Seriously Smokin’ Boss Hoss Motorcycle

I’VE HAD all sorts of motorbikes, a few Harleys—I used to drag race one with NOS; I loved the power!—but this time I wanted something different. About six years ago I first saw a video of the Boss Hoss and I said, “Gezz, I would like to get one of those!” I made a few enquiries but decided there was no way I’d ever get one registered in Australia. Then, one day I was surfing the web, when I saw the Pacific Boss Hoss website. I rang Trevor and arranged a meeting. He said he had the 350’s but there was a possibility he might be able to get the 502’s into the country. I was hooked—I had my heart set on getting a 502.

We took about nine months of mucking around with Canberra to get Australian compliance for the 502 but it was worth all the effort. I’ve had a lot of good bikes, trucks, cars, but this thing—there is no way you can top it.

I still remember the first time I sat on it. I cranked over that engine—the awesome noise, the torque throwing it from side to side as it idled, the big lumpy cam—it just got my adrenalin going big time. I put it into gear, rolled on the throttle, and I haven’t stopped grinning since.

You know it will do 200 km/h in the blink of an eye, and if you want it to, it will lay rubber all the way too.

I reckon I have only ever hit three-quarter throttle—even then it wants to rip your arms out of their sockets, or pull the handlebars off and you just keep wondering how good are the bolts in these handlebars. The J forces, especially with an open face helmet and wearing sunglasses, are sensational—you hit 200 km/h and you’re still only in first gear. Bang it into second gear and it leaps away smoking up the tyre!

Your balls must be big to ride this bike. I’ve some mates who ride bikes and they don’t even want to sit on it; they’re that intimidated by it. But I just love it. You know, I just look at it in the garage every morning before I go to work and I can’t believe this—I’m the luckiest man in the world.

Trevor McGregor from Pacific Boss Hoss

IN 2000 we introduced our first small-block Boss Hoss motorcycles to Australia. They were 350 cubic inches with 355 horsepower. Now we’re introducing the new generation Boss Hoss. These bikes are 502 cubic inches with 500 horsepower. Substantially, it’s a 8000 cc motorbike.

We import the Boss Hoss from America and it has full Australian compliance. Anything to do with compliance in Australia is always difficult and this was no exception. The additional weight and the performance of the 502 engine meant that we had to repeat the brake, and noise testing we’d achieved with the original 350.

There’s a noticeable increase in performance with the 502, particularly in its ability to pull away at a higher speed; the low down torque allows you to accelerate extremely hard even at 100 km/h.

You don’t notice the additional weight, the extra couple of hundred pounds above the smaller bike; the upgrade to the 502 is virtually negligible as far as weight and handling. Like any large motorcycle, moving it around not under its own power can be difficult but it has great moveability under its own steam.

The bike has an extremely good centre of gravity so it will lay over nicely in a corner, pretty much like any other motorcycle. It’s not a high performance Japanese motorcycle so you’re not going into a corner with your knee on the asphalt—it’s not that type of motorcycle—but it will go into corners as hard as any Harley or any large touring bike.

It has a two-speed transmission—one forward drive and one overdrive—with reverse as well. If you want to park it, being able to put it into reverse gear makes it extremely manageable.

It gets about 300 km to a tank. The bonus on is that on overdrive at 100 km/h, the motor is only turning over at 1800 rpm.

The 502 runs the new inverted front forks; it makes for a much softer ride than the conventional forks. The front forks and the rear suspension go hand in hand.

The machine is so simple to service all my clients usually service their own bikes after the first service. It’s no more complicated than servicing any V8 engine: a simple oil change, change the plugs, the air cleaner element is easily accessed, the transmission is drained from underneath like any conventional transmission.

Shannon’s have insured a few of our Boss Hoss motorcycles and it’s a fair and reasonable premium. I guess the premium depends on your driving record and where you live.

Coming into the photo shoot this morning I’m not sure how many near accidents I caused with people taking photos of the bike with their mobile phones; they’re just mesmerised by the fact that it’s a V8 motorcycle in the next lane. If you’re looking for the ultimate in motorcycles, there’s nothing better than riding a Boss Hoss. Once a Boss Hoss owner, always a Boss Hoss owner.

pics by Walter Wall; words by Steve & Trevor