Waking the Sleeping Giant

It has sat quietly for months as activity focused on the other bikes, but now it is time to breathe life into the Giant. The Aprilia is part of a long and noble history, the Buell is a marvel of engineering, but the Hayabusa will carry me into the 200MPH Club.

Over the weekend, Rob mounted the monster engine that George Dean built with GRP Connecting Rods and JE Pistons. This is a single purpose motor, built to take the power of nitro methane and turn it to speed.

Five months, and counting down.

Sleeving the Buell

 It doesn't get more revolutionary than this; or some may say, more weird.

The Buell has undergone displacement reduction surgery. The cylinders have been sleeved, the heads filled in and new pistons designed in order to create a stronger, better breathing race motor.

As a 500cc twin, the Big Bad Nitro Buell will move more air faster, running at increased rpm which we hope will translate to greater speed at the Salt Flats.

There is much work to be done as the engine comes together. Our thanks to Ken Weber at 10 Litre Performance, to L.A. Sleeve, and to JE Pistons for their support in the design and production of this one of a kind motor.

Okay, Butch, you thought it up. Now let's see how it comes together.