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Boss Hoss – coming on strong in Houston
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One of the last -- a big-block 502 Boss Hoss (Photos courtesy The Master Strategy Group)
If you’ve ever stood next to a Boss Hoss, you know how amazing they are. What’s more amazing in Houston is how many people buy them.
A trip to Boss Hoss Cycles of Houston recently was an eye-opening experience. Jim Davis and I went over to their shop on S. 610 Loop, near Telephone Road, to order air horns for Jim’s Gold Wing.
The showroom was dazzling, with two-wheelers and trikes gleaming and showing off their custom paint jobs. The dealership specializes in ‘head-turning design,’ like their ’57 Chevy model, which offers trunk storage and fins on a trike.
The last of the big block 502 engines is gone, but a trike can be fashioned today from a Boss Hoss powered by either the 350 cubic-inch ZZ4, or the all-aluminum 376 cubic-inch, 6.2 liter LS3 power plant. Either way, expect amazing power and a lot of beefy engine roar.
The LS3 is the newest Boss Hoss platform, a small-block with multi-port fuel injection, which produces 445 horsepower and 445 foot-pounds of torque. It offers “the agility of a sport bike” -- that's the Boss Hoss story on their newer and much lighter machines; but after walking around one and contemplating whether I could pick it up off its sidestand (I decided the answer was “Are you kidding me?”), it’s hard for me to put “agility” on its list of features. Still, their owners love these bikes.
Writing in Boss Hoss Country’s Winter 2009 edition, Judy Philipps Otto called the change from the LS2 to the LS3 “not quite so drastic” as the passing of the 502 big block, but still significant. The latest change came about because General Motors discontinued production of its LS2 engines (part of its LS series that began in 1997 and first appeared in that year’s Corvette, later used in ’98 Camaros and Firebirds). GM’s decision was made in advance of the initially proposed life cycle for that engine, bringing the LS3 into its line after only a year.
Boss Hoss Cycles moved away from the 502 reluctantly because of stricter emissions standards, which are expected to become increasingly stringent. The manufacturer concluded that the 502 couldn’t possibly meet them for 2010.
For those who have never stood next to a Boss Hoss or perhaps even heard of them, Monte Warne invented the motorcycle in 1990 to fulfill a boyhood fantasy. He came up with the prototype as a ninth grade student and “never really stopped thinking about how neat it would be,” he told a reporter. When Warne got into his 30s, he decided to build one – to cram a car engine into a motorcycle frame.
The first one was made from spare parts (many from Harleys) and supported a 350 Chevrolet small-block engine. Warne still has it.
He also still believes that someone else would have done it years earlier if they had figured out the drive system, as he did. He also had to solve the problem of a drive shaft that normally exited straight out the back, which now had to exit at 90 degrees.
An owner of an old style, manual shift Boss Hoss may still have a few qualms when sitting at a red light, concerned that maybe that clutch cable might snap. A mechanic at Boss Hoss Cycles of Houston remarked to Jim and me, “If that cable goes, you’d better hope that sucker stalls.”
But there was a strong interest anyway, and Warne continued to work on the concept.
After he had sold a dozen or so kits, and then two dozen assembled bikes, by 1993 orders for the Boss Hoss zoomed. The problem was, nothing could stop it. The brakes were an after-market motorcycle variety and too weak to satisfy the U.S. Department of Transportation, which had to approve the bike if it was to be sold across the country. The brake issue kept it from passing until 1999.
Shifter for a Boss Hoss trike
The new models have a custom designed transmission with overdrive, and the brakes are custom-built rotor and auto-style calipers, with pads that last 50,000 miles. Boss Hoss Cycles sold about 2000 bikes in its first decade and now produces more than 500 a year. It takes a 22-man team to assemble one; the exhaust and frame are made on site.
One owner has gotten over 100,000 miles out of his Boss Hoss with no special maintenance needs, but rear tires wear out fast.
The Houston dealership is holding up its end in selling these amazing motorcycles. A salesperson told us that up until the recession hit, they had been selling about two or three a week. When a used bike or trike came in, it was usually sold before it hit the floor. Sales are beginning to pick up again now.
This is particularly amazing when you consider that the red 502 we saw was priced at $79,999.00. A rarity now, Boss Hoss Cycles of Houston is expecting someone to come in and “just have to have it” very soon. An ‘ordinary’ 2009 Boss Hoss (not a trike) runs between about $36,000 and $45,000. Few owners buy one at the ‘base price.’
For tips and commentary about all sizes of motorcycles, visit Motorcycle Tips and Techniques, at www.msgroup.org. Send email to Cash@msgroup.org.
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