Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

[theazoldcrow]

  That made the hair on the back of my neck stand up!    WoW X7.         Crow.

[Kansas Bad Man]

Thanks for the kudos, guys.

A lot of thought went into where to exit the exhaust pipes.  For sure the ideal place would be straight out the tail; however, the compact package wouldn't allow this.  One of the exhaust exits were high on the skin on an earlier configuration of Black Lightning.  This last design has the exhaust pipes as low as possible, and as close to the same in location from side to side.  There's a tremendous amount of exhaust pressure when the engines are at 6500 rpm.  If I did loose a cylinder during a high speed run, the least amount of effect, I feel, would be where the exhausts are now.  We'll be running a sidecar, as you all know, so I don't think that the exhaust will be an issue. 

                                   Max

[Kansas Bad Man]

 

The liner is 95% ready to go.  A few minor things have to be taken care of.  Final wheel alignment, along with a new rear chain, install the aluminum straps that attach to the frame (the straps provide the anchoring screw holes to attach the belly pan and top body lid), all to make it slippery in the wind.

To get the liner to this point hasn't been an easy task, and couldn't have been done without the help of Stainless and a couple of guys that came down from the Pacific Northwest.  Lenny McKnight from Tacoma, Washington, and John McDougall from Vancouver, B.C., Canada, spent a long, hard, and hot week along with Stainless, taking care of a lot of loose ends and getting the dyno hooked up for water brake pulls.  I want to thank them for their help, a true team spirit, that it was.

                                 Max 

[Stainless1]

We stopped in to see Max, helped get the aluminum strips installed and more importantly my grandson Trey set up Max's new cell phone the way Max wanted it.
By Friday Max will have the chain on and a bunch of the tools collected, we will get the bottom pan installed

We checked the new belts, they seem to be fine... although this is probably the last year Trey will be able to get in there, just a little too tall already.

[SPARKY]

Ah,

Una, deuce. trey 

[Speed Limit 1000]

As in Stainless III

[SPARKY]

The world is definitely going to need even more help 

[Stainless1]

Dropped by to see Max again today, caught him staring into space... 

OK, he was just taking a breather from installing the chain.

The chain is in, then we aligned the wheels and Trey was given the duty to clean the frame ... next we will put the bottom body on. 

[SPARKY]

WoW  how neat that a kid gets exposed to such a project---many LIFE lessons and examples availabe too be experienced.

[Stainless1]

Sparky, he has been exposed to racing and Freud....  since he was very young.

Max is a very interesting guy for him to meet and spend a little time around, he really likes Max's bike and listening to the stories as he works.  Max has been racing Vincents for a long time all over the world... not as the rider, but the owner/builder/crew chief.  Over the last couple of years Trey has been able to do a little work, hear a few of the stories and meet some very interesting folks.

I don't think he realizes how fortunate he is to do a little "grunt" work on some very cool stuff... but when he is in his 30's he will be able to look back and tell his friends all the cool stuff he has been involved with in racing, a little like his father and uncle.

[SPARKY]

Will help him get a JOB after he gets his Engineering Deg 

[Freud]

Stainless, as you know, I am most proficient in communication with deaf mutes.

He's too advanced for my type of learning.

FREUD

[Stainless1]

Hey Freud, he has his learners permit and has been driving as my Chauffeur... I'm thinking by Speedweek he will be ready for backing lessons from you... 

In the mean time, Trey took me over to Max's to work again today, the kid is a slave driver... we installed the rear fender

Then the bottom body

And the top body

[Stainless1]

Then the nose and the sidecar

And finally the sidecar cover.

While you notice that there is the required ballast in the first picture, Trey thought Bak would prefer a co-rider... no wheel on a steeiik here... its a wheel on 3 sticks....

[Stainless1]

Max rarely wears his pants high enough for this shot, but today was the exception 
it gives you a good size comparison when you're 70, can still throw a leg over a scooter and stand flat footed 

Shameless plug... 
Max has a K Club of his own... These are folks that have donated $1000 or more toward his project over the years. There is still time to get names added...

The Marque of Speed for many years...