Performance Times: What's New On The Street & Strip

World's Fastest Bagger: Chris Rivas sets record of over 200 mph!

Exciting news in the world of Land Speed Racing: Chris Rivas is the first person to push a "bagger" over 200mph! That's right, a bagger. (No rocket propulsion necessary. Just good ol' American made S&S horsepower.) With the offices at S&S HQ all a-buzz with the news, we called up Chris and wanted to ask him a few questions about his achievement to share with everybody.  Here's what "The Rocket" had to say:

S&S: First of all, Congratulations on the world record! Can you tell us a little about it?

Rivas: Nothing about this accomplishment has come easy.  For three years I have fought every part of this bike from chassis geometry to catastrophic engine and transmission failures.  With all of the runs we have made at Bonneville we have not been able to get a good baseline for the tuning because of every other issue that pops up.  Finally with the help of George Smith we were able to "tone down the tuning efforts" and find a baseline to run with.

S&S: The class you rode in is called APS-AG. What does that really mean?

Rivas: The official class designation is 3000 APS-PG.  The motor has to measure between 2001cc and 3000cc to be legal.  The "A" implies an Aftermarket Chassis.  The PS signifies that there is partial streamlining body work in place.  The PG means that the motor uses pushrods and runs on Gasoline.

S&S: It is the world's fastest bagger and the first bagger ever to break 200mph.  Why was this accomplishment important to you?

Rivas: In the racing world there aren't too many barriers left to be broken and I know that S&S has been instrumental in breaking many barriers such as the first Top Fuel Bike to break 200.  I think there is a possibility that someone else someday might also go over 200 on a bagger but there will only be one first and that is what I wanted for me and my business.  Chris Rivas V-Twin has had a strong relationship with S&S Cycle for about eight years, and now we are building a great working relationship with Crane Cams.  I truly believe that accomplishing these milestone goals together that can never be taken away is huge in our industry and allows us to service customers with a higher quality in mind.

S&S: How long have you been working toward breaking this record?  Can you give us a little history?

Rivas: For three years now, we have been seriously trying for the 200 mph goal.  I had a conversation with Carl Brouhard about building an aerodynamic Road Glide for Bonneville and he was excited to help.  With his body and paint expertise Carl was able to take an idea and make it into a reality, what we know now is the design was not the hardest part.  S&S Cycle provided the motor parts and the 167 inch motor is button start and has amazing power.  The seemingly impossible task is to make all of the components work together in harmony at peak performance in the harshest conditions in North America.

S&S: It must take a lot of power to push a full dress, button start motorcycle on gasoline over 200 mph. How did you accomplish that?

Rivas: Our motor is a 167Cubic Inch S&S Cast Aluminum Pro Stock Twin Cam design that puts out about 250 HP.  I ordered all of the parts from S&S Cycle including a special set of Easy Start Cams, and completed the machine work and assembly at my shop, Chris Rivas V-Twin in Fresno CA.  The great thing about this combination is that we can use this same technology and the same high quality S&S Cycle and Crane Cams components for our everyday customers when we install big bore and stroker kits into their street driven bikes.

S&S: I hear the chassis and the fairing played an important part. Can you explain how?

Rivas: When we first received the chassis and put this bike together with the fairing in place, I took it out to the 2010 SCTA Speed Week and found out the hard way that the front end geometry was all wrong.  On the first pass I experienced the worst front end wobble of my life and head shake that ended up throwing me off at about 130 mph.

S&S: Well that is a lesson that I'm glad you only had to learn once! Now that the bike is in a safer condition, what is your ultimate goal with this bike?

Rivas: With the data that we have received from this bike, and with the help of George Smith we know that in the right conditions it will go about 220 Mph.

S&S:  I understand that George B. Smith from S&S was out there. I know George has a love for the salt and he was out at Bonneville with you before. Did he have any good advice for you this time around?

