Black Racer the Story (so far)
1998 883 Harley Sportster
I first saw Black Racer in 1995 at Surry HD, Mark and I had gone there to sell a Buell Thunderbolt that Mark had imported from the States. We hadn't planned on bringing another Harley home, as we already had 10. Black Racer was made in 1991 and put on the race track, in the 883 Road Race Series. It had Olins shocks, 2 into 1 exhaust system, steering damper, rev counter, no side stand and it was black.
Mark and I used it as a run about for a year, we had gone to the South West Custom and Classic How. I was showing my newly built Sportster Low Rider called Mr Raider and also I'd just finished Mark's Pan-shovel chop called 'Hedgehog'.
Mark had ridden down on Black Racer and there it sat in the May sunshine and Mark said 'Do you know that bike just couldn't look any better' - Um really, well that's like a red rag to a bull 'Watch this'. Mark worked away in Moscow, and shortly after that very expensive comment, Mark departed for an 8 week tour of duty. Work began on Black Racer.
First job was to make a very large shopping list!!!! Zodiac MSD front end (wider than stock), twin disc billet brakes, Streetfighter style twin head lights, flat track bars, autometer rev counter, billet handle bar controls, pingel kill switch and fuel tap, aircraft fuel cap, Screaming Eagle flat track seat unit, supertrapp high level pipes, JMC swing arm with extended axle slots.
Well with that lot ordered and on it's way it was in the hands of Parcel Force or whoever - What could possibly go wrong?? Whilst on this subject, why do they always deliver (or try to) when you are out?
It was now time to strip the motor and check it out - Oh dear, Oh dear!!!! It really was not very well. There is another term for this (f***ed) but as this is a family show we'll just say it was worn out, but hey, it was used for Road Racing. So, an engine from another Sportster we had (a 1200) was removed and put in Black Racer's frame, and as and when the new parts arrived they were fitted. The Olins stayed but the rear sets didn't work with the high levels so new ones were needed. The cast wheels were powder coated black with new rubber. Reg plate was side mounted, it didn't clutter up the seat unit. Paint work was taken care of by my old mate Ty (of Pageant Paintwork), black and yellow, unlike my present bike Tilly III which is yellow and black.
The build was going well and the only parts to make a finish was the right hand foot rest assembly. It was hard to work out at first, the high levels being the problem. This is when Mark appeared back from Moscow and informed me that on Saturday morning Black Racer had to be in Aston Willa Leisure Centre at 8 o'clock. He had booked it into the Ink and Iron Custom Show. You are having a laugh - you're not - OK.
So at 4.30 am Saturday morning Black Racer in the back of the trusty or should that be rusty Transit, we set off for Birmingham - Black Racer was finished. Also on board was another bike or ours a 1200 Sportster called 'Rip Off' Rip Off had a rigid Cobra frame and GSX-R USD front end and rear wheel etc.
The show was a big success for us - out of 5 available trophies we won 3 of them. Plus the show changed my life forever!!! Wow did it. Supertwins had a stand manned by Mick Bubb and Andy Freer, good stand, Christmas tree, working start line, two drag bikes a TV with Drag racing videos, nice, and so much enthusiasm, advice, helpful it was just what I needed.
I had thought of drag racing the Thunderbolt Mark and I had chatted about and we were both up for it, but, how does one go about it. Supertwins to the rescue, it didn't take much for me to sign up to and become a Supertwins member and drag racer. This has changed my life and it's one of the best things I've ever done. Sadly as Black Racer was booked in at the South West Show we missed the season opener at Avon Park.
Black Racer and Rip Off go to Somerset
I had been going to the South West Custom and Classic for 9 years and in the last five I had become an exhibitor. After meeting up with Mr. Bubb and Mr. Freerer it was my last Somerset Show, well it clashes with racing!!. Black Racer got runner-up Café Racer trophy how besar is that. Even Blue wrote about it in Back Street Heroes. Blue fell for Black Racer in a big way, and has done ever since, it was love at first sight.
Not long after the show Blue came and did a feature on Black Racer, nice one, thanks Blue. Blue, who was working for AWOL at the time, followed our progress on Black Racer and wrote about her in AWOL (which was nice).
In the meantime back at the workshop Shopping list 2 was being constructed. S&S crank and Road assembly, Keith Black pistons, Jim's lifters and roller rockers, oil pump, clutch plates, primary drive chain, Andrews cams. As luck would have it, I already had a set of Branch heads I got off a fire damaged Sporty. Boz sorted the new crank for me and the heads, new valves and seats etc. He also vapour blasted the cases - they looked like new. I could now get the motor built. I must also at this point thank Boz for the Keith Black pistons which he donated to the project.
It was now time to go and have a run or two up a drag strip - just for the crack. It was a Mopar meeting with a 'run what ya brung' at Avon Park. First run, left lane - ET 13.742 at 99.048 - not bad, and what fun, the Buzz!! Second run, right lane ET 14.553 AT 92.948, Third run, left lane ET 13.280 at 100.260 and the fourth in the right lane into the 12s with an ET of 12.513 at 105.104 mph. I did 15 runs over the weekend and I was hooked, - there is no cure!! Black Racer had run well and we had no problems.
