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A little background. I am very involved with the Loring Timing Association and land speed racing motorcycles.
Over the winter I built a mini bike side car rig to get around the pits with and used a Harbor Freight 212 clone motor.
At the first event of the summer I decided to give the mini bike a run. After a few changes to meet the rules I took off. I was expecting 35 mph or so. I was surprised when I clocked in at 46 mph at the mile and 52 mph at the mile and a half. This is a stock motor with a govener bypass, 18lb valve springs, hi flow air filter and a header. The rest is stock.
That lead me to want to build a race bike around this motor. The aftermarket support is huge for these. However with numerous other race bikes it simply didnt make sense to do so. Fast forward to the week after our last event and my girlfriend mentioned how she would like to race, something small and easy to run. My brain told me this was the go ahead to build the HF powered bike.
Originally I wanted to build a boardtrack type bike. While looking for wheels and forks I came upon a 1981 Suzuki GS550 for the sum of $400. I went and looked at the bike, it was not running due to a undetermined electrical problem. The bike looked good so I paid the man and brought it home. About 10 minutes later I had it running, dirty contacts in the kill switch was the culprit. I rode it around that afternoon and contemplated flipping it to make a few bucks as it was clean and ran great. I decided against it.
After pulling off all of the stuff I didnt want I sold all of that to a local that does alot of parts selling on Ebay for $200. Fair by me. At this time I also ordered a Voodoo Vintage hardtail. I have used them in the past and am happy with their product.
The bike went on the table
and cut
And hardtail fitted
And the motor fitted. I ended up having to use a jack shaft since the tire height and no transmission requires some serious reduction. I may run a variable type clutch at a later time. Will see how this pans out first
One thing I did learn was the connecting rods and stock flywheels are time bombs so proper replacements were bought
I am also running 1.3 ratio rockers, 18lb valve springs and a milled head. Later on I plan to upgrade further.
Today I finished up the mock up. Now it is time to tear down, finish welding and paint. The goal for this summer is to see the bike run 60 mph
Over the winter I built a mini bike side car rig to get around the pits with and used a Harbor Freight 212 clone motor.
At the first event of the summer I decided to give the mini bike a run. After a few changes to meet the rules I took off. I was expecting 35 mph or so. I was surprised when I clocked in at 46 mph at the mile and 52 mph at the mile and a half. This is a stock motor with a govener bypass, 18lb valve springs, hi flow air filter and a header. The rest is stock.
That lead me to want to build a race bike around this motor. The aftermarket support is huge for these. However with numerous other race bikes it simply didnt make sense to do so. Fast forward to the week after our last event and my girlfriend mentioned how she would like to race, something small and easy to run. My brain told me this was the go ahead to build the HF powered bike.
Originally I wanted to build a boardtrack type bike. While looking for wheels and forks I came upon a 1981 Suzuki GS550 for the sum of $400. I went and looked at the bike, it was not running due to a undetermined electrical problem. The bike looked good so I paid the man and brought it home. About 10 minutes later I had it running, dirty contacts in the kill switch was the culprit. I rode it around that afternoon and contemplated flipping it to make a few bucks as it was clean and ran great. I decided against it.
After pulling off all of the stuff I didnt want I sold all of that to a local that does alot of parts selling on Ebay for $200. Fair by me. At this time I also ordered a Voodoo Vintage hardtail. I have used them in the past and am happy with their product.
The bike went on the table
and cut
And hardtail fitted
And the motor fitted. I ended up having to use a jack shaft since the tire height and no transmission requires some serious reduction. I may run a variable type clutch at a later time. Will see how this pans out first
One thing I did learn was the connecting rods and stock flywheels are time bombs so proper replacements were bought
I am also running 1.3 ratio rockers, 18lb valve springs and a milled head. Later on I plan to upgrade further.
Today I finished up the mock up. Now it is time to tear down, finish welding and paint. The goal for this summer is to see the bike run 60 mph
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