Bike in full dress

Most of the pictures are just of us getting the fit of the body right, but there are a couple of new additions and some surprises too. Be sure to check out the videos and see some of the goodies we decided to throw in just for good measure.

Cleaning the tank

Firstly, since John was here helping out I had him strip the tank to get it ready for paint. There were numerous coats of old paint that looked as if they were from various racing paint schemes. John brought over a little poly abrasive wheel that would just take the paint off super quick and leave a nice bare metal finish.

Quick removal

I had never used a wheel like this in the angle grinder before, but I am a believer now! This thing wouldn't gunk up, slow down, or give you grief. What it did do was take off the paint really quick. You can see where he has already cleaned the paint off the tank, and it leaves the metal nice and ready to work with for Bondo and primer. Really cool tool!

Fitting everything together

With the tank almost completely stripped, I put everything together for a trial fit. There isn't a lot of explanation needed for most of these pics, so I will keep it pretty short.

New dash panel

I fabricated a new dash panel out of some diamond plate aluminum sheet. The main switches, and control computer will mount up here.

Body fit with new engine mounts

I thought there would be some minor trimming to do on the body panels once I mounted up the engine in the new motor mounts. I was happy to see that everything fit together good, and I don't think there will be any need to go cutting away as the fit has stayed the same for the most part.

CO2 tanks

I did manage to get the mounts for the CO2 tanks on the rear swingarm. Yes, I know this is a nitrous bottle, but no there won't be any nitrous used on the bike. This just happens to be the same bottle size as the CO2 bottles we will be using for the cryogenic cooling system, and it was handy so it was used for the fit up of the mounts. The CO2 tanks will feed the intake cooing system, which will give us a bit of a boost by allowing more intake air to be pulled in to the engine. Basically, the colder air is more dense, so the same size "bite" of air will actually have more air in it than air at normal outside temperatures.

Looking like a jet bike

This thing is looking more like a jet bike all the time. I do have to admit, that the tank looks much better without all of that caked on old black paint. Thanks John for doing the dirty work of cleaning that stuff off!

Rear view

This view from the back shows how the jet pipe will sit in relation to the body panels. Also, you can see where the CO2 bottle will mount on the other side. What is that strange looking thing on the left side of the swingarm I wonder?

New fairing

The new front fairing was a good find. It has never been wrecked, and is almost ready for paint. I will have to get a front fairing stabilizer to keep the windscreen from flopping around wildly at high speed though.

New engine mount

Besides looking really cool (as any bike with a jet engine in it would!), this picture shows the new front engine mount. It is made up from a stainless plate that has been laser cut to match the compressor opening. The bolts pass through slots instead of holes, and this way we can make small adjustments to the angle at which the engine sits. Again, a big thanks to Chris Krug for helping us with all of our laser cut parts!

Now that's a jet bike!

The bike looks almost normal from the front now, and the only giveaway that is readily apparent is the little bit of the combustion chamber you can see in the lower left of the picture. I love it when a plan comes together!

The dash

Here is a much better shot of the dash. The cut out on the lower right is where the master cylinder fits when making a left hand turn. Looking at the far right of the dash, there is a small black bolt that holds the dash to the front fairing stay. Directly to the left of that bolt is the new key switch for the bike. The computer screen will fit on the far left of the dash.

The left side

This is just the left side of the bike. I may still have to cut out more of the fairing to clear the turbine, but I'm not sure as I haven't tested for max heat output of the engine with the new turbine heat shielding in place yet.

Another left side pic

Just another left side pic of the bike, because I think it looks good.

What is this?

