Weird. Just plain weird. There is no other way to describe the eerie sensation of riding a 2001 BMC 918--TC88B. When you look down at the bike under you, it is obvious that it is a rigid chassis and looking at the motor, you can't help but notice that it is a Harley. But something is missing--vibration. Counter-balanced motors don't really emit any vibration, especially at idle, so the darn thing just sits there chugging out the sound of a V-Twin but you could use the mirrors to put your contact lens in with. Like we said, weird.
We should get beyond the weird part and bring you up to date on who BMC is and what they do before we tell you anymore about the bike. BMC is the brainchild of Mike Rouse--known as Big Mike to his friends--a guy who has been involved in some pretty big motorcycle companies and shops before deciding to pack everything up and move to Bend, Oregon and go it on his own.
Big Mike has always had a large spot in his heart for choppers, so doing his own thing with Big Mike's Choppers instead of diversifying made sense to him. So, Mike built a chopper. He used a whole array of parts from many different existing suppliers. The first bike was not intended to be a prototype until a few of Mike's new friends in Bend asked him to build them bikes just like the first. Suddenly BMC was a viable business and Mike was scrambling to find suppliers to build parts his way.
To his great surprise Mike found shops willing to handle almost everything he needed built locally. He then sourced out all the components necessary from a few big distributors and found that he had a business. The BMC Notorious 918 Chopper was in production and selling very well. Owners of 918's had an option of 88ci or 100ci Revtech motors and color choice. The rest was all included.
Well, while everything was rolling smoothly and rigid choppers were popping out the door weekly, Mike had an idea. What if he slid one of those new TC88B counter-balanced Harley motors in his chopper? What would that do to the ride? He contacted his old friend, Rick Hatch, owner of Hacienda Harley-Davidson in Scottsdale, Arizona, (and owner of this beautiful yellow bike) to order a motor and transmission. Hatch liked the idea so much that he told Mike if he could make it work, he wanted to order one for himself and he would stock his showroom with as many as Mike could build after that. A deal was made and a motor and trans were on their way to Oregon.
BMC started with their standard rigid frame's geometry, 38 degrees of rake and four inches of stretch, and came up with a mounting system for the B motor and transmission. Then he designed a bolt-in seat tube that connects to the top of the transmission, just like the factory H-D design.
From there, a 41mm fork was mounted in BMC trees and connected to a 21-inch spoke wheel. BMC believes in the power of a good brake, so an OMP six-piston caliper squeezes a 13-inch floating rotor up front. Out back, a relatively conservative 180x18 tire is mounted on a five and a half inch spoke wheel. Stopping power comes from a four-piston OMP caliper and 11.5-inch floating rotor.
The sheet metal design of the 918 and 918B is very straightforward. A Sporty tank is modified to have a mostly flat bottom, the fuel supply valve is relocated further back to utilize all of the capacity and a flush mount gas cap is installed. The front fender is your basic small, just barely cover the tire type and the rear is an internal strut design, just big enough to keep the rain off your back.
Elsewhere on the bike quality components abound. Take a look at the BMC speedometer mount, the OMP forward controls, mirrors and turn signals and, of course, the BMC/Corbin seat. The flamed paint job and billet coil/ignition mount are both standard also. Not a whole lot of cut corners are found on a 918, especially when you consider that the BMC 918 with a Revtech motor can be bought for $19,995 and the TC88B bike can be bought off Hacienda's showroom floor for $23,995. We are talking about a serious dollar to giggle factor here.
By now you have to wonder what it is like to ride a BMC 918 B bike. Well, remember in the beginning of this article where we used the word weird? It still applies. Roll the 918 out of your garage, engage the choke on the S&S and hit the button. You are greeted with a deep rumble from the Samson exhaust and perfectly smooth mirrors. No shaking, no rattling around, just the sound of a Harley motor at fast idle with none of the vibration. Click the bike into first and point the front wheel down the road and the vibration factor doesn't change. Yes, you get kicked out of the seat on big bumps, but your hands and feet never feel any buzzing. Out on the freeway in fifth gear, you need to get up past 85mph before you start to feel any tingling in the pegs and grips.
Slicing through traffic on the 918 is not bad, the stout chassis responds quickly to steering input, but do your best to learn where every bump is, because you will feel them. Low speed turning reminds you that between the narrow bars and 38 degrees of rake, you need to support the front end to prevent it from flopping. The narrow profile of the bike was a big plus during our daily commuting because the BMC was almost as much fun to lane-split on as a Buell Blast!
Our overall impression of the BMC 918 B was very good. Yes, we would have liked the relatively stock H-D motor to have a bunch more power, and for most of our under five-foot, ten-inch tall staff an inch or two less stretch would have made the bike a little easier to ride. But when the day came to give the BMC back, it was a struggle--a big struggle.