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FXR, eBay Style
By Toph Bocchiaro
Photography: Toph
Bocchiaro
In 2003, eBay Motors teamed up with our
parent company, Primedia,
and Ford Racing to build a project
car with parts and accessories
bought on eBay Motors.
The project was termed the Fastforward Fastback with the goal of updating the
body, motor, and chassis of
the famed '60s Mustang fastback.
The results, and the response
from the public, were so overwhelming
that eBay teamed with the editors
of the hottest automotive and
motorcycle publications to purchase,
design, build, and modify a
project vehicle using eBay Motors.
To add excitement to the project,
called the Editors Charity Challenge,
each vehicle would run head-to-head
at the racetrack in addition
to being voted on by the public
(editorscharitychallenge.com).
At the end of the challenge,
the vehicles would be sold on
eBay Motors -- with no reserve
price -- with the proceeds donated
to CharityCars,
a non-profit organization dedicated
to helping those who help others.
Each editorial team in the Challenge
had $25,000 to spend on their
respective vehicles. The base
car, motorcycle, and components
had to be purchased on eBay
Motors. Parts under 50 bucks could be purchased outside of eBay,
while donated parts could not
exceed $500 per donation and
$2,500 for the entire vehicle.
So, with the money in hand,
Team Lane Splitters (as we,
along with editors from our
American Motorcycle Group, were
called) set out to find and
build a bike that would smoke
the competition in every way.
When it comes to handling and
style in the Harley world, the
venerable FXR is often the bike
of choice for those interested
in performance. The light chassis,
short wheelbase, and rubber-mounted
BigTwin
make the FXR an awesome platform
to build a fast, comfortable,
and agile motorcycle. With that
in mind, we logged on to eBay
Motors and started to look for
our project bike.
After bidding on a few different FXRs, we stumbled upon a '92 FXRP located in Seattle. It looked like just the bike we wanted: ratty and in
need of a new home. Our final
bid was $7,348; we won and the
mighty FXR was ours. After payment
and settling on the shipping
info, a crate arrived in Costa
Mesa, California, with the FXR inside. It was in rough condition -- it
wouldn't start, the tires were
shot, and the aluminum looked
like it had been at the bottom
of the ocean for ages. The scoot
barely resembled the police
model it was born as, except
for the original handlebar controls
with the siren button. Luckily,
we planned to transmogrify the
beast into one sweet, asphalt-burning
machine, so we didn't feel too
bad about stripping the bike
down to the frame.
Since we were competing against stiff
competition, we recruited the
best for our FXR project build:
Dr. Geoffrey Gaites, the Cycledoctor located in Costa Mesa. Geoff is no stranger to building high-horsepowered Harleys and FXRs
in particular, as he regularly
builds bikes to compete in Land
Speed Record competitions. Geoff
removed everything from the
bike but the transmission. In
HOT BIKE tradition, we adopted
the old adage, "There's
no replacement for displacement."
Geoff opened up the old Evo, split the cases, and gutted the innards to
leave room for the new S&S
stroker
flywheels. The basis of the
powerplant
included a 5-inch stroke and
10.5:1, 3-5/8-inch pistons yielding
a fire-breathing 103 ci
of V-twin muscle. Not satisfied
with the breathing capabilities
of the stock S&S heads,
Geoff sent them off to Johnson
Engine Technology for magic
ports and the valve seats. A
0.560 lift, long-duration Andrews
EV-72 cam was used with an S&S
Super G carburetor. But why
stop there? For added power
and bragging rights, we added
happy juice to the mix with
a Nitrous Oxide Systems/Holley
setup.
Before cradling the motor in its rightful
place, the chassis was given
some much-needed attention.
We scored a set of black-anodized,
inverted Storz/Ceriani
forks mated to a beefy set of
its triple-trees. Between the
mighty legs, some Metzeler
rubber wrapped a beautiful 19-inch
spoke wheel we obtained from
Wheel Works. Because we expected
a ton of power from this mill,
we decided that the spindly,
stock swingarm
had to go in favor of a polished
aluminum JMC variety that held
an 18-inch hoop. To tie it all
together, Progressive shocks
were added to smooth out the
ride. With the addition of some
H-D risers and Sporty flat-track
handlebars, the bike could now
be rolled around the shop. Life
was looking up.
The stress mounted as the deadline approached.
While Geoff furiously bolted
in the motor and hooked up the
stock H-D five-speed tranny,
Rock & Roll Custom Paintworks
attended to the sheetmetal.
They had the Corbin rear fender,
FXR sideplates,
and an FXR gas tank that Geoff
took off his personal ride.