OK, for those of you who didn't notice it already, that is an electric motor mounted to the side of the swingarm. The question is why? Well, this bike will be run at drag strips as an exhibition vehicle, and there is a funny thing about drag strips. They just don't really care for it when you drive through the pit area with a jet engine spitting fire everywhere out the tailpipes. So, this is the electric motivator to get the job done of moving me back to my area in the pits. It doesn't move the bike very fast with me on it. It will also serve another very crucial purpose. If I take the bike out on the street, the motivator will get me going at a stop light instead of having to use the afterburner. I am sure it will be very much appreciated by the car behind me, as the blast from an afterburner tends to messy up the paint on trailing vehicles just a bit! The motor is a small 1 horsepower electric motor like the type used for starters on garden tractors.

Electric motivator tests. Push play to watch

Above is a video of the tests of the electric motivator. Another really neat thing about the small motor is that it can be used as a regenerative braking system. This means that the faster the bike is going, the more stopping force it creates. A very nice thing to have, because the original rear brakes on the bike are drum type, and not very big. The motor combined with them will provide plenty of stopping power.

Clearance between body and engine

Just a picture showing the clearance between the body and the engine. I have a bit of room to fit things, but not much!

Clearance between body and engine

The same clearance from the other side.

Turbine housing clearance

There is that pesky issue of the turbine housing clearance. I really hate to cut up the body panel here as it would remove a good portion of the left side. If I have to I will, but I will hold off for now.

Underside

There is good clearance on all the parts, and the underside of the bike looks great. That big exhaust really lets you know that this bike means business too!

Jet pipe routing

Here is a great shot where you can see how the pipe will fit over the rear tire. There is also about 3 to 4 inches of clearance between the pipe and the seat pan. Thank god for heat shielding material or I would probably end up feeling like Yosemite Sam screaming "my buns are burnin!".

Rear angle

I will have to fiberglass in the openings on the rear body panel, and may make the fiberglass work extend up under a bit for a more finished appearance. I do know that since the room is there I will be using the original battery box location under the tail section for some extra room when mounting all the sub-systems.

Random picture

Another random picture. Hey, why not throw it in for good measure? At least it shows another angle of the bike, and since I'm proud of the work I want others to see it too.

Our sponsors banner

We are so proud of our sponsors, and all of the help they give us on the project. Thanks to all of them for standing behind us on this crazy idea!

Speaking of sponsors

Another of our sponsors, Kenda Tires. Thanks for the great set of rubber the bike will roll on. Check out the next few pics to see the tires they provided for the build.

The new rear tire

Here is the fat rear tire we will be putting on the bike. These great tires come in widths up to 140, and this one is a 130 that we will be using. Then again, maybe we will use the 140 if we feel like it!

Much wider

The 130 is already much wider than the stock rear rubber on the bike. It will really be more for looks than anything, but shouldn't a jet powered bike look good too?

Plenty of tires

We have a few different sizes of tires to play with, and to keep us on the road and dragstrip.

Gogo button bracket

The little bracket mounted on the left handlebar will be for the go-go button. This will be the switch to light off the afterburner and get things nice and toasty!

Key switch

And the key switch to keep the neighbor kids from trying to take off on it!

Another random pic

Another picture just because I think the lines of the bike look good. Hopefully it is enjoyed by my site viewers as well.

The last one this time

The last picture in the set. I just love the way that big exhaust sits under the bike. You can see a lot of fabrication and modification here. The extended swingarm, the jet pipe, the adjustable rear struts, it just goes on and on. When you start a project like this you don't expect there to be so many little things to do, but there are always tons of them. Again, thanks to my wife for putting up with me for all the hours I spend in the shop doing work on the "never ending list of little things".

Another engine test. Push play to watch

Finally for your amusement and enjoyment, another engine test video. Take a close look and you will see that right as the engine starts, the camera guy jumps a bit and shakes the camera. I just have to give John a hard time about that!!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed seeing a bit of our progress, and what the bike will look like. There is lots more to do, and many pieces to fabricate. Hopefully it will all go very smoothly. Thanks again to our great sponsors, and all the help they give us. Please remember to help support the site, and be on the lookout for more updates and more projects very soon!

Russ W. Moore
and
The Bad Brothers Racing Build Team

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