Polaris Might Very Well Buy EBR

[Hughlysses]

The author admits this is pure speculation, but it's an interesting read:

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/po...ing-95718.html

[Scott]

I agree and I think it all depends on Polaris' goals.

When I look at the "Project 156" bike it reminds me of a XR1200 or maybe Buell. It looks to me like they're modifying an Indian Scout engine to make it higher performance and putting it in a sportier frame.

As we know from the Buell and XR1200, you can make a very fun bike around something like that . . . but you're not going to compete in WSBK.

Does Polaris want to take baby steps and introduce a higher performance bike that is much more fun than any Harley or Polaris or Indian, or do they want to jump in at the top level with a truly world-class sport-bike?

I suspect by now Polaris recognizes how difficult it will be to get to where EBR is, and if that is their ultimate goal, I suspect the price of EBR may be lower than what it would cost to build to that point in-house.

But they may be content with higher performance bikes that never get to that upper echelon - and that might be a very wise choice. People bought Buells without worrying if they could win WSBK and there was a nice niche there for a fun, sporty bike that didn't pretend to be competitive with Ducati. Now that Harley has abandoned that niche by discontinuing the XR1200, I see a market for Polaris there.

As I've said on other threads, I would love to see Polaris buy EBR, but whether or not they will seriously consider it I think depends on how ambitious they really are when it comes to sport bikes and how soon they want to have a top-performance model.

[Hughlysses]

I imagine whether there's anything to this or not, at least some former EBR employees will wind up (or have already wound up) at Polaris.

[Scott]

The top photo is the Project 156 engine. The bottom photo is the Scout engine. Am I wrong in thinking they look fairly similar and probably share some components, or is the appearance misleading and they're very different engines?


Attachment 388

[Hughlysses]

I'm not seeing your top photo, but I'm almost certain it's the same basic engine. Cams in the same place, heads/cylinders are same proportions, whatever the four rotating assemblies are on the right side of the engine match in position. I'd guess the Victory version is significantly lighter; it seems to have a good bit less "cosmetic" metal on it.

Here's a screen cap from the latest video showing the engine:

[GAC]

I love my SX
I love my Firebolt.
I love the RS bike from Indian. RS is an interesting
I think there could be a good marriage there.
I don't like what HD has become .