Rivas: George was instrumental in my success at Bonneville.  Just as he was instrumental in my success in the NHRA racing Pro Stock Motorcycles.  So I knew that when I started my Land Speed attempts I wanted George involved in the project. George has been a mentor to me for a number of years, not only in my racing career, but also in my business.  With George's guidance and some assistance from the new CEO of S&S Cycle, Steve Iggens, Chris Rivas V-Twin has recently had the opportunity to partner with Crane Cams and develop a couple of new cam grinds.  The Chris Rivas Signature Series Rocket Cams are now available to the public and have been some of the best cams ever tested at our dyno facility.

Watch Chris Rivas NHRA victory in Pomona 2008

S&S: Are you coming back for the BUB meet in 2 weeks?

Rivas: Yes, we plan on freshening up the motor at our shop in Fresno and heading back out to the salt at the BUB's Speed Trials where I hold the record for the class at 193 mph from last year.  I hope to up the record to something that starts with a "2".

And so do we, Chris.  We tip our hat to you in respect and wish you the best of luck. We are rooting for you. 

Salt & Speed! BUB Bonneville Racer Profile #1: Jeff Bailey

The countdown to the 2012 BUB Speed Trails at the Bonneville salt flats, has started.  To kick things off, we have a few racers who are attending with S&S go-fast parts that we wanted to make mention of.

First up: S&S Engineering Manager, Jeff Bailey, is no stranger to land speed racing. In 2008, he bought a Buell® S2 frame with the idea of building a Bonneville bike. The S2 was chosen because it had bolt-on side plates that locate the rear swing arm mount. Fabricating a special set of side plates allowed the pivot point to move down to accommodate the 160 cubic inch S&S cast Pro Stock engine which is 5.5” taller than the stock engine. The new side plates and some frame modifications got the engine in the frame, and a longer swing arm gave the bike added high speed stability. To hold the nearly 200 horsepower, Jeff fabricated a one-off clutch and added the S&S centrifugal pressure plate for Victory® motorcycles that squeezes tighter the faster you spin it.

The engine is a special version of the S&S cast Pro Stock engine, which is similar to an engine from an over-grown Harley-Davidson® Sportster®, or possibly a Buell® motorcycle. With its 4.8” bore and 4.375” stroke, this engine is several times the displacement of a stock engine. This engine is fuel injected and uses one throttle body from the S&S billet Pro Stock engine on a special manifold built with the help of S&S’ rapid prototype machine. To control fuel and ignition, Jeff chose the S&S VFI fuel ignition module.

This bike was raced in 2010 as an open bike and took home two records in the A-PG 3000 and A-PF 3000 classes at 180.35 and 176.271 respectively. Both records were set running on gasoline even though the second record was in a fuel class.

This year, Jeff is going for the big numbers and wants to break 200 mph in a partially streamlined class. He’s planning on attending the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials, which will be held August 25-30 this summer. The same engine will be used, but Jeff is counting on the reduction in aerodynamic drag of the streamlined fairing to get him over the 200 mph mark. Work smarter, not harder!

He started with some AirTech fiberglass bodywork but had to do extensive modifications to make it fit his bike and to make it large enough to “hide behind”. Starting with a windscreen from an XR750, an impression of the windscreen was made in 30:1 expanding foam, and the impression was mounted on the modified fairing. The foam shape was then attached with more of the foam, and shaped to blend into the existing fairing. Using the foam shape as a pattern, fiberglass was built up to create the final outer shape. The original windscreen was laid over the shape and traced. The traced area was cut out to allow the windscreen to be inserted. You won’t see another one like this!

There’s still a lot of work to be done on this bike between now and the BUB meet, but Jeff is well on his way and he looks forward to breaking some records in August.

