Congrats George Nachtsheim.
- Thread starter Ol'89r
- Start date
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,790
- 34
BrittonPatrick
Spammer
- Sep 2, 2013
- 5
- 0
I hope he sends out some pictures over here so that we can have a look at that ride as well.
WOW! That is really awesome. Well done George.
Terry any chance of getting more details on the build of the bike ?
Terry any chance of getting more details on the build of the bike ?
nachtsheim
Member
- Jan 7, 2009
- 17
- 3
Hi Rich,
Ol 89'r must really be getting old, can't even spell my name right any more!(;>) To answer your inquirey.
The bike started out life as a 1959 Triumph TR6, as a matter of fact it was Rick "Superhunkey" Siemens old race/dirt bike. I bought what was left of it from a guy in Sanger,CA, engine, trans, frame, rear wheel and one shock! I bought it mainly for the engine & trans to build a Bonneville bike with. I used a sheet of plywood and some 2X4s & 2X2s to build a frame jig and designed and built my own frame. I also designed and machined my own leading link style front end. The pre-unit Triumph trans I left stock but the engine is a different story. Terry helped me locate and aquire many of the parts, a 70s bonneville crank, oversize Kibblewhite titanium valves, pushrods, cam & wristpin bushings etc. I found a 9 bolt top end for it here in the Denver area which I had to have sleeved & bored back to stock for the 650cc class. The first 3 years at the salt I ran it normally aspirated with a pair of 1 5/32" Amal T10 GP2 carbs, top speed with that setup was 109 MPH. This last winter I decided that I wanted to go faster and added a Garrett T3/T4 turbo and a 42mm Mikuni. That turned out to be more of a project than I had expected! When I got the turbo from John at Majestic turbos in Waco, TX it was much larger dimensionally than I had expected! because of the design of my front end I still had plenty of room to mount it where I had intended, ahead of the engine. But here in the Denver area it tuned out to be a challenge to find the correct mandril bent tubing to hook it all up with, headers, intake, plenum etc. I did finally get it running 1 week before Speed Week, as a matter of fact it fired on the very first kick! One of the confounding issues was that on a turbo charged engine, as the boost comes up you want to retard the spark to prevent pre-igintion (detonation) which can take out the top of my new PC pistons, which are connected to my new Carrillo rods. I accomplished this by machining a pressure diaphram that attaches to the stock Lucas magneto. The stock centrifugal advance in the timing chest advances the timing on launch and as the boost comes up the pressure diaphram retards the timing. Simple as it sounds it was a bitch to build. At Speed Week it was mostly an exersize in jetting and gearing, early in the week we set the record at 102.638 MPH then after some more tinkering on Thursday I got it up to 116.057 MPH. Early Friday morning I made the backup run, which should have been even faster but the "salt gremlins" showed up and it only ran 104.648 for an average of 110.352 MPH, a new record but not as fast as it should have been. I've done some more modifications since Speed Week and am leaving next Monday, Sept. 30, to go back for the World Finals. I've got an old '70s Hatzell bike dyno in my garage/shop and since the mods have been able to peg the speedo at 120 MPH! But that's here, not on the Salt. Ask Terry about that!!!
So wish me luck! I posted a video of a couple of my runs at Speed Week on YouTube, just type in my name and it brings it right up. (George Nachtsheim) Take a look.
Ol 89'r must really be getting old, can't even spell my name right any more!(;>) To answer your inquirey.
