Absolutely amazing.
Subbed
That is unreal!!!
Subbed
That is unreal!!!
Twin Engine GSXR Land Speed Racer
Hi everyone,
This my first post. I was slacking off and surfing the net hoping to find race parts for early GSXR's and ended up on this site and then was surprised to see a recent thread on one of my race bikes. I just enjoyed my 8th year competing at the Bonneville Salt Flats, I've had some success with very large displacement Hayabusa's. I still own my first race bike, a 1986 GSXR 1100 built as a period endurance racer.
One of my mentors, Larry Forstall built my twin engine GSXR back in the early 90's. Larry built it to run in the "naked" classes without any bodywork. Other than a couple of shake down passes which were aborted due to vision problems and salt conditions, the bike has never run. The Double sat for over a decade in Pennsylvania. I met Larry in 2002, the year that I got inducted into the Bonneville 200 MPH Club and he mentioned having a twin engine GSXR in storage. I was after Larry for several years to either sell it to me or let me fix it up and race it. Bonneville has such a rich history of multi-engine vehicles, I thought the Double was very cool. I was teased with pictures at first but Larry finally agreed to sell it to me and I had it shipped up to Alberta, Canada. I will always run it as a "Beairsto & Forstall" entry. Larry is an innovator and I'm proud to own a piece of his work.
The Double uses a pair of 1986 GSXR 1100 engines, they are now 1255cc with Cosworth pistons, ported heads, Carrillo rods, Falicon cranks, Megacycle cams, 40mm flat slide Mikuni's, all the good stuff that was available at the time. Older technology for sure but horsepower is horsepower. The engines are coupled together, both transmissions are engaged.
I work overseas in the middle east and Africa, I'm not home much and it was hard trying to get 3 other race bikes ready for Bonneville. As anyone who has run at Bonneville knows, corrosion is a bitch. It doesn't seem to matter how much you clean up afterwards, it ruins everything. Having sat for so long, the bike needed some attention. I also wanted to be able to run the bike with bodywork and decided that an early GSXR competition fairing was the right choice. We replaced the wiring harness, spark plug wires, cleaned the carbs and got the front engine running fairly quickly. The rear engine gave us a little more grief but we sorted through the electrical gremlins. A seized rear custom clutch slave cylinder almost kept the bike at home, we fixed that the night before we left.
I had never driven the bike until I let the clutch out for the first time on the salt. Its very stable at speed but it is a bit of a stretch even laid out over it and the gear shift pattern is backwards.
The front engine is started using a battery cart, with the bike on a stand, I shift into 1st gear, rev it up a little and drop the clutch. The rear engine fires up and the bike gets alot of attention. I put it back into neutral, the stand is removed and I wait for the starter to give me the ok to run on the course.
I did a couple of passes on the short course to get familiar with the bike but we soon discovered a weak link in the engine's coupler. I knew with the weak idler gear that I would only be able to make a few runs. My top speed was 203mph @ only 7000rpm, the bike has alot of potential in it. I like it because its different, my Hayabusa disappears in a sea of other 'Busas at Bonneville. On my last run, we actually broke the coupler's idler gear and the loose chain caused a bit of damage but nothing that can't be repaired. There's nothing like running 200 mph and hearing bad crunchy noises coming from the coupler.
I hope to be able to run it again this year at Bonneville or El Mirage, work permitting. The bike is in a shop right now getting the coupler modified. I also need to improve the rear suspension and add some ballast for traction. It just spins the tire hopelessly at anything over 3/4 throttle. Over the winter I'd like to throw some more power at it and upgrade the 1255's, its a shame they stopped making the big blocks. We are entertaining the idea of adding fuel injection as well.
Well I should get back to work.
-Scott
This my first post. I was slacking off and surfing the net hoping to find race parts for early GSXR's and ended up on this site and then was surprised to see a recent thread on one of my race bikes. I just enjoyed my 8th year competing at the Bonneville Salt Flats, I've had some success with very large displacement Hayabusa's. I still own my first race bike, a 1986 GSXR 1100 built as a period endurance racer.
