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Talk about what an animal it is, and most riders look at you blankly.  Or else they say that you're feeding them company propaganda.  "Never been a horse that couldn't be rode . . ." and all that.  This

though, is a complete performance creature. It doesn't pretend to be a commuter machine. Twist it too hard, and you'll be looking at the sky. Or else sliding sideways.

For anything except the highly skilled rider, the R.C. Cobra engine is too much.

It's not that the machine is particularly sudden, as, for instance, 

a high-performance two-stroke, with a narrow powerband that comes on suddenly.

That increasing torque curve is still there.  It's just that the thing has moved up a few foot-pounds

You will have, with an R.C. engine, a motor that develops 100 horsepower at the rear wheel.  Remember, now, all propaganda aside, your stocker is putting out, when it's freshly tuned, about 35 horse.

Collins tells the story of someone who came in, and insisted on having a Cobra engine built.  It was, and delivered.  The gentleman then tried to sue R.C. for building a dangerous - i.e., too fast - product.

We tend to think the story apocryphal.  But the point is valid.  You may end up with a great deal more than you wanted.

If all you want is to be able to run heads-up with your friend's Z-1, or like eating somebody's Sportster, the 836 kit is more in line.

You better be a tad looney before you consider the Cobra.

What else are you going to lose with the bike?

Reliability, surprisingly enough, isn't going to be down all that much.  You can expect somewhere around 15,000 miles out of the top end before a minor job gets done (we're assuming this bike will be driven hard, constantly), and 30,000 before a rebuild.  This isn't that far from a
stocker that's pushed constantly.   It will be just as easy to work on (some things, depending on what ignition and carb option you go with) may actually be easier, and just as streetable.

There is a reason for this -- the Cobra engine not just a performance kit.  There's so much increase that a number of stock parts become overstressed.  So the entire engine gets gone through.  Practically, you can assume that, for every dollar spent on hot-rod, you're spending another dollar of the package on reliability and increased strength.  Practically, you can assume that, for every dollar spent on hot-rod, you're spending another dollar of the package on reliability and increased strength.

Now, let's look at the step-by-step assembly of a Cobra engine. Work, as usual, was handled by Slim Moffet, who is in charge of all the custom engines built at R.C.