The Canadian Warbird

Once in a while, you stumble across a bike that stops you dead in your tracks.That’s exactly what happened to me at the Victoria Hotrod and Bike Show back at the end of May this year.

I was wandering around the show checking out all the cool rides and not so cool barges, when I spotted the “Warbird,” Screeeeeech…. Stopped cold….

Quite a few people stood around gawking this bike, but I managed to sneak in a get a few pictures before being forced out of the loop by the other looki-loos.

After pouring over the bike, taking it all in, I carried-on checking the rest of the show, laden with choppers of every description, and bikini clad hotties draped over every other bike, getting their pics taken. When I rolled home, I sent a shot or two of the Warbird off to Bandit, as it was the type of bike I knew he would flip out over.

I immediately got a response. “I want a feature on this bike, DON’T LET IT GET AWAY!”

I think he liked it… I tried a few times to line up an interview with the builder/owner, Ian Douglas, of Richmond B.C., but our schedules didn’t jive, and before you know it, I was in the thick of the busy season with my Guiding business, and the whole summer flew past. Every once in a while, I would receive a nasty E-mail from Bandit,

“Where the hell is my feature on that Canadian bike man!!!”

“Even though we are in the same province up here, the guy is like 6 hrs from me, and a 2-hour ferry ride each way,” I tried to tell him.

“I don’t care man, get your shit together. Bikernet readers need to see the Warbird!” When Bandit speaks (Yells) you had better listen, or find yourself booted out of the Cantina for life!

So fast forward to September, and my fishing season was all done. I contacted Ian Douglas again, in Richmond, and we set up a date for me to stop by his house, and check out this machine in detail. I lucked out on a beauty day for a ride, and headed out for the 2-hour ferry ride, and short jaunt to his house.

I pull up on my E-glide, and find him out in the driveway wrenching on his next project, and 1969 Lotus Elan, in pristine shape without the motor in it. He told me it’s a project for his 12-year-old son, and hopes to have it completely redone in time for him to drive when he turns 16, maybe a little sooner, so he can put a few miles on it before the kid tears it up….

We investigated his shop/garage, and there between another couple of custom bike projects sat the “Warbird.”This thing is even more impressive sitting in an unassuming garage than it was behind a velvet rope in a custom bike show. It drips of what Indian Larry would have called “Mechanicness.” The open roller chain primary looks like it is poised to shred the next pair of levis that come anywhere near it, and the hand built open stainless pipes rendered from the old malt lines of the since torn down Labatts Brewery, in Vancouver, scream like a top fuel dragster when it’s fired up.

Ian told me that there are 25 thousandths, clearance between cylinder wall and piston, so you really need to let it warm up for a long time before asking any power from the beast.

“You definitely do not want to add any throttle to the mix when you hit the starter button,” Ian said. His comment came from experience, as one of the first times he fired it up, he gave it a little twist while turning it over, and it backfired so hard, it blew apart the ring gear, and sent shrapnel flying around the shop. Luckily, he had just installed a small guard over the clutch pack.

When I tell you this motor is hand built, I mean, every piece, short of the cylinders, pistons, and heads was custom built by Ian in his machine shop located in his backyard. By machine shop, I mean his shed of about 8-feet-by-16-feet, with a milling machine, lathe and drill press, would have looked right at home in the original H-D shed back in 1903, and that’s about it… It goes to show the skill this guy possesses in machining and engine building.

He started of with a pair of Continental W670 cylinders and heads, he bought off EBay. These heads turned out to be in too-rough condition to be used on the final build, but proved to be invaluable in the mock up, and engineering stage of the process.

He explained the manner is which the heads were attached to the cylinders. He heats up the aluminum heads, so to expand them, and cools down the cast iron cylinders to shrink them, and then threads them together like a mason jar. After everything reaches room temperature, Viola, you’re done, FOR EVER! They don’t come apart, for any reason.

Since they were not to be used on the final build, he cut about a 2-inch hole in the sidewall of the cylinder, and used this to view inside, while trying to figure out the clearances for his connecting rods, and valve train. He could peer inside the cylinder while cranking his mockup over and see exactly what was going on inside the monster…

When you’re building everything from the crankcase to connecting rods, by hand, you need a lot of planning.

“The thought process was the slowest part,” said Ian. “I spent 2 years building this bike, and at least half of that was at a desk trying to figure it all out.” He also admitted he nearly drove his wife insane. He constantly asked her to check and recheck his math.

