CURTISS P40 WARHAWK FINAL EDITION
R I D E R E V I E W
P64
This mechanical package also
incorporates Curtiss's own stacked-
shaft five-speed gearbox with
Andrews gears—a format which
the Company Formerly Known As
Confederate was the first to employ
in 1995, two years before Yamaha
supposedly invented it on the R1.
This is mounted in a fully-machined
transmission housing bolted directly
to the back of the X-Wedge motor, to
create a tight unit-construction entity.
A short 1-3/4-inch wide belt primary
drive is mounted on the left, matched
to a hydraulically-operated Bandit dry
clutch, and with chain final drive on
the right rather than by belt, because
of the massive amount of torque on
tap. The Warhawk's version of the
motor has been tuned to deliver
serious horsepower and immense
grunt in a fully street-legal package,
and then some, for according to Matt
Chambers, it features a little more
performance than before, in a subtly
revamped package.
"This is the ultimate high-perfor-
mance V-twin motorcycle, as befits
the first and last such model to carry
Mr. Curtiss' name for the first time in
110 years," says Matt Chambers. "We
have six horsepower more from this
billet motor which runs stronger than
before, and is now happy to pull to
6200 rpm, 200 revs more than previ-
ously. That's because we have a new
camshaft design which enhances
top-end performance – yet we have
the same highly developed torque
available as before, peaking very
low down. So, we have more on one
hand, without losing any on the other."
The 156 hp at 5500 rpm produced
at the rear wheel by the Warhawk's
X-Wedge engine is four percent up
on the Bomber's tune, says Cham-
bers, plus there's the same truly
humungous 165 ft-lb of torque on
tap at just 2000 rpm. The era of the
great American muscle bikes may be
ending, but they won't be forgotten—
especially not by anyone fortunate
enough to have ridden one.
THE WARHAWK
ARCHITECTURE
The Final Edition of the Warhawk
has also been revamped architectur-
ally, too, with Curtiss in-house de-
signer Jordan Cornille subtly enhanc-
ing the overall appearance, with the
Despite the rather wide
and flat rear tire, the
P40 Warhawk steers
surprisingly well.
