BONNEVILLE Speed Week 2008

Hi to all my fellow Flathead-nuts out there.
Wanted to give you this news straight from the horse's mouth. Just got back from Speek Week at Bonneville where my fastest single 1 way time was 145.963 mph on a 1937 Flathead. You will find this time listed under my Dad's name (Henry Friebus) on http://www.scta-bni.org. My Dad rode the bike at Bonneville for the first time this week on his 83rd birthday. After his record was in the bag, we changed drivers and I got back on doing as many runs as I could tuning as I went to see if I could break that 145mph barrier!
The day after my Dad's 83rd birthday, he did his back-up run which clinched the APS-VF record at a speed of 137.541mph (this topped Dave Iverson's - Broken Spoke Indian - record of 134.572mph).
Records set A-VF = 139.786mph, APS-VF = 137.541mph
Brought the bike home still running, no-one got hurt - it was a great week.
Pictures and details will be posted soon on our website http://www.americancyclefab.com
Thank-you for all your support. Regards Paul Friebus, American Cycle Fabrication,Inc.

[Pa]

A solid Salute to you !!! AND DAD !!!! Pa

congrats to the both of you!!! well done.

best,

MC

Congratulations Paul!! And Dad too... Keep up the good work, showing the world what Flatties can do.
DD

Paul,
Way to go Man. I'm especially happy for your father. I know two men in their 80's who are still serious motorcycle racers. The first is my friend Cliff Eckes. He ran his 1956 Triumph to the top at our Dyracuse Mound district 16 AMA Amateur Hillclimb in June. He missed racing his bought brand new 1946 WR at Davenport Iowa last night because of a nervous son. The other is Bud Schmitt who ran a Knucklehead 157mph at Bonneville in 1955. This year at BUB he will be riding a 1650cc V-Rod. He is 81 and Cliff is 84. Again congrats on your record. Look for reports from the BUB Motorcycle Land Speed Races next week. I'll be there and will post here and at Iron Motors Tech.
John

Fuel is methanol, or ?

Fuel is classed as any gas methanol other than the supplied race gas. For full details see SCTA's rule book.

Thanks but not what I asked.

I think Panic is asking what kind of fuel you were using.

Hi Im using methanol

I'm tending to methanol myself simply because it gives an advantage to engines with temperature problems (37U).
However, I'm tempted to add something else, but my knowledge of fuel chem is so minor that I've convinced I'll break something.
I don't see anything in the VF (vintage = pre-1956, fuel) rules that prohibits spark retard, knock sensors etc. as long as it's still a carb (and that isn't really enforced the way it's written).
It's a lot of extra plumbing etc. to add a small shot of nitrous since it needs a dedicated fuel supply (for my peace of mind!) and lots of gear to attach but another 25 hp should do quite a bit for top speed (if I'm lucky I have 65 now), and still keep the total well below what the flywheels, shafts, etc. get with a big knucklehead motor. Nitrous seems well suited to a SV because they have low specific output, low compression, bad volumetric efficiency, and fairly good exhaust ports.
Certainly, just using nitro-methane will need fewer parts but more poisonous, dangerous, has to be mixed, harder to start, etc. Nitrous just seems easier to do.

Nice job Paul, congrats to you and your dad. Keep up the great work.

Andy

Paul,

Would really like to see photos of the various bikes that you have been campaigning over the past few years, with some details ...

Mark

Paul:
I just have to add my congrats to you and your Dad. It's inspiring to hear the effort you put forth to take a flathead to these levels. Great Job!!!

Paul, When you reduce the engine size to 1000 cc do you destroke, sleeve, or a combination of both?

I am just stunned that a UL will get to 140+ under any circumstances. Wow! Just stunned. Congratulations. Steve.

considering the controversy that has surrounded the various supposed 100mph sidevalves over here for over 50 years ( these are mainly 500cc BSAs and oversized versions of anything up to 750cc ) I think it's very pleasing that these are valid times and speeds, recorded by a recognised authority under properly controlled conditions.

I'd be most interested to see some pictures of this bike

Re: "reduce the engine size to 1000 cc"

The engine size isn't reduced to get into that class, which is listed as the OHV displacement limit. Sidevalve engines are permitted a 50% handicap, and may run up to 1,500cc (91.5") in this class.
Originally, "sidevalve engines run 2 classes down from their actual displacement", meaning a ULH as large as 1349cc could run against OHV engines as large as 750cc.

SV ... OHV
1,650...1,000
1,350...750
1,000...650
750 ... 500
650 ... 350
500 ...250
350 ... 175

After doing this for decades, they flushed it (and all existing records except 500 OHV) in favor of a "new, better" rule: "sidevalve engines discount 1/3 of the displacement".
Then they changed their minds, again, and re-wrote it to "sidevalve engines add 50% to the displacement".
Somehow, no one involved noticed that these last 2 choices of language produce exactly the same result, and were highly offended when I mentioned it.

SV ... OHV
1,500 ... 1,000 (1,501-1,650cc SV disqualified)
1,125 ... 750 (1,126-1,350cc SV disqualified, including my 1937 UL 1,345cc)
975 ... 650 (976-1,000cc SV disqualified)
750 ... 500 (no change)
525 ... 350 (526-650cc SV disqualified)
375 ... 250 (376-500cc SV disqualified)
262 ... 175 (263-350cc SV disqualified)

That's much better, isn't it? I would guess that one of the gods on Mount Olympus (or a close friend) got very annoyed at having his expensive OHV museum piece challenged by a crude flathead engine, and turning the entire VG structure upside-down was just their way of being a good friend.
"But, what about records set by bikes that are no longer legal - are they still valid? What about bikes that were built specifically for the class and already passed tech, and are not competitive now?"
Still waiting for an answer... 3 years.

45Brit, Look here for pictures of the bike(s).

http://americancyclefab.com/bonneville2008.htm

Panic, thanks for the explanation.

We met David Peckhammer and partner at Bonneville Speed Week. David is an independant video journalist who shares our passion for Vintage motorcycles. David put this wonderful podcast together (among others) of our team at Bonneville this year.

Here is the location of the podcast: http://blip.tv/file/1358650

We hope you enjoy this podcast - please be sure and watch some of the other great video's David has done - on Bonneville as well as other motorcycle events.