“I made the crank case in wood for the mockup,” Ian said. He showed me some of the components that went in to the mock up stage. “The crankcase is made in several components, so I could use other radial aircraft cylinders if I needed. I made the patterns in laminated wood and delivered them to a local foundry for casting.”

“After getting the castings back I did all the machining myself,” Ian said. He showed me one of the end pieces for the crankcase that didn’t make it in to the build, and told me it had over 20 hrs of machining in it. It’s just a paperweight, now.

Figuring out how to connect the radial piston and rod to the crank was tricky as well. He cut the big end from a set of S&S rods, and the link rods from the radial were cut, and the two were welded together, and mated to the S&S stroker flywheel. They had the exact 4 5/8-inch stroke of the Continental engine. A “stroke” of luck, as it simplified all the clearance issues.

The cast aluminum pistons came from Continental as well. Ian modified these slightly to increase compression to 7.5: 1.

Balancing the Beast turned out to be the biggest chore. At 3100 CCs this was not going to be an easy task.

“I pressed a lot of slugs made from Tungsten and Osmium into the flywheel, as well as some balancing weights were bolted on to try to smooth things out,” Ian said.”The cams are of Harley design but radically redesigned too suite my needs. I cant tell you how many hours of machine work went into getting them just right.”

The system is basically 4-cam Sportster configuration, but had to be reworked to be oriented properly and drive the oil pump. He discovered wet sumping after days of intricate machining, so he had to add a scavenging pump to recirculate the oil from the bottom of the crankcase.

This bike is all about the motor. There’s no two-ways about it, but if you can look past this mill, you will see some of the finest finishing work around. I love all the exposed copper oil lines, and hand made fittings.

The alternator came from a race car application and runs off a large O-ring used as a drive belt, from the main engine sprocket.

The dual coil, dual plug setup, looks strictly race from the old days.

“The technology in these motors is hard to believe, given the era in which it was originally built,” Ian said, of the seven-cylinder radial engines. “This engine was designed before the Second World War, and they had things like sodium cooled exhaust, and triple valve springs, technology you would still see in use years later.”

When you see the motorcycle chassis surrounding this machine, it doesn’t look out of place at all. The sheet metal was all formed by Ian in his shop, and given a coat of “Hemi Cuda Shaker” hood paint, and the tank art was handled by local artist, Jennie Persak.

All mounts and clamps were machined by Ian, and bear his tool company stamp “Douglas” on them. A nice finishing touch I might add. Even though Ian built this bike for himself, and strictly to see if he could, his friends at Radial Engines Ltd. of Guthrie, Oklahoma, told him they have a few interested parties with more than a few $$ behind them, who would like one of these in their own hanger, to match their war time hobby planes. This is something Ian is keeping a close eye on, and said. ” Maybe there will be a couple more “Warbirds” in my future.

Warbird Specs:

Owner / builder: Ian Douglas
Make: Special Construction

Engine:

year : 2008
Displacement : 191 CI / 3130 CCs
Bore / Stroke: 5.125″ X 4.625
Cases : Douglas
Heads: Continental Radial
Lower end: Modified S&S
Stroker flywheelPinion & sprocket shafts: Douglas
Connecting rods: Douglas
Pistons: Continental Aero
Pushrods: Smith Bros
Carbs: Twin S&S super E
Ignition: Twin Coil
Exhaust: Douglas

Tranny:

Model: 2007 Roadmax 5-speed
Clutch: H-D
Primary drive: Douglas

Frame:

Year: 2008
Builder: Douglas
Type: Double downtube hardtail
Rake: 32 deg

Front end

Model: 2007 Springer

Finish

Painter: George Kanavaros
Chroming: Dependable Chrome
Tank Art: Jennie Persak

Wheels

Front: 21 X 2.15 80 spoke
Tire: Avon Venom 80 / 90

Rear: 21 X 3.25
tire: 120 / 70
Calipers: Diff bore Brembos
Mounting: Douglas
Rotors: Douglas

Sheet Metal

Gas Tank: Douglas / Custom Chrome
Oil Tank: Douglas / steel
Fenders: Douglas / Cycle Jammer
Seat Brooks
Handlebars: Douglas
Headlight: Aloy Art
Taillight: Model “A” Ford