Forever Bonneville Dreaming

The infamous Bonneville Salt Flats, where mere mortals dreams collide with Reality…in many magical ways. From life long friendships to temporarily etching ones name in the salt.

This is the spot where you can follow your 5-Ball Racing Teams aspirations and adventures has we inch closer to the starting line anticipating the Starters Green Flag waving in a near heart stopping figure eight.

Here we go, one more time with Gusto!

Breathe deep….hang on tight…. pack your overnight bags….catch a plane….  a train or thumb it… think cheap sunglasses… bring your favorite shadiest, coolest hat.  Then Haul Ass to the 11th Annual BUB Speed Trials and feel the salt crunching under your boots. Smell the Race Fuel at the crack of dawn….Listen to the finest tuned machines in town warming up….

 Once on the Race Track under throttle, some Hot Rods purr, some bark, some growl and some flat ass snarl a wicked tune when the wick is twisted…..Come on out.

Our Mission Statement……

Our Sponsors products will be subjected to the harshest environment known to man, at maximum output after a life time of maximum effort.

The Bonneville Salt Flats just might be the toughest available test site this side of the moon. This one and only in the world test site, their all the one and only by the way…. will allow your 5-Ball Racing Team the opportunity to let it all hang out.  Balls to the wall, tits on the tank, ass puckering, adrenaline gushing excitement as your 5-Ball Racing Team patiently waits for their shot at seeing THE…GREEN FLAG. The previous years dreaming in preparation for this very moment in time race through your mind in a hot flash while you wait for your moment  on the salt to test your two wheel dream machines heart and soul, to test your inner strength and to test your tenacity,. Time to take care of business at hand.  With an easy grip and a steady hand…….

HEY…Wake up, NUMBER…. 1944, Ray C Wheeler…. The Course is Clear, Your Free To Stage……………………a quick axel to axel mental check list, roll out easy to the starting line and…………

Snapping back to reality the long awaited spine tingling figure eight from the Volunteer  track-starter ..means… Your-Clear-to-GO.   Keep your eyes on the flag…..The Tower just transmitted a clear track with a calm 2 mph breeze pushing you down track….Your hearts in your throat while your heart rate is slowing to match your sweethearts low throbbing, turbo charged pulse….

The Volunteer Starters radio barks to life….THE COURSE IS CLEAR….The Green Flag is magically cutting a crisp figure eight……Holy Shit…. It’s your Team and your Team ONLY on the sometimes slippery salt.

Time to mosey to the proverbial pasture prepared to dance with the Devil at warp speeds, test your Sponsors Parts, test Your Hot Rods Guts and Stamina while seeking your personal nirvana.

Today our 5-Ball Racing Teams Raycer is experiencing a major Air Plenum make-over in Marc Susman’s, Colorado Custom shop. Monday morning the aluminum plate arrived that Marc’s stellar crew of machinists will whittle the backing plate out of. With all plans subject to change at a moments notice, we’re on schedule to load and ship across the US to Dan Thayer’s shop in New York, www.vtwinfuelinjection.com for a tune up the end of the month.

The latest greatest rear sets are machined out of 1/2 inch plate drilled and mounted to the frame. Next we park my ass on the hot rod to pinpoint a comfortable location for the foot pegs. We’ll re-position the handle bars, changing the angle for the perfect fit. Rebuild the wheels with ceramic bearings, paint, stripe, then mount the latest offering from Lyndall Racing Brakes. The newest Lug-Drive Composite

Tuesday afternoon visited Mark Susman’s Colorado Custom shop while making my daily rounds. The Crew in the machine shop have finished one bad ass Air Plenum that has re-moveable velocity stacks.

Next on the even shorter list, or is it growing, we’ll modify the positioning of the handlebars for a non-cramped comfortable feel.

Seems the more we accomplish, the more we discover we need to do. The lightweight 17” Busa wheels will be removed off for detailing, ceramic bearings, new rubber and balancing.

