Sidewinder/hotrod

[csh2z]

Last week they were able to place firm orders with their vendors for 30 complete motors. As soon as prices and ship dates are confirmed they will announce both pricing and availability dates. The 15's are done with the design and engineering phase and they are very happy with their latest test results. The 20 is up next. I believe the only thing left to do on the 20 is carburator testing, so it also will not be long.
The pricing I can only speculate on, probably in the $4000-$4500 range. As far as class weight for the B(20) classes it should be 400 lbs. to be the same as 20SSH. I think the motor is 60 lbs. This class will be suitable for guys up to 220 -230 lb. range.
Doug, I will be running the B on a small C boat. We will be seeing speeds competitive with 20SSH. With a much lighter motor the boat doesn't have to be small & light to be competitive. Of course designs will evolve but that is a good starting point.

[bill boyes]

John, is the plan to have the 20cu motor to replace the Y80? Or to put it better what is the time table to phase out the Y80?

[csh2z]

I expect we will be running the Y-80 well into the future. We believe that parts availability. market forces and attrition will determine that. At some point we do want to eliminate obsolete motors so new people don't make the mistake of buying something that has no future. If new people get taken advantage of, we will damage our reputation and lose them.

[Cameraboy]

We'd be looking at a 20, maybe a 15 depending on interchangeability. There's a distributor out this way, so I'm not too worried about seeing before I buy.

Tony - question for you. What AOF classes will the new Sidewinders be legal in?

[bill boyes]

John, I agree with you. I,am concerned that a racer that wants to run 20(B) can buy an Y80 for $1500 so why buy the Sidewinder for $4500. Sooner or later the Y80 will need to be phased out. Maybe the place for the Y80 will be in "B" Mod. I'am really looking forward to seeing the Sidewinder 20cu run. Might buy one myself!!!

[14-H]

Team 14

Will own at least one of each in the first year. I've been saving for some time now. I guess part of the frustration is two fold: the amount of time and not hearing anything from the factory.

John: I appreciate your information here. But you are not, as far as I know, the public relations agent for Racing Outboards. It would be nice to hear something official that is beyond vague explanations. We were told that new 15 cu.in. powerheads would be available on June the 1st. That never came to pass and we really have been given no further explanation as to what to expect. Moreover, it is a little disheartening to only hear about two or three last-minute planned test sessions being officially sanctioned out of the factory. This looks very unorganized to me. When I built my killer A Mod engine, I spent two weeks in Minneapolis testing it every day with Moulder and Craig Johnson. And we were not starting from scratch. Has this type of testing been done with the Sidewinder?

I am no longer speaking as the SO Chairman, just an impatient racer. I am not the only one. I have heard others in the pits who are frustrated because they want to buy new equipment but have no idea what to buy and believe that if they buy new stuff now, their investment may become obsolete once the Sidewinders are available but they have no idea when that will be.

It is a little difficult to plan for future racing projects when the lights in the planning room are out most of the time. Eddie.

[csh2z]

I understand your concern, I do not speak for the company. If I have stated anything that is not true I would hope that either Ed or Ron would get on here and clear up any misconceptions. I'm not making this stuff up. I spoke to Ed this morning and he assured me that they don't forsee any more delays. Believe me, they are just as anxious as we are to put motors on boats. By the way they have over 70 hours of test time on this motor and they are thrilled with its performance and have yet to see a dependability issue.

[csh12M]

I posted my purchase intention to support Racing Outboards, and I do believe that it could be a HUGE lift to Stock Outboard. However, I do echo's Ed's concerns. I do not understand why Racing Outboards does not publicly communicate a little more often. I also agree that the lack of factory information is starting to cause some people to doubt what is going on and where the future is really headed?

Dean

[Steve Wilde]

I will buy one 15ci when they are available, then additional engines the following years.
When the OMC A was introduced I suffered from sticker shock and bought only one, swapping it from boat to boat. It took me several years to buy additional engines. That was a big mistake, the sport would be better today if we had all bought as many engines as OMC was able to produce.
The people at Racing Outboards are investing a lot of time and effort to help the sport we love, I intend to do all I can to help them succeed.

[wdlong1226]

new motor

i,m happy someone is putting the time into making this sport grow my personal opinion is GREAT JOB. motors and parts are scarce.i,d rather buy new ,than someones crappy third or fourth motor cause in my experiencis NO ONE is gonna sell you there best motor AND THAT IS A FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[canoeincutie]

motor

I can see how frustrated some of you are, but to be frank "Rome wasn't built in a day" How many people can honestly say that they have taken the time to build a motor from scratch???? Not many i would assume, so instead of being impatient because i am sure there is enough pressure on the Racing outboards company as it is, why don't you give them the time not only to do it, but to it right. so the money your spending is worth it. Not only to get a great motor, but to get a perfect motor. When my funds are available i will purchase one of these, so i don't about the rest of you but i'd rather they get the kinks out for me then i have to worry abouk it after spending the money.
Laura

[bhowe2-A]

I would be interested in the 20ci. But it would be nice to have idear of the cost.

[STEVE FRENCH]

I'm interested in a 20....Have several rigs to run it on (BSH/Webster and two Altralite 20ssh/csh mold boats).......Already have a tower and 2 old style foots (I bought for a 25MOD-OMC), so would like to buy just a powerhead ??....If old style foot not legal then may look to trade the two early foots towards a new style........

19P

[jeff55v]

Maybe...

I'm looking to buy something to get one of my brothers racing with me. (runabout) I lean toward a 302. BUT, a NEW motor does sound appealing.
My questions are these:
How will the new motor replace the old? Will it race side by side with the old? Or will it be a completely new class. (kinda like how C and C2 ran for a while)
Do I go to races and hope There will be enough new sidewinders to hold a class?
If my new Sidewinder is made to race with the old motors but is clearly faster than the old motors, will I (my brother) be restricted somehow to bring some kind of parity? What if the new motor is slower?
This has probably been covered before. I'm sorry if my questions are redundant. I haven't really considered this new motor until recently, so I paid little attention to these details.

So, like I said. Put me down for a big maybe for a 20. From now on, I'll be watching closely to see how this plays out.

Thank you.
Jeff Yungen.

[wdlong1226]

new motor

ive got high hopes , if there were more people like ron in this that put alot of time into this project. trying to upgrade the sport.but the few that wanna down talk this project.MAYBE they wanna invest there time and money into helping this sport. i,m not sure, i don,t see anyone else designing and building a new motor.all i see is alot of bs about whats taking so long.PATIENCE.THIS IS NOT A EASY TASK. OR YOU CAN JUST KEEP RUNNING YOUR OLD ONE TIL YOU RUN OUT OF GOOD PARTS