My new race tracker build and why this all began...

[IronSpadeCycles]

Ok so some of you may have read my intro post, let me introduce myself again. My name is Travis Lawson. I own a small one man Fab shop here in Houston TX called Iron Spade Cycles. I specialize in building commissioned one off cafe racers, race bikes and the occasional dual sport from most classic Japanese and European motorcycles.

A week ago, a riding buddy "Mo" asked me to think about building an AHRMA race legal dirt tracker he could also ride occasionally on the city streets.

After searching Craigslist for a suitable donor, I found two. One in Austin (a 1975 missing a title but with a 74 titled frame to swap) and one in Baytown (a relatively unmolested 83 model with 5008 miles). Mo put feelers out to try to meet up with each of them to get this ball rolling and then started sending me emails with images and ideas. One particular bike really caught our collective eye and we agreed to build something very similar to the bike below.

So after work on Wednesday last week we elected to only drive an hour out of our way and go to Baytown and fetch the 83 for our donor bike. After a visual inspection of the VIN, hearing her run for a few minutes and a bit of haggling on the price the deal was done. After a half hour ride home in the truck Mo pretty much told me to work my magic and build a winner. So here we go.



Hope you guys like it. Stay tuned....

Later Travis

 

[muks]

What a post! Enjoyed reading it, thanks for posting and good luck next year! Look forward to following the build.

 

[Yoozy]

Nice one, hello, enjoyed reading that, even managed to squeeze top loon Guy Martin in.

 

[IronSpadeCycles]

Guy Martin was actually a great person to meet and race with. We inadvertently had lunch with him at the only restaurant at the base of Pikes Peak, only a couple blocks from our cabin where we stayed for the week. Guy and his friends had rented a U-haul truck to drive their bike and tools from NY to Colorado. One of them got creative with some electrical tape and spelled GuyHaul on the truck. It was a comedic jab at the classic privateer race truck.

When I first met him was on Credentials/race check in day. I had just parked our race trailer in the parking lot next to his GuyHaul when he was doing some early morning bike tuning before tech inspection. I honestly didn't recognize him and he was in a great mood, actually introduced himself to me first, and as usual I didn't understand a word out of his mouth. Really funny guy.

I'm sure in his world he meets thousands of people at every event who just want a piece of him, it was refreshing see a different side of him and being able to bond as a fellow traveler and racer.

If any of you guys watch the Fast And Loud episode with Aaron Kaufman driving his 1963 Ford Fairlane, look at all the in car track footage. Once Aaron heard about us fellow TX boys at the mountain honoring our friend, he gladly placed our team LaNoue #9 race sticker right on his glove box knowing full well it would be in plain view on all the race footage and the film crew wouldn't be able to edit that part out.

Time to get my day, and this build started.

Talk soon, Travis

 

[jussumguy]

Awesome ride video! Really got me going! Nice bike

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Excellent post Travis! Really enjoyed that.

How well do the XS650/750's fare in this rooftop run?

 

[IronSpadeCycles]

Quite a few of them do well.

 

[racerdave]

Thanks for sharing. I am sure your friend is smiling somewhere.

 

[SauceSquatch]

Digging this thread, keep it coming

 

[Vincenthdfan]

Fantastic post...thanks so much for sharing.

I'm a long time Triumph fan (I own a '56 TR-6 Hill Climber and a '70 Bonneville) and have numerous XS-650's.

I have also always wanted to attend the annual Pikes Peak Hill Climb, but have never been...so as you might well imagine, your post has all my attention!!

Incidentally, I'm also a big fan of Gas Monkey Garage and watched the Pikes Peak races on those episodes intently...now I need to go back and look for that number on Aaron's glove box. I remember seeing it when I watched it before but didn't know the story behind it.

Looking forward to more posts!

 

[IronSpadeCycles]

Ok well after a little waiting, I did get an email from Mikes XS with a shipping number for UPS. Parts are starting to trickle in. First the gaskets, seals and bolts kits, and now the 750cc big bore kit. We are going to keep this bike as reliable as possible, it will be a race bike, just not as on the edge of a machine as some of the other competitors. Racing Pikes Peak has a lot more to do with rider ability and courage than flat out speed.

