Hunwick Harrup 1500

Any motorcycle-minded visitors to last year's Sydney Olympics needed only to glance over their shoulders from the upper tier at the Stadium to get a birdseye view of the secret home of the small but sophisticated Australian motorcycle industry's latest and most exciting product. For in its smart, freshly-built factory in Northmead, a new addition to the world roster of bike marques 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-publicised partnership founded six years ago between Australia's leading retail motorcycle dealer, Rod Hunwick, and engineer Paul Hallam. That partnership set out to develop and launch a high-end range of performance motorcycles powered by HH's own liquid-cooled 90-degree V-twin engine.

DRAMATIC LOOKS
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 the Phantom 1500, that will most likely have sportsbike riders yearning to turn back the clock and get Hunwick Hallam working again on the best known of these - the shark-nosed X1R, which in prototype guise was a race winner Down Under. Sadly, plans to bring street versions of the X1R to market foundered with the break-up of the HH partnership.

"We had separate agendas which ultimately proved incompatible," explains 43-year-old Rod Hunwick, the driving force behind the project and a committed motorcyclist turned ultra-successful entrepreneur. Hunwick is a veteran of 24 years in the motorcycle business, whose Action Motorcycles Group is national number one in Australia for retail motorcycle sales, as well as Suzuki cars.

CLEAN-SHEET DESIGN
"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," says Hunwick. "The fact we've started with a clean sheet of paper means we can develop a cruiser featuring innovative engineering and imaginative styling. "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 - 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 sometime within the next 18 months. Before, that, the American motorcycle market is about to act as the key test of the Hunwick brand of Antipodean commercial savvy - for the Indianapolis Dealer Show opening in mid-February will see the 'public' launch of the 100 percent Australian-built Hunwick Harrop Phantom 1500 Super Cruiser, to give the bike its official name.

HH ALLIANCE
The born-again HH manufacturing company is in fact formed by an alliance between Hunwick and the well-established Melbourne-based automotive engineering firm owned by the Harrop family, a main supplier to both Ford and Holden. Working as a supplier to the HH company, in which Hunwick retains 100 percent financial control, Harrop will construct the engines for the Phantom in Victoria. The powerplants will then be transported to the HH factory in Sydney for assembly into complete motorcycles. There are 325 HH Phantoms scheduled to be manufactured in the upcoming start-up year, as the beginning of a gradual build-up in production numbers. Production is not planned to exceed a four-figure annual figure. "These are high-end, bespoke products," says Hunwick, "which by their very nature will appeal to more sophisticated, performance-oriented cruiser customers".

"Our market is people who seek an individual product, featuring up-to-the-minute design and engineering, instead of a style-conscious, neo-vintage mechancial package. "They'll be looking for something that has greater reserves of performance than a Harley or any of its clones, yet can also be ridden more slowly in a relaxed, carefree manner". "We aim to offer the best of both worlds for the cruiser customer - and at our home market price of $38,900 we think we have a competitive product that looks good and performs well."

SWOOPY AND SLEAK
Well, he would say that wouldn't he, you think to yourself as you walk into the R&D shop of the HH assembly plant, expecting to see a slightly warmed-over version of a Yamaha DragStar or Victory V92SC sportcruiser. But then you're halted in your step, suddenly confronted with what even a hardened Hog herder would have to admit is surely the most visually striking, dramatically-styled American-style motorcycle you ever clapped eyes on outside of an Arlen Ness two-wheeled art show.

The Phantom of the (Sydney) Opera is swoopy, streamlined, but also sleek - a real cruiser with class, whose visual impact in the metal is such that you're irresistibly reminded of the first time you ever saw a 916 Ducati, the moment when all other sportsbikes were suddenly second best. Well, welcome to the 916 of the sportscruiser category: the Indy Show will herald the birth of what promises to be a striking new star in the cruiser-class galaxy.

The Phantom has been entirely styled in-house at Hunwick Harrop, and will be available for order over the internet from 0900hrs Sydney time on February 12. That's when the existing Hunwick Harrop website (www.hunwickharrop.com) will be upgraded to a real time interactive communication medium aimed at linking customers and dealers directly to the factory as part of Rod Hunwick's so far unique means of marketing an entire range of motorcycles (see separate breakout panel on page 48).

IN AT THE DEEP END
This imaginative internet marketing strategy is however predicated on the Phantom 1500 meeting EPA conditions for sale in the USA - and the fact that Hunwick has chosen to invest the substantial sum entailed in obtaining that homologation, as well as the expensive but necessary product liability insurance, shows how serious is he about making this work in his target American market.

