Roehr Motorcycle Company was a US

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

manufacturer based

Gurnee, Illinois Gurnee ( ) is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 30,706 as of the 2020 census. It borders the city of Waukegan, and is a popular tourist attraction within the Chicago metropolitan area. Best known for being th ...

. It closed down in 2012.

History

In 1995 Walter Roehrich began construction of the 500 cc

two stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

v-twin A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longit ...

motorcycle, using Yamaha YZ250 engine parts on a prototype crankcase. The result was the 115 hp Roehr Rv500 that was shown to the press in 2000. The company intended to manufacture the motorcycle in limited numbers but manufacturing the bike with the addition of the DFI fuel system, as well as meeting emission standards was prohibitively expensive. The company turned its focus in creating a production bike. The Rv1000 prototype was powered by a 120 hp 936cc 60° 4-stroke V-twin manufactured by

US Highland US Highland was established as a motorcycle manufacturer based in Oklahoma, United States. It was formed by Mats Malmberg, formerly of Swedish Highland Motorcycles AB, when negotiations to sell Highland to ATK fell through. US Highland's factory ...

was revealed in 2004. The Highland engine was chosen because of its light weight. There was no interest from investors, so the Rv1000 was never manufactured.

V-Roehr

Roehr introduced the V-Roehr production motorcycle in March 2007. The 1130 was to be powered by a 180 hp supercharged

Harley Davidson Harley may refer to: People * Harley (given name) * Harley (surname) Places * Harley, Ontario, a township in Canada * Harley, Brant County, Ontario, Canada * Harley, Shropshire, England * Harley, South Yorkshire, England * Harley Street, in Lo ...

1250 cc "

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

" engine. Production of the first 50 bikes was scheduled to begin in 2008. The cost was US$39,995. The fuel tank, with a capacity of 12 litres, was placed under the seat, with a "dummy" tank being a cover of the airbox and intake of the V-Rod engine. Side-mounted Honda radiators were used to create a slim profile. In late 2008 an updated version of the 1130 - the 1250 - using the 1,250cc version of the Revolution engine, fitted with a Rotrex supercharger. It was the most powerful production motorcycle available in the United States, at . As well as an increase in engine capacity, the price increased to $US49,999. Unfortunately for Roehr, the

2008 global financial crisis 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

stopped demand for a high-price limited production motorcycle. Eleven of Roehr's twelve deposits for the 1250 were cancelled.

eSupersport and eSuperbike

In 2009 Roehr produced a pair of electric sport bikes, based on a Hyosung GT250 chassis. Roehr wanted to build his own chassis, but adapting the Hyosung saved him $US15,000. The eSupersport had a single motor developing the equivalent of 48 hp, while the eSuperbike had two motors developing the equivalent of 96 hp. The battery in the eSuperbike consists of 240 individual cells; the eSupersport pack is made of 180 cells. Range was between 70–100 miles. The eSupersport sold for US$16,965 and the eSuperbike for US$27,595. There were no sales, and Roehr stopped production of all motorcycles in 2012.

History

V-Roehr

eSupersport and eSuperbike

References

Sources

Further reading