Founder and President Of Boss Hoss Cycles, Inc Monte Warne was looking to retire and since May 2015 was looking for a buyer of his company producing Chevy V-8 powered motorcycles. Warne advised me today that that his company was since yesterday under the ownership of new CEO Ricky Dietzand and of his brother Travis Dietz acting as President. The Dietz brothers, both from south Louisiana, have been Boss Hoss Cycles dealers and owners since 2006. Now former owner Monte Warne will still serve as an adviser for the company remaining headquartered in Dyersburg, Tennessee.
“We liked the motorcycle so much, we bought the company” said Ricky Dietz. The brothers priority is now to complete about a dozen of Boss Hoss motorcycles to be transported to the the Florida Daytona 500 race and show on February 21 for demo rides purpose. Then, focus will be will be on promotion and acquisition of new US dealerships. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed to me.
Boss Hoss Cycles was founded in 1990 by Monte Warne, a commercial aircraft pilot and degreed Aviation Air frame and Power plant technician. He was the first to produce a V-8-powered motorcycle that has a traditional cruiser motorcycle style, look and feel. The foundation of every Boss Hoss is the 1.5 inch, 0.95 wall, 4130 chrome-molly tubing and investment cast heat-treated 4130 alloy neck that make up the frame. Each motorcycle use a General Motors engine and a custom built proprietary 2-speed semi-automatic transmission with reverse. Or in the case of the trikes, a modified and remanufactured 350 Turbo Hydromanwic 3-speed automatic transmission with reverse. (custom Boss Hoss by House Of Thunder USA )
Thought they were closed!
All good wishes for the Dietz brothers in keeping a great name bike alive. Truly a special niche machine, and a blast to ride. There’s a lot of great possibilities, I loved the very early “Vortec V6” Hoss and I’ve always wondered if the 260HP turboed 2.0L four used in the Solstice/Sky & Cobalt cars could be adapted. Anyway, glad to see it staying the family so to speak.
Very narrow niche. What is the future of a V-8 powered motorcycle???
George: Never underestimate the amount of people out there with more $$$ than sense ;).
I predict this product will boom. If you test ride a bike or trike, you are hooked. Ever get bored on your current bike? This never happens on one of these, just wick the throttle and its like the first time all over again! I know—
Wow! Folks who pay for their own toys don’t have much sense? We don’t have to like the same things and I love being in a country where we can voice what we do and don’t like, but calling folks with money stupid seems catty.
I agree with Woody. it’s not my type of machine, but there’s a local guy I used to see around who owned a Boss Hoss and it was an amazing piece of engineering. The fact that it stays upright let alone rides and balances as well as it does without tearing the frame to pieces is a testament to the ingenuity of Mr. Warne. I’m also glad there are people around with the money to buy them or I’d never have gotten to see one!
Woody: Before you go and burst a capillary my joke was in reference to Jay Leno’s famous quote about people that own jet powered motorcycles (himself being one of them). Often referring to them as “The More Money Than Brains Club” 😉
An old friend had one and he absolutely loved it. This was a guy that had been riding his whole life and had built several bikes from the ground up as he was an extremely skilled welder/fabricator. There was absolutely nothing “wannabe” about the man and he definitely had more sense than money.
He tried and tried to get me to take it out for a rip but I refused every time, out of fear. I wasn’t afraid of the power, as I’m a horsepower junkie from way back. No, I was afraid I’d love it like he did and buy one. I’ve never cared for the styling of course, but I believe that obscene amount of power would have made me overlook that with no problem.
I owned an ’02 with the small block for a couple of years. They are fun bikes and not at all hard to ride considering their size. I miss it sometimes. When my lottery ticket is cashed in I will buy a new one to help support the new owners. 🙂
Helped build one based on a Buick V-6….. Certainly was an interesting fabrication exercise, and OK to just motor about on a flat even surface. But that much cast iron traveling over an uneven road surface is way to unpredictable for my taste….
-nicker-
At Matt; gotcha, I didn’t make that connection though I remember the Jay’s Garage episode with that jet bike. I think the Hoss is a little closer to normal than a jet. ☺
Add a test ride on a Boss Hoss to your bucket list. I was concerned that all that power would flip the bike over backwards no matter how much it weighed. The thing is; it has a torque converter in its 2-speed automatic transmission so that no matter how fast I twisted the throttle the motor poured out the neck snapping power so smoothly I never got the impression the thing would flip over. FYI, if I remember correctly I was told I could wind up the model I rode to 110 mph in first gear. They handle about like you’d imagine but once I got used to exerting a bit more effort to initiate a turn I did just fine. Unfortunately the headers are located very close to the foot boards. If I intended to ride one for an extend period I would consider adding some form of insulation to the inside surface of my ankle areas.
I look forward to checking out any new models the Boss Hoss engineers come up with.
Best of luck to the Dietz bros going forward.