First Time You Laid Eyes On Or Rode A Boss Hoss

[gaston 2005 502]

As Rob said the mind goes wandering when couped up in a hotel/ apartment away from Home. I thought it may make an interesting thread if BH or V8 Riders wrote of their first encounter or ride with these great bikes. I have told alot,,,, before i saw a BH i heard about em and i thought "why in the heck would anyone want something like that?" well it wasn't long after that I laid eyes on a Boss Hoss and then i went riding with 5 of em and i was on my HD, and made me feel like i was on a Moped. One asked "Do you want to ride it?" I said yes, but it will be mine when i do ride it ! Seven years later, drove to Lima Ohio and hauled my bike home. Got it home after 1500 miles one way with it on my trailer and i took my first ride on a Boss Hoss, now i am working on the funds for my better half a trike. There is no way to describe the feeling, but the best smiles per mile and most adrenaline producing bike i have ever rode. Ya'll have heard mine,,, well whatcha think? I know ya'll gotta have some exciting tales of the bikes.Darryl

[Redtro]

I've got a good one.

I sold both bikes when the babies came along 20 years earlier. I hadn't had a bike while I waited for the kids to grow up but in 2002 I purchased a bike and a week later took it to Biketoberfest. I was out at dinner with a friend at the "Deck Down Under" on the Dunlawton Bridge and was standing in line to place my order when we noticed three motorcycles with V8 engines INSIDE THE RESTAURANT with the tables arranged around them. I didn't think they were real....thought they were props for the weeks bike event. My friend told me that they were B.H.'s and they were real. I thought at the time: "Dang, I just bought my bike...I may have purchased the wrong motorcycle".

Now skip ahead 4 years at BikeWeek on my B.H. and I'm standing in line at the same restaurant with Crazy Rick, Warren in Atlanta, V-Man, Martin, Ed, Wild Bill and a couple of others and mentioned that this was the first place that I ever saw a B.H. 4 years earlier. Crazy Rick looked at me and asked, "where were the bikes parked"? I told him and he said "THAT WAS US...ME, WARREN AND TOM SHEIFER" (of Mountain B.H.)! Small World huh?

[Boom Boom & Rockstar]

Rock, rode for years, yamaha maxium,sold because of his kids...had his accident and thought he'd never ride again..wife left him 4 someone else because she didn't want to take care of a handicapp..i met him and i always rode..he said i'd like 2 ride again..so we searched 4 trikes because of his balance and my arthritis..no luck.. my girlfriend rides and said about a demo ride at detroit bh..i said whats a bh...we went..i was afraid for him all that power..he did the demo and when the guy in front of him pulled him he could hardley drive for laughing...here's Rock yelling," i've got to have this trike, i've got to have this." one of the guys from d-burg at the demo still remember Rock because of his slurr and always tells him, "you've been drinking again." that's the first thing he said to him at the rally...we ordered the trike jan 2007...was riding in march with snow on the ground...

[Swiss V8]

I started riding motorcycles with a 125ccm Yanmaha and later I rode a Virago 1000ccm.

In 1994 I read an article in a German motorcycle Magazine about powerfull motorcycles. In there was a V8 Mustang powered bike, a Turbo Suzuki or Honda, a bike from Australia with 2 cylinders of a 12 cylinder Rolls Royce Merling engine from a fighter plane from WWII and there also was a Boss Hoss with the standard Smal Block. As my brother is keen on US cars (Impalla 454 station wagon, old Cadillac's) and myself more on motorcycles. I said that's my motorcycle!
I had no idea how to get one and how to license it in Switzerland
Half a year later ('95) we had a short reportage about the first one in Switzerland on TV. I called the TV station and asked for the address of the guy who owned that thing and called him for a testride. As it was raining that evening he just started it up and no testride. The motor was a standard SB and he had to build special exaust pipes and an intake box to reach our regulations, so there were about 90HP left. But for me that was the point where everybody had to commit I'm going nuts because I stopped spending money to put aside enough to buy a Boss Hoss in a few years...