UL/WLA Hybrid WWII Reproduction by Flathead Power

In 1942, Harley-Davidson® made 462 U model motorcycles, 41 of which were slated for the U.S. Army. Harley-Davidson also produced 426 Sidecar versions for the U.S. Army, and these U Models w/ sidecar ironically were USA models. Since only the U.S. Military can make the great American icon more American, S&S® decided to do a military motorcycle for the 2012 Flathead Power® road tour. Long time S&S employee, Bonneville record holder and military vehicle enthusiast, Dan Kinsey jumped at the chance to work on this project. Since the majority of our flathead parts are for the big twin flatties, the bike would have to be a replica of one of these rare 1942 models.


Built and painted by Bonneville Record Holder, Dan Kinsey, of S&S® Cycle.Diving into the historical archives and internet pages filled with nose cone art and pin-up babes, very little on the U.S. Army U models could be found. Not wanting to give up on the project, we did the next best thing, duplicate what we knew of the 45" WLA models to create our own WLA/U model hybrid. Some initial parts and a wealth of knowledge from our friends at WayBack Wheels got us well on our way. Dan went to work stripping down the “F-bobb” (an S&S built U model flathead bobber style motorcycle) bike and repainting it in olive drab green. Starting with cut down fenders, Dan created some parts from scratch and retro fitted other WLA model parts. Given that the WLA 45" engines used a three-bolt inlet flange on their smaller carb, we had to generate a 3D model and a rapid prototype of the air inlet casting for the oil bath intake system. Our version has the U model four-bolt carb flange and with S&S being S&S, we just couldn’t resist adding the patented stinger to the intake.

Jumping in on the replica rage, Marketing Director Gary Wenzel went so far as ordering a replica Tommy gun to fill the empty scabbard. The designation lettering is even unique to Flathead Power and S&S. On the rear fender, the division designation uses the S&S founding year, 1958, in the call out AGF-58C (Army Ground Forces, 58th Calvary) and the vehicle designation; FHP 1 of course! After three months of hard work and research, the 2012 Flathead Power display and pit bike is complete. This bike features Flathead Power heads, 80" cylinders, pistons, solid lifters and kicker cover. But this bike isn’t just for display – we’ve set it up with a foot shift and a hand clutch so our show staff can easily tool around the show grounds.

You'll can see this bike at these shows:

Perkiomen AMCA Swapmeet
Oley, PA - April 27-29

National Motorcycle Museum Show & Swapmeet
Anamosa, IA - June 1-3

J&P Open House
Anamosa, IA - June 23-24

Oshkosh Air show
Oshkosh, WI - July 23-29

Blackhawk Vintage Races & Swapmeet
Davenport, IA - Aug 31-Sept 2

From the ashes of disaster, a customer's bike & our engine, RISE!

2004 Iron Horse - Original condition

Black Betty... Or Why You Should Never Say “Can’t”

Most of the time, the Performance Times Blog is about racing and other high performance topics. This story illustrates another kind of high performance. It’s more about high personal performance where someone takes on a challenge that others have walked away from. In the end, they show what you really can do if you try. It also illustrates why you should never tell Paula Taylor that she can’t do something. On April 12, 2012 we received this email from Paula:

After the fire

“Hello,
I want to let everyone know how awesome your motors are and I have proof thought u might want to use in advertisement. I got a 04 Iron Horse Texas chopper that was burned in a garage fire pix of it in the garage. We replaced the rocker box covers & compression releases as they were burnt off. After hours of cleaning and polishing, the cases polished back out using the same burnt plugs it started and ran on second start up. It won radical class at bike week. I can send pix if you are interested. Thank you for your time.

Paula Taylor”

Talk about your burnout! Well, the photos were so amazing, and the story even more so, that we asked Paula to give a full account, and here it is in her own words.

“In June 2011 a friend of ours decided to sell his 2004 Iron Horse Texas Chopper, he took it to a guy to have it detailed before selling it the next day, when he went over to pick it up, the bike was not ready yet and was asked to leave it with him that night so it could be completed for the next morning. At some point during the night the window air conditioner unit shorted out and caught on fire burning the garage down with the bike inside. To make matters worse he owner did not have the bike insured and garage was not covered by the home owner insurance.