Meanwhile, back in the workshop, I rebuilt the race motor, did the engine swap and took Black Racer out on the road to run her in, and she did need it, every moving part in the engine had been replaced with new and improved parts. It was a lovely hot summer and it was a joy to rid about running in the motor. The only down side was the heat coming off the motor, oil tank and twin high level Supertrapps. On the open road it was fine, but in towns etc. hot or what!!. I also did a lot of oil changes, first one 50 miles, 2nd 100, 3rd 500, then 800 etc. well, as Boz once said 'you want the most life out of the motor and not the oil! It was around this point in time that Black Racer and myself became homeless
The Black Racer Story - Part 2
Lyn and I had started our new life together, with nowhere to live, big problem, where are we going to keep Black Racer? Lyn's long term friend, Kim, helped us out and we moved in. I moved one of my sheds into the bottom of her garden, put in the power, a new home for Black Racer. We had a good season, Lyn, Kim, I and Black Racer in my old rusty transit. We raced at York and Avon, race number STS 17 and I think we ended up with STS 8. Not bad. Instead of doing custom shows, apart from local ones with the ECHC, I got into the racing and got to know lots of new friends in NAST. At the end of the season we raced at Santa Pod, for the first time, which was a real buzz, night racing! End of the season. It was time to rebuild Black Racer; it was too short and too high and far too heavy. I stripped Black Racer, as the motor was fine, that was put in the corner of the shed, covered up. I went and saw Briz, who had just moved up here from the London area. Briz built me a chrome moly race frame, with a total of a 6" stretch. Motor was off set, so we could at some point fit a 180/17 rear wheel, which would give us better type choice. In the shed, I had a work mate, a vice, some of my tools and a set of fishing scales. I weighed every part and soon had a huge pile of parts that were far too heavy. Briz did a fantastic job of the frame, thanks mate. Over the winter Black Racer came together and really looked the part and was also 50 pounds lighter which was a huge difference. Lyn and I went to Pod and did some testing low 12's and was much better to ride, result. I would like to thank Asams in Great Yarmouth for, the one off yokes, Bello's Bikes for the Yamaha forks and new RGV 250 front wheel and disc. David at Burlingham did a damn fine job of painting the frame and Simpson Detour for the trick nose faring.
Not long after, Mark and I got a Buell S1 lighting from the US. Mark needed the motor for one of his bikes, Rip Off. Rip Off had a 4spd, which we sold to Chris Stebbing, and the Buell 5 speed went in. I had the 180, ali rear wheel and one Saturday morning Lyn and I fitted the wheel to Black Racer. Asam's did the machining, spacers etc having better rubber made a huge difference.
NAST only raced at Avon Park in the Super Series and we had some very good meeting, run by the late Terry Gibbs. To get extra track time, I also raced at Santa Pod in the 10.90 bike class, as Black Racer could not run tens there was no fear of breaking out! I was very pleased with how Black Racer come off the line, what with the new chassis and 100 foot pounds of torque, thanks to the SS Cranks assembly. Every meeting we would change something and every time we did it worked, one thing at a time is the way to go. Fitting a large bell mouth helped. We were at this time using Buell thunderstorm heads. Mark and I had got two new sets from the US. I sent the spare set to Mez who gas flowed them. Lyn and I had moved out of Kims and into a flat in Norwich, again no shed or workshop so Black Racer lived at Hoolie's AKA Dave, Lyn and I went racing together using Daves race track. The night before a big meeting at Avon, Lyn and I changed the heads, we got it all done by three o'clock in the morning - with the help of Jenny, and left for the track at 10:00am. The meeting before at Avon our best ET was 11.8 with the gas flowed heads, we ran an 11.4, pleased or what. It felt so fast, strange looking back, as we now run 9.5's on my top gas bike Tilly 3. With all the changes we had made Black Racer was doing well, i was happy with my riding and was joint 2nd in the championship. To make Black Racer run faster was going to take a lot of money, but Dave had a plan.
The Black Racer Story - Part 3
Dave said I was faster than Black Racer and I could race his TL1000 for the rest of the season, after it had 10" added to the swing arm etc, I did, which is another story. So Black Racer was parked up. The next season, I was racing my new built TL1000 S/R, which I won the championship NAST street class STS1. I didn't however let Black Racer stand idle. My little mate Chalky, raced Black Racer and he did very well and Black Racer didn't miss a beat. It was strange watching my Harley go up the track although it looked and sounded good. It was even stranger to be paired up against my bike. Black Racer was then parked and only brought out to be shown at a few bike shows etc; it even spent a year in my dinning room! About a year later at Christmas I stripped down the top end, everything was fine, apart from a push rod tube o ring. Black Racer stayed like this for another year covered up in my workshop. I could have put it all back together but what I really wanted was a big bore kit. As luck would have it, I had to big bore a Sportster for a customer, so while he was in the US getting his 1470 big bore kit, he got me a kit, nice one Alec. I did both motors at the same time. Chris Sadd took care of the machining, to the crank cases, which he called "Madness", as there is not a lot of metal left. While I was putting the motor back together, Dave May, re-sprayed Black Racer's tank and seat unit, which now looks a lot better, nice one Dave. To finish off the re-build I fitted a new Hs42 carb, got all this done a week before the bulldog bash 07. Black Racer was already booked in to the custom show. I was a very proud man, when Black Racer won a rosette with highly commended on it. Nice one! Sadly I haven't uncovered Black Racer since. The plan is to ride Black Racer at some local sprints, time is the big problem, what with racing Tilly 3 etc. I am sure Black Racer will be out and about in 2009.
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