Feuling Motor Company’s W3

What has three cylinders, 180 horsepower and is vaguely related to our beloved Harley V-twin? Easy, it’s the W3 motorcycle invented by the late Jim Feuling. Jim passed away last December and will be badly missed by the motorcycling community. Jim was an engineer who was routinely called in by Detroit’s big three, Jaguar and even Harley-Davidson to aid in the creation of new motors. I met Jim at the Indianapolis dealer show a couple of years ago and he was clearly a genuine enthusiast. Late in life he developed an interest in Bonneville Salt Flats racing.

Unlike most motorheads, Jim went to his workshop and created his own engine. He was after the powered wheel land speed record. He scoffed at the jet powered vehicles, saying in effect that dang near any pilot could run a plane up to 600 mph; that only a true engineer could design and build a piston-engined automobile and try to go around 500 mph. Formula 1 and Indy cars are only capable of about 240 mph or so and blown fuel dragsters can speed up to a little over 300. Given that the wind resistanceincreases exponentially as velocity increases, getting that extra 200 mph sounds like quite a challenge.

Jim gave me a videotape made about his first effort at Bonneville. Jim strapped into the long, cigar-shaped streamliner himself and ran the car on three wheels up to about 370 mph. The car was designed to run with either three or four wheels. This gave Jim a world record in the three wheeled class but was way short of the speed he was aiming for. It seems his 1000 horsepower car had lost a cylinder and 370 mph was the best it could do with this handicap. An inexpensive line of some sort had failed, starving one cylinder and making the four wheel record attempt futile. I heard later that Jim had the car up to 1800 horsepower and was ready to try again but he passed away before he could get the record. After talking to him, I’m quite sure given a couple more years and maybe three or four attempts, he would have achieved his goal.

Which brings us to the current test bike. Jim thought the easiest way to gain horsepower with the new twin cam motor was to dramatically increase the displacement. Most machinists would offer to increase the bore or the stroke for you. Jim’s idea is apparent from the photos, he added a cylinder. Rumor has it that Harley even had interest in the design since only ten new parts would have to be manufactured, stock twin cam cylinders and heads could be used. I can only guess that the W3 lost out in the boardroom or the styling studio to the V-Rod. But Jim went out and built quite a few of these three cylindered beasts on his own. He built his own cylinders and heads which he offered for sale for V Twin applications. His 95” kit produced a cool 120 horsepower - Jim was the master of flow. Adding the third cylinder gives you the bike featured here, one with 180 crank horsepower.

Riding Impression
Luke Leatherman stopped in at our store hauling the Feuling trailer with five W3 motorcycles in it just before Daytona of this year. I was having a rough day, trying drastically to keep people out of my office so I could finish off an issue of the magazine by the deadline. Our receptionist buzzed in and said their was man outside who wanted to let me ride a motorcycle. I was a little ho hum on the deal until she said, “it sounds like he said it was a Feuling motorcycle.” Deadline be damned, I had my helmet and jacket out in an instant and ran out to talk to Luke.

It sounded to me like Luke was taking the last five unsold Feulings to Daytona to sell. My first impression was that the bikes were much better looking than the initial prototypes I had seen at the dealer shows. The green bike was actually quite attractive, even show material. Sitting on the bike, you immediately feel that it is long and low and not quite as light as a similarly framed V-twin. But neither is it Road King heavy either. Somewhere in between.

The bike started without hesitation and settled into a comfortable idle. The throttle action was stiffer than a Harley but not objectionable. The pipes and the carburetors all tucked in nicely and nothing protruded (except that one cylinder through the downtubes). The engine felt “factory-like” and well-behaved at parking lot speeds as I headed out from behind our store and onto the road way. After a few miles of gentle roll ons, I found a deserted road and opened it up. My own bike had, for a short time anyway, a 150 horsepower engine but it paled in comparison to the W3. The W3 seemed to have constant acceleration. Your butt seemed to be pressed equally hard against the back of the seat at 40 mph as it was at 80 mph. Really the only bikes that I have ridden that felt similar were the Suzuki Hayabusa and the 500 horsepower big block Boss Hoss. The acceleration was relentless. Fun under 60 mph, a little scary when it was still pulling hard from 80 to 90 mph and pretty much frightening above that. As the speed increased, the engine just kept on rolling out the horsepower, ready to push the bike to much, much higher speeds should the rider desire.

The chassis handled the power well and there was no extracurricular movement in the swingarm, motor mounts or neck - any of which can make a spirited ride quickly turn into a nightmare. Oh, and here’s the kicker. The W3 was turning out all this performance at under 6000 rpm and without any feeling of strain. The W3 design seems a little more balanced than the V-twin which above 120 horsepower starts to feel like it is bursting from the seams.

Overall, the Feuling W3 could easily have gone into mass production. The design is solid, the power immensely entertaining and the look of the bike is only a stone’s throw from what everyone is accustomed to; it isn’t like an inline four compared to a V-twin. It wasn’t clear to me if any more of these fine bikes were going to be produced. I would stay tuned to www.feuling.com if you are interested. If they are simply selling out leftovers, I would jump on many of Jim’s other products as well. His 95” kits were without comparison. His oil pumps and gear drives for the twin cams were the only modifications he felt the twin cam needed to log tens if not hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles. If you are interested, you may contact Luke Leatherman at 619-579-5700.

- Mark Barnett