Ironhead roadracetr

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ex119x

Been Around the Block
I just got back from the WERA Grand National Finals. I did not enjoy the rain and didn't have as much fun as I used to have, so I am looking at another direction. There is a Concours de Competition that was held at Barber last June where the bikes need to be selected by Brian Slark of the Barber museum as worthy of being shown by virtue of being a significant race bike or representative of historic competition bikes. There is also a go portion of the show and in order for a bike to compete for the overall, it must complete at least 10 laps of Barber Motorsports track.
This year's show is over the 4th of July weekend with the WERA races at Barber.

I intend to get my 73 Ironhead Sportster ready for the show.

Cafe sportster.jpg

Here is how it currently sits. I am going to a 2-1 pipe, 38 VM mikuni, 18" front wheel and fab some rearsets. I have all of the stuff to do those things. I currently have Yamaha FZ600 levers and stuff on it and so I will need to get some more period correct items like that.

Here is what I really need. I need some documentation, pictures and stories about Ironheads being roadraced in the sixties and seventies. I started racing in 77 and I never saw any ironheads at the track. If I can't get documentation then the bike won't be accepted into the show. The show bikes are put on display on the third tier of the pits and they each have to have information about them on display also. Kind of like the science fair when you were a kid. I need proof that ironheads were raced back then and some cool pictures or artifacts. If you have any of this, let me know. I am thinking I should not use much after the introduction of the XR1000 since it was pretty much a significant change from the standard ironhead and I have plenty of stuff available about the XR1000. I am also not going to include much if anything about Lucifer's Hammer since it did not use a stock ironhead frame. I will probably be showing a history of sportster racing starting with the KRs and going up through the Buell RR1000, but that won't be the focus, just sort of showing the timeline.
 
can't help with any info but i will be watching your build with interest
 
That is pretty awesome - when in June? Some of us are planning to hit Small Bore in the first part of the month. I'm working about 6 hours away and might be able to coordinate another trip to Barber.
 
I want to say that the bike Lance Weil raced was an ironhead but I am no expert on Harleys so I could have got that wrong.

https://flic.kr/p/7DgGJi

It may be a different model and I thought he fitted the motor in a Norton featherbed frame, but hey, I can't remember every race bike from the sixties, let alone all the changes over time. :eek:



Maybe it will give you a lead to follow though or some ideas on how to make your bike fit the criteria.
 
Tim said:
That is pretty awesome - when in June? Some of us are planning to hit Small Bore in the first part of the month. I'm working about 6 hours away and might be able to coordinate another trip to Barber.
Click to expand...
Tim,
The next concours is July 4, 2020 at Barber. I think it will be a really good show. They are limiting it to about 30 worthwhile entries.
 
teazer said:
I want to say that the bike Lance Weil raced was an ironhead but I am no expert on Harleys so I could have got that wrong.

https://flic.kr/p/7DgGJi

It may be a different model and I thought he fitted the motor in a Norton featherbed frame, but hey, I can't remember every race bike from the sixties, let alone all the changes over time. :eek:

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Maybe it will give you a lead to follow though or some ideas on how to make your bike fit the criteria.
Click to expand...
Teazer,
I didn't know that Lance raced Sportsters in stock frames, but the one drawing you posted sure looks like he must have earlier in his career. He was best known for racing them in Featherbed Norton frames. I will look into it further.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
After looking at as many pictures of Lance Weil's bikes that I could find, (not many). It looks like he was using an XRTT frame before he started putting them in Featherbed frames. The XRTT frame has a completely different rear section from the standard XL frame, like I have. It probably wouldn't be too hard to cut off the rear subframe of mine and fabricate a replica XRTT rear section, but not really what I was planning on. Here are some other pictures of mine as I have gone through some various mock ups.
sportster asis.jpg
Sportster left dec 16.jpg
Sportster right dec 16.jpg
 
XRTT makes sense. Isn't that the same model that Cal Rayborn raced that Team Obsoltete now owns. There are a couple of them out there and I think that they may be replicas.

Raises the question of how close does it have to be to pass Brian Slark's muster?
 
I don't think I need to replicate any particular bike to be in the show. I think I just need to have something that represents what kind of thing was raced at the time. The Sportsters were not legal for AMA pro stuff because they were too big, so they only ran at " Club" races and stuff. I think I am considering creating what I would have ridden back then. I will use a period tank, probably keep the CB200 tank, Change the seat, Maybe an XRTT replica or find/make one like on the Lance Weil bike( I like that one), period shocks and controls.
Does anybody have any old stuff they want to get rid of?
 
der_nanno said:
XR1000 was too late, right? Because those were raced in Daytona...
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The XR1000 was just different enough that it really isn't the same as a single carb Ironhead. I think I would have a hard sell to the Barber Museum staff that the XR1000 justifies the existence of my bike as a significant addition to a concours of competition. I will definitely include the XR1000 as I show the evolution of roadracing the Sportster since it will let me display my autoghraphed picture of Gene Church on Lucifer's Hammer. I also try and get some pictures of my friend, Alex's, XR1000 engine as it is serial number 00001 and is built on modified oem ironhead cases and you can see where they had to remachine the cases to move the cylinder studs to accommodate the bigger cylinders and the pushrods for the dual carb heads. I just have to go for a visit and root around in his basement where the old race bikes live. He was an engineer for Harley when they developed the XR1000 and was the first to race one in the Battle of the Twins. He also has a pre-production 883 evo sportster that we endurance raced at Road America.

I am just going to do mine like what a club racer at the time would have built and run, at the time. I will use the Lance Weil bike as inspiration, but not try and duplicate it.
 
Cobraace2,
Thanks for the info, it will be very helpful as I put together the exhibition info. I'd love to go with the Sputhe heads and cylinders, but it isn't in my current budget or timeframe. But, it is good proof that the ironheads were raced and gives some significance to my build.
 
I rode an XR1000 motored Rickman at Nelson Ledges in the early to mid 80s. It was not my bike and I have mixed feelings about it. It was very slow in the corners but pulled like a freight train down the straights. Most of the cornering problems where inherit to the HD design and were the same problems riders had with the XLCR in the late 70s. That said, I owned 2 or 3 XLCRs and currently own 73 and 79 Sportsters so I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. If I was going to build a replica race bike, I would start with a 79 or 80 frame. Easy to find and usually cheap. There was a 79 XLCH frame with title on Chopperswapper very recently. The 79-80 frame closely resembles the early factory race frames. If you want to get even closer, there is a guy on the XLForum Ironhead section who modifies the 79-80 frames to factory racing specs. This involves a new neck/top tube treatment, but eliminates the VIN. So pretty much race only.
 
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Sportster right dec 16.jpg

I have started t make some progress. I have new spokes for the front wheel so I will be lacing up a wm3 18" rim. I am also going to go with this Laguna seat as it is period correct. I have a CL350 front fender that might fit, but will have to see once I get the forks aprt and replace the seals, oil and springs. I am also moving the upper shock mount to steepen the rake and gain a little more ground clearance. I also am going to see if I can piece a 2-1 exhaust together. I'll post some pics of the progress once I get the front end done, as I am sure nobody cares about seeing another wheel laced or fork rebuild.
 
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