When we went over to look at the bike " it was bad", first thing the hubby did was tap on the fins with a screwdriver to see if they were brittle from the heat. We decided to take the challenge. We never built a burnt bike and figured I could part it out if nothing else, so I traded a paint  job on his other Harley the owner had for the burnt bike. None of the other shops in town would touch it and was repeatedly told I was wasting my time, to the point they kind of made me mad, so I guess now I should thank them as it made us more determined to build it. Sounds crazy but I just had a good feeling about it. The bike was delivered to my shop Paints by Paula Bend Over Customs, Mims, Florida.

 

Had to cut what was left of the rear tire off with a saws-all to be able to roll it inside with the melted rim. Once inside the shop, it not only looked bad but smelled worse. If you touched it or got near it you were black. It took us two days to disassemble. We were very concerned with the motor condition and there is still a stain on the floor from tearing it down and believe it or not, there was still spark in the battery. We rolled the motor outside once it was removed from  the frame and then with hubby’s help, we started cleaning with a water hose, degrease made for aluminum, Scotch Brillo, Brillo pads and a wire brush. The motor was covered with soot and fire retardant foam that had hardened, 9 hours later the motor was looking pretty good.

Next we began to tear down the motor to inspect for damage, we removed the rotor and found the stator was intact, we removed the carb, the float bowl was full of gas, the rocker boxes were damaged beyond repair, but when we removed all of the rubber gaskets that were intact, there was oil in the lower box. No discoloration or any signs of damage. The  rubber boot for compression releases and insulation were burned off, leaving about 6" of wire. The husband then tested each compression release with a 9 volt battery. Amazingly enough, they both worked. That really inspired us to go for it.

We then removed the oil pressure sensor that were burned off, nose cone removed, chiseled out what once was the points cover that had melted. No damage to the cam cover. The melted metal did not stick to it amazingly. No discoloration, infact the cam seal was good and was NOT replaced. After approximately 120 hours of buffing and polishing (we did not split the cases) it was coming back to life with full luster of polished aluminum. We used a small wire brush to clean between the fins but we could not get them polished enough so they still had some discoloration. So we sprayed the cylinders with hi heat texture paint and re polished the edges of the fins.  Replaced the rocker box covers, took pushrods out, no damage.

 

Took the pushrod covers and nose cone to Space Coast plating for re-chroming. We replaced all of the gaskets and seals. New compression boots and added wire to the 6" pigtail that was left. Installed Dyna S single fire ignition, plugged the crank position sensor hole. Installed motor back into refurbished original frame. We just built up from there. The day of truth or  dare was fast approaching. Wednesday of bike week, Charlie Hadayia, Sr from S&S in sales and customer support, happened into my shop and needed some tranny lube for his 94" knuckle. He was curious after seeing the photos of the bike before we started and the condition after the work we did and how the motor was going to run. We were booked to be at a show that Friday morning of bike week with this build, and this was Thursday late afternoon.

The finished product!Cocky Hubby, Steve was cleaning the old burnt spark plugs and actually put them back in the motor. Turned the motor over a few times with no power to coils to verify oil pump was coming up to pressure etc. Applied power to the coil second stroke of the motor it FIRED, being fed fuel from dual Delerto carbs (the S&S carburetor also polished out and is working). The 111 motor ran so well you would have never known it was in a fire with such extreme heat.

So we can attest to the true integrity of the S&S motors. Oh and we did make the Friday show. We won the Radical class with the old burnt bike, Black Betty.

 

Warmest regards
Paula Taylor
Paints by Paula Bend Over Customs
Mims, Florida
321-302-2759”

2011 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Wrap-up: S&S Race Performance Muscle

Photos and commentary by Matt Polito

S&S was once again a force in the chase for the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle championship in 2011.  Led by the Lucas Oil Team and rookie sensation Hector Arana Jr., S&S-Powered Buells amassed some enviable accomplishment in the premier motorcycle drag racing series.

