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I was in Reno at the rally in Sept 2001 with a Big Brute that I left there with Clark Williford after,,,maybe it was me you saw there Aldo???
Big Brute motorcycles
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I saw the Big Brute that year out in front of Silver Legacy. The guy that was on it wanted to impress me (I was riding my Boss Hoss) so he started up the Brute and did a standing still (with the front brake on) burn out. About 1/2 way thro the burn out the Cops walked up and wanted to know if he wanted to go to jail.
He got lucky and they let him go. He lived some where in the Bay area. I am sure it was Clark.
Adrian
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Adrian,
I left Reno early Sunday morning that year and left the Big Brute with
Clark as he had bought it before I went to Reno....maybe he did that burnout Sunday or the next year as I only went in 2001..and I was on the poker run Saturday that toured the cat houses..that was cool for a guy from the Prairies!
While there he left me ride the bike for 3 days while he rode his older Boss Hoss.
He probably did the burnout Sunday as I had the bike Thursday Friday and Saturday and I never misbehaved.
The Big Brute must have had lower gearing because they could EASILY turn the tire at 15 mph with a 350 which I could never do with any 350 Hoss.
Mike...it almost cost me $40,000 for all that knowledge....almost
I left Reno early Sunday morning that year and left the Big Brute with
Clark as he had bought it before I went to Reno....maybe he did that burnout Sunday or the next year as I only went in 2001..and I was on the poker run Saturday that toured the cat houses..that was cool for a guy from the Prairies!
While there he left me ride the bike for 3 days while he rode his older Boss Hoss.
He probably did the burnout Sunday as I had the bike Thursday Friday and Saturday and I never misbehaved.
The Big Brute must have had lower gearing because they could EASILY turn the tire at 15 mph with a 350 which I could never do with any 350 Hoss.
Mike...it almost cost me $40,000 for all that knowledge....almost
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Aldo..the red one was me I beleive
I Own A Big Brute
I purchased mine from a dealer in 2000 ish. Do not remember the exact date.
I had ridden Boss Hoss bikes at Sturgis at Spearfish two years in a row. I have 400,000 miles on bikes, mostly GoldWings. The Boss Hoss just did not feel comfortable. Kind of like a had a death wish ridding it. Not what I would say a well balanced machine. In a parking lot doing slow turns felt acquard and at 70mph on the Interstate, it just felt dangerous. The bike felt top heavy.
The Big Brute is more comfortable in a parking lot than my GoldWings and on the throttle, I was never afraid of the Big Brute. I have had mine so fast, no state would ever again let me have a drivers licence if they pulled me over. In fact, I took the wind shield off to make me slow down.
It broke a dyno at Star City Motor Sports in Lincoln Nebraska rated at 500 HP. The last recorded speed when the dyno shut down was 189. Still have the print out.
Vic has always been straight with me. He even sent a guy around the country here in the states to work on all the bikes that was having problems, mine included. I had a tranny problem he fixed.
I redid mine several years ago to make it look better. Vic's design had a 1950's look to it I did not enjoy after a few years looking at it.
I purchased mine from a dealer in 2000 ish. Do not remember the exact date.
I had ridden Boss Hoss bikes at Sturgis at Spearfish two years in a row. I have 400,000 miles on bikes, mostly GoldWings. The Boss Hoss just did not feel comfortable. Kind of like a had a death wish ridding it. Not what I would say a well balanced machine. In a parking lot doing slow turns felt acquard and at 70mph on the Interstate, it just felt dangerous. The bike felt top heavy.
The Big Brute is more comfortable in a parking lot than my GoldWings and on the throttle, I was never afraid of the Big Brute. I have had mine so fast, no state would ever again let me have a drivers licence if they pulled me over. In fact, I took the wind shield off to make me slow down.
It broke a dyno at Star City Motor Sports in Lincoln Nebraska rated at 500 HP. The last recorded speed when the dyno shut down was 189. Still have the print out.
