Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128092
Hunwick Harrop Phantom 1500 LIke It? The HwMlck II8rTop PUntom 1800 Is comlng to America • • tile 1aIielnet· from tile . . . . . of tile 8rdneY Harbor. For tile 8US 411. It cI .1 lilli, thIIt's ... .,....., 0pw8 . - - .... ..................... In ... ~ er-a mance motorcycles powered by their own liquid-cooled gO-degree V-twin engine - made in Australia. Such were the dramatic looks and leading-edge technology of the series of prototypes of unmistakable allure produced by HH that they might very well have come from the drawing board of an Italian company, so fresh and innovative were they in their design. And it's the reappearance of this potent engine - replete with innovative design details in a strikinglooking power-cruiser called the Phantom 1500 - that will most likely have sportbike riders yearning to tum back the clock and get Hunwick Hallam working again: Especially, the shark-nosed XIR, which in prototype guise was a proven race winner in the hotbed of Australian Superbike competition. Sadly, plans to bring street versions of the XIR to market floundered with the break-up of the HH partnership. "We had separate agendas which ultimately proved incompatible," By ALAN CATHCART PHOTOS BY PAUL BARSHON .... ny motorcycle-minded visitors to ~Iast year's Sydney Olympics sit- ting in the upper tiers of the Olympic Stadium needed only to glance over their shoulders to get a birds-eye view of the secret home of the small but sophisticated Australian motorcycle industry's latest and most exciting product. For in its neat, freshly built factory, a stone's throwaway in the Northmead suburb of Australia's most famous city, a new addition to the world roster of bike brands is about to come on line - figuratively as well as literally: Hunwick Harrop. If the name sounds familiar but you think you've spotted a misprint, think again - for Hunwick Harrop has indeed grown out of Hunwick Hallam, the seemingly promising, well publicized partnership founded six years ago between ~ustralia's leading retail motorcycle dealer, Rod Hunwick, and engineer Paul Hallam, to develop and launch a high-end range of perfor- 14 FEBRUARY 21,2001 • cue • _ n __ s explains 43-year old Rod Hunwick, the driving force behind the project and a committed motorcyclist turned ultra-successful entrepreneur, a veteran of 24 years in the motorcycle business, whose Action Motorcycles Group is number one in Australia for sales of Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki two-wheelers, as well as many European brands, and Suzuki cars. "Paul's emphasis was on performance engineering, whereas my focus was, and is, on developing street motorcycles for volume production, and to bring them to the market for world consumption. Australia has a lot to offer in the way of engineering expertise and technological skill, which I believe deserves to find a wider public - and the fact we've started with a clean sheet of paper means we can develop a cruiser featuring innovative engineering and imaginative styling, without being accused of jettisoning decades of tradition. The chance to develop a global brand name around Australian-built products was too good to miss - not only because this is a country on the move, but also because of the massive growth in world recognition that events like the Sydney Olympics and the America's Cup have brought in their wake for this part of the world. We have a long-term investment strategy targeted at riding the wave of the baby boomer generation's appetite for lifestyle products that enhance selfesteem and create good quality leisure time - products which promote individuality, and make the customers feel good about themselves. That's the whole purpose underpinning the creation of the Phantom 1500." It's a philosophy evidently shared by the prestigious Japanese investment bank Nomura, which has underwritten the development costs and production start-up of the Phantom 1500 in return for a stake in the equity when Hunwick floats the company on the stock market, an operation scheduled to take place within the next 18 months.