Hunwick Hallam
With a mixture of high-tech lilt and superspeedway "bark," Australia's first locally designed and built high performance motorcycle has thundered into life. The effort of a small team headed by leading Australian motorcycle and automotive retailer Rod Hunwick and world recognized race engineer Paul Hallam, the fuel-injected DOHC 90-degree V-twin has been under development for almost three years. Designed by Hallam, the powerplant will initially be constructed in three distinct versions. These in turn will power a three-bike model range built in Australia and marketed under the Hunwick Hallam banner.
Australia's first locally designed and built high performance motorcycle has thundered into life.
It is planned that the first motorcycle to wear their distinctive HH logo will be the 1350cc BOSS V-Power Cruiser. This will be followed by a 1000cc X1R Sportsbike that will feature Formula One-style pneumatic valve actuation and be eligible for the World Superbike Championship. The final model in the line-up will be an unfaired 1100cc Rage streetrod. Both power cruiser and Superbike versions of the engine have undergone extensive dyno testing and are registering competitive levels of horsepower in their intended roles.
Many people have likened the Hunwick Hallam to New Zealand's Britten, however the two Australians responsible for this machine had higher aims than to build just one, or even a handful of bikes. "We have kept the development and design of the engines secret," said project pioneer Rod Hunwick, "However, the whole Hunwick Hallam project has reached the stage that we can make public some of our efforts."
"What Paul (Hallam) has designed and we have produced is a world class powerplant -- in its various versions it is the first step to producing a range of motorcycles that we believe will take on the world's best," added Hunwick. Details of the innovative eight-valve 1350cc power cruiser powerplant include a 102.5 x 82mm bore and stroke, sequential electronic fuel-injection and an ultra-compact cylinder-head design featuring Hallam's own Axial Targeted Combustion process.
"We set out to design the world's best four-stroke motorcycle powerplant," designer and engineer Hallam said. "Taking the best from all facets of combustion engineering, the engines are both innovative and practical. The elemental design has the potential to provide quite astonishing figures -- both versions are already producing more horsepower than their potential competitors," Hallam revealed
These guys are intent on taking on the world.
Production documentation and tooling is also well advanced. Already the BOSS V-Power Cruiser is a running concern in prototype form, with final testing and compliance with Australian Design Rules a priority. The 1350cc 90-degree V-twin BOSS cruiser is set to offer significant performance increases for the power-cruiser market. Handling and styling won't disappoint either.
Excelsior Henderson to come back? However, the bike everybody wanted to see was the X1R Superbike. Former Australian Superbike Champion Mal Campbell has assumed the role of race/test rider for Hunwick Hallam, and completed the first laps ever ridden on the bike recently between races at Phillip Island during the 1997 World Superbike event there. The World Superbike Championship-eligible powerplant that is (literally) the backbone of this motorcycle, will offer features previously found only in Formula One car racing.
"While the Australian market is important, we believe that most of our production will be for export," stated Hunwick "The demand for high quality, innovative and exciting motorcycles is increasing worldwide. This is a very important project in a number of ways. Hunwick Hallam will showcase both the design talent of Paul and our team, and Australia's manufacturing industry as a whole." At this stage no firm roll-out date has been set for the first of the Hunwick Hallam models, however Hunwick said design and construction is well advanced. "Our Sydney based team is well down the road to completing our initial prototype program," Hunwick revealed. "We're in the business of producing motorcycles, not design exercises. No embargo."
More by Ken Edwards, Australian Desk
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