Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Balls feels like a slightly punchier street~ ster, with the unfussy low-down traction of any road Hog that allows you to pull cleanly away from a standstill without even a spit-back from the lightaction flatsbde carb, which does however deliver a noticeably sharper throttle pickup, with instant response at any revs. Makes it feel very crisp and responsive to ride, rather than just a slugger. However, it's when the needle on the Sundance tacho hits four grand that you're made emphatically aware of just how much extra poke is being fed to this HyperHog's trotters. The strong surge of extra power obtained by Shibazaki's handiwork feels like a big hand just reached out and gave the bike a strong, hard shove when you hit the 4000 rpm mark- not enough to unhook the treaded rear Dunlop, but quite enough to.get your attention and realize this is golden power from a golden bike. Balls to.any thought of backing off the gas and short-shifting to stay in the. comfort zone: This is a bike that thrills and excites, makes you as hungry for revs as it is. Twist that wrist and feel the power increase strongly as the revs build, catapulting you down Tsukuba's short straight, eating stock Sportstel'S and Buell racers alive as it gobbles up the miles - yet still without any traditional Harley shake, rattle' n' roll even as the tacho nears the 7000-rev redline, and it's time to change up.. That's when you say heIlo tp the only disappointing element in the Golden Balls package: The one-up race-pattern left-foot gearshift is very uncertain at best and at worst, dangerous. Always rather stiff and imprecise, it was a lottery on almost any shift in either direction whether the gear would actually engage when you wanted it to - and if, once in, it'd stay in. Half a dozen times in my 25 laps on the bike I sailed into a comer in neutral - which is bad enough - only for the gear suddenly to engage, which is a whole lot worse and a great recipe for a high-side. Fortunately, the engine spins so freely and inertia is so greatly reduced on it that this never happened - but I can't recommend the experience! Shibazaki-san believes that this gear cluster came out of the Daytona Weapon parts box, and could be one of a batch of five-speed H-D transmissions which were subject to a factory recall in 1992. He plans to change it before riding the bike on the race track (Above) Extensive engine development has seen the horsepower output nearly double that put out by a stock 1200 Sportster. The engine now develops some 108 horsepower at 7000 rpm. (Right) The bike Is tilted with an upside-down Showa fork, but u _ the stock frame - although the chassis geometry has been altered for a more European riding position. again. Okay, but I'm not so sure the culprit isn't that very short reverse linkage to deliver the one-up shift pattern: Doesn't look to me as if there's enough leverage on the shift drum the way it's designed.... Sailing into turns in neutral - with or without the sudden engagement of .motive power - is an effective if rather unorthodox test of handling, and the Sundance-sorted Sportstet package shone. The bike steers incomparably better than a stock Harley, which if it's only a question of changing ~e chassis geometry, the factory should be able to aim at, too. Even though I found myself \yedged in place thanks to the close-coorpled riding stance and high footrests which discouraged hanging off the bike too much in turns, using some extra body English made the Sundancer steer so quickly I had a hard time remembering this was a Harley, complete with 18inch wheels. There aren't many bumps at Tsukuba, so within that context the twm-shock rear end worked very well, though that wasn't really a surprise: Those costly Quantums are by some way the trickeSt . conventional shocks you can buy. But it's the way that Golden Balls feels so small and nimble that did surprise me: You can't quite convince yourself this is really a Harley, especially with that smooth-revving engine that packs so much top-end punch - until you happen to glance to the right of the tank and see the carb peeping out from between the cylinders. It doesn't ever get remotely in the way of your knee in the same way a stock Harley's carb does - there's no air deaner, of course, which helps a lot but it's a trademark giveaway, just the same... That - and one other thing: the gorgeous rolling thunder of the Sundance stainless-steel 2-into-l exhaust system, quiet enough to past muster boulevarding down the Ginza, but sonorous enough to thrill once you get on the gas. Even without the extra 4 bhp it delivers, it'd still be a must-fit item. Same thing for the PVM brakes, which now that Brembo have apparently stopped making cast-iron discs - amazing: people supposedly complained because they rusted slightly in the rain - are a great alternative, delivering potent stopping power, even without resource to the Vtwin motor's meaty engine braking. And when you do brake hard for any of Tsukuba's sharp stops,.the upside-down Showa forks keep delivering good compliance, allowing you to trail brake into turns on the angle wi!hOiJt freezing up and chattering the front tixe. And the back end lays the power down well out of turns, delivering good traction to match the motor's tractability. This is a really well-sorted, competent chassis package to go with the potent Sundance engine: no wonder Springer was so complimentary. Wonder if he's put his order in for a repbca...? Because that's what Shibazaki-san is now able to do: They won't be cheap, but Sundance will build you a Golden Balls copy to special order and custom specification. This has to be the ultimate Harley hot rod - but made in Japan, not America! How ironic: While Honda works hard at trying to persuade American customers to buy fake Harleys with designed-in vibration to ape the feel of the real thing, here's the ultimate expression of that real McCoy - made in Japan as well, but done right. Milwaukee magic, delivered from Tokyo: Ain't the world a small place? cr SUndance Harley-Davidson Golden Balls SpeclIIcaIion EngIne ...............•......... air-cooled. pushrod. OHV 45-degree V-twin four-stroke DImeo .1 HI_ 88.8 x 96.8mm c.p.cllt, ',' .': '" "'" 1200cc .=~~I~'~ ~'.' ~ .':'.' ~:: ~.'.':'.'::.':::::':: ::~-::::::::::::: .108hp~ 7~,'it' e.tturedon .. 1 41 mm Keihin FeR flatslide with 3~ downdraft Sundance inlet manifold ignition Screamin' Eagle electronic COl with 12-1I01t battery T I..I." S-speed with Syncroflex belt-primary drive CIuech . . ...........••..•.................. Sundance Bandit five.place Kevtar oII-bath a.-.Ja : tubular steel. doubIe·cradle frame SUIFln.aa F.43mm Showa inverted telescopIC: fori< Heed....... .. .. fabricated·a1uminum SWIngarm with ....r " T . ._lb••• ........................ , Weight Weight dIatrlbullon tWo Quantum shocks 24 degrees 95mm 1420rnm 440 pounds in streettrim"/429 pounds in race trim 52/48% Bra.... F...... 2 x 320mm PVM cast lron·dlacs with four.piston AP calipers 1 x 280mm Brembo cast·iron dlac with four-piston Brembo caliper . WMeIaI. . . F_ .... . Top Speed V_of I c. 0.- _ " . .. n Dunlop mounted on 3.50 x 17 PVM cast-magnesium wheel Dunlop mounted on 4.50 x 17 PVM cast-magneslum wheel 150.04 mph

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