My two back to back world record attempts on a mini bike

I set out to break a Guinness World  record on  July 28th ( it was postponed a day due to mechanical problems). Within the first few hours I blew my 1965 NSU motor up.

I thought the problem was that I was riding a 2 stroke ( oil mixes with the gas). I threw the broken mini in the chase van and made a bee line to Anomosa, Iowa where my friends at the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa were helping me locate another mini. Kody Wisner of Wisner Cycles was the connection made and another mini bike was purchased. It was a 1984 Honda Z50.

I started my second world record quest from Strawberry Point Iowa.

I ran the mini hard trying to really make good time. I ran it wide open thinking that the little Honda was bulletproof. I was only doing about 34mph. Here is a video of just how fast wide open looks-

I didn't think this would hurt it but it got very hot with in the first hour.  After letting it cool and making some adjustments, I slowed my speed down to between 20 and 25 mph  and even with a severely damaged motor, I made it 166.7 miles in less then 10 hours before the motor finally seized up. As much as I wanted to claim this title, I have to throw in the towel this year after exhausting much time and resources.

In hand sight, I realize that I was very hard on both mini's. Riding along on 2 Cannonballs you would think I would know that this wasn't a race- it is an endurance run yet I made a rookie mistake of wanting to do too much too fast.
I also want to thank ALL my sponsors and especially Kevin "Mailman" O'Brien for following me in a chase vehicle and all the help building and repairing my mini's

It may be over now but both mini's are very salvageable and I plan on returning next year with the knowlege and experience gained and capturing a world title-

Mini bike world record attempt update

As the time it is almost time to leave for Sturgis on my mini bike and attempt to break the Guinness World record for longest distance on a mini bike ( 1400+ miles), I just wanted to give an update and give so props out to all the help I had.

The destination is The Legendary Buffalo Chip where my longtime friend and sponsor, Rod Woodruff will be waiting with a masseuse and a hot tub.

Here is the video of the first time I got it started ( a week before I leave).

      First of all thanks to all my supporters  like Klock Werks, JIMS, Feuling, Progressive Suspension, HHI, Renegade Wheels, Rinehart Exhaust, Earth X batteries and Heaven Cycle in Miami. Being a two stroke I am lucky to have Spectro on board also to keep everything running smoothly too. Sabina with Unique-Designs-Upholstery is doing the custom crush velvet seat. Avon Tyres, the best tire on the market, unfortunately doesn't make a tire this small.

  I want to thank Big Will Ramsey with Faith Forgotten Choppers for making my custom intake since you cannot buy one for the 48 year old motor  (NSU Quick 50 made is 1963-65).

 My friends with Shadetree Racing in Lexington, KY  are re working the gas tank. Dozer is welding in a custom gas cap and Casanova is heading up the paint and body work.

Brandy is polishing my custom gas cap.

Kaelin's Custom Cycle and the help of Frank and Dee Dee that I could not do without.

my main man for this deal will be Kevin "Mailman" O'brien. He has always been there for me but really stepped up this time and will be following me ( at 35 mph) the entire 1400+ miles, 6 days trip to Sturgis. He also is making me a custom helmet to go with my super hero costume for this trip from his and Philip's company, Fu King helmets.

and lastly but most important is Mickey Eddinger. Mickey passed away last year after a 15 year battle with cancer but before he did he wanted to be involved as he loved racing and wanted me to have his personal van to keep up the racing tradition. Mailman will be driving this ( and hauling both our bikes) and this way Mickey is with us every inch of the way. We love you Mickey!

Cedar Point is a must during Ohio Bike Week

I always like checking out the fun things to do in cities that host motorcycle rallies. Here in Sandusky, Ohio, the host city for Ohio Bike, it is also is host to the Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world. I decided to come up early and check it out again.
  Their newest ride is The Gate Keeper and it is responsible for 7 more world records for the park. It is also a winged roller coaster in which you hang out to the side with you feet dangling.

This meant I had to ride Cedar Point first and what a ride it was. At the first drop of 164 feet as I was twirling ( also holds a record for the most twirls), I was having second thoughts.

The second thoughts were gone by the time it was over.

Next ride on my list is one I rode before but I still think it is the most thrilling and most unique ride ever, The Top Thrill Dragster-

For this ride, I had to take the front car.

And when it took off, I was all about it!

And I was still smiling at the end-

10 years ago, me and my brother rode Millennium Force.

