The Art and Science of Motorcycling

An Interview with Richard Worsham, founder of Janus Motorcycles

Interviewed by Adam Snyder – Marketing Director, Bridge Analyzers

“If you’re going to survive, riding a bike, you have to be totally concentrated on the hear and now, about everything observed of the here and now. You don’t think about the past, you don’t think about the future, you don’t have memories, and you don’t have expectations, except the immediate ones, which are to be negotiated. And this concentration of the here and now is curiously calming, because, well, there you are alive, you’re moving, and you notice what you’re moving through and that’s all that exists.”

-John Berger

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how that lead you to start Janus Motorcycles?

I had an undergrad degree in literature from Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. An undergrad degree from Thomas More is a true liberal arts education, so literature was really just a focus for me there. So, my interest in going into architecture is that my dad is an architect and the guy I went to study with at Notre Dame— I went to Notre Dame to study with this specific teacher— was the same fella that my father studied with at UVA [University of Virginia].

Who was the architect you and your father studied under?

His name is Carrol William Westfall, and he is an architectural theorist really, and my primary interest when I went to Notre Dame was really on the theory end of architecture, and so I guess it wasn’t—of course we studied studio and we were being prepared to go into the professional field— but I guess my interest in theory more than practice made it a little easier to do other things [Richard chuckles]. The other thing that was really pushing me was my own interests in and being distracted by motorcycles [laughs again].

Alright, so we’re back to motorcycles?

Yes. So, over the summers instead of doing an internship, I essentially just worked in a vintage repair shop and had fun and learned a lot about older bikes that way, and started doing some customization.

Our focus at that time was really on vintage, small displacement bikes— when I say small displacement, I mean 50cc mopeds and everything in between— so that was one thing you know. I already had a vintage Garelli— which is a little 50cc bike— and that kind of got me into it. And because I was already interested in bikes that’s how I met a lot of people out here [Elkhart County, Indiana]. It was that initial interest that was kind of the starting point, as well as gradually making really good friends with the guy who I was working with over the summers and starting to collaborate with him on custom projects, and building up a network of local suppliers that could do the different processes we needed.

How does where you are located influence your business?

Well, we are located in Elkhart County, Indiana which is famous for its RVs— we are the RV capital of the US. 80% of recreational vehicles come out of Elkhart County. So, what that means is that there are a lot of small job shops, large shops, every kind of- it’s like a really healthy ecosystem of manufacturing on every scale, on every different kind of process: from EDM to welding to machining to specific kinds of machining that make things easier. So that was a big part of how we got started, and then also kind of a, I guess, sort of a leap of faith. Of course, that’s always part of it.

Very cool. Were you a motorcyclist growing up?

I was not a motorcyclist growing up as a kid, but when I started riding, I really found the small light weight bikes that I could work on myself without a lot of factory tools to be completely captivating. So, we built a one-off, complete, from scratch bike, built based around a vintage engine— and so in order to do that we had to make the frame, the fuel tank, the fenders, all that kind of stuff. That process— it took about two years before we started the company— and it was going through that process that kind of turned the lightbulb on and we were like, “Hey, maybe we should make these, and then, maybe make a company.” It was pretty crazy I have to say.

What was Janus like in the very beginning?

For the first couple of years, it was just two guys, essentially working in a garage, and sometimes only one guy working in a garage and another guy kind of part time doing sales and website stuff and marketing. So, it’s taken a while to get off the ground. We were founded in 2011 and the first few years we were producing on a very limited basis, and then about 2015, 2016 is when we really started production, manufacturing style production.

So, you are making 250cc and 450cc bikes now, right?

That’s right. So, we launched the 250cc in 2015 or 2016, but initially, we started off building a 50cc— so really straight from our moped roots. To build it we used a little 6-Speed, really a sweet little 50cc engine that put out about 10 horsepower and could do about 55 miles per hour. That was when it was like, one bike built pays for the next bike to get built. We were full time on the project then, but we were not paying ourselves much, let’s just say that [laughs].

So then in 2016 we launched the 250cc, and that has really been the backbone of the company, especially the Halcyon 250cc. That Halcyon model has basically carried us through from the 50cc Halcyon to the 250cc and then last spring we launched the Halcyon 450cc which is our kind of foray into a little bit larger displacement bike that can get on the highway more easily. We’ve built around 120 of the 450 Halcyons at this point, and we’ve built almost a thousand of the 250 cc Halcyons.

Off topic here, but how is your Bridge 5 Gas Analyzer working?

