This has been a strange yet comfortable project. Severalmonths ago we installed a Screamin’ Eagle cam, the H-D race headersystem and a new ignition, and modified the carb. We added chrome rockerboxes to enhance the appearance. In the meantime, Paul Davis fromCharlotte H-D, Anson from the Deep South and a couple of othercontributors have been sending me various info about Buells. I’veread each word intently and culled the information that I felt wascrucial to my project.
It’s a testament to Buell that many of the modifications orupgrades we planned never came to fruition because of back-ordered parts.It indicates that the factory is selling faster than it can buildthe stuff. The unfortunate aspect of some of these mods is that timeis running out for the run to Sturgis 2001, so we stood back andsaid, “What the hell do we do now?”
More and more custom manufacturers are building a handful ofparts for Buells, including Joker Machine. We decided to stick with asilver and black scheme, so we picked up a set of Joker pegs, frontmaster cylinder cover and the pulley cover, and we plan to install theirsmall triangular turn signals before we hit the road. The rest we didby the seat of our pants.
The race header system is a nice unit, all stainless steel.Unfortunately the stainless yellows immediately once heat is put toit. You can always polish it off, but it will yellow again once thesparks start flying, so we took it off. There’s one other crucialaspect of this system that was making me toss and turn at night.Although the unit is secured to the engine in several spots, there’sa recall notice out due to breakage. Reports have it that the frontof the muffle breaks off and pivots toward the pavement. If it comes in contact with the abrasive surface at the rightangle and moment, it could launch the rider into space. Unfortunately,the fix is back ordered, so we disassembled the unit and studied itfor ways we could prevent this catastrophe from occurring on the roadto the Badlands. The most apparent weak link was the weight of themuffler and a terrible clinking noise coming from within.
I drilled out the pop rivets at one end of the muffler and tore it apart. I discovered a dense fiberglass cylinder with a baffle tube down the center. The baffle tube is not attached, which made it rattle. We removed thebaffle and the fiberglass matting. Then we took the muffler to thebrothers Famighetti to have the rivets replaced with an air-assistedgun and stainless rivets. We needed the gun for the power topull the rivets into place. Hopefully, with less weight, and thepotential of reduced vibration, the header system will remain in place.
For appearance we took the entire system to Applied Finishesin Vernon, Calif., and asked them to Jet Hot coat it in silver.They showed us that there are two ways to go. They could polish thesystem then coat it, or coat straight. The polished looks much morefinished. The process is good to 1,000 degrees, they guarantee it andit’s done in two days. Neat stuff, so off it went.
We also took the license plate bracket to the Famighettis fora trim job. They reshaped the thick plastic bracket to remove thelicense plate area and trimmed away the area that once housed theturn signals, leaving just enough room for the new signals, when andif we ever run them.
Next was chrome. I hate chrome, but we felt a couple of itemson the bike needed the shiny stuff so we tore the controls off, theheadlight bracket and the kickstand. Of course the chromer took threeweeks for our little box of brackets and fasteners then returned itto us in terrible condition. Many of the fasteners were notpolished–a waist of time. Some of the brackets were polished on thewrong side, and some had bearing surfaces chromed, which meant hoursof grinding and sanding to make them fit again.
That left the front end. One of the reasons we used chrome was that the foot controls are made of a cast alloy and have large casting seams on them that needed to be removed. It was either remove them or replace the controls withexpensive billet jobs or H-D upgrades, which are not good for guyswith big feet. The same casting situation applies to the tripletrees. They are cast aluminum and rough, so we decided to pull thefront end apart and have the trees polished. We went to Long BeachChrome for this maneuver. Again, they were done to perfection in acouple of days. I had the assistance of a spare bottom tree, whichallowed the existing tree to remain in place.
Another area of concern was the front fender brace, a thin piece of brushed aluminum. I had seen a billet replacement but had no idea how to find the company. I took the flat piece off and polished it at home and that made a big difference. Since I hadn’t snorted enough polishing dust by this point, I removed the front motor mount, added some clearance and polished it once the front end was back in place. That’s it, and it flies.
In the next couple days we’ll post completed shots of theBuell, sparkling and ready for the run to the Badlands. This weekend Imay take it on another 300-mile jaunt into the hills to test fordurability and leaks.
To Continue…….
Back to Part 2…….
Back to Harley Davidson on Bikernet……..
Back to Joker Machine on Bikernet……..
