teazer said:
Many of the parts available are really not suitable on the street and what makes them feel powerful is that rush from 10Hp to 40HP over 1000 revs or less and then making only slightly more power than stock but at higher revs so all that noise and revs make them feel fast. Until a rider on a stock bikes just rides on past you. :-(
This is probably one of the most honest statements I have ever seen posted and is one of my main motorsports philosophies, I know I normally stay away from almost all debates however Brother Teazers words stand for everything I believe in and I preach the same thing to everyone that will listen here around the shop.
What feels fast and what is truly fast are rarely one in the same, the fastest equipment I have ever had the opportunity to pilot never felt fast and almost felt slow in comparison to equipment that feels fast to the untrained rider due to rpms, noise, and a chassis that is not working properly. In my experience the fastest equipment that I have ever piloted felt very smooth, when I was a young man and I first started racing seriously my Father would always tell me that I would know when everything was right as me, the engine, chassis, etc. would all come together as one unit and I always thought that I understood until I experienced it for the first time. Fast is smooth and feels like you are on rails and it does not feel fast until you truly know what fast is supposed to feel like, this has always been very hard for me to try to explain.
As far as Ironheads go the last one I built for myself with a mild engine years ago was one of the fastest bikes I have ever built for light to light or drag racing style comparisons and it was probably one of the slowest feeling bikes I have ever ridden however at the end of the day and when I let it go to build another bike it had never been beaten and would easily walk away from modern 600cc class sportbikes through the quarter. It was always a funny feeling to hear a 600 screaming through the rpms beside me and then watch it steadily go backwards.
Now just to be clear you all know I love all makes and models of motorcycles and that I also prefer Japanese motorcycles over a Harley for quality, design, and performance any day of the week, I have a lot of love for the RD's just like a lot of you here however I personally would not want to try and race a properly built Ironhead with one.
Brother neckyzips the RD is an awesome motorcycle that is very easy to work on and it is also very affordable to build so I am sure that you will love building and riding one, please be creative and build it to your own style!