paul cardy
Registered user
Hi Chris thanks
AirHead Drag Bike
- Thread starter paul cardy
- Start date
paul cardy
Registered user
Ok so I know the video content has been non existant but things are about to change, following a great day at TTS in Silverstone with RM in attendance the Airhead Drag Bike now lives and breaths.... Check out these 2 videos, if you watch carfully in Dyno 2 the last of the rear slick sticker is in the wind.....
Once the I phone has finished having a tantrum I will post up a few more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpwwG5-StTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSQUCMBkH3w
Once the I phone has finished having a tantrum I will post up a few more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpwwG5-StTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSQUCMBkH3w
markjackson
Registered user
She sounds lovely
How did the jetting / ignition work and the torque / power curves look?
How did the jetting / ignition work and the torque / power curves look?
Most excellent 
Ijustwanttoseethephotos
Registered user
Torque and power curves?
paul cardy
Registered user
Thanks for the responses, the jetting and ingnition timing was fairly straight forward, we have the MSD electronic ignition so setting up the front plate which is clamped with 3 small bolts then some strobe action to fine tune RM had his laptop plugged in at this point.
On the jetting front this started out fairly lean and had a needle lift and up progressively on the main jets till the fuelling stayed in the safe zone.
If you have ever seen the film Uncle Buck and the scene with Buck and the young girl and keeping a secret so there is zipping the mouth and then trying to speak, then locking the mouth with a padlock and throwing away the key.... this is the deal I bought into with RM so all i can say is we had a great day the main man at TTS is a total pro and could not have been more helpful or accomidating. The engine was bought with a power figure quoted and it was bang on the money so I am well happy.
There were a few teething issues - the rear wheel having been professionally built..... is not very true so there was a bit of vibration from the rear end a few nuts worked loose and the clutch cable which we modified lost its nipple on the last run.
On returning home we set the rear wheel up and it's out by a 2/3 mm in both ovality and side to side, the local wheel shop could not get this to even register on the balance machine...we tried the adjust the spokes but these were thread bound in the places that needed the treatment so we have cut our losses and pulled the wheel to pieces and need to come up with a plan of attack.
The clutch cable was an own goal With a modification to the STD BMW cable, the solder never seemed to like wetting out and it's just pulled through the new nipple we had to fit to get it to match up with our aftermarket lever, baker fluid is the last effect or it's off to Venhil....
On a completely different tack we had Built magazine round on Thursday to do an artical on the drag bike + a Harley that we finished last year Gary1 the editor of both Built and Classic Bike & Gary2 the lens both top guys who had lots to talk about and were great company they even ended up staying all day and going to our local bike haunt of Loomies for more bike tails over a cuppa the weather was Mega
On a completion front after a bit of back and forth our entry for the Sultans of Sprint has been give the green light, so it's off to Montlethy and Glemseck this year + some rounds in the Uk over the next months once the bike is back together... getting excited ��
On the jetting front this started out fairly lean and had a needle lift and up progressively on the main jets till the fuelling stayed in the safe zone.
If you have ever seen the film Uncle Buck and the scene with Buck and the young girl and keeping a secret so there is zipping the mouth and then trying to speak, then locking the mouth with a padlock and throwing away the key.... this is the deal I bought into with RM so all i can say is we had a great day the main man at TTS is a total pro and could not have been more helpful or accomidating. The engine was bought with a power figure quoted and it was bang on the money so I am well happy.
There were a few teething issues - the rear wheel having been professionally built..... is not very true so there was a bit of vibration from the rear end a few nuts worked loose and the clutch cable which we modified lost its nipple on the last run.
On returning home we set the rear wheel up and it's out by a 2/3 mm in both ovality and side to side, the local wheel shop could not get this to even register on the balance machine...we tried the adjust the spokes but these were thread bound in the places that needed the treatment so we have cut our losses and pulled the wheel to pieces and need to come up with a plan of attack.
The clutch cable was an own goal With a modification to the STD BMW cable, the solder never seemed to like wetting out and it's just pulled through the new nipple we had to fit to get it to match up with our aftermarket lever, baker fluid is the last effect or it's off to Venhil....
On a completely different tack we had Built magazine round on Thursday to do an artical on the drag bike + a Harley that we finished last year Gary1 the editor of both Built and Classic Bike & Gary2 the lens both top guys who had lots to talk about and were great company they even ended up staying all day and going to our local bike haunt of Loomies for more bike tails over a cuppa the weather was Mega
On a completion front after a bit of back and forth our entry for the Sultans of Sprint has been give the green light, so it's off to Montlethy and Glemseck this year + some rounds in the Uk over the next months once the bike is back together... getting excited ��
Ijustwanttoseethephotos
Registered user
So it's a 'competition' bike built for show, not go?
paul cardy
Registered user
I guess only time will tell.....
Weekday Rider
Registered user
So it's a 'competition' bike built for show, not go?
I think this bike is going to Go go go, the fact that it looks like a show bike too is admirable.
paul cardy
Registered user
Come on then Chris tell me more .....
paul cardy
Registered user
Jim thanks for the kind words
ChaseF, the bird cage bit was ok but the solder would not wet out on the cable, strange as the throttle cables which we made up no problem strange...
ChaseF, the bird cage bit was ok but the solder would not wet out on the cable, strange as the throttle cables which we made up no problem strange...