Skip 6 Years while nobody (not even my brother and not to speak my mom) ever believed I'm going to buy one.

October 2001, 911 struck the whole world and the Dollar and the flight prices droped remarkable. I took all my money transferred it into Traveler Cheques, bought a ticket to Atlanta, got a rental car and 2 weeks later I stood in the entrance of the Boss Hoss Fab
They had 2 second Hand bikes, about half a year old, and I picked one after talking with Monte and trying to get a lower price...

The bike got shipped home and arrived in January '02. I adapted some stuff to fit our regulations and wanted to have it licensed in Summer '02. The governement asked for papers which lead to some hard discustions with Rad and/or the Netherland dealer Harry. Without papers I had to spend about 10'000$ to get it licensed, with papers just about half of that. So I waited until winter 2003/2004.
At that time some new regulations were activ and we had another possibility to get the bike on the street. (Please don't ask for details )
Finally I rode my Boss Hoss the first time in July 2004

It still is amazing what fun I have with my ride...

Sorry about the length of this writing, but it actually took quite long for me to ride my own Boss Hoss...

[Swiss V8]

I forgot to tell you:

The first Boss Hoss I actually rode was Magic Claudio's '99 SB with a 185 car tire on the back. And he was riding bitch
That ride nearly killed me doing turns
That was in Summer 2001.

[gaston 2005 502]

Martin,

Good story, So you had your hoss for 2 &1/2 year, almost 3 before you rode it? and nine years for the dream to come true, to actually drive your own bike. Well that's 2 more years than me,, but if i was you having to wait with it in my posession an unable to ride it ,, i would have had to gone back to hard drugs ,,, just kidding,, you aare a very patient man. Thanks for the post. congratulations on gettin the bike to your home country.

One thing,, i bet it was really clean and polished the first time you rode it!!!

[KISS]

Long story short.I have had during the years many fast bikes and v8cars ,and first time when i saw pics from Boss Hoss was -96 when i was working in speed shop.l straight away knew that V8 bike is my dream come true!But cause í live in the back yard of Europe we had NO chance to have v8 bikes registrated here.First BH was registrated here somehow in -99 in other side of Finland and it took several years until it was possible to do it in other parts of Finland too.Summer -06 rules changed so,that it was easier (still far away from easy,i could write a book about inspections in Europe and especially in Finland,haah) to registrate bikes from outside Europe and then i bought my first V8bike -01 BB Kannon.I got it here in winter and made the modifications so i could make my first ride in the spring-07.It was worth to wait for all these years!I did not know anything about how to ride these things,but soon i found out that it was even more my kind of bike that i had thought.Hot Rod and bike in same package!You all know what i mean!
My first Boss Hoss i found "accidently" one warm summer night in -07.I was planning my trip to USA and when i talked to Wildman about renting a Boss Hoss there i decided that it´s easier to buy BH which i could sell here when i come home.But then i found my wildest Boss Hoss dream come thrue for sale in Virginia.Factory made Blower BH!I changed my plans,and decided to keep it for my self!Hahah.Thanks to Wildman,everything went well and i rode over 400miles around D.burg w it!That´s all for now.Thanks for reading this shit!

[gaston 2005 502]

Some great reading guys. I really enjoy seeing the trials it has taken to achieve obtaining what i consider the ultimate bike. I like the stories,, story length don't matter. i thought it took along time for me to get mine, 7 years. just a few stories and i already been beat. Keep em coming,, how about it Aussie Rob?

[AR]

Ok Darryl,

I had planned to make a good job of this and incorporate my story into a detailed history of Boss Hoss & V8 bikes in Australia...but that all seems to hard at the moment so I'll give the run down on my first Boss Hoss experience.

Like Wildman said, about 1999 I somehow made contact with a bloke called Mike Koehn in Co and he was kind enough to answer lots of my dumb questions with short novel-length answers which provided me wonderful detail and insight into Boss Hoss ownership. The reason I was asking these questions in the first place was several years earlier an adventurous West Australian (I live in Sydney on the east coast - 2500miles or so) brought in a 96/97 manual and it made a bike mag article that I couldnt get out of my head.

