Forgive me, but what is Bub?
This bike started as a 1962 XLCH Sportster. I acquired a set of prototype XR style heads from Alan Sputhe in 1976. These were 1st. gen heads before he started making 1290cc cylinders and heads for the iron head Sportster. Last time I spoke with Alan he told me my heads might be one of maybe 10 sets in the world. I found 2 sets on bike in N.H. and 4 on bikes in Alan's showroom. In an exhaustive internet search I have not found any others. I raced this bike as a semi stock motored cafe racer in the mid/late 70's in the Mulholland Canyon/Rock Store area before getting serious and wanting to build an XR for street/race. Here I am at 23 with it in 76:
My landlord at the time owned House Of Horsepower in Canoga Park,Ca., A big cubic inch Harley Davidson engine builder, and wanted to build it for me. This motor is his genius. We started by cutting the stock frame off just above the front and rear motor mounts and threw away 27lbs of cast crap and replaced it with a purpose built frame adding only 9lbs of chromoly tubing, saving 18lbs of top end weight. That was the being of the weight saving formula. Nothing went on the bike if it didn't make it go fast or stop short. Iron heads and cylinders got replaced with big bore (from 53 to 63 ci)aluminum units (another 25lbs), tossed the generator in the trash (another 13lbs.). The magneto was now mounted in the generator hole just like the XR race bike and I would now run total loss electrical system to run the necessary lights and just recharge after a few hours. The 8lb Kimtab Snowflakes I had bought from Kimtab the day they went bankrupt in 76, I own the last pair out the factory doors in a, probably, illegal transaction. I had a friend who was in the race brake business in the mid 90's that started the Hawg Halter company making after market bolt on caliper for H-D's and I adapted a set onto my bike giving me phenominal stopping power with 3-4 piston calipers to mate to the triple 12" rotors. All said and done the bike weighs in at a paltry 360lbs. Here it is in 1977 when I ran out of money and life and responsibilities got in the way and it got shuffled to the back burner for the next 35 years:
In 2011 A friend of mine started to build a car for Bonneville after a full deal with Toyota to build an LSR truck fell through. He pulled out his 1959 Nash Metropolitan to build instead. I walked in one day and saw 2- 3"x4"X6' steel frame rails laying on the floor. I asked what they were and he said " It's my Nash Metropolitan Bonneville car, can't you tell?" I started asking him if could help with the project and if he would let me coat some stuff for it and put my name on it I'd be stoked. He said "Sure" Well long story short he needed help badly if he intended on making Bonneville that Aug. So he and I dived in and with occasional help from a few others we completed the car at around noon after painting the nose on the day we were leaving for the Salt Flats 2-1/2 months after staring at those 2 frame rails on the floor. He has less than $30k in the car and when we got there we broke a 14 year old record at over 261mph, doing what many engineers with deep pockets and 20 years on the salt said would be impossible. We left them scratching their heads on how TF we did it. We then took the car to the ECTA Maxton Mile in N.C in their last event before they closed that venue and set new class record there. We then took it to the New ECTA track, the Ohio Mile in Lexington, Ohio and were the first 200mph club member there. We've since been back to the salt where we broke our record and now hold it at 265+. It has set world record at every venue it has been to. It had always been on my bucket list to attend Bonneville as a spectator. I checked that off the list as a Bonneville World Record Holder crew chief. This car has been one of the most photographed and admired car out there. It's been in Hot Rod a couple of times, Popular Hot Rodding and a number of others. It was on the front of the official Tshirt for Bonneville 2012. It's picture is the heading of the Comp Coupe class in the rule book for SCTA and it's the car pictured when you go to the ECTA 2013 website schedule for cars:
Well right about now I am thinking " Bob gets all the credit and I do the work and get jack chit. It's time to see if I can get my name in the record books. I came home and checked the record for my class of bike and found that there had been no attempts in that class yet and still after 5 events no record attempts. I figured it was time to sell the NASCAR circle track car I had been racing until they outlawed me and changed the rules because I was "too competitive". So it time to get serious and go set a record. I can go down the track at 50mph and set a record but that's not what I want. I want to put a a legitimate number up on the boards and think I can beat the class above me record of 131mph in the mile.
So out came the XR to complete and try for a record. Looks like the July 6-7 event is when it will happen, one day before my 60th birthday. I found a sponsor to help me get it fired for the first time since 1977. Long story short we were ready to fire it when we found no spark in the magneto, seems after 35 years of sitting the earth magnets lose their charge and have to be recharged. At first I was concerned about what the cylinders and rings looked like after being "dry" for 3 5 years and I just pictured masses of rust in the bores. We pulled a plug and stuck a bore scope in to see and my eyes were amazed to see cross hatch honing like it was done yesterday. I was a happy camper. That is until I pulled the cam cover to get the magneto out. Down in the oil sump you could see oxidation of the aluminum cases like barnacles. If we had fired the motor that gunk would have gone through and destroyed the motor. So now I was looking a t complete teardown, cleaning and reassembly. $1500, there goes my money to make the Sept 12 event. Well the motor guy tore the motor down and I sent all the aluminum pieces off for vapor blasting. When he tore it down he called and said it was ready and that he didn't want to burst my bubble but I did not, in fact, have a 63 ci motor. I said please tell me that guy didn't lie to me and screw me. He said " Not unless you consider 81ci getting screwed." The original builder failed to tell me he also threw in a big stroker kit bumping it to a whopping 1327cc. He has had my motor now since end of June last year. I'm starting to get pissed. I have missed 2 events waiting on him and have sponsor obligations to up hold. Here is what she looks like now without the heart in it:
Feel free to fire off any questions you may have. I love talking about my baby.
