In the last segment, we encountered the privilege of working with Branch O’Keefe, the former Branch Flowmetrics masterminds to make my 96-inch Twin Cam head flow as if they were built for the gods.

While we rebuilt the heads at Branch O’Keefe, the crew at Hardtailz shipped the worn out twin cam cases to Randy at Hyperformance for upgrades, Timken bearings are a must for big inch power plants.

With well over 3,500 hours running time at 50 mph average my 2004 Twin cam Dyna rolled over 170,000 miles, the factory cases were well seasoned and damn near wasted. The hard working crew at Hardtailz in San Jose disassembled the twin cam engine, packed and shipped the pieces to Randy Torgeson at Hyperformance in Pleasant hills, Iowa for scrutinizing.

Hyperformance CNC Machine shop is a division of Hyperformance Incorporated, experts for over 20 years in producing big bore cylinder kits for V-Twin motorcycles. Their custom CNC Machine division was established to offer companies and individuals fast, reliable and accurate machining services. Their Machine Shop is equipped with two computerized high-speed CNC vertical machine centers and two manual metal turning lathes. Hyperformance CNC Machining also offers complete ancillary services and can sleeve, bush and precision hone virtually any reconstruct project.

Whether your requirements call for fast turn-around on standard parts or the production of unique prototype parts, or rebuilt parts, HYPERFORMANCE can make it happen. Highly skilled CNC specialist not only offer precision machining services but can also fit and assemble parts to a finished state as well.

HYPERFORMANCE offers free pick up and delivery to all customers within a 100-mile radius of Des Moines. For a quick quote or to discuss your future machining needs, call me, Randy Torgeson, at 515-266-6381.

“Your cases can and will be saved and rebuilt to better than stock specifications,” Randy said.

The head bolts were tested and measured for stretch, thread damage, and case fitment, all were within specs as well as being solidly anchored.

My next issue was the Timken bearing area. The race for the Timken bearing was loose and digging into the case. Randy set up the left half of the case on his mill, re-machining the damaged area. A precision-machined steel bushing was pressed into place then securely anchored with 4 machine screws. Our rebuilt cases are expected to last another 3 or 4,000 hours with timely oil and filter changes.

With the cases rebuilt and looking better than new, they were boxed and shipped to Bennett’s Performance in Signal Hill for the final build.

Next, we needed to gather all the perfect products to build a finely balanced, long-distance, streetwise Twin Cam for my hard road future.

With a pile of clean, new and a few used parts (pushrod tubes) on the table and a slight break in the action. Eric cleaned and organized the engine room bench Friday afternoon after a hard days work and dove in headfirst.

After cleaning the cases and staging the parts in an organized manner Eric started the assembly process starting with a brand new 4-inch Darkhorse lower end.

Hoban Brothers offers complete machine shop services and lower end rebuilding under the DarkHorse Crankworks name, along with standard service, parts, accessories, and consignment sales of Harley-Davidson and Buell motorcycles. They have very knowledgeable and experienced factory trained technicians who service all Harley-Davidson models from early to late. They have a trusted reputation for excellence when it comes to performance modifications, motor building and fuel injection tuning.

Hoban Brothers started in 1980 and remains a family owned business. Located in Osman, which is a little town in East Central Wisconsin along Lake Michigan in between Manitowoc and Sheboygan.

Their DarkHorse proprietary process to balance, build or rebuild crank assemblies is the key to a successful lower end, the heart and soul of any motor. They have an outstanding reputation for precision flywheel work, engine case machining and Timken bearing upgrades. They have over 30 years of experience building engines and winning National Championships in professional motorcycle racing. Before we bought a junk new lower end, we discovered unmatched quality workmanship and balancing through DarkHorse.

Fresh out of the box we decided to double check run-out. Yeah, never know how many times the UPS drivers tossed the box across the loading dock on the 5-day, multiple truck journey. Run-out was near perfect, the H-beam rods appeared close-to-bullet-proof? Eric installed the lower end applied case sealer and buttoned up the cases. Every time a bolt was torqued to specs, we spun the lower end checking for tight spots that never appeared. The Darkhorse lower end was smooth as butter on a hot day in July. We called it a night and hauled ass in the dark.

Next on the list, we’ll installed the Fueling Reaper Series .574 lift chain drive cams, supported by a H-D Billet support plate/oil pump.

This kit updates the cam chain tensioner of any Twin Cam 88 engine to the latest design, as featured on the Twin Cam 96 engine. The billet cam support plate has been designed to allow the installation of the Twin Cam 96 hydraulic cam chain tensioner to Twin Cam 88-equipped models. These Hydraulic Cam Chain Tensioners will significantly outlast the spring loaded tensioners, and are an ideal addition to an engine modified for improved performance.