It was just as good as I remembered.

It was worth coming up to Ohio Bike Week a day early and take advantage of one of the world's best amusement parks. Good to know I am never too old to have some fun!
Special thanks to Wil Born of Ridin' on Motorcycle Magazine for these great photos!

Breaking a Guinness Book of World Record

  Everyone remembers the Dumb and Dumber scene where they ride a mini bike across the Midwest to Aspen. In the fictitious movie, it was roughly 500 miles that they rode and on a mini bike engine that had somewhere between 150- 200 cc's ( cubic centimeters). My idea will be to go almost triple that on 1/3 the cc's.
    This year I will be riding a 49cc Honda mini bike from Louisville, Kentucky to Sturgis South Dakota ( 1346 miles) where I plan on arriving at The Legendary Buffalo Chip Campground on Thursday, August 1st.  This will shatter the old record of longest journey on a mini moto ( 50cc's or less) that was 445.26 miles. As they say, " go big or go home". I am going for it and when Sturgis is over who knows, I just may ride it to Aspen.......

Kentucky Derby Balloon Race

There are Derby festivities every day for the two weeks leading up to The Kentucky Derby. One of my favorite events is the Great Balloon Race. The night before the race they bring out all the balloons and have The Balloon Glow.

 Families come out and mingle with the balloonists and right before dusk they inflate the balloons.

                        You can get up real close and even reach out and touch some of them.

                                            The heat up the balloons and wait for nightfall.

                         A half an hour later when it starts getting dark the have the balloon glow.

                                            And as you can see, it's not just for kids.....

Building my custom 103 twin cam motor

Riding the kind of miles that I do on a motorcycle is a true test of durability. I also an known for riding across country only to pull my luggage off and enter it in some sort of hill climb, flat track race, drags ( on and off road) or some other abusive competition. For this reason, in the past I have kept with a somewhat stock Harley Davidson crate motor. But that was an Evo. Now I am going to run a Twin Cam.  I have let others learn for me on what works and what doesn't with a twin cam. First of all the cams run off of chains which have tensioners. In 2007 Harley redesigned the tensioners to last a little longer but still not near good enough for me. The easiest fix is a gear drive and get ride of the chains.

For this procedure, I choose Andrews gears. They have been making quality gear sets forever and the price was very reasonable.

Another improvement that I am doing is a Feuling oiling system that comes with new oil pimp, lifters and cam plate. It comes with a redesigned pump that moves more oil, more return oil scavenging and makes motors run cooler. All these benefits AND it even increases horsepower and torque.

Just look at difference in the stock cam plate and the Feuling High Flow cam plate. This is the only way to go.

 Another "fix" that I am doing to replacing the roller bearing in the cases with a Timken Bearing conversion kit that I got from JIMS. They make the complete kit so you can do it yourself. I like the idea of bike shops being able to do this work in house without out sourcing it to a machine shop some where else.
These are just a brief description of the main things that I am doing to the my new motor. For an in depth explanation the complete build, check out the two part ( 2 issue)Cycle Source Tech Tip on this engine build.  The first installment will be out in next months issue.

just a few of the custom parts for my new bike

 Ron Finch helped me twist this insane frame and then Frank Kaelin put the neck back on the frame. there was a lot of welding and grinding involved. Due to changing the geometry of the back bone, the top motor mounts had to be changed too.

I decided on going with the old style center located top motor mount. I made these that are welded on the frame side by side but decided to have a little fun with them first. Do I look like the Pringle Man?

The voltage regulator also had to be relocated but since I'm not having all the radio and lights that a stock Ultra Tour Classic has, I opted for the old tried and true 32 amp volt pack that I can buy anywhere if it ever fails. I had to make a stand to mount it clearing the new frame twists.  This is what I came up with. I fabbed it up and welded it myself. It isn't the prettiest and it didn't actually MAKE the cover of Cycle Source but I proud of myself all the same.

My good fiends in New Brunswick, Canada, Paul Walsh with CPN Custom Designs and Donnie Dort with Dragon Powder Coating came up with this 1 of a kind derby cover for me last fall as a surprise when I showed up for the Wharf Rat Rally in Digby, Nova Scotia. I had been riding an Evo then and now I was switching to a twin cam which runs a different style derby cover. Being the great friends that these two are, what you see is the brand new 5 bolt pattern derby cover that they just machined and then powder coated for me. They will mail it down to me this week. Those guys are the best!