Intro Date for the SX?

[Hughlysses]

That's a patent for patent's sake. Why put all that weight into the swing arm, AND have to figure out how to deal with a reliable hose to duct hot exhaust gas subject to suspension movement?

Somehow, I doubt that with Buell's small staff they had time to be generating useless patents.

I don't think you'd necessarily be adding any weight to the swing arm. None of that baffle material has to be particularly heavy gauge and it would serve to stiffen the swing arm, possibly allowing material thickness (and weight) to be reduced elsewhere. Getting the exhaust from the engine to the swing arm would no doubt take some careful engineering. IIRC, the patent shows alternative rotary joint. It's not that hard to do.

You do it because it's better mass centralization, and some folks don't like to see a muffler/resonator hanging off the side of the bike. I have NO idea that EBR will actually do it; I'm just saying here's one way to get around having a muffler hanging off the side of the bike.

[Doosh]

Yea, I want hot exhaust gas running through my aluminum swingarm... ;) I've had Al wrapped exhaust cans fail often enough I know this isn't a good idea on a whole bunch of fronts.

Lots of companies spend a lot of time creating "useless" patents. It's mostly a defensive strategy in litigation protection for tech firms. We do it all the time and we are but 100 people.

It's a bad idea, but a novel invention...

[Hughlysses]

Well, whatever they do about the exhaust, here's an interesting comparison of the 1190RS and 1190RX radiators.

First, a pic of the 1190RS radiators I shot on one of the EBR race bikes at NOLA Motorsports Park last year:



Note how the radiators are cross-flow with complicated headers on each side. The tubes do not enter the tanks at 90 degrees which makes them difficult to fabricate.

Here's a shot of the front of an 1190RX taken at the show in Orlando last month. The water flow in these radiators is vertical and they're of much simpler construction. They don't "fit" the contours of the fairings tightly like the radiators on the 1190RS, but my guess is that they work just as well. The question is how do you work these with a "naked" bike? Will they have a covering similar to the Typhon, will they just hang out there in the open, or will they change to a different radiator design? Buell also had a patent for an under-seat radiator; that's another possibility.

[Scott]

Great photos! I suspect they will use some body work to cover them, though they could also develop a different radiator for the SX model.

I'm probably in the minority, but I don't see anything objectionable about the appearance of those radiators and hoses. I say let them hang out if the concern is only visual - though they may also need something to duct and direct the air-flow.

As for the swing-arm exhaust, to me it's a simple matter of: Does it work? and Does it save weight? If so, then I say do it. But if it's purely an aesthetic thing and doesn't improve performance, I'm not interested. And I wouldn't presume it doesn't work just because it seems like there would be issues. Let the testing determine that.

Many would have (and many did) poo-poo the idea of an aluminum frame wrapped around a hot engine containing fuel.

Lack of imagination and unwillingness to try new things have led to motorcycles that, despite refinements and fine-tuning, are very similar to what they were 30 years ago. Is that because there are really no better ways to do things or is it just a lack of imagination and unwillingness to take risk?

[Doosh]

Does it work? and Does it save weight? If so, then I say do it. But if it's purely an aesthetic thing and doesn't improve performance, I'm not interested. And I wouldn't presume it doesn't work just because it seems like there would be issues. Let the testing determine that

It would for for a little while. I doubt it saves weight, but would open up packaging options.

It adds unsprung weight. Also, there's a reason exhaust secondaries are not made of Aluminum. It deteriorates and fails in that application over not so much time. Aluminum is light and cheap, if it were a good exhaust material it would have been employed as such eons ago.

[Scott]

We've been talking about the exhaust patent, but there are also some interesting radiator patents here - with application dates after the Buell shut-down.

http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...FIELD2=&d=PG01