The front carriers mounting the latest Lyndall Racing Brakes composite rotors will get the blacked out treatment. The latest composite rotor for a lightweight Busa rear rim is in the machining process for 60 percent less rotating mass. Should spool up quite easily. Once these tasks are accomplished we’re trouble shooting the wiring harness connecting the four fuel injectors to the Daytona Twin Tech Computer. This summer on the salt we had a Gremlin hiding somewhere. Possible component failure or? Look out Gremlin, we will find you it’s just a matter of when?

This week was very productive in the quest for speed department. Marc Susman at Colorado Custom recently challenged his Crew with a one off labor of love project. There is nothing like building a Bonneville Land Speed Motorcycle from scratch.

The Susman Crew designed, then welded and machined one bad ass-solid-will-hold-air-Plenum with a pair of removable velocity stacks for tuning options. The unit is mechanic friendly for easy on and off if and when it’s necessary.

Marc rolled one of the shop chairs next to the lift and installed the first class Air Plenum. The shorter velocity stack might perform on the street a tad better than the longer version?

The dyno at Dan Thayers, www.vtwifeulinjection.com shop in New York will give us the needed input in the near future.

Over the next few hours, or days Dr. Willie will meticulously check the fuel injection system components for continuity, then follow each wire from A to B looking for the elusive Gremlin(s).

Next on the list we locate the comfortable position for foot pegs, layout and drill the 1/2 inch steel plate then securely mount the pegs. Cut and thread a longer piece of linkage to connect the shifting arm, adding side clearance at the pivot point for easy, positive shifting.

Imagine clicking into second or third gear at about 5,500 RPM or more, while rollin’ at well over 100 plus a pocket full of spare change, a positive shifting experience might be the desired result. The salt flat Mantra? Fixate on a long distance target, keep the wheel in front and gently, in the name of traction, squeeze the trigger for the ride of your life time on the best seat in the house.

So here comes Monday morning and we’re off to the races one more time, with a plan. The 5-Ball Raycer is on the rack getting a thorough once over in preparation for the upcoming road to Dan Thayer’s in New York for a world class tune up.

Dr. Willie spotted a slight inner primary leak by the alternator. Removed the primary cases, cleaning and re-sealing for an oil tight seal. Next, we’ll need a gasket and oil. We’re also replacing the inner primary chain.

Low and behold the mount for the Turbo pulled apart, as in stressing a weld apart. Seems the engine grew while on the dyno, blame it on the heat. We’re guessing the parts moved at least a 1/16th of an inch or more. Due to a slight design flaw, we attached the front cylinder exhaust in a solid manner attaching to the Turbo mount and front engine mounts.

The pipe to the rear head connects with a slip joint and works perfectly allowing for growth. The front mount solution is a newly machined Turbo mount with a slip joint installed in the front pipe allowing for engine growth. Our dyno passes at half throttle in Ron Williams former shop located in San Jose must have pulled the mount apart.  The dyno is the perfect spot to seek out design flaws…Better than on the race track.

Growing pains with solutions, easy if you say it real quick. Better than ten months until Bonneville!

Speaking of projects. Our 5-Ball Raycer is on the rack at Dr. Willie’s for a short list of to-does before we load and ship to New York for a Dan Thayer Tune Up. The rear foot pegs are looking for a happy spot. We’re real close today.

The Doctor removed the heavy duty STD inner and outer chain cases for a look, seems we had a slight oil leak? While giving the Hot Rod a once over scrutinizing we discovered the Turbo mount had ripped itself into two pieces. My guess is we strained the mount while running on the dyno in San Jose.

Stay tuned for up-to-date…. up-dates, we have a lot of exciting progress to report.

Yes, we are prepared to test our Sponsors parts on the dyno, the street and last but not least the Adrenaline Fueled Bonneville Salt Flats, at the Bub Speed Trials August 23-29.