Hang on, as we ramble into this report after feeling stuck on a Pacific island reef. Our frame team fell apart, and I was forced to pick up the phone, calling my longtime friend, Bob Clark and Ron Paugh from Paughco, around the middle of February. Remember, we wanted to have the frame, wheels and front end completed before the end of 2006. We’re burnin’ daylight quick. Within 24 hours the Paughco frame was a go. We shipped the most recent Chris Kallas illustrations to Carson City, Nevada so the Paughco team had a guide. That made Chris Kallas nervous. “Wait,” he said. “I’m not a frame designer.” We’ll get into that later, but his concerns were noteworthy and we investigated.
While we bit out nails and waited for word from the Paughco Headquarters, Bikernet readers continued to poor in their speed notes.
Bandit, I see you got your wheels for the Pan. You might want to consider a set of ceramic wheel bearings. Check with Dave at World Wide Bearings, 1-800-575-3220. They are used in pro stock drag bikes and many LSR bikes. I have heard of four horsepower gains at the rear wheel because of less parasitic loss through the drivetrain. I installed a set on my bike and didn't do any dyno testing but the bike is much easier to roll around. Might be worth a look. Good luck in September.
We’ve also been told not to run O-Ring chains Eric and his dad, Bob, from Bennett’s Performance on Signal Hill, in Long Beach, California threw-out the following speedy notions (562) 498-1819.
“We run 30 weight oil to minimize drag,” Don said. “We were also told not to run O-ring chains for the same reason and even run 520 chain, to reduce the weight turned by the engine in the drivetrain.”
We also told the Bennetts about our new All American wheels machined by Renegade, and they asked about our tires. “Are you planning on shaving the tires?” Eric asked. Many tires are shaved to alter or enhance their speed category. If a tire is shaved, it moves into the next higher speed category.
”We have a local performance expert who claims an additional 15 mph on shaved wheels,” Bob said and I was sold. “He shaves and balances the wheels.”
We will look into shaving the wheels as we also consider our ground clearance. “Nascars run virtually next to the ground,” Eric pointed out.” We hope to fly out to the University of Austin to work with Dave Rash, the president of D&D on their Bonneville V-Bike. I want to understand how ground clearance may differ between Nascar handling and running a bike on the salt. I recently watched a German speed trial with a 253 mph Bogati Sportscar. At speeds, the car automatically lowers itself to enhance its ground clearance and speed. More to come on that. For now the American/Renegade wheels were fitted and balanced with Azaro Avon W-rated (appropriate to our class) tires mounted by Settle's Motorcycle Shop. Larry Settle guaranteed that they are round…
Another reader spoke up:It sounds like you are planning to run the Pan in altered and run without a fairing, but you might consider a fairing and bodywork to run APS too. A few years ago Scott Guthrie ran several back to back runs on a 200 mph Suzuki Hayabusa with and without the faring and body work at the Maxton mile. They discovered the bodywork was worth 14 mph at Maxton, so it should be worth even more at Bonneville.
Airtech built a sharp body for Wink Eller's 200 mph Bonneville Harley. It's on the Airtech website www.airtech-streamlining.com under the Harley tab. Might be worth a look.
–Rick
Neck Correction–
We received several necks during our initial frame design effort. Leo DiOrio sent the following regarding his offering to make sure Joey Perse received the proper credit:If you do something, article wise about the neck here’s the scoop. Joey Perse, of Perse Performance, made it, and I found it in his special projects room.
I work with Joey on special projects and I am able to move around the facility without an escort (the place is a missile plant for motorcycles).
The idea behind the neck included using bearing cups to take advantage of the industry standard in fork-stops without any extra welding or pinning of the cups to the neck, which in turn means that the neck is still serviceable and reliable without special tools or increased labor, and it opens the end-user up to many triple-tree options without bump style frame stops.
When I told him I needed this for your project since frame maker, U.S. choppers is working on the frame and I'm in Colorado working on the front end, he said for me to take it and let him know what I think.
Don’t state that I built this. It is very important to me that accuracy is applied when talking about innovation.
–Leo DiOrio
Once I received the Assalt Weapan-saving go-ahead from Paughco, I was contacted by Bob Clark, the former managing editor of HOT BIKE and Street Choppers, way back in the ‘70s. He asked me what I needed and I told him a custom frame for our Bonneville effort. He wrote,“Triumph Bonneville?
”No goddamnit,
It's for our Bonneville racing Panhead called the Assalt Weapan,” I returned in reserved tones. That started a flurry of emails with Chris Kallas drawings.