As it turned out, I had just changed jobs for a decent salary rise and we were about to start some major house renovations so what was a sensible thing to do here - to extend the mortgage by another $60k and buy myself a Boss Hoss of course - yes, thats sensible thinking for sure. Next thing I know, sight unseen and full of trepidation I off and send 50% deposit ($30,000 cash) into a bank account to some dude I've never met before for a bike that I still dont quite believe really exists. Haha...


Con (the dealer) was kind enough to sooth my nearves by keeping me up to date with the step by step events that lead to delivery to Australia, then eventually ready for delivery from his Perth workshop, even took pics of the truck arriving and the boys unloading it from the crate. At this time a second payment was due...about $10k from memory but by now I was in sooo deep I didnt flinch.


1 Year later, I get the call to come and pick it up. It took so long to process the order, mark my place in the production line, shipping for 2 months, then pre-delivery for another 2months. I actually ordered a 2000 model but lucky me ended up with one of the first 2001 models. At this time I would email Monte direct and every time he would email back telling me what the developments were and it seemed he was getting a kick out of sending one of his new creations to Oz. He was pretty chuffed at how slick the bike was looking and how well behaved the 2 speed was. ANyhow here I am after travelling from Sydney to Perth across the Nullabor plain in less than 3 days finally catching up with Con and FINALLY getting to sit on this Black & Chrome beauty! Take note of the trademark 'silly grin'.


7am the next day I started her up and ran up & down the south coast highway to try and clock up 500 miles so they could perform the first tranny oil change before I took it home. Haha...that was pretty wild, my first ride was 500 miles long and by sundown I was loading her up a very lightweight plank with poor old dad on one side and a wild man from the west on the other making sure I didnt freak out too much and lay her down sideways..as you can see from my face I wasnt worried a bit hahaha.


On the way home it started to occur to me the extent of this achievement...Took the gamble, sight unseen I'd bought something really special that very few people will ever ride let alone own - I owe my wife big time for that but dont tell her I said that. Travelling across the Nullabor Plain in itself was an experience ...but thats another story.


Anyway, 7 days and 9000klms later here I am safe and sound at home...about to unload, and start my new life as a V8Biker!

[Swiss V8]

I actually ordered a 2000 model but lucky me ended up with one of the first 2001 models.

I as well do have one of the first 2001 models.
Which No. is yours? Mine is No. - Oh no my papers are at the motorcycle shop to get my license renewed
I think it is 53 or similar

Puff Bil also owns one of the first 2001.

Let us hear your story Bill

[gaston 2005 502]

Kiss, Wildman, Aussie Rob, Martin, great stories guys. I enjoy reading what it takes to obtain the bike. I am working on saving up for my better half a trike,, and i think i am more or as much excited as she is. She has already decided we are gonna have matching paint, she thought of it before i did. Maybe found a buyer for my HD that i said i'd never sell till i saw the trikes on the road. Ok who's next on the thread???? Elliot? Geezer? Shane? Bill? Come on guys, I know ya'll got some good stories of the bike.

[Puff]

Martin,

I thought your Boss had a lower production number than 53. Maybe I'm wrong. I do know that your bike has the transmission cooler lines running to/from your radiator, which was early in the 2001 run of BH's.
Mine is unit # 108 for the 2001 run. I was the first one(and maybe only one?) to request the hard bags with the trailer hitch. I know my rack is a custom one-off, because they had to figure out how to make the Leather-Lykes mount to a bike that has a trailer hitch on it.
As I was one of the last to buy new from the factory, I would go down there almost every day and just stare at my bike as it was being built. I would look through the windows on weekends and just drool! The factory boys were just great to me and answered my questions. I hope I wasn't too much of a pest to them!
Meredith actually took my order. I requested the buckhorn bars, which were "available" at the time I placed my order, but by the time my bike was on the line, those handlebars were discontinued. I have the beach bars, which is ok with me.
Bill Brock delivered my bike(in an enclosed trailer) to my house on a rainy day in February 2001. Yes, the drool was still running out of my mouth! It rained for a week! I didn't get to ride it right away, so I just polished on it. My first ride was in below-freezing weather. That was ok. My snowmobile suit kept me warm! Hey, when you have the fever, go ride!!!