But why jump in at the deep end, and aim at launching the Phantom in the US, given the substantial costs, and time, that presumably got eaten up getting provisional EPA approval (final homologation depends on submitting a production motorcycle to prove you made it the way you said you would)? "America is the biggest global market for cruisers, so we had to do it here or not at all," answers Hunwick. "But our engine was designed with modern technology - it's fuel injected, has an engine management system, four-valve heads and liquid cooling, and all this makes it relatively straightforward for us to obtain EPA approval. Certainly easier than most of the other cruiser manufacturers out there..."

BOSS BEGINNINGS
Modern is the right description of the Phantom's 90-degree V-twin engineering package, based in turn on the original Hunwick Hallam prototype of four years ago, the 1300cc Boss Power Cruiser. The fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, 90-degree V-twin wet-sump engine sports four-valve cylinder-heads with belt-driven double overhead cams, and has been completely re-engineered by Harrop for installation in the Phantom. In the process, the dimensions have been punched out from 1385cc to 1493cc (measuring 101.6mm x 92.075 mm) - or 91.1 cubic inches in real American money.

In this form, fitted with Australian-made MoTeC EFI incorporating dual 45mm throttles in a single body, full sequential mapping and a single injector per cylinder, the Phantom is claimed to produce a far from ghostly 102ps at 6250rpm at the rear wheel, and a massive 13.98kg-m (101ft/lb) of torque, at just 4250rpm. It runs 9.25:1 compression and thus uses regular unleaded fuel. That the Phantom's output is well down from the 997cc X1R, which produced over 150ps running on 13.8:1 compression and race fuel, augurs well for the cruiser engine's real-world longevity, as well as its performance potential, even in stock guise. Compare the Phantom 1500's dyno numbers with those of a Harley Twin Cam 88 of similar engine capacity, which produces about 64ps and 10.66kg-m (77ft/lbs) of torque. Pigs may will fly before a stock Hog outruns or outpulls the Phantom...

WHAT CHASSIS?
The Phantom's engine is fitted with an integral five-speed gearbox with gear primary drive, and a wet multiplate hydraulic clutch, and acts as more than just a fully-stressed member in the bike's unique frame layout: the engine is the chassis. The rectangular steel swingarm pivots in the rear of the crankcases and is controlled by a single Koni shock bereft of linkage.

Up front the hefty 51mm Paioli forks (derived from the Italian firm's same-size front-end fitted to the Bimota YB11) are attached to the engine by means of a U-shaped aluminium casting bolted to the front cylinder and the upper part of the crankcases, between the vee of the cylinders. Twin 320mm French-made Beringer front discs are gripped by four-pot calipers made by Harrop, which is also responsible for the handsome cast alloy wheels. These are both 17-inch, with the rear sporting an R1-esque 6.00-inch wide rim. Both rims are fitted with Dunlop D207 sportsbike rubber, the rear a 180/55ZR17 cover that would not disgrace a leading edge Supersport contender. It's a cruiser, Jim - but not as we know it...

HOPPING ABOARD
That conclusion was reinforced when I hopped aboard the Phantom for an afternoon cruise round the highways and byways of western Sydney. That included a handful of laps of Parramatta Park, the local version of Hyde Park or the Bois de Boulogne, whose perimeter road once served as a popular racetrack for Formula One Maseratis and the like back in the 1950s.

It wouldn't take much for the Phantom to follow in their wheeltracks nowadays at just about the same pace. For once you've cranked the engine into life and it's settled down to that unmistakable trademark lilt of a 90-degree V-twin, you're aware there are reserves of performance just waiting to be tapped, once the road opens up and the traffic cameras disappear. Yet just loping around the streets, the Phantom is extremely relaxing and easy to ride - that laid back riding stance isn't too extreme. Your right leg also doesn't need to splay permanently outwards to avoid the airbox, such as on those motorcycles of the porcine persuasion, and this makes riding at speed much more comfortable, as well as giving more control in turns.

