Visit to Thunderdome

[Stainless1]

OK car guys, stop drooling on the tire while I talk about the brake.  Wilwood NASCAR 4 piston caliper with linings good for use at 250 MPH.  Of course, it is not going to be used at that speed, in fact like a lot of high speed vehicles, it will probably never get used at all.  

Back to the drooling... 700 X 18 Firestone, and in darn great shape.  Yes Virginia, this is the real deal Bonneville 600MPH car tire, but it has a great shape for a bike tire.  Yes, in the picture it looks like a raised flat shape, but it is rounded, see the other picture.  The fender I showed you a while back goes over it to reduce the salt in the bike.  This tire is really old, but you would never know by looking at it.  Original owner, Art Arfons, this was one of his Jet Car lightly used or spare tires.  Next, Al Teague, that is where Max got them, yes I said them, Max has 4.  Another that looks like this and a couple that have seen a little harder use, all speed tested.  

If you see something I didn't talk about feel free to ask, I get a lot of information every time I visit, and with limited buffaloes in the herd, so I miss a little here and there.  

[sabat]

I'm getting dehydrated here. 

[Stainless1]

Scott, my guess, an oil mist creates an explosive atmosphere, at least that was my experience with hydraulics in airplanes, they burned a chunk of C5 down when a small crack in a line misted the cockpit area, and was ignited by an electrical system.

The chain will be properly lubricated, the water mist is just used to reduce chain heat so it lives longer.  Hopefully Max will look at this or Ack, I think he also mists his chains, and fill us in on any additional info.  When you are looking to go 350+ your chain will get extremely hot, and the heat will make it fail.

[bones]

Stainless-thanks for the photos of Max's bike it's f*****g awesome.Does Max use hub-centre steering? If so could you please post some photos.I have made a hub but would like to see how the steering is connected back to the handlebars.My partner and I coming to the BUB meeting and El Marage and are looking forward to putting faces to names.
cheers,   bones

[Stainless1]

Bones, it is hub-center steering, and we will get to that end of the scooter before we get done.  I will try to snap a picture or 2 of it but that end is not photo ready.  Have you looked on Max's website, I'll bet it is shown there.  If you don't find it, send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you a couple of "not ready for prime time" pictures.
http://www.vincentstreamliner.com/

Scott, checked with Max, here is his reply.
Cooling the chain with oil probably wouldn't pass inspection.  Oil on the salt and all.  To cool the chain, it takes about a gallon of water sprayed on the chain in a time span of 1-1/2 minutes.   It takes that kind of volume to transfer the BTU's that the chain builds up through convection.  It would require much more oil than that, due to oils viscosity and inability to cover the convection area of the chain--i.e. the chain spinning at high speeds.  It would be a real mess and not good for the salt.

[isiahstites]

Scott, checked with Max, here is his reply.
Cooling the chain with oil probably wouldn't pass inspection.  Oil on the salt and all.  To cool the chain, it takes about a gallon of water sprayed on the chain in a time span of 1-1/2 minutes.   It takes that kind of volume to transfer the BTU's that the chain builds up through convection.  It would require much more oil than that, due to oils viscosity and inability to cover the convection area of the chain--i.e. the chain spinning at high speeds.  It would be a real mess and not good for the salt.

Thanks Stainless!

[TouringComet]

Here's a photo of two of Max's spare tires, in the back of my MINI Cooper.  I picked them up from a guy in the Vincent club that has a shop just around the corner from Al Teague, and delivered them to Max at last year's BUB meet.  The two better tires were sent ahead to Max.  These two, even though they are the 2nd and 3rd spares, are in pretty darn good shape too, a testament to the care takers, Art and Al.

[sabat]

Maybe Sam Wheeler could use one of those? Or did he need a front, I don't know.

[Stainless1]

Sam needs a front, the 700 X 18 is way too huge for his or any bike front.  When we get to the front you will see a smaller front tire on Max's scooter.  While we are talking tire, the rear wheel is only 2 outta 3 Taylor, Max built the center spoke.

Going by today to see Max later today, I'll take the camera just in case...

[Stainless1]

Sometimes you have to move fast to keep up with an old guy....