Yes I've had the same problem which seems to happen more with thicker cables. I think this is because as you heat the cable residual grease trapped between the strands seeps out. I've found heating it with a small blowlamp and then degreasing and repeating a few times then cleaning it with wire wool. But definately, bakers fluid or the acid fluxes we use for zinc guttering here in France (probably banned in the UK) certainly help.
If you heat the cable with a blow lamp it is so easy to overheat it.
Use a solder pot or any old brass fitting, fill the pot with molten solder, Use a blowlamp to keep it molten dip the cable in the solder then in the bakers fluid repeat several times until the cable tins, fit the ferrule, splay the cable and back into the solder pot.
Ounce the little pot is full of solder it is always there for future use.
After many years I invested in an electrically heated temperature controlled unit from RS which is great for when doing batches of cables.
Use a solder pot or any old brass fitting, fill the pot with molten solder, Use a blowlamp to keep it molten dip the cable in the solder then in the bakers fluid repeat several times until the cable tins, fit the ferrule, splay the cable and back into the solder pot.
Ounce the little pot is full of solder it is always there for future use.
After many years I invested in an electrically heated temperature controlled unit from RS which is great for when doing batches of cables.
markjackson
Registered user
paul cardy
Registered user
So plan of attack with the rear wheel was junk the spoke and nipples and start from scratch , not what we wanted to do but .....
The wheel is now nice and true and after a few hiccups on wheel balancing - tried several places we had used before but the BMW spindle size etc proved a problem, we ended up using a static balancer bought some spoke weights and this looks to have been the ticket.
Few little jobs left like lambda bung needed and RM wants the valve clearances checked and heads re torqued but it's almost back on track. Hoping to get an entry for Avon Raceway in early April and ferry and camp site is now booked for the Cafe Racer Festival in June let's hope the weather plays ball..
The wheel is now nice and true and after a few hiccups on wheel balancing - tried several places we had used before but the BMW spindle size etc proved a problem, we ended up using a static balancer bought some spoke weights and this looks to have been the ticket.
Few little jobs left like lambda bung needed and RM wants the valve clearances checked and heads re torqued but it's almost back on track. Hoping to get an entry for Avon Raceway in early April and ferry and camp site is now booked for the Cafe Racer Festival in June let's hope the weather plays ball..
paul cardy
Registered user
So it's 5.45 at Drag race central and the team are looking bleary eyed. We are heading out to Sheakspear County raceway for the first drag race of the year.
Will hope to capture some of this on film - already excited ��
Will hope to capture some of this on film - already excited ��
Weekday Rider
Registered user
Can't wait!
paul cardy
Registered user
Well Sunday what a beautiful day for drag racing mega.
So the first event was at Sheakspear County so once we had un packed and pitched the gazebo we got scrutineered - all good. First batch of runs was set for 10.30 so plenty of time better get the engine warmed up - ah no. So no engine noises so long story short although the battery had been on charge and started the engine fine at the dyno it turned out to not have enough grunt to supply the ECU. Bring on the band of helpful bunch of NSA runners and riders WOW when you need some jump leads and a battery no problem borrow these and the whole day was punctuated by some great camaraderie and team spirit what a lovely bunch.
So few more issues the in line fuel filter spang a leak so some good old pit lane fixes were needed - a few jobs to do then but what about the racing....so this was my first time as they say and the organisers tried to keep the older bike together so of the 5 runs I got in a Jap 500 and some Nortons were the competition. The engine was strong and sounded nice and never really got pushed to its limit but over the course of my runs the times fell from 15s to a very low 12s so well chuffed.
The bike ran straight and true and no vibrations or wobbles from the wheels drum brakes take some getting used too...so as a first event we learnt a lot but the main thing was met a great bunch of people and came home with a big grin.
The next event will be westonzoyland in 7/8 may so the list of things to sort has a finish date to aim for. In other news the Sultans of Sprint have sent through the details on this seasons events and the list of details which they need for publicity so the Bike now has a name "Velocity Baby" and the team is called "Shed Hot Customs" T shirts need to be sorted... more updates to follow.
So the first event was at Sheakspear County so once we had un packed and pitched the gazebo we got scrutineered - all good. First batch of runs was set for 10.30 so plenty of time better get the engine warmed up - ah no. So no engine noises so long story short although the battery had been on charge and started the engine fine at the dyno it turned out to not have enough grunt to supply the ECU. Bring on the band of helpful bunch of NSA runners and riders WOW when you need some jump leads and a battery no problem borrow these and the whole day was punctuated by some great camaraderie and team spirit what a lovely bunch.
So few more issues the in line fuel filter spang a leak so some good old pit lane fixes were needed - a few jobs to do then but what about the racing....so this was my first time as they say and the organisers tried to keep the older bike together so of the 5 runs I got in a Jap 500 and some Nortons were the competition. The engine was strong and sounded nice and never really got pushed to its limit but over the course of my runs the times fell from 15s to a very low 12s so well chuffed.
The bike ran straight and true and no vibrations or wobbles from the wheels drum brakes take some getting used too...so as a first event we learnt a lot but the main thing was met a great bunch of people and came home with a big grin.
The next event will be westonzoyland in 7/8 may so the list of things to sort has a finish date to aim for. In other news the Sultans of Sprint have sent through the details on this seasons events and the list of details which they need for publicity so the Bike now has a name "Velocity Baby" and the team is called "Shed Hot Customs" T shirts need to be sorted... more updates to follow.
