Shaping An Aluminum Front Fairing For A Buell Race Bike

Shaping An Aluminum Front Fairing For A Buell Race Bike

Our english wheel is being put through its paces. After completing the wire frame to help shape out the style of the fairing, now it's time to get the aluminum rolled into the right shapes. Glad to have Mopar Rob over and helping out on the front fairing from time to time, on the Buell race bike.

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.

The Unauthorized "Scott Free" Technique for Changing Buell Isolators

How often have you spent hours working to take apart a piece of machinery and walked away frustrated that the manual in no way shape or form was created by the person actually working on the object in question? Yes, this happens all the time unfortunately. Our Buell build left us hanging this past Saturday with utter frustration over the isolators on the swingarm. Our chain block was put into overtime lifting, descending, lifting, hanging, banging and cussing like there is no tomorrow in frustration over removing these damn isolators that dampen the vibration where the swingarm and motor mount connect to the frame on early Buell models. 

When in doubt, search out the internet and type in a myriad of questions on how to fix what ya need. After a few queries we found several options and one amazing link lead us to the page of Daniel C. Starr and his ingenious tool. Below is a repost from Daniel's site and his home made custom tool for replacing the isolators. If only we could have found this before we started to tear right into the bike, doh! 

Link over to The Unauthorized "Scott Free" Technique for Changing Buell Isolators

Tube frame Buell islotator that is damaged and needs replacing

"Tube-frame Buells use what are more or less the same rubber biscuit "isolators" as the Harley touring bikes (no surprise there; Erik Buell is said to have invented the system). And, from time to time, these isolators wear out. The symptom I noticed was a lot of vibration through the footpegs, especially when the bike was heavily loaded (i.e., with gear for the week-long trip to Deals Gap I was about to depart on) and hitting any kind of a dip in the road. And when they start failing, riding is not an option--these things are chunks of rubber and metal that are glued together and support the weight of the bike and rider in a shear mode. When they start coming apart, there ain't nothing keeping your ass off the pavement. The photo at right shows just how far my right-side isolator had gone by the time I discovered it was failing. The end plate (which nestles into the frame) had separated from the rubber over close to half the isolator's circumference. Not at all a good thing. I had to replace these puppies right now. Here's how I did it.

On some bikes (the Harleys, the S2 and earlier models, and the X1 Lightning), the rear isolators are held in place by a bolt-on plate that lines them up and squeezes them into position. On these bikes, replacing the suckers is easy. But on some models--S1 Lightning, S3/S3T Thunderbolt, and M2 Cyclone), the isolators are slipped into recesses in the frame before the engine and swingarm block are lifted in from below. That is, there's no removable piece providing access.

The shop manual says you're supposed to remove the engine from the frame to change the rear isolators. Aiee! most customers say in response. So various imaginative people have come up with schemes to free the rubber biscuits without having to hang the frame from an engine hoist while strapping the motor to a floor lift (and by the way, disconnecting every oil hose and half the electrical wiring on the bike). We had some motivation here.

Oh, and of course you may not be doing this because the isolators have died; you may simply want to replace a worn drive belt (especially if your belt was set up too tight by the selling dealer, which many tube frame Buell belts were). That's what led me to develop this scheme. Word to the wise: if you're going to go to the effort (even the significantly reduced effort under my scheme) to remove the isolators, you might as well replace all the stuff that's replaceable here. In other words, if the only thing "bad" appears to be the belt, replace the isolators at the same time; if the isolators look bad and the belt looks OK, replace the belt anyway. There's nothing worse than having to rip the bike apart a year later because a belt or an isolator that looked OK the last time you had the bike apart is now going south on you. How did I learn this? Because I replaced the belt at 40,000 miles and didn't replace the isolators while I had things apart, of course...

Also, keep in mind that I'm not a Buell employee, and Buell didn't approve of this procedure (or even look at it, far as I know). It worked for me, and it was a lot easier than the procedure found in the manual--but remember that 30 years ago some aircraft mechanics were saying the same thing about using a fork lift to remove/install the engines on a DC-10, and we all know how that turned out. I make no warranty that this procedure will work for you. Be careful out there...

So, with that in mind, let's get started:

Step 1. Get the bike up in the air and remove the back wheel, hugger and belt guards. Make sure you have plenty of room to move around beneath its nether regions.

Step 2. Put a jack (preferably one with wheels) under the transmission to support its weight, and then remove the two big allen bolts that hold the isolators to the swingarm block. These are 1/2" head allens. If you don't have an allen socket of that size, Lafayette has a cheap substitute: buy a 2" long by 1/2" "coupler nut" and stick it into a (six point) 1/2" socket. Voila! An Allen substitute! Be careful removing the bolts; you don't want to mess up the threads. In particular, make sure you've got the jack adjusted so that the bolts aren't snagging on the isolator base plates as you take 'em out. It's surprisingly easy to monge the threads.