In addition, ’02-’06 models utilize a Twin Cam 96 single row front roller chain and sprocket (included in kit). ’99-’01 models use Original Equipment front silent chain and sprocket to retain the cam position sensor function. The kit includes an improved Screamin’ Eagle High-Flow Oil Pump that provides increased oil pressure at high-operating temperatures. This kit increases the oil supply by 23% and scavenging by 50% when compared to the ’99-’05 Original Equipment oil pump, and reduces operating temperature of bearings to improve bearing life.

Eric followed with the installation of the 97-inch CCI (RevTech) cylinder and piston kit. The RevTech 97-inch and 106 Big Bore Kits with Forge Pistons were new to the CCI line-up when we ordered them. It comes with 4-inch bore cylinders with forged and coated KB pistons, which will increase the displacement of our 88-inc engine to an easy 97-inches.

Then we touched off the formula with a set of flowed Branch/O’Keefe flowed heads, and Crane Roller Rockers. Stock Ratio Bushing Roller Tip Rocker Arms
Stock ratio roller tip rocker arms fit 1984 – up Harley-Davidson Evolution, Twin Cam 88, and Twin Cam 96 big twin engines and 1986 – up Sportster and Buell models.

Crane roller tip rocker arms have a bushing fulcrum for longterm performance and reliability. These rocker arms use the original equipment rocker arm shafts. Made from 8620 alloy steel, precision forged for greater strength, truer rocker arm ratio, and improved rocker geometry. Also their exclusive oil metering system fully lubricates the fulcrum and roller tip for cooler, smoother operation. These rocker arms fit with no machining, making them easy to install.

Eric wrapped up the build with Fueling Race Series lifters, and pushrods. We will bring you more info on the Rev Tech top end build, with the help of Brad Beach at CCI, and additional info on Fueling performance parts, in the very near future.

Haul Ass!
Ride for your Life!
–Ray c wheeler
Performance Editor
wheeler@bikernet.com

5-Ball Bonneville 97-Inch Twin Cam Sources

Bennett’s Performance

www.bennettsperformanceinc.com

Branch O’Keefe
www.branchokeefe.com

Darkhorse Crank Works
www.darkhorsecrankworks.com

Fueling Parts
www.FuelingParts.com

Custom Chrome
www.customchrome.com

Hardtailz
www.hardtailzhd.com

Hyperformance
www.Kingofcubes.com

Harley-Davidson
www.Harley-Davidson.com

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5-Ball Racing 2012: Chapter 5

/ 5-Ball Bonneville Racing, Free Departments / April 27, 2012

We faced another challenge in the shop: Too many projects. It’s almost as if I didn’t know which way to turn, so we kicked off a new work ethic. One project a day, to keep it sane. So far, it has worked well, and kept the pressure to a minimum. If I stroll into the shop and face five projects on one build, it’s easy to mutter, “I don’t have time today to deal with all these projects,” and peel out.

If I run into the shop and pick a one-hour project, because time is limited, then I’m cool and progress is made. So, we etched the new rule in the sand outside the shop and gave it a shot. This was the initial list of projects to choose from: Mount the Street Walker-supplied fairing, narrow the 7/8-inch handlebars, reposition the Custom Cycle Engineering risers, mount the Wire Plus speedo somehow, decide whether or not to run the Performance Machine front brake or fix the caliper bracket so it would reach the rare 10-inch rotor properly, figure out and mount the rear pegs and controls, make a chain guard, make mounts for the rear fender, figure out how to mount the seat and make it fit the fender, build a chain adjuster so the rear wheel could remain stationary, make an inner primary mounting system to align the belt from the clutch to the engine, and make fork stops.

I also needed to mount a steering damper and planned to modify the front fender to match the rear slightly. Oh, and I needed to think about a battery, which is sorta bad news. We could just jump this low compression puppy, but then we added the electronic Wire Plus speedo, so we needed power.

That was the initial list. Daily, we stumbled into the shop and hit one item, starting with the rear chain adjuster. It just happened that I had all the guts from an inner primary. We considered running the spinning sprocket adjuster from Low Brow, but with a 35-horse engine I wanted to avoid any drag possible, so we chose the stock shoe and I dug around the shop for parts and pieces, until I felt I had a metal formula in hand. One down.

My feeble confidence uplifted with the success of the Rube Goldberg chain tensioner, I attempted a front primary mounting system. It took plenty of guesswork to determine the estimated final position of the primary, since we couldn’t install the drive pulley. I tried to think of every possible adjustable scenario, and missed one. But I believe we can mill some adjustment space in the inner primary when we put the bike back together, after paint, and when we have the actual K-Magnum engine containing the Sportster bottom end and shafts. Two was sorta down.