“Tell him I'm running 1-inch axles and a 120-inch Accurate Engineering Panhead engine and a Baker Softail 5-speed transmission. Let me know if you need anything else?”
Fortunately the project was yanked outta Bob’s hands and turned over to JasonPaughco Inc, Frame and Springer Specialist.
”Let me know if you need any engine dimensions, etc?” I asked. Nowadays ordering frames is a comprehensive chore, like a Shovelhead won’t fit in an original rigid frame, or an Evo won’t fit in a Shovel frame. Fortunately this 120-inch Accurate Pan is 3/16 under an Evo height, but some performance engines demand more clearance.
Jason knew what to ask. “Perfect, what about things like tank or oil tank mounts and a rear brakemount? And I'm also assuming you will be running a 5-speed (Softail style transmissioncases).”
”The Gas tank will be completely custom,” I said, “so we don't need any mounts. Standard oil tank mounts will be fine (although I didn’t plan to use them for the oil tank). The rear brake will be Softail type disc brakes, with a 1-inch axle. We are running a Softail style 5-speed Baker transmission and a narrow rear wheel (140/17), no offset.
”Okay that all sounds good exept the 1-inch axle,” Jason told me. “Our ‘regular style’ axle plateswill only accept ¾-inch axles unless you open the plate holes up.
”We can offer you a 1-inch axle only if you want hidden axle plates. I don'tfigure you would want those because of the weight factor.”
Actually weight is not a factor. We want weight especially at the rear to gain traction on the salt. We may fill the bottom rails with shot for more weight and I plan to build the oil bag under the frame.
Chris Kallas, our esteemed illustrator, was concerned about wheel travel on the girder and possibly the tire hitting the neck area. I asked Leo DiOro, the girder designer, to double check that aspect. I also reached out to Jason. “We can always make the downtubes longer,” Jason said.
Let me know your thoughts,” I said to the god of speed. “ The front tire is 25 inches in diameter.”
Rightly so, Chris didn't want us to receive a frame then be forced to modify it.
Here’s what Leo wrote to Jason: My name is Leo DiOrio, I am writing you because, I am building the girder for the salt flats Panhead belonging to that bastard, Bandit, the emperor of 5-Ball Racing. Don’t tell him I wrote you.
Chris Kallas would like to go over the numbers with me one more time just to make sure.
I going to build a math model based on the numbers, we are trying to achieve dimension wise, then when we see the real thing.
A: when the bike is level how much ground clearance does it have?
B: what is the neck height from the ground to the center of the neck?
C: What is the distance over the bearings?
D: Are you going to use the neck I have provided, if so then I can answer C?
E: What is the rake on the neck. I think we are trying to achieve 34 degrees. Is that correct?
I have the tire Diameter. When I get this. I will build a couple of stick models to show the 5-Ball Racing boss the results, and we can go from there. I think were fine but it's been awhile and it’s best to make sure.
–Leo DiOrio
303 438 8991
Chris Kallas had additional concerns and wanted to factor them into the drawings:If you come up with a length for your fork and give me some dimensions, I can rework the drawing to make it work. We had the neck at 34 degrees. I'm also thinking we should raise the frame to 4-inch ground clearance to be safe. Any thoughts on that?
–Chris Kallas
While the questions flew through Internet lines, the crew at Paughco built the frame with 40 years of confidence. They had no way of knowing the actual ground clearance without the wheels, and they don’t work with those parameters. They built smooth custom frames for four decades and have their distinct process nailed to the concrete. It would be up to us to work out the rest.
I had a growing question, and I put it in Rick Krost’s lap. He’s the president of U.S. Choppers and informed me of the golfball speed and distance theory. At one time golf balls were smooth until someone tested the dimpled ball. It eclipsed the smoother version.“If you have any time, could you research the golf ball aerodynamics element,” I asked. Should we dimple our sheet metal or just coat it with wrinkle paint? If you find any studies or papers, we will implement the findings.”
We discovered that it was more than just finish to eliminate drag. We also discovered that dimpled balls have less drag, but the shape of a wing has even more drag reduction than dimpled balls. A teardrop is the most aerodynamic shape of all. Ah ha.
Once I received the Assalt Weapan-saving go-ahead from Paughco, I was contacted by Bob Clark, the former managing editor of HOT BIKE and Street Choppers, way back in the ‘70s. He asked me what I needed and I told him a custom frame for our Bonneville effort. He wrote,“Triumph Bonneville?
”No goddamnit,
It's for our Bonneville racing Panhead called the Assalt Weapan,” I returned in reserved tones. That started a flurry of emails with Chris Kallas drawings.