Bill

[Geezer]

First time I saw a BH was in Sturgis about 1995. Thought they were crazy and
had no interest

Rode my first one in late 1995, which was a clutch bike with a iron head 350.
Damn thing made me nervous with the square tire on the back, as it kept trying
to up-right itself in turns..........hummmm, wonder what the tire pressure was..

Between 95 and 98 I was into building "Evo's" with everything I could throw at it.
Ended up with about 130hp with a nitrous bagger with an 80 inch motor....which
made me happy at the time.

Was back in Sturgis in 1998 and the group I was with had some time to burn, so we
took a demo ride on the then new one-speed autos.........Well sheet,,,,,,the rest of
my week at Sturgis was painful, I wanted a Hoss sooo bad.....That was the year I
met "Al Copland" Rip, he told me it was the bike to have, and I might as well just
order one.

I started checking with dealers for the best deal, and ended up ordering a 2000
two speed in early 1999. I also bugged the factory for all I was worth......which
didn't accomplish anything........ I ended up taking delivery in Oct
of 1999, with number 32 of the 2000 model year.

Great Times........

Geezer

PS- Aussie, I know.....it's time to change the pictures........

[V8 Perv]

Just spent about an hour reading all the great Boss Hoss stories
and it is simply amazing how addictive these machines are!

I owned many small bikes while growing up and after getting
married to my first wife couldn't afford motorcycles and a
wife so I gave up the bikes. What a big fucking mistake!

Then in the spring of 2006 my second wife Deb and I
stayed at a motel where a group of Honda Goldwing trikes
were staying at and I told her I had to have one. So I looked
on Ebay and found one in South Dakota and went and bought
it. I thought it was great and was very happy until I was
blown off the road by a Harley and decided that was
shit for the birds. So went back to Ebay and saw some
Boss Hoss trikes and bikes and said I gotta have one.
It was near the end of the riding season so I thought
do some research and try to own one by spring.

So after countless nights looking a the BH website and
every dealers website I decided I couldn't stand it any
longer and bought a 57 chevy small block trike and
again thought I was in love! Then I travel to La Crosse
and see all the crazy bastards on their big blocks and
I just knew I had to have more power. So I see all the
guys talking about this great 600+ HP bike in Tennesse
and drove down and bought that bike. After realizing it
was a little too much for a guy that hadn't even ridden
a two wheel bike for 20 years I sold it and bought Neil Webers
big block trike. So again I think I am in love but then
decide it still needs more horsepower so I get Tim Siron
to do a top end build on my trike similar to Tom Chadwells
build. Now with something over 600 HP and enough power
to satisfy any intelligent man.

Then I see all the V8 chopper stuff and see David Ward will
be bringing a 600+ trike to La Crosse that weighs hundreds
of pounds less than mine. Maybe I can somehow avoid
him for the whole week? Now I realize it is just like getting
hooked on drugs but at least this is almost legal.......

[KISS]

Thanks for the stories G and Iowa 57 chevy!

[hogv8]

I know my 2000 SB was made in May of 2000 but how do I tell what number it was in 2000 production ?

Jack

[Redtro]

I know my 2000 SB was made in May of 2000 but how do I tell what number it was in 2000 production ?

Jack

Jack,

I believe you can tell by looking at the VIN number. It should be the last numbers of the ID after the last letter.

http://www.vehicleidentificationnumber. ... etail.html

[hogv8]

The last 6 numbers after the last letter of my vin are 258194 so does that mean it was the 258th 2000 built that year ? If so I wonder how many 2000's were built ?

Jack

[Redtro]

I don't know Jack. I'd heard you could tell by the VIN number so when I read your post, I googled VIN ID info and found the link I posted. It seemed right to me at the time.

