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.

Indian Motorcycle: The Spirit of Munro

A look behind-the-scenes of the filming of the short film The Spirit of Munro. On May 5th, 2013, on a dry lake bed in California, Indian Motorcycle ran the Spirit of Munro, an all-metal tribute bike built to honor the great Burt Munro, and power the future of Indian Motorcycle.

ABOUT THE SPIRIT OF MUNRO: Fully custom-built, the Spirit of Munro is an all-metal tribute to the racers and mechanics throughout history who have collectively built the legacy of record-breaking racing performance and strength that is Indian Motorcycle.

The motorcycle is named in honor of Burt Munro's "Munro Special," the historic 1920 Indian Scout that broke the under-1000cc land-speed record in 1967 at the Bonneville Salt Flats as famously portrayed in the motion picture "The World's Fastest Indian."

The Spirit of Munro was constructed by Jeb Scolman of Jeb's Metal and Speed in Long Beach, CA. It was designed from the ground up to house the new Thunder Stroke 111™ engine and showcase its awe-inspiring power and performance.

IndianMotorcycle.com

On the Salt - Bonneville Speed Week 2012, From Sympatico.ca

We found this great piece shot by Canadian film makers about Bonneville Speed Week. Its well done and captures some great folks and their stories. Cannot wait to get on the salt for the first time.

Link to Sympatico Autos

"Over seven days, 168 world land speeds records will be set here by amateurs in more than 500 hotrods, streamliners and motorcycles. But you’ll likely never hear about these record-setters. The outright land speed record is 1,228 km/h or Mach 1.02. RAF Wing Commander (ie: hot-shot fighter pilot) Andy Green broke through the sound barrier on the way to setting the record in a vehicle named ThrustSSC.

It was powered by a pair of afterburning Rolls-Royce turbojet engines, together producing as much thrust as 145 Formula One racecars. It does 0-1,000 km/h in an estimated 16 seconds. (That’s not a typo.) So you can see why these amateurs at Bonneville, however brave and skilled, will never make headline news. No, these land speed racers risk their lives for something else, although what that is, is hard to say.

“It took three years to build [the Studebaker] and we've been racing it for four years,” says Moreau. “This year is the best year, we went twice 200 mph and the third run we run 205 and we hope to make this run 210.” All land speed racers, even those from Quebec, talk in miles-per-hour, not kilometres.

“The first year we had an issue with learning the altitude of this place to make the motor work. The second year we had issue with high-speed unstable. And the third year we get better aerodynamic on the car. This year everything seems to work well,” says Moreau.

By “high-speed unstable” he means the car would dance from side to side across the salt, fishtailing at 100-plus mph (160 kph). “You have to concentrate to keep the car straight and just let your mind go with it, and everything will go well. Because it’s not on concrete, this is salt. And the car will do weird things sometimes when you shift gears… you never know what this thing will do to you.”

Soon after, Moreau lets the Hemi roar and disappears over the horizon, off on another run. On their last day on the salt, he set a new personal record: 210 mph. Perron sent us an e-mail with pictures of Moreau's Class A license. He's now a member of the 200 MPH Club.

At least 10 people have died at Bonneville chasing speed records. And for what? For a little receipt with numbers on it? To join the ranks of the “200 MPH Club” or 300, or 400. (There are only 14 members in the 400 MPH Club.)

No, for many it’s like climbing Everest—doing something to see if you can, to see what it’s like, to go where very few have gone before. For others, it’s the mechanical challenge of building a machine. Going fast is as much as a test of bravery as it is of engineering ability. There’s real creativity there."