Road tests are always my personal favorite articles to read and write. To me, they are the most useful and easy to read articles. For the most part, you don’t need an extreme technical knowledge of motorcycle function to read one. Riding, after all, is what I'm after when I consider a bike. Yes, there are stylish aspects up for consideration, but the ride is still the most influential part of my decision. Recently, I got the chance to test ride a Big Dog model K-9 chopper. Let me tell you, this bike is a blast. So sit back, open a beer, and relax. I have prepared the most exhaustive ride review in the history of Bikernet and I hope the big guy doesn’t edit half of it out. He gets a jealous mean streak from time to time and will viciously cut an article to pieces.
About 2 months ago, Bandit called and ordered me onto a flight for Wichita so he could get a road test of a couple of Big Dog mototrcycles.
“You better be on that plane or I will hunt you down and make you clean my feline’s litter box with your tongue,” he growled over the phone.
I swear I could smell the Jack on his breath through the receiver! I began to pack a few of the essentials for the trip when my wife walked in the room.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m packing, Baby. Why, what’s up?”
“Where are you going?”
“Bandit’s sending me to Wichita to ride a Big Dog and get him a road test.”
Why is it we are such ignorant creatures? I truly didn’t think I had said anything wrong, so the next thing I heard caught me off guard entirely.
“You ain’t going nowhere without me!” She glared at me with her emerald green eyes blazing. The look in her eyes confirmed that the battle had just begun.
“Look, I don’t have time for this crap. I’m not dragging you to every one of these reviews, so you had better get used to me taking these trips.” I was serious, too. There was no way she was tagging along on this trip. What the hell kind of guy does she think I am?
So, a few weeks later, we landed in Wichita, Kansas. We picked up our rental and headed to Big Dog for the beginning of our adventure aboard a Big Dog K-9. Luckily a Big Dog staff member understood my situation and had the bike set up to carry a passenger so my wonderfully understanding wife could ride along with me. Great!
We arrived at the Big Dog World Headquarters and were immediately greeted by one of their top salesman, Brian. We told him we were there to see either Paul or Julie, and he smiled happily while telling us some of the features on their K-9 model.
“These bikes get all the attention when we go out on rides. The lines, style, and performance are all people can talk about after trying one of these bikes. I believe you will be extremely surprised by the ease at which you will be able to handle one of these bad boys,” he explained. He believes strongly in their product and it shows in his presentation.
Paul Hansen, BDM’s marketing genius, then walked over to us from the offices wearing a smile meant to melt icebergs. Amazingly fit, Paul is obviously a man who has spent many nights wrestling with iron at the local gym. Very different from the balding and overweight yuppies that have overpopulated the biker world, Paul seemed very much like me; a man who believes in developing mind, body, and soul.
He was very courteous and walked us around the factory as we snapped shots of the bikes and manufacturing process. We were introduced to BDM’s President, Nick Messer, who welcomed us with a warm smile and invited us into his office for an impromptu interview. Look for that next month when I release our factory tour article as well as the one-on-one interview I had with Mr. Messer, “The Knife”.
Paul interrupted, “Well, are you ready to see the bike?”
He was right, I needed to ride.
As we rounded the corner of the warehouse, the gleaming red steed sat, sparkling from the fresh detailing job that had recently commenced. Long, powerful, and freaky, this bike has the looks of a custom show bike! I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my tongue seemed to swell two sizes too big in my mouth. I felt exactly the same as I had just before straddling my first street bike years earlier. I could only imagine what it would feel like to ride her.
Paul began giving directions when I jumped aboard and thumbed the starter switch. The bike immediately coughed to life and a decent rumble barked from the Mean Mother exhausts. While an upgrade is available for all their bikes, Big Dog left this one in its “stock” form. Trust me, “stock” really doesn’t apply to these bikes, but you will see more of that the further you get into this review.
“You can ride her around the block a few times to get familiar with her before taking off, if you want,” Paul offered.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. Hop on, Baby,” I invited my wife as we mounted the beast. I immediately shifted the weight from one leg to the other as I tried to acclimate myself to the feel of this 9 foot monster.
I’ll be honest with you, my riding experience is almost exclusively aboard a H-D. I was really curious to see how these bikes measured up.
You can feel the 117-inch S&S thumping beneath you, but it isn’t uncomfortable. While I had to reach back with my left foot to lift the bike off it’s awkward kickstand, I clicked the shifter into first. As I gently let off the clutch, I felt the healthy pull as the bike rolled forward. I wheeled her around a corner and headed to the freeway.
Paul had given me a map to head towards a scenic route many of the locals rode on regularly. My heart was pounding so heavily at this point, I couldn’t tell if the motor was giving me a massage or if my senses were just in overdrive from excitement.
This bike has a very distinct feel to it. You can feel the weight of the beach ball sized 300 tire when taking off from a dead stop. While these bikes are never going to be winning drag races, they have more of a “steady pull” when taking off from the line. I can only relate it to a locomotive taking off. While it takes it a second or two to transfer the power from the motor through the wheels down to the pavement, once it gets rolling, it steadily picks up speed. Once the acceleration started, this bike had plenty of pull for anyone. It pulled as hard through first and second as it did from fifth to sixth gear.