HOLD ON TIGHT...
The wide-spread handlebars sprouting up from the top of the Paioli stanchions give a smooth and graceful look to the front end, and are also congenial to hold on to - though you do have to grip them tightly when you crank that light-action throttle wide open, and give the Phantom its head. In spite of those big, heavy pistons and the meaty, wedge-shaped flywheels, the HH engine spins up much faster than one of its pushrod American rivals, though pickup from a closed throttle is rather abrupt and it's quite hard to get back on it again without the jerky response typical of motorcycle EFI, which even MoTec's sophisticated mapping hasn't so far eradicated. A Triumph/Aprilia/Benelli Sagem EFI package feels smoother in its pickup - but HH R&D is still ongoing, and Hunwick says they're working on this final refinement.

MISSING SNATCH
However, the Phantom accelerates smoothly from as low as about 1800rpm or 50kmh in top gear without transmission snatch, according to the clean-looking instrument cluster (no tacho, though) atop the tank. Except that it's not the tank - that's the cover for the airbox, and the 15.5lt fuel load is beneath the seat.

This low down weight and the kicked-out steering geometry, plus the truck-like 1700mm wheelbase, all contribute to good stability at speed. But what was a genuine surprise was how well the Paioli forks ate up the many bumps. They're very compliant and don't bounce up and down as you might expect with such soft springing.Unfortunately, the linkless, vertically-positioned Koni rear shock is obviously tailored to provide the kind of hardtail ride that's considered de rigueur among the cruiser cult, and has limited travel, resulting in a hard ride. In spite of the Phantom's claimed 240kg dry weight, the Beringer brakes worked very well, but what was most impressive was the way you could hustle the Phantom round turns without too much fear of it grounding out, even with those sticky sportsbike tyres fitted.

STREET CRED
Of course, you can get things scraping if you try really hard - but with around 35 degrees of lean angle available, the Phantom has plenty of cornering clearance, as well as the handling to exploit all of it. This is a properly developed motorcycle with engineered-in safety, which also looks cool and has loads of genuine street cred, instead of being a neo-vintage fashion victim short on Y2K engineering, or Made-Out-East wallflower wannabee.

But - will it catch on in America, let alone anywhere else out there in Cruisebike Country? And will Rod Hunwick's brave and innovative marketing strategy, on which he's bet several million dollars of his own personal fortune, be rewarded by success in the internet marketplace?

THE NEXT STEP
Well, after seeing the Phantom of the Opera in the metal and riding it round the Olympic city, I'll be very surprised if those 325 first-year bikes don't find a ready home, especially at that price and against a deflated Aussie dollar if you're an overseas buyer. Establishing the Phantom brand and moving along to the next bike on the R&D roster, the Rage performance streetrod, is another matter - though the sellout success of limited edition, high-end small volume products like the MV Agusta Serie d'Oro F4 and Ducati MH900e shows Hunwick's analysis of the baby boomer generation's appetite for the exclusive is spot-on.

One thing's for sure: if anyone can make it work, that anyone is Rod Hunwick. Alan Cathcart. Photos: Arthur Thornton and Paul Barshon.

Note: Hunwick Harrop can be contacted via Locked Bag 1, Northmead, NSW 2152, tel (02) 9683 4531, fax (02) 9683 4534, email info@hunwickharrop.com.au or website www.hunwickharrop.com

LABOUR OF LOVE

It's taken four years longer than initially expected, but it's now possible to purchase a HH motorcycle - the Phantom 1500.

From mid-February you can log on to the Hunwick Hallam website and order yourself a $38,900 Phantom 1500, with deliveries of production models taking place from mid-year.

It's a project that AMCN has keenly followed since we first got a sniff of HH's plans back in late 1996. Our cover story of Vol 46 No 16 (January 24, 1997) proclaimed "World Scoop: All Aussie V-twin". Two issues later in Vol 46 No 18 we brought you the first photos and ride impression of a HH motorcycle. After diligently pursuing our initial 'scoop', I along with other AMCN staffers ventured to Melbourne's Calder Park race circuit to view the prototype Boss Power Cruiser for the first time - and then to sample it in a closed test session. We were impressed.

The HH project wasn't just piss 'n' wind, and while some sectors of the Australian motorcycle press chose to dismiss HH as a viable project AMCN stuck on the case. We were rewarded two weeks later when we obtained the first design sketches of the X1R sportsbike (Vol 46 No 19), and then in late March 1997 we were on hand when the X1R was publicly unveiled for the first time at the Phillip Island World Superbike round.

No scoop that time I'm afraid (after all, there was in excess of 50,000 spectators at the event), but we didn't hesitate in featuring the X1R as our main cover story in that World Supers issue (Vol 46 No 21).