Oh, it works great. It gets used a lot.

How often do you use it?

Oh, we use it every day. I’m sure it’s getting used and abused right now.

Alright, so back to our discussion. You are going through the EPA certification process again. How has that process been?

Let me step back a little bit and talk about when we actually got EPA certification the first time. One of the things that we did not do with our 50cc was get it EPA certified. For one thing getting a 50cc certified with modern emissions is just about impossible, a 50cc 2-stroke that is. When we launched the 250, from the get go it was clear to us that we wanted to be able to manufacture these and in order to do that there is no way around your emissions compliance. When we realized we needed to go through emissions testing, one of the things we decided was that we really wanted to not just do 49 states, but to also have California in the mix.

To do that, we took a carbureted motorcycle through emissions testing and passed all 50-state certification, which is difficult today— it didn’t hurt us that we did this with a small displacement bike, but if we had gotten into the 650 or higher it would have been much more difficult to do this.

When we were doing some basic testing, we were looking at the plug and taking it to a lab and we had been doing that for a while trying to get certification and we realized that we really needed the ability to do in-house testing. So originally, we looked at getting a DynoJet dynamometer, but we weren’t really ready for that as the price was a little bit steep for us at the time, so we found Bridge Analyzers in a search for portable 5 Gas Analyzers and did our research and spoke with your President David Anderson a good bit and he explained that you had done some work with Ducati and had a gas mixer and that we could direct where we were sampling from and so on.

So, we got the whole setup from Bridge Analyzers, and at that point we were essentially able to replicate what we would have gotten with the dynamometer with your software— you know we could log, we couldn’t log throttle position, but we could get a really good idea based on a number of runs of where we were and that helped us to get in the ballpark. From there we would take our bikes to our test lab.

We partner with a company called S&S Cycle which is a company really well known for their work with big V twins, they make aftermarket Harley parts, and actually make Harley engines. They are a very reputable Wisconsin brand and because they do a lot of performance parts they have their own emissions lab, and they hire their lab out as a consultant. So, we would go up to them and put our bikes on their dynamometer and get a zero-mile reading. And our process with them was really in depth because we were using a carburetor and when we needed to make a change, we had to actually machine the part [laughs]. But we got through it very successfully and now have 50 state EPA compliance.

Actually, every bike we have taken through EPA compliance testing has passed without a catalyst, however we put a catalyst on all of our exhaust systems to ensure long-term emissions compliance.

Anyway, it has been five years since initially getting EPA compliance so this year we decided that in order to maintain our compliance we are going to do preemptive compliance testing on our 250cc line. If we do that the EPA will extend our window. So, we are going back up to the S&S lab and recertifying and doing a short run to confirm that we are re-upped with the EPA. This recertification should carry us for another five years.

One thing, real quick, I wanted to make sure I mention, is that really where we get the value from Bridge Analyzers is when we prep the bikes we go through emissions testing, but what we use the 5 Gas Analyzer for on a daily basis is ensuring that every carbureted bike— you know the carbureted bikes have a fuel-air mixture that you have to adjust and dial in per government regulations— and so we use our 5 Gas Analyzer on every carbureted bike that leaves the shop to dial in the fuel-air mixture so that it’s in compliance. So that’s where we are using the 5 Gas every single day.

Do you dial-in the Air-Fuel ratio with the 5 Gas Analyzer right before you send out a bike to a customer? 

Yeah, yeah, so basically, we make everything here or right around here. Most of the parts that go into our bikes are made within twenty miles, they come here to the shop, are assembled on the stand, and then the next step after they leave the build stand is they get put on the rolling road which is basically like a very, very simple dyno where you can check the bike for vibrations and rattles. After that, we put a port on the exhaust which we can attach the 5 Gas Analyzer to and then take a reading once it’s on there as well. When the engine is cold is when we do that initial exhaust gas reading after we have done the test run. Then we dial it in.

What are your AFR specs? 

Overall, we are looking for stoichiometric. The actual spec. on what we are checking for would be Carbon Monoxide levels. So, you have a carbon monoxide range of 0.2% to 1% at idle. There is a time limit to this as well. The engine has to be cold and then it warms up and then at about four to seven minutes we take the reading and then after it gets past that the reading gets a little less consistent. Probably more information than you need but there you go.

No, not at all. We know a lot about combustion but we don’t know everything, so we love to hear other people’s insights.

That 1% CO would be the legal limit for the EPA. Then we just have to figure out where we want that level to fall within that 0.2% to 1% CO range in terms of engine protection and reliability. You don’t want the level to be too low as that would be detrimental to performance.

