Bonneville - Speed Week 2014

[fj1289]

It's on for Bonneville Speed Week 2014.  Dates are 9 - 15 Aug with tech inspections beginning the 7th. 

First hurdle was getting rooms in Wendover - got rooms for the 10th - 14th (think that was back in Jan or Feb when the hotels begin to accept reservations for Speed Week).  My son and I may go down a day prior and camp out one night so we can get tech knocked out.

Today just sent in the membership form and pre-registration and $$ ( deadline is tomorrow -- then the prices go up).

Last night started tearing into the bike.  It's the 89 I've owned for 14+ years now.   It's never been a particularly "pretty" bike and could never be called a show bike -- I've always called it "BattleAxe".  I've commuted on it, done a couple day trips, weekend rides, started drag racing on it, was stolen and quickly recovered, has had three engines, and of course done a mod or two.  It was a non-runner due to electrics when I bought it - with a few issues in the wiring harness I always meant to "go back and fix properly"...instead it always seemed I was changing something else, adding or deleting something, and never really getting around to making a proper repair. 

Post theft recovery and with the stock engine from a 90 parts bike



I guess the FJ fates decided several days ago to give me the proper time and incentive to take the bike off the road long enough to do some proper repairs and prep for Bonneville...


Started in on it last night after I got some parts in the mail.   Stripping it down now to get ready to replace the wiring harness and switch gear, get ready to install the 1314 engine, and start some mods that will be helpful for Bonneville.

Got going before I thought to take a "before" pic...



Most of the mods will be concentrated on getting the bike lower, getting me tucked behind the fairing, getting good power out of the engine, and trying to make sure the power gets to the ground instead of spinning and blistering the tire.   

92 days and counting...

[rktmanfj]

I've said it before... I think that bike just looks badass.   

[Pat Conlon]

Chris, what kind of speed do you think you can get out of her?  170? 180?

This is going to be fun to watch...

[andyb]

I'll be impressed if you can break 160 on salt, honestly.  You're going to need to get a custom sprocket, probably as tall as 35.  10% will be lost to wheelspin.

Nevermind that you're shoving a brick through the air.  Is it legal to just remove the seat and sit on the battery?  Probably the simplest solution, not legal in some classes (and if you're thinking about it on the `ole 1320, it feels horribly strange, trebly so if you're footshifting!!!!!  You may consider throwing some weight at the swingarm to get it to hook, and keep it as short as possible.  Weight transfer will be your friend as much as it can, but there's a limit to what you'll mange.  I would suggest keeping your street tire though, and putting as much air as you're comforatable with in it (up to maybe 48psi cold, read the markings on the tire to know the max temp).  Please don't consider a quick wet kit to solve your woes, as they need more tuning to do right.  Do get the Wego muckled on and giving feedback, as it'd be awesome to hear what the bike likes over such a long, high rpm WOT run.  Also a weather station (or just ask the guy pitted next to you what the actual DA is looking like, is what I always do myself at the strip).

Emulating mister Rollie will get you in trouble.  Despite the heat, the leather pants stay ON.

That said it'll be interesting, and even if you only go 130 you'll have a good laugh and a great time.  And that is what racing is all about.

[skymasteres]

That said it'll be interesting, and even if you only go 130 you'll have a good laugh and a great time.  And that is what racing is all about.

You know, I think that might be a little pessimistic. I've had my FJ over that speed according to the GPS and it's got low compression and burns oil. (18/38 gearing)

[fj1289]

The biggest reason is definately to have fun - both as a spectator and participant!   And also can't wait to see the creativity and engineering in the vehicles running there.  

Yeah, 130 ? ....I will be sorely disappointed with that!  160 is the goal. I know nothing is gauranteed - running on the salt will be a totally new experience.  And a lot will depend on the condition of the salt.  

Also, since I'll be running in the "modified" class, I'm not exactly going to show up on the streetbike without doing a bit of setup.   Mods that are planned at this time:
Rob the extended swingarm and cut forks off the dragbike.  Use the 25 mim offset triples to increase the trail a little.
Move the fairing forward 3-4 inches and down 2 to help cut the frontal area and make room for the lower clip on handle bars.
Lengthen the rear subframe 4-6 inches to cover the rear tire and move the seating position back and down a bit to get behind the fairing better.  Also extend the tail forward some to help with streamlining the back of the bike a little.    The dragbike will benefit from the modified subframe after Bonneville is done.  
Add lead shot in the swingarm - have 50# now - look like I should add about 100 more!
Sprocket specialists can go as small as 26 teeth for the rear sprocket -- running the old PM Chicane rim with the solid hub so it's a lot smaller than a typical sprocket hub.  
Take both the Supertrapp 4-1 that's on the bike now as well as the V&H sidewinder.  
And of course N2O - 3 or 4 different sized shots - and, yes, it will be tuned for it -- it's a world of difference hammering on the engine for 1/4 mile vice 3 miles!