The bike started out life as a 1959 Triumph TR6, as a matter of fact it was Rick "Superhunkey" Siemens old race/dirt bike. I bought what was left of it from a guy in Sanger,CA, engine, trans, frame, rear wheel and one shock! I bought it mainly for the engine & trans to build a Bonneville bike with. I used a sheet of plywood and some 2X4s & 2X2s to build a frame jig and designed and built my own frame. I also designed and machined my own leading link style front end. The pre-unit Triumph trans I left stock but the engine is a different story. Terry helped me locate and aquire many of the parts, a 70s bonneville crank, oversize Kibblewhite titanium valves, pushrods, cam & wristpin bushings etc. I found a 9 bolt top end for it here in the Denver area which I had to have sleeved & bored back to stock for the 650cc class. The first 3 years at the salt I ran it normally aspirated with a pair of 1 5/32" Amal T10 GP2 carbs, top speed with that setup was 109 MPH. This last winter I decided that I wanted to go faster and added a Garrett T3/T4 turbo and a 42mm Mikuni. That turned out to be more of a project than I had expected! When I got the turbo from John at Majestic turbos in Waco, TX it was much larger dimensionally than I had expected! because of the design of my front end I still had plenty of room to mount it where I had intended, ahead of the engine. But here in the Denver area it tuned out to be a challenge to find the correct mandril bent tubing to hook it all up with, headers, intake, plenum etc. I did finally get it running 1 week before Speed Week, as a matter of fact it fired on the very first kick! One of the confounding issues was that on a turbo charged engine, as the boost comes up you want to retard the spark to prevent pre-igintion (detonation) which can take out the top of my new PC pistons, which are connected to my new Carrillo rods. I accomplished this by machining a pressure diaphram that attaches to the stock Lucas magneto. The stock centrifugal advance in the timing chest advances the timing on launch and as the boost comes up the pressure diaphram retards the timing. Simple as it sounds it was a bitch to build. At Speed Week it was mostly an exersize in jetting and gearing, early in the week we set the record at 102.638 MPH then after some more tinkering on Thursday I got it up to 116.057 MPH. Early Friday morning I made the backup run, which should have been even faster but the "salt gremlins" showed up and it only ran 104.648 for an average of 110.352 MPH, a new record but not as fast as it should have been. I've done some more modifications since Speed Week and am leaving next Monday, Sept. 30, to go back for the World Finals. I've got an old '70s Hatzell bike dyno in my garage/shop and since the mods have been able to peg the speedo at 120 MPH! But that's here, not on the Salt. Ask Terry about that!!!
So wish me luck! I posted a video of a couple of my runs at Speed Week on YouTube, just type in my name and it brings it right up. (George Nachtsheim) Take a look.
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,790
- 34
Thanks for sharing that, George!
Consider yourself lucky that 89R even remembers you. Whenever he calls me he asks, "Who's this?"
Consider yourself lucky that 89R even remembers you. Whenever he calls me he asks, "Who's this?"
Thanks for the detailed description George. That is one seriously ambitious project, but it sounds like a lot of fun. Congratulations on the record, and good luck at the World Finals. I hope you'll share the experience with us if you have time when you get back.
For future reference I've had great luck getting mandrel bends in mild steel, stainless and aluminum as well as really nicely made meg cones from the links listed below. Both ship super fast so they can be a really useful resource and Rich Craig has proven to be especially helpful in the past.
Columbia Mandrel Bends
http://www.mandrel-bends.com/catalog/
Rich Craig at Cone Engineering - http://www.coneeng.com/
Give that SALT HELL !!
For future reference I've had great luck getting mandrel bends in mild steel, stainless and aluminum as well as really nicely made meg cones from the links listed below. Both ship super fast so they can be a really useful resource and Rich Craig has proven to be especially helpful in the past.
Columbia Mandrel Bends
http://www.mandrel-bends.com/catalog/
Rich Craig at Cone Engineering - http://www.coneeng.com/
Give that SALT HELL !!
Last edited:
nachtsheim
Member
- Jan 7, 2009
- 17
- 3
Any attempt at bumping the record up will have to wait untill next August! World Finals rained out.
High Lord Gomer
Poked with Sticks
- Sep 26, 1999
- 11,790
- 34
Sorry to hear that. Please keep us updated on any progress.
I know a guy who is pretty good with chewing gum and alumium if you need any help. He does smell funny but that can be cured by staying upwind.
I know a guy who is pretty good with chewing gum and alumium if you need any help. He does smell funny but that can be cured by staying upwind.
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