Pulled the Head Off My Green Race Bike

Finally had some time to work on my bike since getting back from Bonneville a week ago. Pulled the head off to take a look, as I know I bent the right hand exhaust valve when preparing to do a back-up record run. Piston crowns look fine, cylinder walls look great, no issues there. But I can tell that my right exhaust valve was having an affair with the piston, it just slightly kissed it. What a harlot.


No real damage though, head is boxed up and already shipped off to Wes at Four Aces Cycle to go through, also sent him my Chronometric Tachometer to be rebuilt. I am having him put together an identical spare head for me too, it is a chunk of change to have sitting around, but it could save the heartache of being at Bonneville but not being able to run because of an issue like I already had.

Tyler

Our First Day on the Salt

I am exhausted from a fun day on the Salt but we figured it would be good to do a post to update everyone as to how it's going. We rolled in this morning and dropped some of our tools, etc to mark our pit area and got in line for tech. Kyle and I had our motorcycles in the race trailer behind the RV and Wes from Four Aces had his bike and the Salt Ghost on his 3 rail trailer. Tech line went quickly, I would say 45 minutes from getting in line to being done, though I had expected much longer.


Tech was a breeze, both of us having read through the rules and put so much time into dialing in our bikes, we each had 1 thing to fix, and it happened we had the same issue. We both had cutaway primary covers and apparently they weren't happy with the exposed clutch pressure plates. I had forgotten to bring assorted steel and aluminum stock but was able to get some 1/8" aluminum strap from the first guy I asked; people are so nice and accommodating at Bonneville.

We both were able to make some guards out of the aluminum and bolt them to our primary covers and successfully appease the Techs. Kyle got his bike tuned and running good for his Rookie run tomorrow while I got my bike to the line for gas a bit late and so I have to get in line tomorrow morning at 7am to get filled up. There is a Driver's Meeting at 9am followed by the Rookie meeting, and then racing begins at 10am. We each get to do our Rookie Run, where you are not supposed to totally kill it, but take it easy and get used to the bike and the Salt. We'll see how it goes!

The Salt Raper In Full Dress

The Salt Raper is in full dress now, complete with fairing. I am going to be running it both partially streamlined, as pictured, and without the fairing, or naked. The Salt Raper isn't really my bike's name, I am not really much of a bike-namer, but who doesn't like a comical reference to rape. Right...? Anyway..



I will be test running this Monday morning at the airport again, this time with the fairing, so it should be fun and interesting!

Tyler

Video of My First Triumph Test Runs This Morning

Just uploaded a couple quick clips of me taking off and returning from our test run session this morning. No good footage from down the strip further at higher speed, we are planning another set of test runs for Monday morning so I will try and get some better video then.

Tyler

First Test Runs On OurTriumph Race Bikes

Here is my version of the story, Kyle will likely tell his own as well. We just got back from testing our bikes at a local county airport just miles from our shop. Kyle went over there and talked to the manager, and he said they weren't allowed to let us do anything like that there. But come back Wednesday at 8am and he would shut down a runway and let us go at it for a couple hours, he wanted to see us run! The runway is about .7 miles, smooth blacktop, slightly uphill. Foggy morning, perfect as there wasn't any air traffic to speak of. I was breathing hard by the time we we ready to fire them up, adrenaline pumping and nervous energy.


My leathers aren't in yet (this Friday!) so I just wore some pants, Kyle's street jacket and my Bates drag racing boots and a pair of Vanson gloves. Bike fired up easily, checked for oil return, made sure my fuel shutoff and kill switch worked, and ready for a run.



Shifted great, I wanted to rev it up but was shifting probably around 4 or 5000 RPMs (my tach isn't on the bike yet, not enough time before this test), I could just feel it wanting to pull like mad when I would let off and shift due to the fresh motor. The power band with these cams is at high revs, I am hoping to be shifting at 7000 RPMs minimum when racing. The brakes suck, that is for sure, I stopped about 20 feet shy of the end of the runway. At Bonneville this won't be an issue though. It is amazing that just sitting on my bike in the shop made my nuts hurt like crazy but with the adrenaline I didn't feel anything til we got back to the shop, and I don't know if my stomachache is from hunger, excitement or mashed testicles.

On my second run up it started faltering just as I was starting to slow down, and upon stopping I realized my petcock was off. I have a bar mounted, spring loaded fuel shut off, and it was mounted to close to the grip and I think I shut the fuel off when starting it or while riding, that has to be moved and the cable adjusted. The trip back down I did the same thing and drained the float bowls half way down the runway. I was kicking it and the right clip-on handlebar was a bit loose and was moving, and I was too tired to know if I was starved or flooding it, so I walked it back down to get my breath and calm down.



I have a couple small oil leaks to fix, and for sure adjust and move my fuel shut off lever. The beauty of this whole thing was two hours of local testing saved us frustration and probably a full day at the Salt Flats waiting for runs just to work this stuff out. The manager and staff at the air field couldn't have been nicer and more accommodating. Kyle has some more good photos and his experience to tell, stay tuned.

