Ninth Win For Indian Motorcycle Racing At Rolling Wheels Half-Mile

American Flat Track Rolling Wheels Half-Mile presented by Old Carriage House Apartments at Rolling Wheels Half-Mile in Elbridge, NY.

Indian Motorcycle Racing and the Scout FTR750 captured its ninth win of the American Flat Track season at the Rolling Wheels Half-Mile. Indian Wrecking Crew riders Jared Mees and Brad Baker finished first and third, respectively, tallying 23 of 30 podiums for the Scout FTR750 in 2017. Mees’ victory reclaimed the points lead over on-track rival and fellow Wrecking Crew teammate Bryan Smith, as the two continue to exchange leads throughout the season.

Mees and his Scout FTR750 outraced the entire field and passed the checkered flag nearly five seconds before the second-place finisher. With his fifth win of the season, Mees recorded his first career in-season Grand Slam, winning a TT, Short Track, Half-Mile and Mile, an accomplishment only three others have achieved in the history of the sport.

“It felt good to get my fifth win of the season at the Rolling Hills Half-Mile and take back the points lead,” said Mees. “Just over halfway through the season and already scoring a Grand Slam truly showcases how the Indian Scout FTR750 performs on all track types.”

Through 10 races this season Mees and Smith own nine of the first-place finishes. The two Wrecking Crew riders have been battling for the top points position all season long. They have leap-frogged each other the last three races since being tied in total points following the Red Mile. Mees currently sits eight points ahead of Smith, 202 to 194. While Baker earned his seventh podium of the season and remains third in total points with 149.

“Not only is our team extremely talented, but fiercely competitive – just look at Jared and Bryan exchanging points lead,” said Gary Gray, Vice President – Product Development for Indian Motorcycle. “Jared came back following the Lima Half-Mile with a performance of the season and secured the rare in-season Grand Slam. Both Bryan and Brad will be looking to knock him off at the end of the month in Calistoga. It’s great competition within the team and great fun.”

Indian Motorcycle Racing, backed by Allstate Insurance, will look to continue its incredible run as American Flat Track heads to the Calistoga Half-Mile at Calistoga Speedway in California on July 29.

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I asked the Bikernet readers if I should chop the 1928 Shovelhead. They said, “Yes, definitely.” So, I called the master of the chopper world forever, Paughco.

I spoke to Steve Massicotte about changing the bars, the gas tank and the oil tank. I was going to attempt to leave everything else in tack. Then, as usual, life jumped into the fray.

The original was a 1984 Shovelhead cop bike I bought from Arlen Ness. With a plan in mind I shipped the engine to JIMS machine and the transmission. Some of the other pieces, including a Paughco frame were shipped to Stroker’s Dallas. Marty Ruthman’s shop in Van Nuys suddenly went out of business and I bought a bunch of parts.

Then based on the plan to build a flatside JD gas tank Shovelhead, I bought a set of vintage repop tanks and a fender. All the elements were shipped to Rick Fairless. It was ultimately featured in American Iron, but it had a couple of issues and I started to address them.

Okay, so the bike was registered as a 1984 Harley in Texas. Dean Shawler, the editor of Biker magazine, ended up with the frame and sheet metal pieces, which he finally restored a few years later.

Once I took possession the Texas registration caused issues and of course California didn’t like the Harley title. It took six months, but I now have a California title and plate, and Sturgis is around the corner. Franky and I are headed out with a couple of my customs and never coming back.

So, suddenly I was on a deadline and started to replace the bars with the new, show-chromed Paughco Hollywood bars.

I was blown away by the care they take in packaging each set of bars. Nothing goes out uncovered or unprotected. Paughco had problems for a while with their chrome. They have their own chroming facility and I think they fought regulations that fucked with their quality, but they have it remedied now.

The chrome is beautiful. Steve wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with the riser mounting. These risers are solid brass and threaded for ½-inch fine studs. The springer is stock, so I started to ponder my options.

I machined the top of the riser stud to ½ inch or .500 and cut the threads. I was golden. I had to cut off the stud to the proper length, also. I hid the stock stud, which is smaller than the Paughco brass base, with a couple of O-rings from True Value Hardware. They aren’t perfect and I should check with McMaster Carr for more options.

I cut 1.5 inches off each end of the bars just to make it slightly narrower. Then I started to mess with the controls. I found an old throttle and dug through my pile of cables for the proper fit and length with the S&S Super E and my pull-only vintage throttle. It took a lot of fudging, but I made the throttle system work.

Then I moved the Performance Machine master cylinder into place and I need a 6-inch longer cable. I use a small shop on Signal Hill, Baker Performance, run by a couple of women who just supply race products and fittings to boat, drag, and dirty bikers, like me. I hope to run by later today, get a new line and be ready to rock.

I found a set of old rubber grips and moved the Aeromach mirror to the new bars. Then Franky sat on the bike and I explained the suicide clutch and jockey shift. He turned white.

Originally I was going to replace the oil tank battery area with a new chromed Paughco Softail oil tank. I tore out the battery, electrical box and discovered a lot of issues. I put it all back together and will leave that project for another day, or year. Let’s go to Sturgis and ride.

SOURCES

PAUGHGO

S&S

PERFORMANCE MACHINE

AEROMACH
www.aeromach.com

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Ninth Win For Indian Motorcycle Racing At Rolling Wheels Half-Mile

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