I’ve known Ben Kudon, the general manager of Rivera/Primo for over 20 years, and no one knows Rivera Primo products like Ben. He won’t hesitate to let you know his level of expertise. Unfortunately, when the RP team developed these cool lighting systems, I was forced to ask Ben about them.

Here’s his initial response: “Our integral LED turn signals built into a series of stylish billet headlight buckets have become an industry phenomenon. They are popular with bikers and hot rod enthusiasts alike. The HeadLED Headlights are sanitary, cosmetically badass, and they work great!”



Okay, so I said, “Let’s put a tech together, Ben. Let’s show our readers how to install and wire up one of these puppies.” He agreed whole-heartedly, but two years later, I stumbled into their shop to discover a partially wired unit.



Hey, Ben, you’ve got one right here. Just send me the shots of the installation and we will work with your techs on the story.” Still nothing.



“Shut up, Bandit,” Ben said. “Don’t tell your readers that, you bastard. I’ll send you one. Install it yourself.”



No problem, right? I received one and started to look around for a test bike to install it on. I needed a custom, and Ben was correct, they are badass, and answer multiple questions for the new custom builder. No one wants to run bulky turn signals.



Then Ben and the RP team stepped up to make it easy. They built every configuration of headlight imaginable, so no matter what the chopped style, they have a headlight to match, from Alien Black with the LEDs in the bezel to fully chromed sleek units. They are available in a variety of sizes from 4 ¼ inch and 10 inches long with frenched-in bezels and a RP-patented LED ring, moisture-resistant rings, including a 55/60-watt halogen bulb with high/low applications and a crystal clear lenses.



Since I couldn’t find a donor bike, Jeremiah brought over a couple of front ends I could use to mock-up an application. He hauled over a 20-over twisted stock springer, and a stripped stock wide glide from the ‘70s. I went with the glide and started the installation with a Paughco, headlight bracket, and then Custom Cycle Engineering rubber-mounted dog bone risers and some bars laying around the shop from Biker’s Choice.







Installation is almost as simple as any custom headlight. There are only six wires and a ground. So once the Paughco headlight bracket was bolted to the front end and the headlight in place, we were ready for wiring. The headlight comes with a flexible mounting system, so there were no issues.





The wiring was simple: the green wire was for the left turn signal positive, the black for the negative left turn signal. Then the white handled the positive right turn signal with the other black being used for the left negative turn signal. The yellow wire handled the high beam and the red the low beam. Some builders don’t run a separate ground wire, but it’s not a bad idea to ensure the circuit is complete.







Since I wanted to see these puppies flash, I ordered a Rivera-Primo 1116-0501 solid state LED controller. The Rivera Primo instructions call for running the red wire to the ignition switch with a 5-amp fuse.



There is a wiring diagram printed right on the flasher controller. Again, it was a simple operation with the purple and green wires not used. The black wire went to ground, natch. Of course, the red wire was the hot wire to the ignition switch.





The yellow wire was connected to the white wire on the HedLED Headlight, and the blue wire ran to the green wire on the RP headlight.







I’ve got to admit some confusion. And I was never able to make the unit flash. It called for connecting the white/purple wire to the left turn signal switch, and the white/red wire to the right turn switch. Since I didn’t have turn signal switches, I mocked up one, and although I was able to make the high beam and the low beam work, the turn signal lights came on, but they didn’t flash.

Not to be outdone or to leave any stone unturned, Ben jumped on another application, which is perfect for the custom-touring world: the all LED 7-inch Phase 2 River/Primo Headlamp.

“It’s another first for lighting and Rivera Primo’s HedLED Headlight Systems,” said Ben ardently. “This all LED solid state 7-inch headlamp with high and low beams will outshine any halogen and HID light and most LED headlamps on the road today. State-of –the-art technology went into making a headlamp that outshines the competition both in brightness and cosmetics.