I stopped to chat with Max a couple of days ago, he said he didn't have anything picture worthy going on that day, but I snapped the first photo in Max's Paint Booth anyway.  That is the 5 gallon water tank he uses to circulate water through the jackets on the cylinders.  Easy enough... 

Now here is is mounted in the bike.  it is the part behind the wheel, in front of the parachute tubes, with the red and white water pumps on top.  You can see the one on the other side just a little from this angle.  The 2 pumps circulate the water 4 times during a run, making the water 205-210F after it is all over.  One pump feeds the front engine, the other the aft.  Kind of engineered to fit the available space, as is everything else.  If I have waited on some of the other pictures, you would just have to take my word that it was there, cause it disappears as things go together.

Here is another angle, the return hose inlet on the top, covered with the aluminium plate is large enough to pass Ice in there if it becomes necessary for temperature control.  The little compressor behind the other tank is the one I told you max uses to pressurize the misting tanks, the regulator for it is below the compressor.  Most everything back here is now installed, wired and plumbed. 

I have several more pictures to post, but I have to go help a guy move some stuff and then drink a couple of his beers....    More to follow...

[fredvance]

SS1, has anyone told you how much we enjoy and appreciate your pics and descriptions of what is happening with Max's liner. Well I do and I am telling you THANKS!!!   Fred

[Stainless1]

Alright, I'm back.  Here is a closer shot of the little compressor and regulator.

The fender I showed a while back is painted and mounted.  The seals / salt flaps are yet to be installed to seal to the lower body.  Starting to fill in the open spaces quite nicely don't you think.

And a shot from the other side where you can see the other water pump, the second battery, the water hoses routed toward the engines and the man behind this machine.  Take a look at the top of the tank, it is padded so you can set spark plugs ready for inspecting, or tools on it.  If you look around, there are not a lot of convenient flat spots on this scooter.  Do you see any open space, Max has engineered this bike to be the smallest package possible.  I like what he has done.

[Stainless1]

Just a couple more this trip.  Here are a couple of prospective shots, of course there will be more, but these should get you started thinking about the actual size of this bike.  The legs on the hoist measure 32 inches between the insides.  We also measured and determined the bike will fit in Max's new 24 foot trailer, with inches to spare...     And a little height check, no trick photography here, if you look at the Black Lightning website you can see Max holding the bike up by standing over it.  (yea, he does have to pull his pants up a little for that trick)

OK, all you west coast guys traveling to EM this weekend have fun, be safe, go fast.  Y'all from the east coast keep prepping for Maxton next week.  Those of us equidistant to any coast will continue to prep for the salt.  I'm headed to Denver Monday to work on the Lakester and help Jon Amo with a few things on his scooter, so my next update pictures are a couple of weeks out. 
Max, no pressure for a couple of weeks, unless Patti keeps the picture pressure on...

[Stainless1]

Is everybody waiting to see what is next, dang it, me too... 
As I watched the scooter going together, I noticed Max was slow, but steady, kind of like you would want when building something with this speed potential. 
While I work on the MSA Lakester, I find myself wondering what Max has completed.  I also noticed a few things that I had not noticed before, we do have a ton of open space... not nearly as crowded in the lakester as I once thought.   
I went to
http://www.vincentstreamliner.com/BlackLightning/2007-2008/photos/index3.html
to check pictures, if you haven't looked there, you should.  It just might help get you through to next week when I return to Wichita and go visit Max. 

[Stainless1]

Well I'm back, and as suspected Max has a lot done, in fact the chassis is done, Max was working on the motors.     OK, that don 't worry, that won't stop me from taking chassis pictures.  So here we go

We talked about the chain mister in an earlier post, it is made and installed.  Max couldn't use an off the shelf type because he didn't think they produced the amount of mist he needed to cool the area.

Water tank hoses are clamped and routed, waiting for the motors for final connection

Oil tank is installed, hoses and lines are connected and routed.  Remember the frame piece that doubles as a puke tank, it also functions as the fuel roll over spill protection.  The oil tank (front) and Fuel tank get padding to keep body removal and tool scratches to a minimum.  The oil tank return lines get connected after the motors are in.