Jack

Anir:

I can't argue with your logic. You've got a great combo right now.

Sam N

Viken,

One of the people I ride with did mention something about Porsche Racing/Engineering? collaborating and/or researching design and development with Ducati. I never researched further and have not gotten any definitive answers. I asked the Ducati rep for Baitley Cycles in Northern Virginia and he couldn't provide any more info. Not sure if this was to create a Porsche sportbike, along the lines of the BMW K bike? Sounded interesting. Ducati has a rich heritage so it makes sense that Porsche would look to them.

Anir - sorry to hear about your spill. I would agree with one of the posters who said that it sounded like you downshifted during the corner, which resulted in abrupt deacceleration and possible lockup. I always try to set myself up before the corner in terms of correct gear and braking and then keep steady throttle with a slight rolling action as I exit. This tends to not upset the balance and gives you nice traction while the rear is firmly planted. One instructor always yelled at me, smoothness equals speed. Easier said than done. I've always learned from my own mistakes. Hope you make a full recovery. You will be a better rider if nothing else. Good luck!

Regards,
Sam

Viken

The information I got and it is not necessarily reliable, is that Ducati had commissioned Porsche's engineering department for some work on their bikes.

Ran

Ha...No coincidence - perhaps the engineers/mrketing/branding guys met and came up with the 996 number

Greg Fishman

Viken,
Can you confirm that Porsche did work for Harley Davidson? I had heard that Porsche help Harley design their transmission to lessen the noise and help them meet noise restrictions, especially in Europe.
Thanks
Greg

Ran

http://www.americanmotor.com/news.cfm?newsid=9

http://kansascity.bcentral.com/kansa...07/story1.html

http://www.oregonpca.org/Library/Marketing/harley.htm

And this one is a bit more interesting...two water cool enthusiasts getting together..

http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcharle...tercooled.html

SundayDriver

Porsche and Harley-Davidson - Here is the one and only case where I bet I know more than Viken :

Around 1980, Harley-Davidson set out to develop a new family of motorcycles. They contracted the engine development to Porsche. Ultimately, the project was killed off due to the investment level required, but the whole design was pretty cool - lot's of high tech (at least for H-D). The design team at Porsche, was part of special engineering, led by Hans Mezger, the man who lead the design of the turbo 917, etc. The H-D team was lead by Mike Hillman (as I recall), who had been the team manager at UOP Shadow.

The reason I have this info is that I was part of the team at H-D. Hired to do the fuel systems work and left H-D when they canned the project. There is more joint work that happened later and acutally went into production.

[ 06-19-2001: Message edited by: Mark D - 993TT ]

[ 06-19-2001: Message edited by: Mark D - 993TT ]

Greg Fishman

Ran,
Thanks for the info. I guess this is old news.