Arana Jr. joined his father, 2009 NHRA PSM champion Hector Arana Sr., on a two-bike team this season and put himself in position to challenge for the championship.  In the end he could not overcome a strong finish by Harley-Davidson® rider Eddie Krawiec, who claimed his second #1 plate.

Arana Jr. would finish second to Krawiec in the championship points and was awarded the prestigious Auto Club Road to the Future Award – NHRA’s Rookie of the year honor - beating out eight other eligible professional rookie racers.

Arana Jr. had a disappointing start, failing to qualify at the season-opening Gator Nationals at Gainesville, but he took the pole four races later at Norwalk – the place where his father won his first-ever NHRA event in 2008.

In all, Arana Jr. qualified on the pole in seven events and had 3 wins in five final round appearances.  He took his first-ever event title at the prestigious NHRA Mac Tools US Nationals at Indianapolis.

"Overall, it was a good season, being that it was my rookie year, first time out," said Arana Jr. "I can't wait to get back to the shop, find some power, come back and show these guys who's boss. I've got a full season underneath my belt. Those last several runs, I felt like I was making perfect runs. I'm ready to go to Gainesville and start from the beginning."

 

 

His father, Hector Sr., did not win an event this season but qualified on the pole at two events and set the elapsed time national record at 6.777 seconds in Gainesville. The record remained unchallenged for the rest of the season.

Combining the Arana’s #1 qualifying performances, S&S-powered Buells took nine poles in the 16-race NHRA schedule.

Matt Smith, who brought a Buell to its first championship in 2007, went to three finals in 2011, winning at Englishtown.  Smith finished the season in the fourth position.

Rejoining the S&S-powered riders this year was Chip Ellis, riding the new Kuryakyn Buell of veteran owner Harry Lartigue.

Ellis has a rich history on the Buell’s, taking the prototype G2 machine to its first-ever pole at the US Nationals in 2004.  He then ran the Drag Specialties Buell of George Smith and George Bryce for three seasons, finishing in the top five every year.

This year Ellis went to the final at the Chicago event but failed to make the top ten cutoff for NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship.

Lartigue stated that the team would compete again in Kuryakyn colors in 2012

2011 marked the sixth straight year that S&S-powered Buells accounted for two of the top five points earners in the NHRA series. In that time two championships were won on S&S-powered Buells, Smith in 2007 and Arana Sr. in 2009.

George B. Smith commented on the season, stating, “I am really proud of the talent, hard work and dedication of the riders, the tuners and their teams.  Our technology is available to everyone and we have to race against technology that is only available to the Harley-Davidson® factory team. We built this engine as an alternative that would change the face of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racing.   With the efforts of the racers, we were able to do that.”

Hector Arana Jr. Wins Again! Dad's Not Far Behind!

Another exciting weekend of NHRA racing concluded at the Arizona Nationals in Chandler, AZ near Phoenix.  Here at S&S we are particularly excited about the performance of Hector Arana and his son Hector Arana Jr. on their S&S Powered Buell® drag bikes.

The big news is that Hector Jr. won the event in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class.  This is the second win in a row for Hector Jr. and the third this season.  Jr. has been on a hot streak, reaching the finals in four of the last five races.  Son and father qualified one and two for this event.  Hector Jr.’s number 1 qualifier was his third in a row and sixth of the season, giving him the track record for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class.

In the final Hector Jr. cut a perfect light with a 0.000 reaction time and ran a 6.884 ET at 194.30 mph, beating national points leader Eddie Krewiek and his Vance and Hines V-Rod®.  As a result of his performance at this event Hector Jr. now trails Krewiek by only 10 points.  Hector Sr. is 9th in the points standings.  Because this is Hector Jr.’s first year of competition, his performance at the Arizona Nationals is a positive step towards winning the Auto Club Road to the Future Award given to NHRA's top rookie.