Step 3. Assemble the spreader tool shown below (Note--click on any of these pictures to expand it). The center piece of the tool is about six inches of 3/8" threaded rod from the hardware store. The pieces on it, from left to right, are a 3" piece of stout tubing (I used a leftover Harley Sportster turn-signal stalk, thereby keeping the whole thing an "Authentic Harley Special Tool"), a regular 3/8 nut, a jammed-together pair of 3/8" nuts (one of them's a locknut; it's inside the wrench and the two are held together with Loctite. In the best of all possible worlds, the central nut would be welded to the threaded rod), half of a 9/16" box wrench, and the other turn signal stalk.

Custom Buell isolator separator tool

This is what it'll look like when it's assembled and ready to go:

3/8ths threaded rod, jam nuts loctite together, 9/16th wrench, steel sheath = Buell isolator tool

Step 4. Slither up under the rear end of the bike, taking a 1/2" and 9/16" wrench and the tool you just fabricated with you. Remove the 9/16" bolt that fastens the turnbuckle to the swingarm carrier (this allows the engine and transmission to move side to side in the frame). Then remove the 1/2" bolt that holds the battery ground strap to the swingarm carrier. You'll find the hole goes all the way through the boss on the swingarm carrier, and it's tapped all the way through. So re-install the bolt from the left side, so that about 1/4" of it sticks out the right side of the boss. This provides a pin for the left end of the special tool to align on.

Step 5. Brace the cut-down 9/16" wrench part of the tool against the top of the swingarm carrier, and turn the nuts (fingers should be adequate) until the other end of the tool is pressed up firmly against the inside of the frame just above the right isolator. See the picture below:

Notice the red bar, need extra torque, use the handle of a your portable car jack

Step 6. Then, as the picture above also shows, put a big long wrench on the first nut (the one that presses up against the turn signal stalk on the left end of the tool) and turn this nut to spread the tool out and shift the engine/trans/swingarm carrier to the left. This is not actually spreading the frame; it's just compressing the left isolator. You will need to apply a lot of torque, which is why I put a long lever (a jack handle, actually) on the wrench. The cut-down wrench that's a part of the tool keeps the threaded rod from turning. Keep turning the wrench and extending the tool until you can pop out the right isolator, as seen below:

Buell isolator tool, used effectively to drop out the isolators for replacing

Notice how you've shifted the engine/trans/swingarm carrier about a quarter inch to the left--you can see this in the misalignment between the adjustment turnbuckle and the hole in the boss on the swingarm carrier. This picture also clearly shows how the cut-down 9/16" wrench is braced against the top of the swingarm carrier to keep the lock nut (and the threaded rod) from turning.

Step 7. Turn the nuts on the tool the other way (the cut-down box wrench part will flip around and brace itself against the swingarm), until you can remove the tool.

Step 8. Give the swingarm a yank to the right, and the left isolator will drop out. Now that you've got both isolators out of the way, this is a real good time to run a thread-chaser tap down the holes in the swingarm pivot. Remember that these pieces are assembled with heavy-duty red Loctite at the factory, so there's going to be some residue in there that could make it hard to get the bolts started when you re-assemble this piece. So clean those threads up now!

Step 9. Slip the new left isolator into place. Make sure it's aligned properly (see your Buell service manual). Reinstall the special tool, and repeat step 5 until you've compressed the (new) left isolator enough to slip the new right isolator into place. Make sure the belt's in the right place before you install the new isolator; the last thing you want to do is button up the job and discover the belt's dropped out! (Matter of fact, given that you've got the isolators off, inspect the belt closely--if it's even remotely near needing replacement, slip in a new one now. You'll thank yourself later!)

Step 10. Repeat step 7 and remove the special tool. You'll probably find the threads on the threaded rod are a bit monged up by now, so you may need an extra wrench to keep the rod from turning in strange ways.

Step 11. CAREFULLY start the allen bolts through the isolators and into the swingarm pivot. This can be tricky. You may have to fiddle with the jack a bit to align things properly. Be patient; you don't want to mess up the threads. The last time I did this, I found that the passage of time (and previous removal/replacement of the bolts when I did a belt replacement two years ago) had messed the threads up slightly. A quick cleanup with a 1/2" SAE fine tap solved the problem, and everything went together nicely. Don't forget the Loctite! Once both bolts are started, and you've again checked that the isolators are in the correct alignment, tighten the piss out of the bolts, to whatever monstrous amount of torque the manual specifies (about four grunts, if I recall correctly).

Step 12. Re-install the turnbuckle to the swingarm carrier. You may need to give the swingarm a little shove one way or the other to get things lined up. Re-install the ground strap (remember it bolts to the right side of the boss). Re-install belt guards, hugger, and back wheel. Lower the bike, give everything one last check, and you're ready to go."