One of my mentors, Larry Forstall built my twin engine GSXR back in the early 90's. Larry built it to run in the "naked" classes without any bodywork. Other than a couple of shake down passes which were aborted due to vision problems and salt conditions, the bike has never run. The Double sat for over a decade in Pennsylvania. I met Larry in 2002, the year that I got inducted into the Bonneville 200 MPH Club and he mentioned having a twin engine GSXR in storage. I was after Larry for several years to either sell it to me or let me fix it up and race it. Bonneville has such a rich history of multi-engine vehicles, I thought the Double was very cool. I was teased with pictures at first but Larry finally agreed to sell it to me and I had it shipped up to Alberta, Canada. I will always run it as a "Beairsto & Forstall" entry. Larry is an innovator and I'm proud to own a piece of his work.
The Double uses a pair of 1986 GSXR 1100 engines, they are now 1255cc with Cosworth pistons, ported heads, Carrillo rods, Falicon cranks, Megacycle cams, 40mm flat slide Mikuni's, all the good stuff that was available at the time. Older technology for sure but horsepower is horsepower. The engines are coupled together, both transmissions are engaged.
I work overseas in the middle east and Africa, I'm not home much and it was hard trying to get 3 other race bikes ready for Bonneville. As anyone who has run at Bonneville knows, corrosion is a bitch. It doesn't seem to matter how much you clean up afterwards, it ruins everything. Having sat for so long, the bike needed some attention. I also wanted to be able to run the bike with bodywork and decided that an early GSXR competition fairing was the right choice. We replaced the wiring harness, spark plug wires, cleaned the carbs and got the front engine running fairly quickly. The rear engine gave us a little more grief but we sorted through the electrical gremlins. A seized rear custom clutch slave cylinder almost kept the bike at home, we fixed that the night before we left.
I had never driven the bike until I let the clutch out for the first time on the salt. Its very stable at speed but it is a bit of a stretch even laid out over it and the gear shift pattern is backwards.
The front engine is started using a battery cart, with the bike on a stand, I shift into 1st gear, rev it up a little and drop the clutch. The rear engine fires up and the bike gets alot of attention. I put it back into neutral, the stand is removed and I wait for the starter to give me the ok to run on the course.
I did a couple of passes on the short course to get familiar with the bike but we soon discovered a weak link in the engine's coupler. I knew with the weak idler gear that I would only be able to make a few runs. My top speed was 203mph @ only 7000rpm, the bike has alot of potential in it. I like it because its different, my Hayabusa disappears in a sea of other 'Busas at Bonneville. On my last run, we actually broke the coupler's idler gear and the loose chain caused a bit of damage but nothing that can't be repaired. There's nothing like running 200 mph and hearing bad crunchy noises coming from the coupler.
I hope to be able to run it again this year at Bonneville or El Mirage, work permitting. The bike is in a shop right now getting the coupler modified. I also need to improve the rear suspension and add some ballast for traction. It just spins the tire hopelessly at anything over 3/4 throttle. Over the winter I'd like to throw some more power at it and upgrade the 1255's, its a shame they stopped making the big blocks. We are entertaining the idea of adding fuel injection as well.
Well I should get back to work.
-Scott
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61 - 80 of 338 Posts
Update.... Progress has been slow, I was overseas for 4 months in Saudi...my engine guy went through a divorce and I had to wait for him to build a new shop...there were many delays with the new big blocks but I finally recieved them...they are very nice with custom 15:1 JE Pistons, blocks were cut for o-rings...cases can now go out for machining...a new idler with a bigger sprocket will be fabricated...the new body from Air Tech will be shipped this month...lots of new upgrades are planned such as Dyna Tech ignitions, new rear suspension, provisions for adding lead ballast etc.
I didn't get a chance to run at Speed Week in August...I got home in mid July and just wanted to chill for a couple weeks, fixed my fence, worked on the race trailer, spent some time with my wife and dog, took some old bikes to a vintage rally...started getting the big Busa ready for the dyno, couldn't get any oil pressure out of the new 1697cc engine, didn't care for the stress and decided that this was starting to feel like work, cancelled my hotel and sold my entries...the Busa brings me sponsorship money and I wasn't interested in just running my R1 or 600RR.