Tyler

Pre Unit Triumph Race Bike For Sale

FOR SALE: Triumph pre unit race bike, 70% ready for racing at Bonneville or El Mirage. Located in Pacoima, CA at Four Aces Cycle. Contact Wes White at fouracescycle@aol.com if interested. $4000

Kyle Starts his Triumph Race Bike for the 1st Time

A quick video of Kyle starting his '67 Triumph 650 c.c. land speed bike for the first time this Sunday afternoon. Almost ready to ride!

The race heats up...

Kyle seems to have the advantage in getting his bike running first... but then again when I was up at 8 this morning and didn't see him at the shop I had a feeling he was taking a rare day off. And so I am catching up, with quick progress being made daily now that fab is done and final fit and finish is the main task of the day, no more grinding and sweating and welding. Got the front end together this evening, I really love how it all comes together and looks nice after so much planning and work, having not seen it all with the new chrome, final polish and new hardware.


More coming shortly...

Tyler

Lowbrow Customs Launches New Website

I have been slaving away on this new website, it has been the bane of my existence but now it is done and I hope you like it! Easier to use and check out, lots of new features, blog on the homepage, and all kinds of new parts are in stock. Now that this is done we will be back at it harder than ever to add new products and content, and my apologies for any delays in emails and phone calls while we finished nailing this out!

Regards
Tyler

Who Is David Bird?

Wes White and I were in BFE, Missouri last week at David Bird's fabrication shop. Aside from being a top-notch fabricator, Dave is also a great guy and both he and his wife are very hospitable. The three of us have collaborated on work for quite some time, and we decided to use Dave's 34 years of welding and fabricating experience to spread the knowledge around.




Stay tuned for more info, coming soon.. A big thanks goes out to Lincoln Electric as well, located in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, who supplied some killer new equipment for us to play with.

Tyler

That's right US built...

Check out the pics Craig from WV sent in to us. Very clean classic lines! Glad to see some US customers sending us in some build pics for a change!

Shift / Brake Linkage just about done

I have been working on the shift and brake linkage for my '55 Triumph, got the brake side finished, all stainless steel. Shift side is about done, just need to cut the main linkage rod down to length and thread the one end, but I am waiting to do that until I get the seat made so I can make sure I have it right where I want it. I have a 4" 6061-T6 aluminum adjuster there that acts like a turnbuckle so I can adjust an inch or so of play to fine tune the shifter angle.

Tyler

Wes White on The Salt Ghost bike

Cool pic of Wes from Four Aces looking pensive on The Salt Ghost pre unit Triumph LSR bike.. He's so mysterious, the ladies love it..

Tyler

Hell on Wheels MC MotoRally & Pageant

Check out the Hell on Wheels MC MotoRally and Pageant in Lake Elsinore, CA on June 5th. BF Josh, our west coast Lowbrow Custom rep is going to be there with a Lowbrow vendor spot set up as well, be sure to stop by. Hell on Wheels is looking for riders and pageant beauties so hit them up!

Narrow Bike

Rearsets mounted, still have to do the linkages. Clip-ons in place as well, though the gold anodizing is going to be polished off.. basically it is coming along but this is still all rough.





I will likely take an inch off the end of the clip on bars still, keep tucked in nice and tight.

Tyler

It's a Roller

Got the hardtail section all done and rebuild the front end with the cut-down fork tubes. Next up: mounting fender, steering damper, oil tank, and getting the motor and trans done!

Tyler

Working on my '55 Triumph LSR frame

Got out in the shop a couple hours yesterday evening and finished cutting and welding up all the stock lugs and such I wasn't using. I actually like the cast lugs and on my street bike leave much of it, but on this bike if it isn't being used I cut it off to keep it nice and smooth and drop the little bit of weight.

Some of the welding was a bitch around the neck, I guess there is brazing all up inside of there as I was welding it up it liked to sputter and pop up onto my tungsten. I still have to finish sand some of this stuff, do a little filing, but I think I am going to prime the frame first to keep it from rusting and to see it a bit better

Tyler

Triumph LSR Bike Gets A Beefy New Fork Stop

Cut off the fork stop tab I had welded up before that was only about 1/8" steel, and made a new one out of 1/4". To see the set up I came up with to mate different forks / frame, check out the Custom Motorcycle Fork Stops article I did on it in the Lowbrow Customs DIY Tech Tips section.

This will limit fork travel quite a bit, and in tandem with the hydraulic steering damper I am going to use should stop me from getting any tank slappers and balling up.

My TIG welding is getting better, and that makes me happy.

Tyler

English 102 Triumph Tune & Service DVD

The follow up to English 101 is being edited now! It should be available shortly so stay tuned. This DVD goes in depth on wiring and all sorts of electrical set ups on your Triumph, as well as rebuilding your front end, carburetor info and more..

Special '79 Triumph in Progress

Jay Roche over at Special '79 is building a Triumph that is being covered in Iron Horse Magazine. Jay makes really cool stuff, and has great fabrication videos on his site as well. If you haven't seen Special '79 yet check it out.