“It looks like an old school headlight, not something out of a Star Wars movie, and will fit perfectly on an old school bobber or late model bike. It will light up the road ahead of you like you’ve never seen before, and because of the lower amperage draw of LEDs, it’s perfect for older alternator systems. To top it all off, our signature integral LED turn signals and running lights are wired in OE wiring harness (2014 models require 69200897 adapter harness). “

Integral turn signal ultra bright amber LEDs strobe or use them just as turn signals. Wire them directly to a 12V switch to just stay on all the time as running lights, your choice.




We will bring you another more suitable, more street wise, and more user friendly tech in the very near future. We are picking up a ’97 FLH Standard today. It will be perfect for the Phase 2 install, I swear…


Sources:

It all started with a Denny’s breakfast conversation over bacon laced pancakes. I’ll never forget those tasty puppies. The first element we ordered was our belly tank fiberglass body from Class Glass back east. Very helpful staff. They manufacture fiberglass bodies for race vehicles, hot rods, Mustang hoods, you name it.

Keep in mind that; we don’t have an unlimited budget, so we are attempting a first with a hand full of dollars. But on the other side of the coin is the desire to create a classic racer, something that will stand the test of time, or at least my time. Belly Tanks are classic to the bone. Hard working guys with limited budgets, and a ton of desire used them. That’s us.

I researched tube frame builders in the Los Angeles area and found one, but then it dawned on me. One of our very cool and talented friends also builds cars, sometimes from the ground up. We have worked with Kent Weeks of Lucky Devil Metal Works, in Houston for many years. Kent built the coolest bobber on the planet, the Root Beer Float, for the lovely Sin Wu. It was and still is a classic and Kent handled all the fabrication, assembly and paint.

I reached out to Kent and his sexual princess, Holly, on the off chance they just might want to help the gang at 5-Ball Racing created a tube frame. I also reached out to Ron Paugh and ordered a touring frame cradle for a Twin Cam and a swingarm with a 1-inch axle. Kent spent three full days in bed with Holly negotiating. Then he called me, and in a tired, worn-out voice said, “Yes, goddammit, we will build it.

That day made my year, and I started to find all the pieces we needed to ship to Houston. Initially, I considered throwing all the components in the back of the Bikernet high-top van and blazing a trail. Scheduling, time, you name it, became an issue. Then I focused on finding all the necessary components, and shipping. Why do so many services feel like scams? It’s like you’re stepping into a seedy cab in a foreign city.

Paughco was backed up over the holidays, which is usually a slow season. They are cooking with new product lines, new frames, trike kits and all their classics. This holiday season was very strong for some companies, while others are still struggling. The economy is coming back, but in some cases at a very scared snail’s pace. But Ron Paugh always comes across for the 5-Ball racing team, and Jason Rickman from Paughco helps with every element of the process.

Around Christmas I had all the swingarm, frame, and rubber mount components in hand. The crate could cost as much as $700 to make, and maybe $700 or more to ship. The shipping industry is a quirky one. Place a bid out there and 5000 companies will contact you with prices ranging from $49 to $2000. How the hell can your trust that? So, of course we decided to try something different, anything.

I had lunch with the gang at Arch Motorcycles and reviewed their production progress. Gard Hollinger has a TV industry friend who owns a rat Ferrari. He ordered some parts from Italy and they arrived in large crates. I drove home with a couple of massive official Ferrari crates in the back of the Bikernet van. We took the largest and went to work extending it with the help of Quality Refrigeration across the street. Will hooked me up with a couple of conduit extensions and I made one work to protect the rear end of the fiberglass belly tank body.

Then Jeremiah came into the office and helped with the other end using his carpentry skills. I must admit, his end was the stronger of the two. Then the shipping dilemma, the choices, and the scams surfaced. I called Andrew, our apparel Vice President. “I’ve been shipping with UPS for my entire life,” Andrew said. “Let me check.”

The next thing I knew, the UPS dispatch contacted me and made arrangements. I borrowed a forklift from next door and Kyle, the official Bikernet electrician hoisted the container into the UPS truck and it was gone, for a very reasonable price, about $280. A week later Kent called while Holly crawled around the official Ferrari crate with a screw gun removing screws, while commenting on how much she loves “a hard Italian” -crate, that is.

