|
What a fantastic weekend. Just got back from the Maxton Mile, and wow, did we have a heck of a time.  You might remember me sharing with you that last year, with my friend Buzz Kanter of American Iron Magazine, we headed to Maxton, NC with Buzz's old 1931 Harley-Davidson for the East Coast Timing Association's Land Speed Races. On our trip, we took the old '31, which hadn't run in over 20 years, prepped it and set out to break a speed record in just a few days. Buzz, I and a few other buddies had such a great time that we decided to do it again--this time with a couple of purpose built machines for going fast.
Well the day finally weekend finally came, and it was a great one. Just after getting back from our trip with Buzz, we started immediately on building machines that would be competitive at the event. Brian Haenlien, a long time buddy and owner and operator of ACME Vintage Cycles in Brethren, Michigan and his crew would build one and Matt and myself and friend Myron Pace would build the other. Since I'm a Harley-Davidson flathead nut, I decided that the aim for the run would be a pair of flatties to compete in different classes. After a bit of brainstorming, we decided to build a couple of early ones -- a 1932 74" VL and a 1930 DLD 750.  After several months of hard work, finesse and patience, both machines were ready to take a shot a making history. Brian had built the VL to perfection -- keystone frame, dropped handlebars, and an engine that we knew would rumble. The DL 750 was another work of art --factory high-performance engine, in-frame gas tank, dropped bars.....and it weighed in at an incredible 250 pounds.
We rolled into Maxton at about four o'clock on Friday, just in time for tech inspection. With only a few corrections to make in order to bring the bike up to the ECTA's safety standards, we spent the rest of the night doing the final prep work and then hit the sack early. Saturday morning we awoke at 6:30 a.m. to the sound of nitro-burning Camaros and suped up Hyabusas. We all felt that today was the day, and had high hopes of breaking records on our first runs. Brian and the VL were up first and roared off the starting line. He made a good pass, but at about 80mph, the bike began to high-speed wobble, due to the lack of steering dampener. After making it back to the pits and hopping off the bike, Brian said the bike was done. It was too unstable, and without a proper steering dampening mechanism, wouldn't be able to push through the wobble at 80. Next up was the DL 750. Matt, Myron, and I had prepared the bike to perform at its best, and judging by the sound of it, we felt it held the power to get the job done. Running in the Altered Vintage Production 750c.c. Gas class, we'd have to beat the standing record of 85 miles per hour to make it into the record books. 85 mph might not seem too fast to you, but keep in mind that when Harley-Davidson produced these machine from 1929-31, they were never designed to go more than fifty. We knew that the bike would run good, but didn't know if we could add another 35-plus miles per hour to what it would have run originally.  I rolled up to the starting line with plenty of confidence. When the starter dropped his flag, I twisted the throttle and roared down the 1.9 mile runway. There's no feeling like pushing a machine to its limits. The run went by in what felt like seconds, and when I got back to the timing booth, the told me my speed -- 80.135 miles per hour. Not enough.
When I got back to the pits, Matt and I talked about how it performed. We both felt that it wasn't pulling the RPMs that it should, indicating that the gearing was too tall. In order to get maximum horsepower, we dropped the motor sprocket down four teeth and decided to give it another shot. Its a good thing that Brian brought a few extra sprockets! The next time up, I was feeling confident and rolled off the line with a great start. It was pulling great through first and second, and when I shifted into third, I was really moving. I knew this was the run...but just before the timing trap, the bike jumped out of gear. Despite a great start, the hiccup would slow me down enough to put the record out of reach. I was disappointed. We rolled back into the pits that afternoon knowing that we'd only have one more chance the next day to make it happen. We worked on the transmission and clutch, trying to fix the gear jumping problem. After a bit of tinkering we had it fixed. Now all we could do was wait. Sunday morning greeted us again with the sound of thundering engines. We were all excited to get back on the track soon, as our time was running out.  The hour and a half line of competitors kept me plenty anxious, but when I approached the starting line, all concerns and questions about the bike left my mind. Eye contact with the starter, a few revs to get her warmed up -- it was time to make history. The bike jumped off the line with a jolt and within seconds, I was through the gears and pulling her up to top speed. Every inch mattered, and staying out of the wind is key when running these little engines. I buried my head behind the handlebars, and as I approached the trap, I twisted the last bit of throttle I had left.
As I passed the finish line, I knew immediately that it was a good run...but was it good enough? When I got to the timing booth, I was met by the rest of the team -- the results were in -- 90.307 mph. I was ecstatic, and the rest of the team congratulated each other for a job well done. We'd done it. After months of hard work and dedication, the time that we put into making this one go fast paid off. We'll definitely be heading back that way next time around, in October. You never know...we might be able to get a few more miles per hour out of the old Harley 45" We'll have videos on this year's speed trials and the build of the record-breaking Harley-Davidson 45" on our video website soon. Be sure to check it out and let us know what you think. 
|