I took a '75 250 Montesa and a bunch of parts that I'd been collecting and started building a cool vintage flat tracker, I shortened the sub frame, I've got an expansion chamber being built for it, parts have been sent out for painting, front and rear suspension are getting rebuilt...I stuffed a turbo in my '86 1100...drove my KLR to Yellowknife for a northern adventure.
I've just returned to Dubai...the Busa and the Double's engines and coupler are now with my engine builder...I'll miss any September events at Bonneville and the World Finals in October are unlikely. I hope to run something at El Mirage in November. Regardless, I hope that when I return home again that I'll be able to put the engines back in the Double and mount the new body.
I didn't get a chance to run at Speed Week in August...I got home in mid July and just wanted to chill for a couple weeks, fixed my fence, worked on the race trailer, spent some time with my wife and dog, took some old bikes to a vintage rally...started getting the big Busa ready for the dyno, couldn't get any oil pressure out of the new 1697cc engine, didn't care for the stress and decided that this was starting to feel like work, cancelled my hotel and sold my entries...the Busa brings me sponsorship money and I wasn't interested in just running my R1 or 600RR.
I took a '75 250 Montesa and a bunch of parts that I'd been collecting and started building a cool vintage flat tracker, I shortened the sub frame, I've got an expansion chamber being built for it, parts have been sent out for painting, front and rear suspension are getting rebuilt...I stuffed a turbo in my '86 1100...drove my KLR to Yellowknife for a northern adventure.
I've just returned to Dubai...the Busa and the Double's engines and coupler are now with my engine builder...I'll miss any September events at Bonneville and the World Finals in October are unlikely. I hope to run something at El Mirage in November. Regardless, I hope that when I return home again that I'll be able to put the engines back in the Double and mount the new body.
Attachments
Update...
Only 95 days to go until Speed Week 2011.
We are getting custom top end studs made for the 2 x 1316cc engines and then they are ready for final assembly, wasn't happy with what was available length wise from ARP or APE. We took the easy way out and just painted everything high temp black but left the new big blocks natural, I'll put some clear coat on them to try and protect them from salt corrosion.
The front engine is the "lead engine", it's 14:1 compression and the rear is 13:1, there are also subtle differences in the porting and cam specs. We've raised the compression a full point over how the engines were first built back in the early 90's. Next winter, I may mill the rear engine head to bring them both up to 14:1 and designate the lead engine just from ignition timing but for now I'll go with the designer's original vision.
I think they will look sharp with the new heat shields from Rodriguez!:cheers
Only 95 days to go until Speed Week 2011.
We are getting custom top end studs made for the 2 x 1316cc engines and then they are ready for final assembly, wasn't happy with what was available length wise from ARP or APE. We took the easy way out and just painted everything high temp black but left the new big blocks natural, I'll put some clear coat on them to try and protect them from salt corrosion.
The front engine is the "lead engine", it's 14:1 compression and the rear is 13:1, there are also subtle differences in the porting and cam specs. We've raised the compression a full point over how the engines were first built back in the early 90's. Next winter, I may mill the rear engine head to bring them both up to 14:1 and designate the lead engine just from ignition timing but for now I'll go with the designer's original vision.
I think they will look sharp with the new heat shields from Rodriguez!:cheers
Attachments
The new body from Air Tech finally arrived. I was home for April and mocked it up, although it was designed for an electric bike, it sort of fits. There are restrictions on how long the tail section can be, including height and how much of the front wheel is covered etc.
Unfortunately delays in getting the engines and coupler finished, means we won't have time to finish mounting the body and the necessary fiberglass work and fabrication. I'm back in the Middle East working, but there's always next year. We'll just focus on getting the engines and coupler sorted this year and I'll run the first gen front fairing again, no shame in that.
Enzo Ferrari is often quoted as having said that aerodynamics were for people who couldn't build horsepower. I'm planning on having both of them covered.
Unfortunately delays in getting the engines and coupler finished, means we won't have time to finish mounting the body and the necessary fiberglass work and fabrication. I'm back in the Middle East working, but there's always next year. We'll just focus on getting the engines and coupler sorted this year and I'll run the first gen front fairing again, no shame in that.
