Starting Again

Once again, the engine for the Carbon Yeti is headed up to George Dean Racing Engines. It will need to be shimmed to account for the stretch in the GRP connecting rods. We're hoping it comes back ready to set records.

Meanwhile, Rod is considering advantages and disadvantages of fuel injection and carburetors for nitro methane. Both the Buell and the Aprilia will need reconfiguration before the next BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials.

Keep thinking, Butch. That's what you're good at.

Anti-Climax

And why haven't I posted results from the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials?

They were underwhelming.

The record-setting Aprilia was barely a quarter mile down the course before the engine seized. The Carbon Yeti roared through three miles before it suddenly lost compression and quit.

Only the strange little V-twin 500 cc Buell chugged all the way down the course, and came back to set an AMA record. Which is not quite as impressive as it sounds, because it was an open class, so any time would have been a record. I'm almost ashamed to tell people that the Buell did just over 75 mph, slower than the Aprilia.

Okay, now the good news.

We did come away with new records; not every one who attended can say that. We suffered no major damage to any of the bikes. The fear that the Yeti had holed a piston was unfounded. The new aluminum rods had merely stretched to the point that the pistons were tapping the valves, and it shut down before any significant damage occurred.

So now, it's time to regroup and rebuild. Only eleven months to go!

Julianna and the V-twin 500 cc Buell

Triumph over Software

It would be so much easier if I knew what I'm doing.

The fuel injectors in the Hayabusa are more than three times the volume of those that delivered its nitro methane mixture in 2010, so it takes a whole new fuel map just to be able to run it well enough to start and run on a dyno.

"Boost by Smith" gives us a starting point, but Rob's strong suite is all mechanical. That left him looking at me to make the computer talk to the Busa.

What do I know about assigning com ports and finding .bin files?

Obviously not much, because it took me twelve hours to feel confident editing data and flashing them to the ECU. I didn't know what TPS and IAP stood for, much less how one fuel map differs from another.

But tonight the BBND Busa crackled to life on alcohol. Tomorrow we'll start it up on nitro methane, and with luck, it will be on the dyno this week.

It just seems wrong to have it depending on computers.

Nineteen days and counting.

Doldrums

The electronics of the Hayabusa are at Kinsler being mapped for nitro methane, the Aprilia is at HighGain Tuning having fuel injection installed and the Buell sits at Speedwrench waiting for the motor to be assembled. With thirty-three days until we pull out of the driveway, I'm getting itchy.

Rob keeps busy improving the trailer. Last year, it was loaded so lightly that it nearly bounced the Aprilia apart. Rob's solution: add shock absorbers. Apparently, there are no kits that fill his needs, so it's fabrication time again. It keeps him off the streets until the bikes are back in the garage.

Think salt rusts metal?

See you on the Salt

I spent the morning filling out entry forms for the 2012 BUB Speed Trials. At this time, we have four bikes entered: the Hayabusa on nitro methane, the Buell on gasoline, Randy Miller's nitrous oxide Buell, and the 40cc Aprilia which will run on both gasoline and an alcohol/nitro methane fuel mix.

We have exactly four months before opening day at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Lots of work to do.

Just Add Air

Rob demonstrates the air movement through the can by adding compressed air at its base. Even with a small volume of air, enough of a vacuum is created at the holes to suspend a paper towel.









Mounted on the BBND Hayabusa, the vented exhausts will emit significantly cooler gases, while increasing the thrust generated at the end of the pipes.

Venting the Exhaust

Rob drills guide holes at the base of the cans

That's going to be extremely hot air being pushed out those Hayabusa pipes when they start venting nitro methane exhaust, so Rob is drilling holes to draw in cooler external air.

The actual exhaust pipe runs inside the cans to carry the hot gases from the engine. Just adding a dead air space between the pipe and the outside adds a layer of protection from the heat.

Each hole is three quarters of an inch in diameter

By opening vent holes, Rob is creating an active air exchange. As blazing hot exhaust rushes through the pipes, it will pull cooler air through the holes. That will lower the temperature of the exhaust, while creating extra force.

The area of the the holes is approximately equal to the area at the end of the can, making a vacuum that should make a dramatic effect. 

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.

The Power Plant Arrives

The 'Busa motor arrives from George Dean Racing Engines

Out of the box ...

... and on to a lift

Rob has plenty to do, as George Dean has sent the Hayabusa's engine back.

It truly is a beast. It contains four JE Pistons specifically designed for nitro methane and GRP aluminum connecting rods that cushion the shock to the crankshaft.

Using a Web Cam Racing Camshaft, the nitro methane will be supplied through four 200 pound fuel injectors supplied by a Kinsler Fuel Injection system and fed by a massive Magnafuel pump, all of it run by a deep-cycling Optima Yellowtop Battery.

Linnea has sent out the invitation for the 2012 BUB Speed Trials, and Big Bad Nitro Daddy accepts.

Revolutionary New Design

I told "Butch" to keep thinking, and that's what he's been doing.

Rob's been thinking about the violence with which the nitro methane explodes in the cylinders, and the forces that the engine components must withstand. He's been talking to people he knew in his drag racing days, and people he met since. They've come up with come revolutionary ideas.



Unlike the rods in gasoline burning drag motorcycles which are made of steel, the Big Bad Nitro Daddy Hayabusa will have custom-designed aluminum rods for both gasoline and nitromethane. GRP Connecting Rods of Denver, CO, has created light, strong aluminum rods that will cushion the Hayabusa's crank shaft from the shock of the nitro methane explosion. In combination with newly developed aluminum forged pistons from JE Pistons of Huntington Beach, CA, the engine of the BBND Hayabusa will be a completely new powerplant, designed and built for one application: chasing and surpassing the Land Speed Record.

Rob assures clearance of the new GRP Connecting Rod