Ray Wheeler, our Performance Editor, comes to the shop for consultation daily. We made a mad dash to Phillips Steel and purchased some metal, and discussed thick wall tubing. They threw a price of 10 bucks a foot, then I bought 6 feet of bar stock for 4 bucks. I was beginning to learn the steel-buying ropes. Watch your back. Ultimately, they purchased a 20-foot stand of this special tubing and sold me 2 feet to make spacers with, for five bucks. We returned to the shop and proceeded to make the rear mounting bars for the rear fender. Three down.

The next night, I dove into modifying the 7/8-inch goofy bars. I wanted to narrow them to fit into the Terry Lee fairing from Envy Cycle. He’s an amazing builder in the desert around Phoenix. He sticks to himself, but I wish he was down the street. I could learn plenty from this guy. He builds amazing motorcycles. I also wanted to back these bars out of the wind as much as possible. I noticed the opportunity to raise the bars just over an inch, by modifying the Custom Cycle Engineering riser system. I could also narrow the bars an 1.5 inches in the center. I made slugs for all the junctions, and it’s always a trick to cut curvy bars and then make them align on both ends. I made several
measurements, then rolled the dice. Four and five down. In addition, the Wire Plus speedo bracket fit perfectly between the risers for easy viewing. Four down.

Frankie came over and we took on mounting the fairing, which was sort of a trick. It had an odd shape, but I made a bracket off the lower tree, using a slice of old fender to fill the gap, then a couple of slightly bent bar brackets from the top triple tree to tabs mounted inside the Envy-supplied fiberglass fairing. Five down.

The next night, I started a major project, figuring out how my grandson could remain comfortably in position, and shift gears. This project took a couple of nights, and I studied the AMA rulebook for Bonneville racing for peg position requirements. “They must be 6 inches in front of the rear axle,” Ray said, and stomped out of the shop.

He was correct for the modified and stock classes, but when you step into the special construction area, the rulebook says, “peg mounting is discretionary.” My grandson, at 18 is around 6 feet tall. He’s almost too big for this bike. I needed to shove the pegs back as far as possible. I already made the Yamaha brake master cylinder and pegs fit the old vintage floorboard straps from the 1940-45 basket case. I picked them up and held them up to the frame after I read the rules. Fuckin’ amazing. They fit perfectly with one stud welded to the Paughco frame, but that didn’t answer the shifting quandry.

We discussed running linkage over the back of the transmission to the pedal, but there was nothing comfortable about this system, and I didn’t want him to be forced to shift his entire body to change gears. We started to look into a jockey shifting system, then I watched a video from Daytona. A guy had his clutch lever mounted to his jockey-shift arm. Not bad, and a distinct option.

But I had another crazy notion. We didn’t want Frankie to spend too much time with his hand away from bars. I came up with a notion to run the shifter on the right, just under the throttle. He could pull in the clutch, in the standard position on the left, let go of the quick throttle, shift gears with his right hand, grab the throttle and roll. No, it’s not ideal, and he’ll lose rpms between shifts, unless he can practice and refine his moves. But this way, he can remain comfortably in position throughout the run.

Since we never throw anything away, I went on a search through lockers and bins to try to find the elements, components, chunks, you name it, to make this work. I found a large chunk of bronze bar, and decided to machine it for a built-in bushing for the shift axle. I found a perfect steel axle 5/8-inch in diameter with anchor slots on each end. I called the staff consultant to discuss the procedure.

Ray always points out other opportunities, options, and manufacturing procedures. He point out how difficult it was going to be to bore the bronze stock. It was a bitch, but he suggested drilling it in small steps to reach the 5/8-inch goal. It worked, and two nights later, I was close.

I cut machined and threaded stock for the shift linkage and purchased two right-hand threaded flexible rod ends. I found a Dewey billet shifter arm and modified it for the shifter, but I’ll look for a 5-Ball shifter. I also found some old linkage, maybe from a Triumph. I bored it out and the pieces started to fall together. Six and seven down.

I still needed to modify the seat Berry Wardlaw built for the Assalt Weapan. We didn’t use it for the Weapan, but kept it stashed around the shop. It was perfect for the Bonne Belle with some slight alterations, shortening the stern plate, then modifying the side panel to match the Bare Knuckles fender. We were getting close. Eight down.

Jim Murillo called and we discussed paint options. I needed to jump on the front fender detailing. I filled the brake rotor area, then touched the front and rear sections of the fender to give it a slight design detail to match the forced fitment of the rear fender. We have ordered smaller Avon Tyres to give the necessary clearance, but I also though about Nate’s for tire shaving. Let’s see, how did we do with our list? Nine down. Not bad. Plus, I did work the chain guard into the mix, but there’s one missing element to be dealt with, the battery.