[Puff]

Jack,

Your bike is the 194th unit from 2000 that was built.
The last 3 numbers of the vin give you your answer.

Bill

[hogv8]

Thanks Bill , any idea how many bikes were built in 2000 ?

Thank, Jack

[carburetormike]

Hi All, Now here is a cool thread to add to. And here is my story. I bought a new HD Heritage in 93, and had a blast with a few old and new friends that first year. Around Sept a couple of my buds, saw this guy at a hot spot in N.E. Ohio with a V8 powered motorcycle. As they told me the story about riding with this guy, and getting their doors blow in over and over again. (since I wasn't with them at the time.) They had hearts circling their heads. In the spring of 94, My wife and I rode to this hot spot and there it was. I think it was a 91 or 92. We parked our bike and looked it over. My Wife said it was ugly, and as we all know, women just don't see things like men do. I just started day dreaming about the power, and the beauty of the concept. We found the owner in the bar. And I had to ask him all the silly questions. So for the next 5 years I just dreamed about a Boss Hoss. Then in 98 a friend cam home from Sturgis with a brochure. And those little hearts started circling around my head as the newer ones looked so much better then that early model. I started researching it some more, and found a Dealer in Pittsburgh. Went there and fell in love with the Bike I've been riding for nearly 11 years now. Test rode it May 1st, drove it home June 24th with the last 25 miles in the pouring rain. And the rest is history.



Carby Mike

[hogv8]

Hi Mike , I don't know if you remember this but at the first Boss Hoss rally at Seven Springs back in 2000 Cheryl and I attended riding our Harleys because I was on the brink of buying a new Boss Hoss . I talked to everyone I could including you about their bikes and you told me about Phantom Boss Hoss where you bought your bike . I went there and all they had was a couple of used bikes and I wanted a new one . So from there I went to Unlimited Specialties/George Buckley's Boss Hoss dealership over by Philadelphia Pa . . George had a brand new 2000 SB that I test rode , fell in love with it and had to have it . Problem was that I wanted to pay cash for it and didn't have that much cash laying around . I had a 1996 Roadking that I had just built a 96" S+S stroker engine for plus a lot of other goodies in it to the tune of about $20,000.00 and Cheryl had a nice 1996 Heritage Nostalgia and both bikes were paid for . Cheryl said that if I really wanted the Boss she would be a sweetheart and sell her Heritage and give me the money if I gave her my Roadking . Smart lady . Well with the money we got out of her Heritage and the cash I put with it I had a brand new Boss Hoss free and clear . The rest is History

Jack

[hogv8]

Does anyone have any idea how many SB Boss's were being produced back in 2000 ? I heard about 10 bikes total per week but that seems kinda high .

Jack

[Smoke'em]

I first saw a Boss at Laughlin River Run in 1999....Do not remember who the vendor dealer was but probably Arizona. Wild paint and I was tempted to try out and maybe buy, but shit these were big bikes and scary looking. 3 or 4 years later I met a guy in a bar that was attending the same conference I was there attending...we talked, got onto motorcycles, he runs up to his room and brings down his computer and shows me pictures of his Boss Hoss at his home in Tampa Fl. Tells me come visit for a week-end and ride his bike...he also had a Heritage as a spare. So happens about a month later I am in Orlando, drive over and spend a week-end riding and exchanging off the Boss and Harley. Wow, the thrill of the throttle got me. I thought maybe but not for a bit. Then about two months later I am all over the internet looking for a Boss, have to have one. Happen to be in California and run over to California Boss Hoss, see a great paint job on a small block and become an owner. Best motorcycle purchase have ever made....this was 2005. Took this bike by myself that summer and rode across the US and hit Sturgis on the way....GIMME GIMME V8's.....they own me like a daughter or a dog....ok little embellishment here...more than....just do not tell my daughter. Once you ride one of these bikes you just cannot forget the experience as we all know....HogV8/Jack--am I finally going to meet you in Daytona this year?