Vic has always been straight with me. He even sent a guy around the country here in the states to work on all the bikes that was having problems, mine included. I had a tranny problem he fixed.
I redid mine several years ago to make it look better. Vic's design had a 1950's look to it I did not enjoy after a few years looking at it.
Two pictures of my Big Brute, that does not look like it did when Vic sold it. It has won best in show with hundreds of bikes entered, and it has been a pleasure to own most of the time I have owned it. One flaw, the battery is too close to the headers. Go through a battery every year as it gets too hot. I lowered the seat, split the tanks another 4" apart and put two 4 barrel carbs on top of a high rise intake. Makes the bike look like no other bike in the world. One of a kind. the forum ate my first post, feel free to post it if a moderator finds it.
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HOLY CRAP GARY!!!! 10 years later I beleive we meet again...
I beleive It is me. You are the fellow I sold the bike to and I met you with it in Spearfish near Sturgis as I offered to meet you halfway and we exchanged cash and the bike and then you also bought my trailer because you likef it...wow!!
It has to be you becauase I sold it to a guy in the US with a Tattoo shop and you own a Tatoo shop..
SMALL SMALL WORLD..it just blows me away!
You have been a member here for 3 years and we finally realize we did business with V8 bikes.
I sold 3 of these to the US..you, Clark Williford, and now I can't remember where the 3rd went?
Thanks for posting the pics...the Big Brute looks way cool.:cheers:
I beleive It is me. You are the fellow I sold the bike to and I met you with it in Spearfish near Sturgis as I offered to meet you halfway and we exchanged cash and the bike and then you also bought my trailer because you likef it...wow!!
It has to be you becauase I sold it to a guy in the US with a Tattoo shop and you own a Tatoo shop..
SMALL SMALL WORLD..it just blows me away!
You have been a member here for 3 years and we finally realize we did business with V8 bikes.
I sold 3 of these to the US..you, Clark Williford, and now I can't remember where the 3rd went?
Thanks for posting the pics...the Big Brute looks way cool.:cheers:
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ALSO...
Everybody please take note of the swingarm and how it meets up front to a billet block. That billet block has the tranny shaft run thru it with a big bearing. So that block is a tranny shaft support ( NO MORE SHAFT FLEX!) and a swingarm support so that the swingarm pivets on the tranny shaft and the BELT NEVER CHANGES TENSION! There is the same setup on the other side.
No worn out brass bushings and uneven belt tension.
These are the kinds of engineering things I was speaking about in this trhead earlier.
Everybody please take note of the swingarm and how it meets up front to a billet block. That billet block has the tranny shaft run thru it with a big bearing. So that block is a tranny shaft support ( NO MORE SHAFT FLEX!) and a swingarm support so that the swingarm pivets on the tranny shaft and the BELT NEVER CHANGES TENSION! There is the same setup on the other side.
No worn out brass bushings and uneven belt tension.
These are the kinds of engineering things I was speaking about in this trhead earlier.
I kept that trailer for several years, but I got tired of no ramp and traded it for a 4 tire trailer with a ramp.
The big brute as sold to me was just not what my eyes wanted after I looked at it several years. So I split the tanks 4" apart, put on a high rise dual carb intake and put on a pair of 4 barrel carbs. That beefed up the look without really doing much to the function, except doing away with the ability to do easy burn-outs. The low end torque dropped off to the point the tires now only smoke when the bike is already moving.
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Hi Gary,
Just curious...... does your insurance company recognize the big Brute as a production bike in the states or do they classify it as a custom?
Just curious...... does your insurance company recognize the big Brute as a production bike in the states or do they classify it as a custom?
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You are right...we did meet in Rapid City...
It is really nice to see a Big Brute on the road. I beleive there were less than 15 ever made and I bought and sold 3 of them...all to the US.
Tranny ever give you any grief??
Matt...Vic had told me he was working on the DOT for Canada and US when I signed up as Western Canadian Rep but I don't think he ever started the process.
It is really nice to see a Big Brute on the road. I beleive there were less than 15 ever made and I bought and sold 3 of them...all to the US.
