Buell Land Speed Racer Build - Part 1

Brand new supports tack welded in for the new tail section which will house all the electronics

Dreaming big is something I am sure that all of us enjoy on a daily basis. Whether it be winning a lottery ticket and never having to work again or thinking up ways to improve our daily existence. Well folks, my big dream for the last five or so years has been to race on the revered salt flats of Bonneville, Utah. 

My quest for speed keeps me awake at night thinking on build ideas and ways to redesign my beloved 2000 Buell M2 Cyclone. Many regarded these Buells as just the spare parts for a chopper but that comes from a severe lack of understanding about how well this bike performs. Erik Buell designed one of the greatest sport bikes in existence and many of his designs are now the norm. 

The older tube frame Buells are without a doubt one of the best city bikes you could ever ride and even better on back country roads. The deep roar of the torquey motor and how they dive into turns begs you constantly lay on the throttle. These bikes were made for an area such as San Francisco and the surrounding hills and proved to be an amazing asset when lane splitting through the never ending six lanes of traffic on the freeways.

What yall are seeing is phase one of my "Buella" rebuild. This bike has been on the shop table for a few years it seems to be and has had to wait her turn to fully go under the knife with so many other projects taking precedence while growing the music label portion of Rusty Knuckles. Now that we have many areas free and clear, we are aiming for a test and tune at the ECTA Ohio Mile on May 3 & 4th weekend in 2014 as the first open runway course for land speed racing. 

Getting ready for track is no easy feat and there is a plethora of machining, welding and fabrication to be done in order to pass tech inspection. Plenty of updates will be reported on and showcasing the progress. 

The 2000 Buell Cyclone is getting an overhaul to its frame and sheet metal then onto all mechanical aspects

Out with the old cast aluminum swingarm and in with the new tubular steel design to be race ready

Randy of Crafters Metal Fab has a heavy piece of round steel pipe used for dump truck bushings to cut down to size on the lathe and get set up to add as the main axle within the swingarm.