Gurney 'gator Ready To Roll
GURNEY 'GATOR READY TO ROLL
Brian Catterson
IS THE WORLD READY FOR A recumbent motorcycle? Auto racing legend Dan Gurney apparently thinks so. Because after two decades of development-admittedly at a far less frenetic pace than the race cars Gurney’s All-American Racers usually turns out-the low-slung Gurney Alligator is finally ready for production.
The Man himself revealed his new creation to the press at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, this past April. We’ll overlook the evening’s Hollywood theatrics (did Gurney really don doctor’s garb to help deliver serial number 001 from a stenciled styrofoam “Alligator Egg”?!) and cut straight to the details. Compared to the A-4A prototype shown in Cycle World's November, 2000, issue, the production A-6 ’Gator is a bit less radical, with conventional twin shocks replacing the trick singleshock-through-swingarm setup employed previously. And it’s a bit better finished, using more off-the-shelf Honda parts than before. The engine remains an electric-start XR650L with a reworked head, high-compression piston and proprietary fuel-injection system helping to produce a claimed 70 horsepower.
The initial batch of “Grand Prix” Alligators will have their carbon-fiber bodywork painted in the traditional blue-andwhite American colors that adorned the Formula One Eagle in which Gurney won the 1957 Belgian GP. That car wore number 36, so that’s how many Alligators will be produced, each priced at $35,000.
About half are pre-sold. With a claimed dry weight of 320 pounds, a top speed of 140 mph and a low eg making for 0-60-mph times “arguably the quickest of any production bike available,” the Alligator promises to be a wild ride-an assumption verified by all who have ridden it. We anxiously await our long-promised testbike.