Since then AMCN has tested the X1R (Vol 46 No 25), reported on the break-up of the Hunwick and Hallam partnership, run spy pics of the then-new Hunwick Harrop cruiser - and now, finally, brought you the finished article. It may have taken a little longer than initially planned, but we always knew Mr Hunwick would get there.

Okay, the first production bike hasn't rolled out of the factory just yet, but it looks like it's finally a case of mission accomplished for HH. Now, for that long-term testbike... Ken Wootton

WEBBED FEAT?

"The internet is here to stay, and as a motorcycle retailer myself, I realise we have to work with it rather than against it," says Rod Hunwick (pictured below), who initially intends to actively market the Phantom in just two countries - the USA and Australia - but to passively cover the whole globe by means of the internet.

Here's how it works: Hunwick will appoint Phantom dealers throughout the USA and will help them promote sales in the usual way. But in addition to this, recognising that many potential customers will have their own favourite dealer they're accustomed to dealing with locally, HH will be asking any customer who approaches it directly to nominate the dealership he/she would like the bike shipped to.

"We'll then contact the dealership and make a financial arrangement to ship the bike, which will make it profitable for it to deal with us. We'll provide the dealership with everything it needs to set the bike up and deliver it to the customer," says Hunwick. "All our bikes will be delivered with one year's worth of consumable products like oil filters and the like included in the price, and the dealer will be able to access all the technical information and other data he needs in order to service the bike from our website". "Plus, we'll email the dealership any updates to the engine management system we may develop as we go along, which can then be retro-fitted to the customer's bike." "Any parts required will be supplied by us via UPS, on a 24-hour turnaround.

"US customers have the option of doing it this way or via one of our appointed dealers, whereas all other overseas customers in places like Europe and Japan will work with us exclusively through the internet."

SECURITY BREACH

It's a sinister looking all-black building from outside - high wire fences circle the perimeter, guard dogs patrol the grounds at night, and the front door doesn't even have a bell or intercom. Obviously cold-call visitors aren't expected at the present time.

Yes, it's definitely a case of invitation only if you want to visit the Briens Road, Northmead headquarters of Hunwick Harrop. Mind you, that'll all change shortly when Aussie customers who have ordered a Phantom 1500 from HH will be welcomed to the factory to personally collect their motorcycle. Thankfully in my case I've been able to penetrate the HH security cordon in recent weeks without having to hand over the $38,900 asking price to gain entry. And just as well, as it's allowed me to sample one of the prototype Phantoms being readied for the upcoming Indianapolis Dealer Show.

Long, low and visually gob-smacking, the red version made available for my day's ride looked a million bucks with plenty of polished alloy and stainless-steel, set off nicely by the black V-twin powerplant. A set of classy Staintune sports mufflers rounded out the package. It's quite a different look to the original Boss Power Cruiser, itself a stunning motorcycle. The Boss was somewhat cobby in comparison, whereas the Phantom is long and lean. The first thing I noticed when swinging a leg over is how low the Phantom is. Shortarses are welcome in the HH factory...

Thumbing the starter fires the one-and-a-half-litre donk (that's two GSX-R750 engines!) into a pleasant rumble, but the big surprise is how responsive it is. Not quite as responsive as a 996 Duke engine mind you, but far more so than any rival 1100cc-plus Jap V-twin cruiser. Acceleration is impressive - as you'd expect with over 100 horses at the rear wheel, and heaps of stump-pulling grunt to match. If you give the right grip a decent twist, be prepared to hang on real hard. It's the instant acceleration which left the greatest impression on me.

It wasn't all roses though. There was a minor glitch in the fuel mapping low down when shutting the throttle on the testbike. This was easily rectified by keeping a few revs on via a 'preloaded' throttle when down-changing, but it's something the engine management team is working on - and in fact has already found the answer to. I loved the Phantom's brakes and front end, although I bottomed the prototype's rear a few times on some Sydney whoopydidoos. Further work on the rear shock is continuing (including a change of manufacturer), and should be sorted by the time the first production models start to roll out the door.

All up though, the prototype testbed I rode is a very impressive motorcycle. The Phantom range is not only up and running, but on target for its launch date. The Phantom has got performance, handling and braking that exceeds everything else in its class - and arguably the looks as well. And no, that's not just patriotic jingoism on my behalf.

Once the pre-production Phantoms have returned from Indianapolis they'll be given their Australian public debut at the Melbourne International Motor Show in March. They're well worth a look... Ken Wootton