Buellistic Track-Bike

IT ALL began when he took his Harley-Davidson S1 White Lightening Buell to the Broadford Motor Racing Complex on a track day many years ago and he had a real hoot! From that day he wanted to build a purpose-built track-bike. He’s joined with his brother, son and super supportive wife, on track days making it a real family affair. 

Jezza was patient fulfilling his dream until the perfect donor Buell was found — and it didn’t take long to start creating his one-off ride. He promptly stripped the Buell down for track-day bike prep. Everything that wasn’t required was removed, bagged and tagged; a plastic tub was quickly filled with stock Cyclone trim from headlight through to side-stand, lock-out switch components, etc. 

“I was amazed at how much weight was trimmed from the otherwise naked M2 Buell,” said Jezza. 

Pillion pegs and mounts were removed to allow the rear-sets to be relocated; brackets were fabricated and grafted to the frame to relocate the rear-brake master-cylinder and a Rizoma remote reservoir was added. 

The engine was freshened up giving a lot of attention to the heads. 

Also slotted in was a pair of JE forged slugs; barrels were resized; Mikuni, 42 mm, flat-slide juice extractor fitted with a K&N filter; Accel spark plug leads plus the bent pushrod and valves were replaced. 

While it was on the lift, more changes and improvements were added like the Renthal, flat drag-bars, gear selector (mounted to the engine) and the bike is lock-wired for peace of mind. 

Swing-arm spool brackets were also grafted to the swing-arm. A Hyper Pro steering dampener got the nod; being a track-bike that was a smart addition indeed. Rims were prepped and painted in 2-pak Harley-Davidson orange. 

New tank decals were added; a custom rear-tail-section was fitted which houses crankcase breather can and filter; new pipes and muffler were fabricated helping it to simply breathe better emitting the unwanted spent gasses. 

An Auto Meter Pro-Cycle tacho keeps him aware of things as does the Speedangle S71 digital lap timer. 

Time wise, putting it all together, Jezza simply paced it out. Once he was happy with the final assembly and it was a going concern, it was off to where he got the incentive to build this track-bike, back to Broadford, for its debut test track day. 

How did that go? “It performed much better than I expected,” said Jezza. 

However, not everything always goes right. Some weeks later he went back for some fine tuning, and whilst out on the track, another bike swiped him and took out the front wheel sending him off track and high-sided; the Buell M2 ended up on the wet grass taking heavy damage on the right-hand side. 

So up on the bike lift again! 

Closer inspection revealed more damage than first thought as one of the air-cleaner backing-plate screws had, on impact, found its way through the intake and pin-balled between the piston and head… Grrr!!! 

Once everything was straightened up and replaced what was damaged, it was time for an overall assessment — and a perfect test opportunity came with a different track attack and style of racing at Heathcote Harley Drags. 

The bike ran well and consistent. He made many passes down the quarter-mile strip being solid at the straight-line stuff. At the conclusion of the meeting he knocked up a respectable 11.6 ET. 

Jezza’s thoughts so far: “it’s definitely a work-in-progress but the laps and even at the drags so far has been well worth the effort. It’s hard not to smile when it’s cranked over and growling likes only the tube-frame Buell’s do.” 

So there you have it — a passion for racing followed through from one experience to another. Oh, and it didn’t cost a fortune to achieve all the aforementioned. It’s affordable and very achievable. Jezza’s developed a genuine passion for both his bike and what he can do with it making it a win win for him!

words & photos by Knackers.