   - Daniel C. Starr

Cafe Racer Season 3 Trailer

It is damn cool to see that Cafe Racer TV has started to build a solid following and plenty of on air viewers to be renewed for a third season. Looking forward to see what builders are involved season three and hopefully some more modern day street fighter style bikes. 

Check out CafeRacerTV.com 

 

Dime City Cycles Grand Opening Party

Over the weekend we drove the 1400 mile round trip to get down to sunny south Florida to hang out and represent our ideals at the Dime City Cycles grand opening party. It was done with a quickness and earlier in the week we had to score a new vehicle for all the shows this year, but we pulled it off.

Getting down to the deep south and being able to finally meet up with a lot of folks that we only know from linking up online, made it all worth while. Whether it was the monsoon rain that invaded the party early in the day, our 20 riders deep run around Largo and Clearwater filming for season 2 of Discovery Channel's "Cafe Racer TV" or just hanging out at the party with several hundred new friends, we can't thank Herm and Jason enough for throwing a great shindig. Not one too cool mofo in the bunch and damn was that refreshing. Everyone in the pack was a rider and rode solid together, which was also a rarity and welcome sight.

Instead of cramming all the evidence we have of the good times into one huge post, we will do postings for each group of folks to really show ya what they have going on. Look forward to reading about Dime City Cycles, Lowside Syndicate, Karnage Kustomz, Loser Machine, Ace Cafe London and quite a few more. Here are a few photos to show whats coming up.

Otto Carter - Master Engraver

We are huge fans of anything created by hand. The mass homogenization of all that is our everyday existence makes it even harder to find true craftsman anymore. This makes me think of my disdain for certain style springer front ends that just don't have the soul of an OEM style Harley or Indian. Valiant effort maybe but its just that lack of adding all the details that make those original ones so great and the rest seem subpar. Yes, we get it, time is money but I think pushing through that barrier and truly creating something new and in your own vision is what separates the wheat from the chaff. Same goes for anything you create, make it your own and not just a rehashed vision taken from someone else.

Thinking along those lines its easy to see how such a talent as Otto Carter stands out amongst the crowd. Good ol' Trent over at BikerMetric.com posted a photo of one of his projects and it made my jaw drop. Not only was it a motorcycle tank but it was also cast in 1/4 inch aluminum to which he could engrave a masterpiece. The work is beyond good and knowing that some proud owner will be filling this baby up with octane and roaring down the highway almost brings a tear to my eye.

Otto Carter - Master Engraver

Few Bikes At Viva Las Vegas

Was really hoping to see a better showing of bikes out at Viva Las Vegas but not the case. Known primarily as a hot rod style event, there was every make and model of car and truck imaginable and damn were there some nice rides. Knowing that is a once a year deal I hope to see more bikes out at the show as we are planning on having a music showcase during the event highlighting our west coast bands. More details on that later in the year but definitely look for Green Lady Killers, Reno Divorce and a few other bands to be on the bill.

Sportster Street Tracker

This is one of those bikes that I can honestly say I just envy. Look at the lines, the stance and the overall get shit done attitude of this custom, its pure run what ya brung bravado and thanks to CyrilHuzeBlog.com for posting up the photos of it. Would dig seeing this on track and sliding through those turns with that ever torquey sporty motor. It was built by UK based Shaw Harley Davidson and looks as if they truly honed in on performance.

Motus Motorcycle - New American Sport Bike, Update

Really stoked to see this video update from Motus Motorcycle as they are about to flip the script on motorcycle engines, once these are available for sale. With a motor designed and engineered just like a car engine along with their tubular frame akin to older model Buells, these guys are getting it right. With Buell coming back later this year as well, damn is it a great year for American Sportbikes. Hopefully both will begin to make a dent on the racing circuits and ultimately be fun bikes to ride and potentially customize.

Welding Projects for the Shop

Funny how things work out. You want to build this, design that and you get backed into corners by the tools you have or the amount of space you have to work in. For years I was living in downtown San Francisco and had no true area to work on my bikes so I had to put all ideas on the back burner. Hell, even to get my oil changed was an issue. Try changing your oil on a bike on a hilly street with a cable car running by every few minutes and non stop traffic, truly a pain in the ass. I didn't have a pot to piss in, but life was good and sure as hell miss frisco.

Things are different now, living back in the south and have been building my garage out to accommodate my bike infatuation and general thrill with all things mechanical. I needed to be able to work on frames or pound out sheet metal but had to work within confines of my garage space. Its not that I have such a small space but I am trying to allot for future growth. When the time comes I need to add a drill press, metal lathe and several welders. This is a small fab table I built that is heavy but portable and quite diverse in its uses.