I pulled onto freeway 254 steered the bike West on the freeway. The tall gas tank and handlebars sit directly in front of your lower chest and this bike is definitely designed for highway cruising. I let the gears wind up a little and shifted up just as the tachometer glowed 300 rpm’s. The tach on these beauties is an arc of successive lights as you pass through the rpm ranges, glowing green until you get higher, then yellow, and eventually red, I guess. I never saw the red, so that is purely a guess, but I did see yellow on a fairly regular basis. Don’t be fooled by that however, as you have to throttle pretty hard to wrap these bikes into the harder rpm ranges while still staying within the legal speed limits.
We took one of the first exits off the freeway as I wanted to check out the bike away from the factory. To tell you the truth, I was too nervous to even check anything at the factory, so I needed a moment to regain my bearings.
I asked my wife, Salena, what she thought of the ride so far.
“It’s really comfortable. I’m not sure if it’s the sissy bar height, the seat, or both, but it’s really comfortable,” she beamed.
I began taking a couple of detailed shots when I took notice of the way BDM designs the passenger set up on their bike. The sissy bar bolts directly to the struts via allen bolts that attach under the struts, hiding it from view. The same could be said of the passenger pegs. Instead of just slapping stuff onto the bike so a passenger can ride, BDM has taken the time and effort to design the passenger set up correctly. They not only have styling in mind, but comfort as well.
We weren’t at the gas station long before a crowd began to gather around the bike. Everyone from truckers to the local AMSOIL oil salesman hit us up with questions. Without fail, everyone’s comments were complimentary. This bike grabs attention.
After downing a quick Red Bull, I decided to hit the road again. Daylight was burning and I only had a couple of hours before this bike had to be back for the night. I turned the ignition key, which is cleverly located just below the gas tank on the left side of the bike, thumbed the starter button, and listen as this beast roared to life. While I adjusted the choke, my wife couldn’t resist herself and hit the throttle with two quick bursts. The engine roared with approval as the crowd gave us the thumbs up. I rolled my eyes at her as I shifted down into first gear and gave her a quick jolt of petrol. We were off again.
We cruised the highways of Kansas trying to test the mettle of Big Dog’s top seller. Like Bandit has written in the past, the six speed transmission is a beautiful oddity. This bike flies through the gears in a mechanical bliss, thumping from one gear to the next. Sixth gear is so pleasantly smooth, it almost feels as if you’ve slipped into neutral. While I would recommend never switching to sixth below 75 mph, sixth is definitely a luxury every cross country rider has needed. We sliced through the Kansas wind like a hot knife through butter as we racked up the miles aboard our bike.
I had never ridden a chopper before, so I had no idea what to expect. I was very leary of two things on this particular bike: one was handling at slower speeds with the heavy, chopper front end, and the other was the giant, beach-balled, 300 series back tire. Well, both these concerns were immediately washed away once I had a few miles on this beauty. The steering was very balanced and controllable in slow, tight turns. The back tire requires a certain amount of commitment when negotiating a turn, but it is nothing extraordinary. This bike is engineered to be ridden!
We coasted along the highway as enjoyed the constant thumbs up we received from passing motorists and bikers alike. The attention was always very positive and smile inducing. People snapped our pictures and smiled approvingly while a conversation seemed to spark up between the admirers.
I couldn’t believe the smoothness of the drivetrain, controls, and seating position. We ended up notching over 340 miles aboard this K-9. She handled wonderfully in every situation from slow, controlled, parking-lot riding, to balls to the wall freeway cruising. Even though I packed a passenger through most of the trip, this bike seemed to have as much power as I needed. Acceleration felt as strong at 90 mph as it did at 30 mph. The combination of the Baker 6-Speed transmission and the 117 inch S&S mill provided a very formidable machine. A set of pipes and some performance heads and cams would make this bike absolutely scary!
Overall I was very pleased with every aspect of this bike. While, I expected the 300 to be a bear to ride, I was very surprised to find it easily manageable. The engineers at BDM have definitely designed this bike for the rider. I could easily strap a bag to the sissy bar and ride this bike from Houston to Sturgis! Maybe the big guy will take the hint. Enjoy the spec sheet and several pages of pics. If you have any specific questions you would like answered about the Big Dog K-9, email me at Johnny3sal@aol.com. If they aren’t already answered, I will answer them and add them to the article.
Big Dog Motorcycles have designed a winner with the K-9. This bike is a chopper that will get noticed everywhere you ride it and is very capable of winning any show it enters. Try to get a test ride at your local Big Dog dealer and you will likely be like me, trying to convince the better half of the benefits of a trade in! Until next time…
300 MM rear Tire
Hidden Shock Suspension
Aggressive Design
9-Feet Long
Dry Weight – 710 lbs
Engine — OHV 45 deg V-Twin
Displacement – 117 ci (1916 cc)
Bore and stroke – 4 1/8” x 4 3/8”
Compression Ratio – 9.6to 1
Fuel System — S&S Carburetor
Fuel Capacity – 4.4 Gals
Oil Capacity — 3 Qts
Transmission – Baker 6-Speed Right Side Drive
Primary Drive — Chain
Final Drive – 1 1/8” Belt
Frame Stretch – 4” out, 8” down
Rake – 39 degrees
Seat Height – 24.25″
Rear Suspension — Hidden Shocks
Front Suspension — 41 mm Telescopic 12″ over
Wheelbase — 82″
Total Length — 108″
Front Brake – PM 4 Piston Diff Bore
Rear Brake – PM 4 Piston
Front Tire – MH90-21
Rear Tire – 300/35-18
Ignition — Electronic Single Fire
Charging — Output 40 Amps
Battery — 270 CCA
Speedometer — Digital with integrated tach