The remaining two NHRA events, Las Vegas and the finals in Pomona, will determine the national championship.  Hector Jr. is in the thick of the race and could walk away with the title this year.  Stay tuned for some very exciting drag racing!

IronWorks spends time with the X-Glide - lab rat motorcycle from S&S®

In the November issue of IronWorks magazine, Stephen Berner published a great article titled "Scott Sjovall's X-Glide: More than the sum of its parts" covering his experience with Scott's motorcycle.  The X-Glide is a lab rat of S&S Cycle's research and development and is a true workhorse in the name of better motorcycle performance research. Scott lent Stephen his X-Wedge powered custom homebuilt for a week and had a few things to say about it.

"The X-Wedge was debuted to the VTwin press during 2007, heady times in the V-Twin industry indeed. It was a new engine designed for the blossoming OEMs who were looking for an EPA-compliant workhorse; a worry free high performance engine made in America from a name they could trust. That in and of itself had value and leverageable brand equity. 'It is powered by an S&S XWedge engine, you know.'"

"Well things being what they are and history being what it is, looking back we obviously are much wiser, smarter, and a hell of a lot more conservative in how we spend our hard earned cash now. But if it weren’t for the boom the X-Wedge might not have been developed. And friends, I can report that it is indeed a well-developed engine."

But let me tell you, this is a great engine; a responsive power plant that can go to a whole ‘nother level of V-Twin riding. A 56-degree cylinder configuration, a wider configuration than a 45-degree engine layout. It is this characteristic that prevents us from simply sticking this beastly strong S&S engine in our stock framed machines. The front cylinder and exhaust pipe wont fit a stock configuration and the back cylinder would be crowded."

"And so every once in a while a knowledgeable enthusiast would typically ask three questions: the first was “What am I looking at?” The second, “What’s it like to ride?” And the third, after hearing my answers, was “Where can I get one?” So, this is how I answered those queries.

What is this? This is a 132-inch, S&S XWedge-powered, Rolling Thunder frame’d Road Glide derivative owned by Scott Sjovall, VP of Product Development at S&S Cycle. The front end is off a Hayabusa. All the running gear/bodywork is a blend of S&S and H-D for the most part.

What’s it like to ride? It’s a lot like a Harley but it spools up faster, goes longer, is stronger, has more torque and doesn’t run out of breath. The engine seems unflappable and doesn’t mind redline/rev limiter shifts through all the gears, all the time. It never complains. At slow parking lot speeds, you can feel the longer frame but in every other situation the bike is like a locomotive; strong, straight in terms of handling, and has seemingly boundless enthusiasm for the task at hand. Sixth speed is ridiculous—a total “you’re gonna collect autographs” gear. Put it this way: you are doing 75 MPH at 2900 RPM in 5th and the engine is barely breathing. What are you planning on doing in 6th gear? Getting tickets, uh huh.

Where can I get one?: Unfortunately you can’t get one. Well, let me rephrase that: you can’t buy one “baked.” You will need to connect with a builder who can put the bike together or you can do it yourself if you are a crafty hands-on type that has done work like this before. Working with a frame manufacturer like Rolling Thunder insures you’ll have what you’ll need in terms of tabs and mounts, and S&S has some real patient tech support folks that can work with you to answer fitment questions and make recommendations. The bodywork and accessories are available most anywhere. Put it this way: S&S wants you to succeed."

To read the entire article, click here to download the pdf.

Coming soon: The X-Glide hits the drag strip!

Photos taken by Chris Callen of Cycle Source

Hector Arana Jr. Rides S&S Pro Stock Engine To NHRA Victory!

(October 3 Reading, PA) Hector Arana Jr. rode his S&S powered Lucas Oil Buell to the winner's circle in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class at the Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, PA.  The finals for that event took place on Monday October 3 because the race was rained out on Sunday.