“Tell him I'm running 1-inch axles and a 120-inch Accurate Engineering Panhead engine and a Baker Softail 5-speed transmission. Let me know if you need anything else?”
Fortunately the project was yanked outta Bob’s hands and turned over to JasonPaughco Inc, Frame and Springer Specialist.
”Let me know if you need any engine dimensions, etc?” I asked. Nowadays ordering frames is a comprehensive chore, like a Shovelhead won’t fit in an original rigid frame, or an Evo won’t fit in a Shovel frame. Fortunately this 120-inch Accurate Pan is 3/16 under an Evo height, but some performance engines demand more clearance.
Jason knew what to ask. “Perfect, what about things like tank or oil tank mounts and a rear brakemount? And I'm also assuming you will be running a 5-speed (Softail style transmissioncases).”
”The Gas tank will be completely custom,” I said, “so we don't need any mounts. Standard oil tank mounts will be fine (although I didn’t plan to use them for the oil tank). The rear brake will be Softail type disc brakes, with a 1-inch axle. We are running a Softail style 5-speed Baker transmission and a narrow rear wheel (140/17), no offset.
”Okay that all sounds good exept the 1-inch axle,” Jason told me. “Our ‘regular style’ axle plateswill only accept ¾-inch axles unless you open the plate holes up.
”We can offer you a 1-inch axle only if you want hidden axle plates. I don'tfigure you would want those because of the weight factor.”
Actually weight is not a factor. We want weight especially at the rear to gain traction on the salt. We may fill the bottom rails with shot for more weight and I plan to build the oil bag under the frame.
Chris Kallas, our esteemed illustrator, was concerned about wheel travel on the girder and possibly the tire hitting the neck area. I asked Leo DiOro, the girder designer, to double check that aspect. I also reached out to Jason. “We can always make the downtubes longer,” Jason said.
Let me know your thoughts,” I said to the god of speed. “ The front tire is 25 inches in diameter.”
Rightly so, Chris didn't want us to receive a frame then be forced to modify it.
Here’s what Leo wrote to Jason: My name is Leo DiOrio, I am writing you because, I am building the girder for the salt flats Panhead belonging to that bastard, Bandit, the emperor of 5-Ball Racing. Don’t tell him I wrote you.
Chris Kallas would like to go over the numbers with me one more time just to make sure.
I going to build a math model based on the numbers, we are trying to achieve dimension wise, then when we see the real thing.
A: when the bike is level how much ground clearance does it have?
B: what is the neck height from the ground to the center of the neck?
C: What is the distance over the bearings?
D: Are you going to use the neck I have provided, if so then I can answer C?
E: What is the rake on the neck. I think we are trying to achieve 34 degrees. Is that correct?
I have the tire Diameter. When I get this. I will build a couple of stick models to show the 5-Ball Racing boss the results, and we can go from there. I think were fine but it's been awhile and it’s best to make sure.
–Leo DiOrio
303 438 8991
Chris Kallas had additional concerns and wanted to factor them into the drawings:If you come up with a length for your fork and give me some dimensions, I can rework the drawing to make it work. We had the neck at 34 degrees. I'm also thinking we should raise the frame to 4-inch ground clearance to be safe. Any thoughts on that?
–Chris Kallas
While the questions flew through Internet lines, the crew at Paughco built the frame with 40 years of confidence. They had no way of knowing the actual ground clearance without the wheels, and they don’t work with those parameters. They built smooth custom frames for four decades and have their distinct process nailed to the concrete. It would be up to us to work out the rest.
I had a growing question and I put it in Rick Krost’s lap. He’s the president of U.S. Choppers and informed me of the golfball speed and distance theory. At one time golf balls were smooth until someone tested the dimpled ball. It eclipsed the smoother version.“If you have any time, could you research the golf ball aerodynamics element,” I asked. Should we dimple our sheet metal or just coat it with wrinkle paint? If you find any studies or papers, we will implement the findings.”
We discovered that it was more than just finish to eliminate drag. We also discovered that dimpled balls have less drag, but the shape of a wing has even more drag reduction than dimpled balls. A teardrop is the most aerodynamic shape of all. Ah ha.
Bonne Belle Update
While the frame was under construction and Berry Wardlaw studied the World’s Fastest Panhead engine configuration, another 5-Ball effort made progress. The 1940 WLD flathead, at Departure Bike Works in Richmond, Virginia witnessed true progress. Hidden in an Ozark Cave, until recently, were etched stones containing flathead speed secrets. Lee Clemens, the Boss of Departure, knows all who know anything about engines and performance. He had a distant drawn-and- quartered connection and came in contact with these highly secret tablets. The mystery continues
I’ll try to innumerate several of the 45 cubic-inch, side valve performance suggestions. Originally we discussed dual front cylinders for dual carbs and better air flow. There’s a problem with that recipe. First we found that K-Model top ends flow even better than dual carbs. Plus trying to find and possibly breaking up two sets of rare WLDR top ends wasn’t a friendly formula and a tough menu to follow.
