Just today, the 19th of July, I reserved our rooms in Bonneville. I’ve registered, reserved and reported in. We’re going.
On the other coast in Dothan, Alabama, Berry Wardlaw of Accurate Engineering continues to scramble and study every aspect of speed, wind and power for the 5-Ball Assalt Weapan.
It’s difficult to keep up with Berry, but the new Team at Departure Bike Works are grappling with similar engine issues with the Bonne Belle 45-Flathead they are wrapping up in Richmond, Virginia.
Let’s see. I’ll try to explain in simple terms. I built the Assalt Weapan in 2007 and took it to Bonneville. We set a record at around 153 mph with a top speed of over 160 mph with Valerie Thompson at the controls. It was her second record, and the bike was powered by an Accurate Engineering 120-inch Panhead.
We may have set the record as the World’s Fastest Panhead on very slippery salt. Afterwards, I put the AW in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum until Berry recently decided he needed to return to the salt.
Here are just a couple of challenges. Since 2007, the record snapped under the very bright Japanese team, and they are barking at the 200-mph door. We need to step up.
My deal with Berry was to take the Bikernet Sponsored and designed Assalt Weapan, do whatever he could to the mechanics and return to the salt.
This became a philosophical debate.
Was the above mantra our goal or were other challenges afoot, like we need to go 200 mph with a Panhead? With that challenge barking at us, Berry hauled it kicking a screaming to a wind tunnel and started testing the aerodynamics.
After lengthy negotiations we came to a middle ground. I have a strange code. I built the Assalt Weapan to be a large, sleek and cool rolling bullet with classic Rollie Free historic and vintage styling. I didn’t want it to look like a Hayabusa on steroids. I was willing to keep it Panhead classic and tough.
But then nearly 20 years of performance and technological developments occurred, and Berry went to work applying as much as possible to his engine including this breather system.
One of the major issues of enhanced power and speed is the ability of the engine to force the oil and air out of the bottom end. We faced a similar issue with the 45 Flathead in Virginia.
But let’s start with the carb for the Assalt Weapan. “When we were in the A2 wind tunnel I had the opportunity to test something I wondered about it for years,” Berry said. “I wanted to know what actually goes on with carb accessories in the wind at speed.”
Velocity stacks get crazy and some breather systems on the back of the carb are designed to function at neutral air velocity as if they were in a closet. That’s not happening at Bonneville.
“I needed to create neutral area within the carb,” Berry said. This is secret shit. Don’t tell anyone. “The 3/8-inch hose fitting at the 10:00 position is a bowl vent. The S&S main jet under the hose vent is the main jet air bleed. We do that so we can tune the transition between the intermediate and main jet. We had a terrible reaction and turbulence in the wind tunnel. We routed them to a dead air area for constant and consistent ambient pressure.” Zippers led the way in this development called the Sweet carbonmaker.
Ain’t she a beaut, the carb I mean?
“This carb set two 5-Ball Bonneville records, three-top gas records in Alaska,” Berry said. “And I used the original carb for the Ron Trock pressurized fuel blow system and taper manifold development.”
Back to the Assalt Weapan mechanics: One of the secret ingredients turned out to be ceramic bearings. Berry replaced several bearing sets with special and expensive ceramic bearings. He can spin the transmission gear set, and it never stops spinning, amazing.
And finally, I will touch on the breather system. “Per our breather trap discussion,” Berry said, “the silicon was above and below the set screw block-off and just enough to block the return passage port in the breather trap.” A ton of work went into taking the oil and excessive air out of the bottom end.
Let’s shift to the Bonne Belle. My initial secret included having a Sportster lower end with a spline shaft and Timken bearings so we could run a BDL belt drive and a 5-speed transmission. A major issue with 45s and Bonneville was and is gearing.
We hope to overcome that obstacle at speed this year.
The new Departure Bike Works team became masters with 45 Flatheads, some with Jody Perewitz and several with Billy Lane for Sons of Speed racing in Daytona and now in Tennessee.
So, we conquered the gearing, but the Departure team injected all their 45-engine experience into the Bonne Belle engine including custom cams, bigger valves, customized heads for a precise compression ratio and a trap on the engine to allow air to escape including a PVC valve on the exhaust to help draw the trapped air out of the engine.
Here are a few shots of the engine in the build stage. Now the engine is back in the chassis, and they want to run a narrow BDL belt to cut the wind drag on the salt.
Rock on. The Assalt Weapan and the Bonne Belle return to the Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials next month. Hang on!
5-BALL RACING SPONSORS
Keith "Bandit" Ball
Bikernet.com and Easyriders Magazine
Accurate Engineering
Iron and Chrome Collective
Harley-Davidson of Dothan, AL
A1 Cycles
Law Tigers
Red Line Synthetic Oil
Blue Moon Cafe
JIMS Machine
Departure Bike Works, Richmond, VA
Berry has a list of contributors he would like to mention: Rod Baloia, Joe Sparrow, Rod Sturgeon, Dan March, Andy Anderson, P.J. Pecoreil, Michael Beano, Joan Reed, Kurt Klokkenga, David Ziggy Scott, Rogue, Greg Lew, Crown Fab, Cindy Lampkin, Louis Stotaart, Kautn/Vonnie Rea, Steve Lundwall, Jiff Summis, Tory Agusta, William David Land, Jim Bob Haines, Tommy Syndergaard, Joanna Everrett, Becky Zarling, Charlie/Pam crew, Nino/Vickie, Dan Demo Porter, Brother Benny Turner, Sim Gil Foyle, JoAnn & Ron Enk, Robert Terry, Lecital Diary, Ann Martin Donlon, Art & Bev, Doc, Foy Clenway, Tommy Browning, Tommy Fergenson, Burny, Jimmie Fowler, Roxie Hanna, Michael Setteber, Neil, Meacident, AMCA Louisiana, Michael & Cynthia Hereford, Mike Gil.
If you would like to Sponsor 5-Ball Racing efforts, don't hesitate to reach out to: Bandit@Easyriders.com or to Berry at Jennings3341@gmail.com