That in mind I'm going with a 9.5 to 1 compression piston, a Web Cam 59a grind. Its a good performance cam for a hot street motor. I'm also having them do a 277 degree cam grind right out of the box. Hugh's Handbuilt will do the 277 rephase of the crank before this motor all goes back together.

I will start in ernest on this bike just after the new year so stay tuned. Many pictures to follow. Also our team met Monday evening to discuss our plans for Pikes Peak 2015. The balls are rolling to have a second fantastic year on the mountain. Pre race practice is June 5-7 with race week June 21-28.

Updates soon, later Travis

 

[wannabridin]

What was your logic for the rephase? Higher peak HP in the RPM band you'll live in more? Not dogging the job, just curious for your logic. Killer bike man, LOVE those pics

 

[IronSpadeCycles]

Well mostly the lower vibrations. I rode a couple of 750cc kitted XS race bikes and at speeds above 75mph it hurt to try to hold onto the bars. My hands went numb after 20 minutes of riding. From everything I've read a rephase helps reduce the vibes, plus it sould cool too. After reading a lot on performace building XS650's the peak reliable HP number seems to be 70-72HP. That being said, some of the added power will come with the higher octane blended race fuel we are allowed to run. I'd rather build a reliable engine with less vibration and decent power in the 65-70HP range and pour more money into the suspension tuning and chassis setup to help get my rider to the top faster.


Remember, to finish first... you must first finish.

 

[wannabridin]

Not to knock Hugh what-so-ever, but give Lime bikes a call and talk to him. He likes leaving the 360 firing order alone and then balancing the crank through falicon or crank works. The services are around the price of a re-phase, but they should let you rev higher and much less vibration than stock. Plus you keep your torque down low.

Just an option to reduce vibes for ya, plus he's "just" over in Austin, so that's not too bad of a trip from Houston.

 

[slidingcd7]

NICE XS 650-750

 

[nj1639]

Subscribed. Great story and a great story teller. Thanks!

 

[IronSpadeCycles]

Not to knock Hugh what-so-ever, but give Lime bikes a call and talk to him. He likes leaving the 360 firing order alone and then balancing the crank through falicon or crank works. The services are around the price of a re-phase, but they should let you rev higher and much less vibration than stock. Plus you keep your torque down low.

Just an option to reduce vibes for ya, plus he's "just" over in Austin, so that's not too bad of a trip from Houston.

I've not dealt directly with the Limey but we have several friends in common here in TX and I've seen a bit of his work up close and personal. Although his method to aquire more reliable power is one I've looked into, I'm affraid I'm committed to the 277 rephase already having purchased a Pamco ignition and a Web camshafts 277 cam. I'm looking forward to working with my primary engine builder, Harold's Machine in Rosenberg TX, to do the head porting and larger valves install.

I can't wait to really get stated with this build. Looks like I'll be picking up a new set of forks tomorrow afternoon.

 

[wannabridin]

Oh, i'm excited to see the results of the headwork. Please post up pictures of before and after and the details that you can!

 

[Vincenthdfan]

Oh this is getting good.....

 

[IronSpadeCycles]

Looking at all my options for rods, valves, and other go-fast goodies. I've read through the 80 pages of Craig Weeks racer manual, and quite frankly, I'm glad I shelled out the $40 for it. Lots of great racer info in there. Definately will help us avoid costly mistakes.

I ordered an XR750 seat from Airtech yesterday but he's 4 weeks out on filling orders at the moment. Not that big a deal, I still have lots to do between then and now, but I want to make sure I keep up with purchasing all the other parts I will need.

I'm going to borrow a fiberglass tank from our Triumph race bike to make a wood buck from so that I can make a few alloy race tanks for this project as well as replacements for the Triumph. We had several problems last year with high octane race fuel eating the inside of our fiberglass tanks if left for more than a few hours with a half full tank. An aluminum tank won't suffer the same fate. I will do a step by step on building the buck as well as forming the aluminum and welding the tank. I love making allow tanks, its therapy for me.

Later, T