Ok I may have been confused way back, on the API / Boss Hoss origional two speed tranny design issue ? I was thinking that Vic R. was contacted by Monte to design a new tranny, which he did ! But did Monty want exclusive rights to it, and Vic wanted to market his design also ? So Monte went else where, hence Nesco ? Please correct me here, Thanks, Craig H.
Monte met Vic in Dayton in '98 I beleive.
Monty told Vic that he wished he had an automatic tranny for the Boss Hoss.
Vic told hin...no problem...he could do it and so Monte gave him $50,000 to develop.
When compelte Monte sent a Boss Hoss to Toronto to install the tranny into and Monte went up after and demo rode it...it was exactlywhat he wanted.
According to Vic.... Monte then seemed to want to just take the tranny design South and run with it kind of keeping Vic out of the loop of profits.
According to Monte...Vic saw $$$$ and wanted to up the price of each tranny from the original deal.
I believe Monte fully...they parted ways
There was a court battle of sorts and Monte left with the Boss Hoss and no tranny and Vic was left holding a tranny with no V8 bike for it.
Monte then found Nesco who in a short time gave Monte the automatic tranny he was advertising already when he thought there was a deal with Vic...albeit a 1 speed.
Vic thought he would beat Monte at his own game and develop his own V8 bike around his tranny...he built about 15 bikes of which I owned 3 and screwed enough people on different things that nobody wanted to deal with him anymore...even his son who was building the bikes.
I beleive that the Big Brute bike as a whole was a better designed bike compared to the Boss Hoss at the same time...lots of cool engineering things that I noticed were not there when I bought my first Hoss.
Here are a few of the design things I liked and noticed:
- all the gages were in a panel on the tank that came off with about 4 1/4 turn zurks screws and you could take that panel and lay it on a table beside the bike while still attached...there was enough wiring...2 minute job
- the gas tank then was removed by 2 screws at the back and it fit up front with 2 front facing U supports that it just slid into and the gas tank now could also be laid on a table beside the bike without disconeecting..easy to work on gages or the tank or the carb...2 minute job
- the swingarm pivot points were in complete alignment with the tranny output shaft whcih meant the when the swingarm moved with the suspension the belt was always the same tension...AND the wningarm pivot points had 2 - 21/2 inch bearings...that's right...actual bearings.
- the alternator was above the frame...not below and was looking cleaner and out of the water.
- the tranny was electrically shifted with solenoids...the high/low light switch was where you shfted the tranny...quite unique...then the lhigh/low light switch was actually a car dimmer switch beside the floorboards.
like I said...lots of good engineering designs...Vic should have been locked in a room and then slid all his designs under the door to the outside world and NEVER should have run the company.
