Sal & All,
In advance, apologies...it is a long post but I'll try to cover it here. Man of few words here...yeah, right. ;-)
I appreciate the replies, each and every one, and I completely understand the sentiment that it's not everyone's cup of tea where that applies. It's not going to be my favorite ride but it may very well be my favorite design...at least for now. Sal, you nailed it...it will be an attraction for those that have not looked at Triumph. That's my opinion after what I experienced with the bike unveiling in Vegas. It drew so much interest that my jaws ached from talking and my voice was all but gone the first day. Thanks again for your kind replies.
It does have the engine reversed...you caught that obviously. Many not familiar with this engine did not know that. It looked like it belonged there. There is my own design friction drive to clean up the rear wheel area. I honestly tried to Google some info on a friction drive to save time and there is nothing to be shared out there. So I made my own. How hard can it be, right? :-) Not too bad and I am glad to report, with the limited miles to date, it works out great. No slip and no balance/vibration problems. I'll put more miles on it soon as Jojje and me can get this fuel injection dialed in. I have not had the chance to ride it that much cause I was at my deadline and had to stuff it in the trailer to go to Vegas 2K miles away. I rode it for the event out there and I have put a few miles on it here...it handles great, well balanced and the only drawback is the obvious long wheelbase which requires some 3 point (maybe a 5 point) turn sometime when turning in a tight spot. Not a prob...I'm an old truckdriver shuffling around 80 foot-plus car carriers all over the place so long vehicles and tight spots are my favorites anyway. :-)
It's got the latest tall wheel/tire sizes...23 up front and a 20" tall x 280 out back. Avon's new stuff just out. Matter of fact, when I got this front tire, it was air freighted from the factory in England and word was that there were only 2 in the US and I got one of 'em. Ego Tripp cut my wheel design (the half moon arch shape for the MoonShine theme) from blanks.
Fuel injection and EFI controller...Jojje all the way. I made the fuel rail and put together everything from his advice. The Bosch injectors, the MegaSquirt controller, fuel regulator, vacuum hose routing, one way valves, etc...Jojje is a wealth of info and I cannot say enough good about this guy. He was hands on involved from his place in Sweden via my computer plugged into this bike a couple long nights as we rushed to meet my build deadline. This was for real and it was not made-for-TV drama. My deadline was Sept 4th at midnight...we were frantic in my shop trying to get it to fire and Jojje came to the rescue. I logged him onto my shop computer and after poking around and directing me to check for this or that, we found a ground wire that was mistakenly not grounded and she didn't turn over 3 times till she fired. This happened with about an hour to go until my deadline...after 180 days...it was crazy and definitely not a script for TV. More tuning to be done...haven't found a dyno long enough yet. :-) I'm going to backpack my laptop now that Vegas is behind me and log some data and if Jojje can, I'll have him further educate me on the mapping for this application. Oh yeah, I forgot...I turbocharged it too. An Aerodyne oil-less turbo. Boost is set low but it's capable of more when we get it dialed.
Air ride adjustable front end...the pics show it dropped...it was set at ride height of 4.5".
A percentage of the original frame had to be retained. I chose to use it in various places and not all together. The tear-drop area under the seat that outlines that mesh screen area was your original downtubes and bottom frame rails turned upside down and angled to get the look. Top rear engine mount supports the "blower" style scoop which is actually functional as an airbox/plenum for the boost supply from the turbo to pressurize the T595 Triumph throttle bodies I scored from eBay (thanks again, Jojje). The front half of the scoop is used to house some fuel pump relay and electronics.
Oh yeah...somebody asked about the clutch. This has what is possible the first new Bonneville engine "autoclutch". I worked with a gentleman in Ohio that has been doing these for H-D's, ATV's, etc for a long time and when I sent him my clutch basket to see if we could pull this off, he assured me we were good to go. Put it in and it works like a dream. Didn't even have to adjust it (which is possible to alter the lock up at varying rpm's). Mine takes in at around 1500 and the more R's the more it locks. Your deeper SpeedMaster cover allows the use of this clutch but the narrower cover will not. This cover inside had to be gutted and we closed up the clutch pull hole in top of the case cause we didn't need it anymore. Result is the clean handlebars and the jockey shift is kinda cool. Engine reversed means the shifter comes out right front now...no prob. Custom cut shift rod (RATIKUL) comes back to a cross-over rod that is held in position by 2 blocks...one on top of each frame rail and I cut a couple delrin bushings for a firm, no rattle hold on the shaft. Covered that with a 304 stainless steel cover, clamped the custom cut shifter and it's ready to go.
Internal throttle...made my own stainless hard brake lines in conjunction with short sections of Russell Pro-series line to allow for the drop air-ride in front and the suspension travel.
The bike is all steel...no filler...and like most of your bikes...pics don't do it justice.
Once again, thanks for the initial reception. You guys are fortunate to have realized the beauty of these bikes but you shouldn't keep it to yourselves. :-)
O...the BootLeg frame...I can take some credit for the design but all the credit for putting it together should go to my bud, Big Daddy Al @ Bitter End Choppers. I was somewhat cautious when talking to him at first because I didn't want to ****** him off...I had in mind a fat tired rigid and really a lot of old school guys think fat tires are nuts anyway. I just wanted what I wanted and as we progressed he let me know that if it actually pisses somebody off, he loves doing it. ;-) Al is too cool but very serious about his bikes. Midget's scoot was a real eye-opener for me and got me to looking at the no downtube idea...I already knew low seat and fat tire was where I wanted to go with a lot of rake up front. I'm anxious to get back on the BootLeg Bonnie bike...some cool ideas for it in a completely different direction.
Sal...the voting...I hate all the secrecy around this thing too but I will ask that you keep an eye on the metrictv.com website. I don't want to overstep anyone's authority there. At least the bikes are out now and we don't have to be so secretive about that. I'm sure there will be announcements shortly if not already. I will say this, and not because I am in it, but this is going to be something totally different than what you've seen before in the bike build-off arena. It's about the bikes but it's about the people too...we're all different from different areas of the country and the bikes showed that variation...each and every one deserved to display top honors. That's what made the initial eliminations in Vegas so rough...how can you set someone down that has turned out such a fantastic custom? The 22 bikes on Fremont Street were far and above anything I've ever witnessed anywhere regardless of make or model. I am just blown away to be among such talent...yep...like the kid in a candy store.
Ride safe, guys & gals.
Carl @ MoonShine Steel
Kentucky