Enzo Ferrari is often quoted as having said that aerodynamics were for people who couldn't build horsepower. I'm planning on having both of them covered.
Attachments
We have finalized the re-design of the coupler between the 2 engines. The coupler's idler proved to be a weak link during our shake down passes in 2009. I also wanted the chain to run in an oil bath to ensure adequate lubrication and to carry away the heat.
It was frustrating not being able to wind the bike out before because I knew the idler and chain were coming apart. The Double has run 203mph while idling along at only 7000rpm, I've just kept to the short course...2 miles to get up to speed and timed over the 3rd mile. The bike qualifies for the long course...2 miles to get up to speed and timed over the 3rd, 4th & 5th mile. If the coupler works fine on the short course, I'll move over to the long course and see what this old bike will do...
The new idler has a steel sprocket rather than the previous aluminium in addition to being larger to reduce its speed plus it has a bigger bearing. The tensioner will use an arm, small adjustment travel on one end results in greater travel on the idler end. The new aluminium cover will be CNC'd and use an o-ring for a seal. The webbed fins will help cool the oil. There will also be a sight glass and drain in the cover.
Race Tech is building me a new pair of custom rear shocks.
Tire rule changes prohibit me from running the shaved 18" rubber that I had used previously plus my cool 18" PM wheels. Thanks to my Red R and the classifieds here, I've been able to buy a couple sets of 17" PM Wheels that fit the Double. I bought some new race Bridgestones that are on the approved list and had Nate Jones shave them, he works on tires for 400 mph cars so I trust him.
So far, so good...everything is falling into place.
Cheers,
Scott
It was frustrating not being able to wind the bike out before because I knew the idler and chain were coming apart. The Double has run 203mph while idling along at only 7000rpm, I've just kept to the short course...2 miles to get up to speed and timed over the 3rd mile. The bike qualifies for the long course...2 miles to get up to speed and timed over the 3rd, 4th & 5th mile. If the coupler works fine on the short course, I'll move over to the long course and see what this old bike will do...
The new idler has a steel sprocket rather than the previous aluminium in addition to being larger to reduce its speed plus it has a bigger bearing. The tensioner will use an arm, small adjustment travel on one end results in greater travel on the idler end. The new aluminium cover will be CNC'd and use an o-ring for a seal. The webbed fins will help cool the oil. There will also be a sight glass and drain in the cover.
Race Tech is building me a new pair of custom rear shocks.
Tire rule changes prohibit me from running the shaved 18" rubber that I had used previously plus my cool 18" PM wheels. Thanks to my Red R and the classifieds here, I've been able to buy a couple sets of 17" PM Wheels that fit the Double. I bought some new race Bridgestones that are on the approved list and had Nate Jones shave them, he works on tires for 400 mph cars so I trust him.
So far, so good...everything is falling into place.
Cheers,
Scott
Attachments
Another update...
I'm pleased to see the engines finally finished and back in the frame. Lots of cables, wires and hoses still to be hooked up, but it should be making some noise in a few more days. I'm looking forward to seeing Mario's repro carb heat shields mounted. Probably another week or so for the coupler pieces to make it back from the factory.
My builder is leaving on holidays in mid July for the Moto GP, so he has some pressure on him now. I'm still in Saudi for another week but will spend most of July in Algeria..if all goes well, I'll just have to mount the new shaved race tires, bolt the fairing on and load the trailer when I get back to Alberta.:frantic
I'm pleased to see the engines finally finished and back in the frame. Lots of cables, wires and hoses still to be hooked up, but it should be making some noise in a few more days. I'm looking forward to seeing Mario's repro carb heat shields mounted. Probably another week or so for the coupler pieces to make it back from the factory.
My builder is leaving on holidays in mid July for the Moto GP, so he has some pressure on him now. I'm still in Saudi for another week but will spend most of July in Algeria..if all goes well, I'll just have to mount the new shaved race tires, bolt the fairing on and load the trailer when I get back to Alberta.:frantic
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61 - 80 of 338 Posts
