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Wretched Excess

A

AnchorHoy

Dec 29, 2008
523
37
New Jersey
#1
This is a thread about taking a basically cool idea to a truly ridiculous extreme

OP first:

Lots of people like Harleys. Most of 'em are powered by two cylinder aircooled engines with a displacement of up to 80 cubic inches or so. Some folks like to go the extra mile and bore and stroke their Harleys up to 100 cubic inches or (gasp) even a little more. A well tuned example of the latter is capable of making a glorious noise with a lot of bass frequency content. As a bass player, I like that :cool:

There are a few folks, however, who are simply not content with "normal" excess like a Big Inch Harley motor. For whatever reason, those people are virtually compelled to 'take it to the next level' and in so doing end up with something that is absolutely, mind-bogglingly, over-the-top. Below you will find an example of this phenomenon: an otherwise conventional chopper powered by a seven-cylinder radial aircraft engine that displaces 172 cubic inches



Now that my friends, is truly Wretched Excess

There is no doubt in my mind that many of you can think of other examples of the same phenomenon, not necessarily limited to motorcycles or even motor vehicles at all

I'd love to see them
 
#2
Not really an apples to apples comparison but:

I used to work in Oil & Gas & there was a lot of money being thrown around.

I was privy to the amounts being spent on our middle level managers & the amount of money being spent to keep these people around was incredible.

Just things I can think of off the top of my head:

Car for wife, Car & driver for boss
Schooling for all the kids, no matter how many they had.
Shipment of ALL their household goods from their home country
One guy even had stable fees paid for by the company, but he was the number 2 manager. Oh, his horses were imported from California too, which must have been crazy expensive.
Big house rented for them + maid + maid's quarters.
Only one guy was conscious of saving the company money, and his maid was his driver.
The average monthly cost for each of them was enough for a local person to retire on.
Oh, they also ordered whatever furniture or odds & ends they wanted from home & the company paid.
The prices they were paying for stuff back home was extortionate, and I realized pretty early on that these people they were buying things from at home were either good friends or even relatives.
When I brought up some of these issues to my boss, he told me that if I liked my job I would keep quiet about that & let the accountants figure it out for themselves.
 
#3
Wretched excess in miniature.

Conley Precision 6.09 C.I., miniature supercharged V8 in a top fuel rail chassis.



Or perhaps a mototcycle powered by a 302 V8 from Ford Racing would be more to your liking?

Invalid Link Removed
 
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#5
IIRC, it's not real chrome, but some sort of composite formula that Akzo Nobel cable up with.

I've only seen the Mercedes version in the flesh, when I was working in Dubai.

mclaren-chrome-paint-racing-cars-3.jpg
 
#6
I played a gig at Myrtle Beach bike week and a guy had a motorcycle with a 350 Chevy engine in it. He had it geared way down and it was still all he could do not to spin the rear tire when he took off.
 
#8
AnchorHoy said:
This is a thread about taking a basically cool idea to a truly ridiculous extreme

OP first:

Lots of people like Harleys. Most of 'em are powered by two cylinder aircooled engines with a displacement of up to 80 cubic inches or so. Some folks like to go the extra mile and bore and stroke their Harleys up to 100 cubic inches or (gasp) even a little more. A well tuned example of the latter is capable of making a glorious noise with a lot of bass frequency content. As a bass player, I like that :cool:

There are a few folks, however, who are simply not content with "normal" excess like a Big Inch Harley motor. For whatever reason, those people are virtually compelled to 'take it to the next level' and in so doing end up with something that is absolutely, mind-bogglingly, over-the-top. Below you will find an example of this phenomenon: an otherwise conventional chopper powered by a seven-cylinder radial aircraft engine that displaces 172 cubic inches



Now that my friends, is truly Wretched Excess

There is no doubt in my mind that many of you can think of other examples of the same phenomenon, not necessarily limited to motorcycles or even motor vehicles at all

I'd love to see them
Click to expand...

Only 172 c.i? What is the regular use for that?
 
#9
Harley Davidson has been making 110" stock motors for quite a while now. Not much horse power & torque compared to a well built 95" motor can do but still.

S&S Cycles have been making a 124" crate motor & hop up kit for well over 10 years and have come out with a 143" motor just recently.
 
#10
Downunderwonder said:
Only 172 c.i? What is the regular use for that?
Click to expand...

Small airplanes like cropdusters and other privately owned planes that still use radial piston engines

There's obviously a market for 'em since the Rotec used in that bike was developed fairly recently, and is in production right now

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 

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