Out of nineteen entries in the class, eight were powered by the S&S 160 cid Pro Stock engine.  Seven of those eight S&S powered bikes qualified with Matt Smith and Hector Arana Jr. making it to the final eliminations.  Both riders were super hot and overcame all contenders until the final round when Hector Jr. took the race.   In that round Arana's 6.781 second - 195.82 mph run narrowly beat Smith's 6.795 second - 194.24 mph effort.  Both riders were very close to the class national record of 6.777 seconds  held by Hector Arana Sr. on his S&S powered Lucas Oil Buell, making it the quickest side by side drag race in the history of the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class!

Winning this race puts Hector Jr. in second place in the points standings, 35 points behind the #1 rider Eddie Krawiec.  As the runner up, Matt Smith moves up to third place

35 points behind Arana.  Advancing this far in the highly competitive NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class is a great achievement for a rookie rider like Hector Jr. so it will be interesting to see how he finishes the season.  Matt Smith is a veteran Pro Stock racer, being the first rider to win an NHRA championship on an S&S powered Buell in 2007.  There are still three races left so it is possible that either of these guys could take the championship.  Or not.  That's racing!

V-twins have dominated the NHRA Pro Stock class since 2004, winning national championships until last year (2010) when Louis Tonglet won on a Suzuki.  In the US Nationals this year at Indianapolis 27 bikes entered the field, and of the 16 who qualified, 8 were S&S powered Buells, demonstrating the S&S “Proven Performance” the company has been known for.  There is a good chance that a v-twin will win again in 2011, since 4 of the top 5 bikes in the points race are v-twins.  Here at S&S we're rooting for Hector and Matt, but it's not over until you know who sings!

Jay Allen & Wink Eller Pursue 200 MPH for The Red Hat at Bonneville

During the 2011 BUB Speed Trials Jay Allen, of Broken Spoke Saloon fame, set three new records on his streamlined 1995 FXR with an S&S 124" engine.  He came very close to the 200 MPH mark, but unless you're playing horseshoes or hand grenades, close doesn't cut it. 

Old salt and bike builder Wink Eller from Orange, California worked with Jay to help him set his records at the BUB event and is now rebuilding Jay's bike to go after that 200 MPH Club qualifying record run.  They hope to get the bike together and ready to race at the SCTA Bonneville World Finals October 5-8.  That doesn't leave much time!  The plan is to install a 135" S&S engine for even more horsepower and to replace the current fairing with some new, more aerodynamic bodywork.  That's not as simple as it may sound, but Wink is just the man for the job.

Like Wink says in a recent YouTube video "I'm Wink Eller, and I AM a land speed racer."

In an email, Jay summed up the whole effort.  "Wink and I were on the phone more then a hour last night, and we are both JACKED at the possibly of getting a RED HAT!  Especially doing it the hard way.  No Turbos or Super Chargers." 

Check back to the Performance Times blog to see the progress on the build and for results from Bonneville.  We're going out on a limb here.  There are no guarantees that Wink and Jay will be able to pull this off and get that red hat.  It's almost like reality TV, except that this is real!

Here's the build thus far:

Letter to S&S from George Bryce from Star Racing

S&S recently received this email from George Bryce of Star Racing in Americus, Georgia.  Star Racing is an S&S Dealer, and has been a leader in NHRA ProStock competion for years.  They also do extreme high performance work for customers all over the world.  It’s very good to see them expanding their efforts to the European racing circuit, but their email says it all.

 

Hello my friends, We have been racing in Europe this season. We have won the Championship in Europe this year with one event left to go.

Our team races Star racing prepared S&S powered American Vtwins, two of them. We have WON every race completed in Europe this year.

We have raced in Budapest Hungary, Santa Pod England, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany..team Sovereign is a rookie, Hungarian based team.

We have set track records and have help the sport to grow in Europe as the NHRA PSM class is enjoying a increase in participation in 2011.

Thank you to our supporters and team for the great season in a new venue.

George Bryce
Americus Motorsports Complex AMC
Star Racing