[Firehawk068]

I'm going to have to come over and see your project!

[fj1289]

I'm going to have to come over and see your project!

Oh crap !  I've got to clean up the garage!!!   

Gone the next two weekends - but should be clear after that.  Hopefully have it back on the street by then.  Working on a new undertail for the street subframe now while it's all apart

[movenon]

I'm going to have to come over and see your project!

Oh crap !  I've got to clean up the garage!!!   

Gone the next two weekends - but should be clear after that.  Hopefully have it back on the street by then.  Working on a new undertail for the street subframe now while it's all apart

You run there and I will try to stop by.
George

[Joe Sull]

A great and very interesting project.

[ken65]

just for interest sake, how hard is the salt? does it go soft after awhile,

[fj1289]

Not as much progress as I need at this point - but have made some.   Most of the time these last couple weeks have been taken up by work and by the construction of a chicken coop and chicken run....one of the "hazards" of moving away from the big city!

Almost complete with the rewire of the bike.  Critical to this was fabricating a new battery and electronics box -- to make room for everything else that will be added and to finalize the location of the harness of the bike.   Why is that such a big deal?   Well, a few years ago I bought a bunch of FI parts from Marc Rittner and taking his advice I contacted the same person that helped him put EFI on his 200 mph supercharged nitrous injected twin cylinder Aprilia.  Marc used a custom built GSXR 1000 replacement ECU (and GSXR wiring harness and switchgear). Marc suggested I use the custom Busa ECU made by the same person.  I did this since I figured the engine configuration would be close enough and I would have a half decent starting point to work from -- didn't work out as planned (and not worth the $$$ for the custom ECU) and as a result I had to reinvent the wheel tuning parameter and setup wise.   Biggest issue was the "plug and play" custom ECU was really setup for turbo applications - especially in dragstrip use.  There is a much better way to go about this, and knowing what I know now, I would go a different way than I did.  But hey that's the cost of an education at the school of hard knocks. 

I've run the bike for better than a year now on EFI using a piggybacked harness made from a chopped up Busa harness.  Since I'm "stuck" with the Custom Busa ECU and with as poor shape as my stock harness is in (a lot of pre-existing issues from when I bought it non running some 14+ years ago as well as numerous splices and mods over the years) I decided to replace the entire electrical system with Busa parts (harness, switchgear, etc).  Only hurdles left are the charging system and the  FJ instrument cluster (back lighting and tach feed).  Should get both of these sorted today. 

This week I plan to open up the 1314 engine and replace the rods with XJR rods I have left over from the trailer theft fiasco of 2009.  (The engine they were going to go into was stolen after getting the pieces back from the machine shop).  While it's apart I'll measure the copper head and base gaskets and determine how large a decompression plate to have made and replace the head gasket with an MLS gasket. 

This past week I picked up the rims and tires from Woodys Wheel Works in Denver.  Great people to work with.  Needed to repair a bent lip on the front PM Chicane rim and straighten a "wobble" on it too.  Then had Bonneville legal tires mounted - using Bridgestone BT003 Race Streets.  The SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) requires "special tires for racing as designated by the manufacturer" in classes where the record is over 200 mph.  The issue is most "race" tires are soft compound road race tires and will blister or chunk.  The tires with the best rep have been the BT003 race tire in the T3 (hard) compound or the BT003 race street version.  Woodys tire prices compare very well to the lowest internet prices I could find - highly recommended if you are in the Denver area and need tires.   I forgot to tell them though I needed metal valve stems DOH!   So have to go back for that...

It's starting to look less likely that this bike will spend much time on the street before being setup for Bonneville.  I'd like to get a few street miles on it before taking it to the dyno and putting the Bonneville setup on it. 

Pics to follow...

[fj1289]

just for interest sake, how hard is the salt? does it go soft after awhile,

Here are two articles that seem to describe the salt conditions in a way I think I understand.  Guess I won't really know until I go...

http://saltflats.com/traction.html

This article is on nitrous use -- but relates very well how critical salt conditions are to success.

http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,2990.15.html

[ken65]

thanks for the links fj1289,  interesting read..  i dont think i'd be game enough to go flat out on that stuff

[fj1289]

thanks for the links fj1289,  interesting read..  i dont think i'd be game enough to go flat out on that stuff

I think it will be a bit of a non-issue.  Guys I've talked to say they have a very hard time figuring out how fast they are going since there's really no visual reference other than the mile marker flags.  One technique is to see how far it takes to coast to a stop. 

Running on the salt also involves easy control inputs - smooth application of power and smooth control inputs at speed. 

I think it's also just a matter of faith - like flying on the terrain following radar system I used to do -- or the faith good road racers have in their front tire grip (which I never had!).