“It’s here and everything arrived safely,” Kent reported.

We started discussing the frame elements, the tubing dimensions, wall thickness, the bends, cage elements, the front-end geometry, you name it. We discussed the rear section where a fighter jet fin would hide the rear wheel.

We discussed buying race frame components from S&W, a racecar company, but they were all too wide. Kent also investigated the SCTA rulebook for guidance. We started to talk about the front end and I sent intriguing shots of a Belly Tank racer from the Don Gilmore team. It excited us because of the shocks hidden on the inside of the original Air Force body.

Aerodynamics are a big part of flying on the salt. We’ve seen 50 cc streamliners run over 150 mph, and a partially streamlined 650 Triumph run 201 mph. Aerodynamics work! I wanted to avoid any outbound elements that might slow us down. I didn’t want shocks sticking out of the body. At the same time, we need this puppy to be stable at over 200 mph.

“Yes, I did take a look at the suspension. There was a lot I like and some things I’d do differently (as Mrs. Devil put’s it, I just can’t leave anything alone),” said Kent. “I think that by working with a narrower dragster or funny car front-end design it will be even more stable. I think going with tubular side rails will work out better to keep it lighter, with a more of a laid back seating position to drop the top of the roll cage down.” He was referring to the Gilmore belly tank.

We also discussed flattening the bottom of the tank and running it as close to the ground as possible, much like the Poteet & Main Speed Demon car team who run the world’s fastest piston-driven car at well over 462 mph.

As it turned out, the Grand National Roadster Show devoted an entire building to land speed record racing and we attended the show. The Ack Attack team was on hand. Dennis Manning stood with his magnificent bullet, and Sam Wheeler’s sleek Drag Specialty streamliner made an slick fast impression on onlookers.

I was caught red-handed in the center of the room looking at a most magnificent streamlined trike, I thought. As it turned out, to my relief, it’s a four-wheeler, but I had a very interesting discussion with one of the Carbinite team members, the driver, and an engineer, Brandon Barnhart. We discussed the jet styling of this space-age rocket and how to prevent lift. They decided to make the rear axles into operational wings capable of 3000 pounds of force on the front wheels at speed.

Here’s a news story about their car:

By Rick Wills
http://triblive.com

With no practice or trial run, Rob Freyvogel of Butler hopes to reach a speed of more than 500 mph in a streamliner car he has spent four years building.

“We are going for the all-time land speed record, which is 472 mph. You have to do it twice. Computer models are telling us this car can go 550 mph,” said Freyvogel, a mechanical engineer who runs Carbinite Metal Coatings, a Renfrew company.

“It would be hard to test it around here. There is a place in Ohio where we could have tested the car, but we’ve been too busy with the car’s finishing touches,” Freyvogel said.

He and about eight other men built the car, which weighs about 3,000 pounds — similar to the weight of a Honda Accord.

Work on the car has become more demanding in recent weeks, said Freyvogel, who built it at his business.

“We used to have eight guys working here on Thursday nights. Then we added Tuesday night. Now we’ve been here on weekends,” he said.

Freyvogel, along with his engineer friends Brandon Barnhart and Eric Ahlstrom, spent two years designing the car and considering everything from tires to aerodynamics.

He has spent about $100,000 on parts. The vehicle’s cost would be much higher without donated parts and labor.

“We’d like to have a sponsor. We have not been able to get one so far,” said Andy Hixon, Freyvogel’s co-worker.

Known as a streamliner, the car is long, slender and has enclosed wheels.

In order to break a record, Freyvogel will have to get the car to reach a record-breaking speed twice.

“You have to build something that is not a one-shot deal,” he said.

Located near the Utah-Nevada line, the 30,000-acre Bonneville Salt Flats are administered by the federal Bureau of Land Management. It has attracted car racers since the 1920s and is where many of them set land-speed records.

Races at the flats are among the last amateur events in racing, said Ellen Wilkinson, secretary of the Utah Salt Flat Racing Association, which sponsors the World of Speed races.

“These races attract people who have a dream or a concept they want to test,” she said.

