What you're looking at is the first liquid-cooled bike in the Cleveland CycleWerks lineup. A light, powerful dual-sport, it's going to totally upset the market thanks to one other important factor: its price. At just $6,000 it undercuts the heavier, slower DR-Z400 by $500. Let's talk to CCW's head honcho, Scott Colosimo.

"As the bike was leaked well before intended, I will give what I can now," begins Scott. "The bike is not available in the USA just yet."

"Full disclosure: CCW was brought in as a consultant on this project after it was started, I want to be clear on this. Over the course of the last 2 years we have made several changes and improvements to this model as a consultant to the manufacturer. We are confident with the improvements and extremely excited about this vehicle. To be honest I am not comfortable with what people will say about this, but I am completely comfortable with the product and this decision I have made to move forward with it."

"During the last 16-18 months of development, we fell in love with this model and the attitude of our partner, so I made the decision to bring this model into the CCW lineup. The implications of this model and our cooperation with this partner are far greater reaching then this single product."

"There are several features that make this model unique, but not exactly unique in the segment (dirt bike segment not dual sport), and that is sort of the point. the motor is 450cc, 4 valve, liquid cooled and counter balanced, it’s a modern 450. The frame is all aluminum, the forks are inverted adjustable, rear suspension is link style with aluminum swing arm, in general the whole package is what you would expect from any modern motard/dirtbike. The basic idea is that this bike is not revolutionary, it is evolutionary for CCW. The bike has been through extensive testing over it's development cycle. The basic bike is good, but of course we have a couple of hop up parts ready as soon as the bike launches."

CCW Hooligun: a $6,000, 450cc, liquid-cooled dual-sport
CCW plans both dual-sport and motard versions.

"We are looking to hit a unique customer base that we can support properly. By keeping sales numbers manageable we can meet and exceed our customers expectations. We will also support racing, track day evaluations and other limited motor sports activity that can really push our engineering teams expertise."

"This is a first step to more serious developments with our manufacturing partner in technology, materials advancement and advanced manufacturing techniques. We benefit from their investment in this product, they benefit from the improvements we have made and together both benefit from a continued partnership to develop more advanced models from the ground up."

"The Hooligun is not a dual sport. It is a dirt bike that you can legally ride on the street, it’s a motard in it’s true sense. The bike is 260 lbs. in full street trim. We will have hard cases available, but this is not going to be a bike that you are going to go cross country with, it is not geared that way, the motor is not designed for this. We may have subsequent models for this, but this is not that model."

"I will let you guys decide how it rides. It really does not matter what I say, I have learned you guys will flame us if you think its shit and let us know if you like it, so I will leave that up to you and accept the outcome."

"I bring products to market that I want to ride. I build, tweak and personally own every product that we sell and that is when I know a product is right, that’s how I knew we had to move forward with this product. It is a true hooligan machine on the street, smile factor is huge, fun factor is off the charts, it’s the kind of bike that makes me feel like I am on my BMX bike and that’s pretty cool."

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