That’s not all. Jim Lienweber would be forced to grind some very exotic cams for the dual-carb job, whereas a clean set of WLDR cams fit the golden formula for 45 speed.
There’s a baffle in one of the cylinders to create just the right mixture of oil to enter the cylinder under the piston of a stock 45. In the above case, part of our speed mixture, called for baffle removal to allow the piston to scream up and down the cylinder unhampered. Backing up that modification called for machining the breather gear in the cam case to create the ideal vacuum, let the motor breathe and the air evacuate. This also forced Ross pistons to deliver three piece oil rings over the stock one piece jobs.
In order to mount the K-Model top end, the precursor to the Sportster, a stud needed to be moved. Flatheads have four square studs, like at the corners of a square box. Sportsters and K-models come with one stud, slightly out of wack. It forced Lee to machine aluminum studs, run them into one cylinder mounting, case stud hole, slice it off and re-face the surface.
That’s not all. The cylinders needed to be measured from the crankpin up so that the head lands on the cylinders were perfectly square and the same between the cylinders for exact compression.
That’s not all. Lee needed to check the face of the heads and make them absolutely square with the top of the cylinders.
Lee discovered that there was a difference in the thickness of the heads from the valve side to the combustion side. He made a fixture to hold the heads perfectly square (upside down) so he could machine the correction into the mating surface between the aluminum heads and the iron cylinder head gasket surface. It took him a while to discover all headbolt surfaces are not created equal. He was forced to study the distances from the head gasket area to the headbolt washer landing to determine how to create the ideal fixture. He burned through another day in the shop trying to create the Worlds Fastest 45 Flathead.
That’s not all. Skeeter Todd dropped into Departure Bike Works to discuss all that’s performance in the kingdom of Harleys and the conversation shifted to the Bonne Belle. “What transmission are you going to use,” Skeeter said. Skeeter is like a monk from the flathead piston tribe in the Catskill Mountains. When he asks a question—he knows the answer.
“The stock 1940 three-speed with a tall rear sprocket,” Lee timidly muttered, knowing he was about to have his ass handed to him.
“With a stock 3-speed you will fall off the cam in third gear, and struggle through miles trying to retrieve the needed rpms to reached the peak power curve,” Skeeter pointed out graciously. The stock transmission was out. Lee has a connection for wrecked bikes through insurance companies and volunteered to cut a 5-speed transmission off a late-model Sportster and ship it to the other coast. “One problem,” he said. We need to seal up the case and develop a means to fill it with oil.”
Seems S&S makes a trap door with an oil fill hole and sealed bearings. Then it’s up to me to form the welded transmission case and mount it in the exact location from the engine drive sprocket as a Sportster, so we can run a Sportster designed belt system. We will also run the late model Sportster clutch. Another beneficial project.
I immediately called Greg Friend, the former Street Chopper editor, who now is the West Coast Editor of Barnett’s Magazine. He cut a Sportster transmission free from the case to build a split Sportster custom. “Ah, I sold the transmission at a swap meet,” Greg said. “I’m using a Baker big twin transmission.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. See the image above.
Pin-Up Progress Report
Recently at a secret Bikernet Headquarters Meeting we dug out Vargas books and 1940s pin-up calendars from the Bob T. collection. We discussed every detail of a woman’s body, all in an effort to perfect the Assalt Weapan nose art. Like so many of our projects, it had specific guidelines. We needed to determine where the girl would pose, on what fender, tank, etc.
We decided on the front fender, so it called for a specific position. “What about her straddling a gattling gun?” Wrench suggested.
The more we looked, the more that position worked. Chris went to work.
The girl was too long and small on the fender in this case and we decided to machine the barrel down. At the same time we discussed attitude, the wind, her hair and action.
With each rendition she transcended the last version and we weren't done yet. Watch as she outwits the artist. Next chapter we'll bring the Bonne Belle transmission home and parts will arrive from Ted Tine to finish the 45 headwork.
The Paughco Frame will make muster at the Headquarters soon, and we’ll scramble to test the wheels and front end geometry against Paughco frame realities. Then we’ll match the womanly curves of Valerie Thompson to the style and grace of our steel components and get to work on the sheet metal. Hang on.