Parts of the area’s salt surface are flattened for the races by pulling a large drag across it.

The flats are more likely to be dry in the summer, but the salt surface is an unusual place to drive, Wilkinson said.

“Even at the dry time of year, the salt always stays kind of damp. People say that makes racing feel like hydroplaning,” she said.

Rick Wills is a staff writer for Trib Total Media.

I was also informed about cars running close to the surface of the track or salt and how it creates a shear factor element. We also discussed the dynamics of a canoe in the water and how it flows, but a rowboat won’t coast at all.

The next week, I attended Sonny Nutter’s birthday party at Yoshi’s Classic Cycle near the LA airport. We discussed Formula One racing aerodynamics and front suspension with Kelli and Marty while cutting Sonny’s birthday cake. He was an old flat track racer in the ‘70s and hangs out with racing legends such as Dan Gurney. We discussed winglets on our front axle capable of keeping the front end on the salt. That could be the answer to the lift issue.

Now, the real work begins as Kent and Holly order the tubing bends the frame begins to take shape.

Sponsors:

Hang on! We’re taking two bikes, maybe three to Bonneville for the Bub’s 2014 International Speed Trials. We got our asses handed to us in 2012, but we learned a few new ropes and rules, and we’re headed back with a vengeance. 

The 124-Inch 5-Ball Raycer

Our Bonneville dedicated Ray C. Wheeler 5-Ball Raycer is powered by a Randy Torgeson- prepared, high-performance, 124-inch turbocharged twin cam engine. Our power booster is an Aerocharger Series 66, built by TurboDoc in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s a variable vane exhaust-driven turbo that feeds air, passing through the inner-cooler/ice chest, and the air plenum, into a 62mm HPI throttle body, a polished intake manifold, and a set of free breathing Stage 5 R&R Cycle Billet heads. R&R rollers open the high flow valves, S&S .640 lift gear-driven cams and finally out to the salt through a one-off Tedder-built exhaust system. 

Our drive train consists of a Sharp Eye JIMS 5-speed transmission, H-D FXR inner and outer primaries fitted with a large carrier bearing, Primo-Rivera Pro Clutch, E-Z pull, Primo adjustable weight lock-up, a chain drive primary with old style shoe adjuster and a Fisher harmonic balancer. We’ll run a Spyke starting and charging system.

Rick Tedder out of Salem, Oregon is modifying and building a one-off frame that was conceived and engineered by Jim Bartlett in Beaverton, Oregon. 

We will be prepared and eligible to enter one or all of the following classes. Ya never know what might happen.

3000 cc A-PBG record 146.246
3000 cc A-PBF open
3000 cc APS-PBG record 167.069
3000 cc APS-PBF open

We’re after red hats and a membership in the 200 mph club

1940 45 Flathead Bonne Belle

We may return with Lee Clemens of Departure Bike Works, our engine builder, and Paughco on an all-new Bonne Belle Chassis. This 45 flathead will have a K-model top end, a 5-speed transmission, classic Performance Machine wheels and brakes, and a Spitfire slim as silk fuel container.

This bike will be capable of competing in the following classes, some of which we haven’t figured out yet. We’re not sure if we’ll get cut some slack for running a flathead, so we reached out to Drew Gatewood, a AMA, Bub official:

The AMA class(es) your machine would fit into are as follows.
750/A/AG
750/A/AF
Plus, the same engine classes with APS

There is currently no allowance for larger displacement with a flathead engine according to the AMA supplemental rules (e.g.- 750 flathead in the 500 classes). 
–Drew Gatewood
tele/fax: 219-926-5647 (IN)
email: gears55@frontier.com
www.gearswebsite.com

I think we worked it out and the record is around 120 mph, very doable.

2014 Bikernet Bonneville Sponsorship Program

Don’t Miss A Chance to Be Involved in this Bonneville Racing Action

By joining the team, you will become part of an elite group that broke two records and is aiming to get it done this year. Your help is much appreciated! At least monthly, we will feature reports, tech articles and updates on Bikernet.

You Gotta’ Have Bling Valentine Gift Ideas: