Muhahahaha!!! Parte Deux!!!

BlueSkyJaunte · 01-21-2005, 04:48 PM

The rest of the roller is here!

Whole kit 'n' kaboodle:

Lipstick red glitter vinyl seat (don't worry, I've got a custom leather one in the works. This is just a "beater" seat.)

Mini-apes!!!

Drago · Drago's Garage

Sweet!

304065 · 01-22-2005, 06:52 AM

Call the Discovery channel!

asphaltgambler · 10:42 AM

Here's a few pics of one of my rides: '77 Iron Sportster, Pro-Street, 13:1 93ci (3.5"by 4-13/16") RedShift 550 cams, Baisely full roller valve train., Baisley cylinder heads, S&S Super "D" race-prepped carb with twin Thunder-jets (the venturi measures 2-1/4"), dual plugs with homemade DIS (4 coils) ignition.

The trans is a special drag race close-ratio 4-speed that is electric over air shifted with an adjustable slipper clutch. The original frame has been stretched, raked, re-inforced and lightened. The rear tire is an old Michelin 160 road-race tire. In the day that was a wide tire!!

I made from scratch or reverse engineered virually every part on this bike. Some obvious are: two-into-one header, tank, handle-bars, 'dentist' mirror, rear fender (was a front dresser fender turned backwards and widened), crank case evactuation system, seat etc, etc.

I built this bike about 13 yrs ago and have raced it occasionally. It is street legal and it is a BEAST!! There is nothing that equals the acceleration of a big, long stroke engine. When you nail it, you'd better have it pointed in the general direction that you want to go because the higher the RPM's the harder it pulls!

This is how drag race / custom Harleys looked back in the day. I feel a little jypped sometimes because I was doing all the s--t you see on TV now 15-20 yrs ago when some of those guys were still in junior-high!! I guess most main-streamers then were not interested in custom Harleys on their television!!

asphaltgambler · 08:24 AM

Also in the background, my bike garage.

Joeaksa · 01-22-2005, 08:20 AM

Guys,

The cylinders are pointing in the wrong direction!!!

JoeA

asphaltgambler · 01-22-2005, 08:26 AM

The view that everyone sees!!

SLO-BOB · 01-22-2005, 08:33 AM

AG-What were the 1/4 mile times? Nice bike btw. I can appreciate all the hard work that went into that.

asphaltgambler · 01-22-2005, 08:56 AM

The gearing is set-up for the 1/4, but I've only raced it at 1/8 mile tracks because that's what's closest to me. My best time is 7.18 @105mph just like it sits. The bike is actually very heavy weighing in @480 and I weigh in (depending on how many beers I've had!!) @215.

This should translate into high 10 sec 1/4 mile. Although the ET may not be all that impressive, the MPH is huge indicating big HP at the top end pull.

The engine is very, very old technology that has vitually unchanged since 1957. The original cylinders and heads are made of cast iron. To make serious horsepower with this engine you really have to "put it on-the-edge" and a lot of parts are one-off.

To put perspective in automotive terms, It would be similar to try to be competitive with a flat head Ford V-8 or a Porsche. 912!! I've also broken ($$$) a lot of stuff in making this a reality!! There is more HP in the engine, but I'm close to limit on traction as is.

BlueSkyJaunte · 01-22-2005, 09:05 AM

Sweet ride AG!

I love the old Ironheads.

asphaltgambler · 01-22-2005, 09:16 AM

A lot people laugh at them, but if you wanted to go racing with a Harley, the engine of choice was the Iron Sportster. Because (back then) the superior valve train arrangement allowed up to 8700 rpm's with the right set-up.

Keep in mind that even up till the '80s there were few company's that were making quality aftermarket engine cases and cylinder heads for the Harley racer. Most guys just used the best OE stuff they could find and started building or reverse engineering from there. One popular mod was to cut the trans case off of the Sportster engine and mate it to a big-twin trans or jap-bike trans case because it was much more reliable in drag racing.

SLO-BOB · 01-22-2005, 09:49 AM

Sounds weird, but it's a different kind of speed. That top end is huge for an 1/8th mile.

Nothing wrong at all with a sportster engine. An acquaintance of mine buys crashed Buells as a basis for some pretty cool bikes he builds. Cheap and quick.

asphaltgambler · 01-22-2005, 11:01 AM

Yeah, the 60ft times are awfull, like 1.8 But the engine is a long-stroke, low rpm (6500) stump puller so it's really set up to run out in the 1/4.

Back then the only way to significantly increase displacement was to stroke it. The bore on this build went from 3" to 3.5" by way of one-off pair of steel finned cylinders

In order to make them fit you had to bolt and torque the OE bare cases, remove the studs and then TIG weld the entire deck surface area including filling the stud holes to add material. You could only weld so much at a time to avoid warping the cases.

After you had enough welded deck material built up and out you milled the deck surface to the appropriate height and located new studholes. Before final machining and dress you heated the cases up in an oven @250 for 2hrs and then let it cool naturally. After cooling you check for any changes in the cases. This was to 'season' them. I had $2500.00 in just this process in 1991 dollars!!

Jeff Higgins · 01-22-2005, 12:43 PM

Absolutely awsome bike, Gambler. I went through three Ironhead Sportsters in my first two years of being a licensed driver. Started with a '76 XLCH, went to a '67 XLH, and wound up with the one I still have, a '76 XLH that I bought as second owner in '78. Not nearly as trick as yours, but a fun bike and a sentimental one. Mine has an S&S Super E, Andrews R5 cams, Wiseco 10:1 pistons, and mildly ported heads. I don't ride it as much as I should any more, having picked up a new Road King four years ago.

asphaltgambler · 01-23-2005, 08:17 AM

That's my other ride, a '95 RoadKing. In the last year I have completely rebuilt the whole thing. It now has 117ci motor, lowered to where it almost drags the ground, done in a classic '60s style, big brakes and floating rotors, wide-whites (but speed rated).

I have a lot of time and $$ but I don't have any digital pics to post yet.