Can you discuss your proprietary exhaust system design? 

There are not a whole lot of secrets to it. It is a very simple exhaust, there is nothing extremely original about it. We just use a double baffle system. It’s very, very simple. Where our system is proprietary is the fact that we use a catalyst designed for our application. The catalyst we get from a company up in Wisconsin called Catalytic Combustion, an awesome US company. We decided early on we didn’t want to worry about having any issues with emissions components. We love having someone right next door we can call up on the phone.

I was looking at your YouTube page and I saw the video with the Dylan Thomas poem and I thought that was pretty sweet.

Yeah [laughs] yeah, that’s one of those marketing things that are much less conventional, but it was a blast. We had a lovely time making it.

I think it does more than you think. You really get a feel for the Janus ethos of motorcycling when you watch it. 

Yeah, our owners are some of the most unique people, that’s how we keep the brand kind of funky.

I also liked the content on your website where you talked about connecting with the road and the machine, and it reminded me of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Yeah, yeah.

Motorcycling is unique in that you can wax philosophical about it.

You absolutely can. It is not a practical or purely utilitarian activity or thing. It serves a higher end. It’s more than just your typical car that’s a box to take you from point A to B.

What’s your favorite part about motorcycling?

Oh, my favorite part about it? [He sighs contemplatively considering the question] I think it’s the – man, I always shy away from answering this question because it’s such a meaningful one — my favorite part about bikes is— I think it’s that motorcycling gives you the ability to have a measure of control over your immediate destiny. It’s a very immediate experience, and compared to other activities we do there are fewer safety barriers between you and reality. [He laughs happily]

Yes, it’s not mediated at all.

Right, it’s also not to say that it’s a high risk or a daredevil activity— I mean it can be if you want to take it that way— but it just means that you’re always, when you’re riding a motorcycle, or engaging with a motorcycle, whether that’s talking with motorcycle people or maintaining it, you’re taking a very active part in something that is important to you. When a lot of people talk about motorcycles they talk about freedom and all that kind of stuff, but I think what they are really getting at is that idea of being actively engaged with something that you care about.

Have you read Matthew Crawford’s book Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work? 

I was just about to ask you that question. Yes, I have. I’ve also read his book Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road. 

I have not read that yet, but I read his book The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in An Age of Distraction.

Oh, I haven’t read that one.

That one’s a little more abstract. When I was reading some of the content on your website, I thought with your background you would have had to have read these books.

Yeah, oh yeah. [laughs happily]

Yeah, so when Crawford talks about when you are fixing a bike or riding a bike, that’s a time when you have agency in the world.

Yes. That’s who I am channeling when I talk about this stuff.

He really did a lot to help motorcyclists articulate what they felt when they were riding or working on their bike.

Absolutely, absolutely. Yep, and then Why We Drive is really good too because he manages to talk about motorcycles in there as well, and it’s the same as Shop Class— when he says drive, he’s talking about driving a real car that matters [laughs].

Well, this was really serendipitous: Great Books, literature, motorcycles, this has been really cool.

Yeah, yeah, I literally was looking at Why We Drive on my shelf just now as we were talking and I’m going, “I need to ask him if he’s read Matthew Crawford.” [laughs heartily]. So this is awesome.

Have you read any John Berger?

No.

He was an English author and he was a huge motorcyclist and he’s got some great material about motorcycling.

Interesting, ok, well, thank you. I appreciate that, I’m always looking for more material because we’re basically trying to— if I haven’t already said it— what we’re trying to do is kind of unique, we’re trying to sell motorcycles that are second to none in terms of build quality and fit and finish, but we are doing it with a 250cc and a 450cc motorcycle which most people think of as a budget bike, no matter what way you look at it. They think that value is associated with the size of the engine. And so, what we’re trying to say is, “No, you can do everything that most Harley riders do, which is weekend rides on two lane roads, on a 250cc and it’s handmade right here in the States. It’s handmade, which no one else can say.” So, it’s been a wonderful marketing challenge [laughs]. But I think it’s starting to stick, and a lot of our success with it is using this kind of language of “Why do we ride a motorcycle?”

I have a little podcast here at Janus called “Why We Ride” and we talk to industry folks— kind of like the conversation we are having right now— and just kind of bounce ideas off of each other about this, and it’s been helpful speaking about just what we have been talking about here.

Well, Richard, this has been awesome. I think that the conversation went great.

Adam, so do I. Great talking with you too. Take care.