesn’t make much sense to reach for it: the rear brakes of the bike are much more practical.
Despite the fact that the photos of the motorcycle are dated 2008, the very announcement for the sale of this bike is dated 2019. It remains to be hoped that this Boss Hoss was really able to live for 10 years and remain in such good condition that the seller simply did not see the point in taking new photos.
And, as the author notes, more than 150 horsepower on two wheels allows the motorcycle to reach very serious speeds. Of course, sportbikes will still be faster, but none of them will be able to offer the feeling that Boss Hoss offers, relentlessly accelerating its mass of hardware. With a fuel consumption of 8 liters per hundred kilometers and a gas tank of 28 and a little liters, it turns out to be quite a decent cruiser. The author only does not advise ladies to wear a skirt if they want to ride such a motorcycle: the solid shapes of the bike make the rider spread his legs very wide.
The owner of this six-cylinder motorcycle was not too lazy to take a lot of pictures showing the mechanisms and small details of the bike. So despite the poor quality of the photos, it was this announcement that gave me the opportunity to take a closer look at the Boss Hoss and Chevy's V6.
History remains silent as to why, as a result, the Boss Hoss with a V6 engine was produced for only a few years. Maybe the journalists weren’t too honest and the bike still had problems. Or maybe Monty Warne just didn’t have enough budget to promote three engines to the people at once. And it’s quite possible that the V6 simply wasn’t as popular: when you can buy a motorcycle with a much more familiar and popular V8 for almost the same price, it makes sense that people would choose the eight-cylinder version.
In general, all the V6 Hoss that have come down to our time can already be called rarities: motorcycles have been on the road for more than twenty years. And each of them is one of the few six-cylinder bikes that can be called production bikes. I would say that these motorcycles are another small achievement of the American school of mechanical engineering.
http://www.drummerdonnie .com/BossHoss.html https://www.kloompy. com/motorcycles/1998-boss-hoss-bh3_i425 https://www.bikewale. com/news/30546-cult-bike-of-the-day-boss-hoss-cycles.html https://www.motorcyclenews .com/news/2016/march/mcn-plus---boss-hoss-v6-first-ride---bike/ http://suprememotos. com/boss_hoss/80420-1998-boss-hoss-limited-edition-american-v6-motorcycle-mint-condition.html http://www.2040- motos.com/Boss-Hoss/Boss-Hoss/1998-boss-hoss-v6-clean-282/ https://newatlas .com/glen-curtiss-pioneer-aviator-land-speed-record-holder/46766/ https://www.cycletrader .com/listing/1997-Kannon-V6-5011207035