Tranny ever give you any grief??
Matt...Vic had told me he was working on the DOT for Canada and US when I signed up as Western Canadian Rep but I don't think he ever started the process.
Trany grief? Good lord!
Well, after I had the bike about a week , someone I barely knew decided it was the thing to do, dyno the beast. Friend of an employee of mine. The dyno was rated at 500 hp. Well at 189 mph my bike killed the dyno but not before balloning the back tire. The tire increased about a foot! I saw it. All the tie down straps (10 of them front & back) all held and if the dyno had not died when it did the tire would have geranaded and the guy on the bike would have been toast.
The tire bent the mono spring and it broke months later on a pleasure ride. When it broke it went through the trany and messed up the solenoids as well. The repairs tools months as I recall. Took weeks just to find someone to work on it. Never got reverse back. No one locally can figure out how it works. Trany still drips fluid. Sometimes all the fluid is just gone like it was all pumped out. No one can figure that our either. Vic offered to repair it if I sent it to him but a basket of parts with no transmission is not what I am wanting to be stuck with and sending a prototype one of 15 away and not knowing if I will ever see it again is not something I can do. It all works except reverse and fluid is easy to come by.
The bike is a real head turner and that is good enough for me. Someday I may redo all the aluminum and chrome in black carbon fiber.
Well, after I had the bike about a week , someone I barely knew decided it was the thing to do, dyno the beast. Friend of an employee of mine. The dyno was rated at 500 hp. Well at 189 mph my bike killed the dyno but not before balloning the back tire. The tire increased about a foot! I saw it. All the tie down straps (10 of them front & back) all held and if the dyno had not died when it did the tire would have geranaded and the guy on the bike would have been toast.
The tire bent the mono spring and it broke months later on a pleasure ride. When it broke it went through the trany and messed up the solenoids as well. The repairs tools months as I recall. Took weeks just to find someone to work on it. Never got reverse back. No one locally can figure out how it works. Trany still drips fluid. Sometimes all the fluid is just gone like it was all pumped out. No one can figure that our either. Vic offered to repair it if I sent it to him but a basket of parts with no transmission is not what I am wanting to be stuck with and sending a prototype one of 15 away and not knowing if I will ever see it again is not something I can do. It all works except reverse and fluid is easy to come by.
The bike is a real head turner and that is good enough for me. Someday I may redo all the aluminum and chrome in black carbon fiber.
Vic told me the dot stuff was all submitted and approved. I got the impression family issues killed the project more than anything else. He had people working for him on a volunteer basis to help keep the fires going one of the insiders told me on the phone.
I think the styling killed the bike as much as anything. When Arnold S came out to compete he did not do so wrapped in a sheet. So much of the bike was hidden under useless fiberglass. The fenders were too big, the trany and radiator were almost totally hidden. You could see more driveline components on a corvette.
I think the styling killed the bike as much as anything. When Arnold S came out to compete he did not do so wrapped in a sheet. So much of the bike was hidden under useless fiberglass. The fenders were too big, the trany and radiator were almost totally hidden. You could see more driveline components on a corvette.
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I remember seeing a red one being ridden by a short guy around where I live, years ago. He had Baker-type red wings on it and had it tarted up a bit. Never liked the look of it then...... looked too peace-meal. It was a shame that a fellow Canuck couldn't have done "right" with his customers. I have to admit that I DO like the look of what you have done with yours. I still can't get my head around how spindly the swingarm looks though. I'm sure its a good design and up to the task but it looks like bicycle pump tubing.
Nice to have another V8 brand on the board!!!
Nice to have another V8 brand on the board!!!
I asked Vic to make me a longer one with a wheele bar built into it. I wanted a place (still do) to store a larger battery. Thought about putting inside a parachute box. The bike is so far from practical anyway, why not? I also have two large nos bottles I would mount on it. Vic turned me down. Said he was too busy.
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Maybe talk to Jeff H./ Doc Joe on the board. You'd be closer to Jeff anyways...
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