Since this was designed to be
a go-fast racebike,
no provision was made for a
front fender. Randy at Rock
& Roll did a great job on
the parts, adding eBay logos
as well as Geoff's and ours
to the shiny black bodywork.
After bolting up the new skin
to the FXR, a pair of polished
nitrous bottles was secured
to each of the downtubes. We needed only wiring, fluids, and final
tuning to fire up the beast.
And fire up it did. The new FXR motor
was raw and evil with that syncopated
loping idle that only a big-cammed Harley can produce. Geoff threw on the seat
and departed from our headquarters
for the maiden voyage of the
resurrected steed. Moments later,
a grinning Geoff returned and
mumbled something to the effect
of sick, nasty, and terrifying.
After refilling the nitrous
bottles, Geoff hit the battlefield
once again. We could hear him
screaming through the moist,
cool SoCal air -- First gear whining, Second gear screaming,
Third
gear... uh oh. The air went
silent. Our hearts were pounding
waiting like expectant fathers
for word. Geoff came limping
back with the FXR sputtering
through the open pipes and wearing
a new coat of 50 weight.
One head gasket blew. Not bad,
but time was dwindling as night
turned to morning.
We had two days left before raceday. It needed proper break-in and a dyno-run
to reach the final-tuned state.
Once the head gasket was replaced
and heads torqued,
the time came for a little shakedown
run through the Southland. With
the rough condition of the roads
here, and incessant traffic
that defines Los Angeles, Geoff found the perfect proving ground. When he returned
with the requisite miles on
the mind odometer (there's no
odometer or speedometer on the
bike), Geoff ran the rubber-mount
on his dyno. The once ratty
Police bike put 111 hp to the
rear wheel. Wait, that was without the siren-turned-nitrous button
pushed. With the addition of
the happy juice, the motor screamed
163 hp with an arm-stretching
170 lb-ft of torque!
On a cold Wednesday morning, before the
sun could warm the land, we
loaded the FXR onto a truck
destined for the California
Speedway, located in Fontana, California. This site, in the shadows of the majestic San Bernadino Mountains, would serve as host for the
Editors Charity Challenge where
each of the 11 teams would compete
in a timed 1/4-mile race (three
passes per team), slalom course,
and braking competition. The
other teams began arriving with
their amazing vehicles, but
only one other motorcycle, a
plastic and multi-colored GSX
something, could threaten our
chances of victory. There was
no doubt though, that in the
style department, we had the
best vehicle.
The man himself, the Cycledoctor, was
our pilot for the riding events.
After donning his protective
leathers and helmet, Geoff rode
up to the track and smoked the
rear tire to aid in traction.
Although the bike had been ridden
a few times and the motor was
on its way to being fully broken
in, Geoff didn't have a chance
to practice at the dragstrip.
His first pass was mediocre,
a 12.1, with a slipped rear
tire and the frontend
leaving the ground after he
missed a shift and encountered
problems with the nitrous. The
second run wasn't much better
at 12.7 seconds; but Geoff rode
half the track on the rear wheel
to wow the crowd. After returning
to the pits for a little tweaking
and refilling the nitrous, Geoff
convinced the track master to
allow him back on. Apparently
he wasn't thrilled with Geoff's
Evel
Knievel
rendition. Geoff turned in an
impressive 11.03-second pass.
Not too bad for an air-cooled,
pushrod motor without any wind-reducing
fairings.
By the way, that "other" bike
ran a 9.95.
After the 1/4-mile drags, it was time
for the 60-0 braking exercise.
Our H-D dual four-piston calipers
up front, combined with the
single H-D unit in the rear
clamped down on the rotors to
give us an impressive run of
134 feet versus 132 from our
closest bike competitor. This
wasn't the fairest of trials,
as we didn't have a speedometer
to gauge our speed properly.
But we were close and looked
mighty fine doing it. Once the
tires cooled we readied for
the high-speed slalom course.
The 1/4-mile course consisted
of orange cones set up in a
straight line; the goal was
to survive the cones as fast
as possible. Again our FXR performed
flawlessly, even with the low
tire pressure we discovered
right before the event. The
power-ranger guy on the "other"
bike barely beat us again, despite
having tire warmers on before
his run and a truckload of people
and equipment to dial-in his
superbike.
All in all, this project turned out amazing,
especially given only three
months to search, bid, buy,
wait-for, build, modify, paint,
assemble, tune, and break-in.
Plus, it needed to look good
and perform in an environment
most Harleys never visit. Geoff
and the crew did a fabulous
job, not only for us but for
the lucky individual who will
win the eBay Motors' auction
along with the charity that
will eventually benefit from
this motorcycle. Hell of a project!
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click
for video
Kicked
off drag strip for riding wheelies
down the track
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