ULTIMATE FXR BUILD from Bennett’s Performance

FXRs are hot property these days. We’ve been talking FXRs for some time. Kevin Alsop from Big Bear Choppers picked up the vibe and ran with it, developing new components and stronger frames to support more horsepower. Yaniv from Power Plant recently shifted from bobbers to FXRs.

They are the street warriors’ ride for crazed, grid-locked Los Angeles asphalt. They are nimble, fast, strong, reliable, and mostly narrow for splitting lanes at 100 mph while doing a wheel stand.

Oh shit, I forgot the unknown riders who can wheel-stand big twins for city blocks. A brother said recently, “Loud pipes and scary riders are causing our problems with the EPA. They scare the public.”

I’ll tell you what’s scary. Trying to ride home only to watch every other motorist texting or making a pizza while behind the wheel. We may startle someone once in awhile, but were not dangerous, just having fun, while trying to survive.

Bennnett’s Performance is all about Dynas, performance Baggers and FXRs. We worked with Eric Bennett and his dad, Bob, a disabled Vietnam veteran, on their last performance irritation, a very hot rod Dyna packed with an S&S 124 and all the city traffic bells and whistles (photo at top).

http://www.bikernet.com/pages/Building_a_106_inch_Dyna_Twincam.aspx

Eric couldn’t sit still, and wanted to address an FXR with a similar formula. FXRs have a better, more flexible seating position over a Dyna. They afford a rider more flexibility, the tried and true touring rubber-mount system, a lighter chassis, and an enhanced center of gravity. The power train is actually more centered and tighter, since the engine and trans are closer together.

During a conversation with Bruce Tessmer at S&S, Eric discovered a problem. S&S stopped producing Tweevo cases. They designed and manufactured specific crankcases for installing a powerful Twin Cam engine into a FXR chassis. They had one set of these cases left and Eric jumped on them.

Then he went looking for a stock FXR frame to monkey with and discovered a clean ’82 chassis and a strong ’95 Road King 5-speed transmission with the oil bag under the trans. Instead of moving the bottom frame support, he notched the cast aluminum oil bag for fitment and rubber-mount flex room.

There’s another mantra exposed in this build. Recently, the custom world shifted from low and sleek to high and handling. The gang at Suicide Machine started to build moto Sportsters and one of Eric’s customers, James Doerr, started building a wild Moto-FXR, which we hope to feature on Bikernet shortly. A tall wild rider, he went nuts with tall shocks, performance front end, stripped down, moto styling. It turned into a moto-beast and he crashed it, but not badly. He’s about to install the new paint and our esteemed photographer, Peter Linney is on the case.

Eric and his dad raced at Bonneville for decades. They like the performance, well-handling vibe. The winds of change swept through the shop.

The winds of farts are also sweeping through our motorcycle world. The EPA is fucking with us like never before and finally organizations are stepping up to deal with it, but we can’t ever give up our freedoms to ride and build what we want. Long before man existed the climate changed. Long after we are gone the climate will continue to change. We can do what we can to minimize any perceived impact, but we can’t stop everything. It’s a ruse to give the government more power, control and bucks (in fines).

I don’t like the smell of it. When I walk into a shop and see hard working brothers making a living giving riders bikes they dream about every night with performance products they itch to try, any threat is a menace to jobs, dreams and much more.

A passionate guy when it comes to motorcycles, racing and music, Eric’s mind went nuts over this project as he pondered installing Ohlins 15 7/8-inch shocks to this massive Brock aluminum swingarm.

With the engine oil under the trans, he could cut out the rotten, rusting, battery box, remove the stock oil tank mounts and slither his stainless exhaust system under the seating area and out the back. He made an electrical tray to house a small lithium battery, his circuit breakers and wiring.

He used Burns stainless pipe bends to hand-build his header system and tacked each piece in place. “I took them to Speed Merchant for final welding,” Eric said.

Eric eliminated the top engine joint to the frame and added an ’09 front head for a front motor mount connection. He added Kevin Alsop’s front rubber-mount system from Big Bear. Plus, he ran across some amazing billet rocker boxes from a machine shop specializing in medical equipment, Race Dyne. They also make hot rod components. Eric needed to clearance the frame above the rear head for RD box fitment.

He’s planning to work with S&S on the engine internals and the frontend, wheels and brakes are pending. His plan for the engine includes 4.5-inch stroke and 3 7/8-inch bore for a tried and true, balanced, 106-inch Twin Cam monster, with Branch flowed and tuned heads. “I don’t need to bore the cases,” Eric said. “This configuration is easy on the cases, easy on the vehicle, pulls fantastic and won’t overheat.”