Welcome to the Worldwide V8 Bikers Forum

Hello fellow V8 bikers,

a three year wait is finally over and I signed the purchase papers of a 2001 Kannon 502 big block muscle bike!
Haven't ridden it yet as it needs a new fuel pump and fuel lines installed, but by the end of next week I should be leaving black stripe behind me on the streets of Helsinki!

Talk about being a rare find! One of a very few bikes Riding around Finland! WoW!! You Will Difinitely be one of a Kind for a Looooong Time!

Congrats

Hi Beefy



Any spare photos of your Kannon BB to post up?

Welcome and congrats on your purchase.

RocketSteve wrote:Hi Beefy



Any spare photos of your Kannon BB to post up?

Thanks guys! I'll take my gopro camera with me tomorrow when we start to change the fuel pump and fuel lines and will post some photos here as soon as I can. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have some riding footage to share already...

Does Kim Forsman of Finland still have HIS Kannon 502?

Puff wrote:Does Kim Forsman of Finland still have HIS Kannon 502?

Physically yes, on paper no. He's the guy I bought my Kannon from. The bike still sits at his garage, because we need to change the fuel pump and fuel lines on it and I need to take it for a test ride, but we've shaken hands and signed the papers already. He still has his Angry Boss LS3 though.

Please say hi to Kimi and the gang. Have not seen them for a while

Congrats...AND Welcome!!!!

Enjoy the 502..that motor is the cat's ass!!!

Thanks Barry! And 502wingman, I delivered your greetings to Kimi today!
The fuel pump is off now and now I'm anxiously waiting for a call from Kimi to know when we can put a new or repaired pump back on and take the beast out for a test ride. I'm keeping my thumbs up and fingers crossed that I could test ride it tomorrow evening already...

That is a lot of motor - nice bike man.
What does the tranny look like on this thing?

I just test rode it last night in Helsinki. Funny that it felt kinda lighter than a small block BH that I test rode 3 years ago, yet the big block feels a bit more clumsy. I was pumped with adrenaline after the test ride and man I would like to proceed to finish off the deal, but in all honesty I started to really doubt about its suitability for every day all purpose use.

Here's a list of things that make me doubt about it:
- Warming up the water and tranny for ~5 minutes every time you wanna ride
- 15L/100km consumption (no revving or burnouts!) of 98-octane fuel - and I ride about 30.000 km per season here = I'd spend ~7200€ only for gasoline per season IF I'd ride nice and easy
- kickstand doesn't lock to position, gotta park it really carefully and when idling on kickstand it has to be on slight uphill that it doesn't roll forward and tip over
- the weight and power of it doesn't seem to fit on any other than asphalt paved road
- no reverse gear, so no room for mistakes when parking it
- bottom of the bell housing is open, so even if I'd dare to ride a gravel road it'd be risky for the clocks and rotors and whatnot is exposed

If I could afford to keep my Harley bagger and buy this as a second bike I would have absolutely no doubts about it, but since I gotta choose between them I'm seriously thinking to cancel the deal and stick to my Harley until I have the extra money for a V8 bike.

Agreed, a stunning looking bike

I'm thinking of getting an electric heater bar [in the garage] under the gearbox as I find similar waiting time but more like 10 minutes before Drive will move the bike.

My 1st fill gave me 15 mpg and the 2nd fill yesterday gave 20 mpg so it's getting better, probably helped by warmer weather and less messing around annoying the local neighbourhood...

So I cancelled the deal. Had to do listen to my brain instead of heart this time.
I'll be back when I can afford to buy a V8 bike for sunny day around town cruising while keeping my Harley as the all purpose bike.
In the meantime I wish all of you good cruising and safe riding on those awesome machines!

To address some of your concerns ...

Gas mileage ... Nothing to say here. It is what it is

No Kickstand lock ... Once parked, pull the front brake lever and place a small coin or purpose made small wedge into the crease between the lever and the Brake reservoir. You now have your own very inexpensive parking brake.

No Reverse ... When parking the bike, always back into the spot unless the slope allows for reversing with the help of gravity. After the first week, this will become instinctive.

Bottom of bell housing opening ... There are plates designed to fill this opening and they are pretty inexpensive ( around $25USD ) I am sure one could be located and mailed to you. All you need to do is find out what the bell housing is from and then find the cover to match. If nothing else, grab some thin sheet steel and make your own.

Howdy y'all!

Life is crazy and full of surprises... luckily during the past 2 years it's been surprising me in the most positive way I could've ever expected:

Just 2 months after my last post here me and my wife were given an opportunity to relocate to Texas! Having been very pro-America all my life this was a dream come true for me!
After lengthy procedures and moving related hassle we finally settled down in Houston in the end of last year and I couldn't be happier! And the fact that V8 bikes AND gasoline is waaaaay cheaper here than in Finland is definitely not making me any less happy...

This week I got myself a 2009 Boss Hoss Super Sport LS3 bike, so I'm kinda rechecking in here and happy to announce that I'm back, for good!

Life's good - let's ride!

The SS sounds good too!

Photos would also be good...

Here's a couple of photos I took on the first two days.

She's looking mighty fine!

Congrats on the bike and welcome to the USA!! Love the fuel efficient parking

What a great story. Glad to have you back.