Here's a little story I remember about Propylene Oxide.
The year that I took my Knucklehead to Bonneville and failed so badly, mainly because I couldn't seem to stop it from wobbling when I made a gear change. When we pulled in to the Bonneville area and found a motel, the weather was really hot and dry. We checked in and went to unload the truck which had the bike and all the gear in the back. There was the bike, spare parts, clothing and tools. I had two five gallon cans of nitro, three gallons of Alkie and a one gallon can of PO. Right next to the Motel was this cliff that had about a 200 ft drop to the bottom.
As we approached the truck my wife said, what's that noise. Some kind of rattle sound coming from the back of the truck. I took the back door off and there was that can of PO held in place by a bungee cord and it was jumping up and down about a inch. I had just ventured into the use of PO and didn't know a lot about it yet. Every one of the family started to back away from the truck. I didn't know what to do and we were the first to check into this Motel, no one to ask. First thing I thought of was heat so I found a long stick and picked up the can and carried it to the room and put it in the bathtub and started running cold water on it, it vibrated and bounce up and down the tub. It scared me so bad that I picked it up again with that stick and carried out side to that cliff and let the can fall to the bottom, nothing happened. I looked down to the bottom and there laid that can of PO still intact but it stayed there and I didn't use any PO at Bonneville.
Can anyone tell me why the can of PO did that.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Two Top Fuel Racers
Good story, keep it coming. I remember one year at Indy when Danny was there and he was getting ready to fire his singe fuel Sportster in the pits. Every body was gathered around watching, they were using those rollers you put under the rear wheels of a car or truck. Danny was on the bike and they spun up the rear wheel and he let the clutch out and boom, blew him clear off the bike. They forgot to take that rubber ball out of the S&S Carburetor.
I was thinking you were there when that happened.
The first time Leo showed up at Irwindale Raceway he was driving that Thunderbird, he had both bikes on an open air trailer with a canvas tied around them, he had what he called his lay down bike and a street class bike. He won Top Fuel and the class he enter for the other bike that night, and the next weekend at Lions was where he demonstrated the standing burn out holding the bike back with his legs in front of the rear pegs. At that time he was running that Linkert with an extended float bowl, after seeing those was when I changed to the same. He helped me get started with that Carburetor, gave me some hints on what to do.
I was thinking you were there when that happened.
The first time Leo showed up at Irwindale Raceway he was driving that Thunderbird, he had both bikes on an open air trailer with a canvas tied around them, he had what he called his lay down bike and a street class bike. He won Top Fuel and the class he enter for the other bike that night, and the next weekend at Lions was where he demonstrated the standing burn out holding the bike back with his legs in front of the rear pegs. At that time he was running that Linkert with an extended float bowl, after seeing those was when I changed to the same. He helped me get started with that Carburetor, gave me some hints on what to do.
Fuel hydrometer
Sounds good to me. I know in the early days they made 60 and a 70 degree hydrometer, so your chart had to be matched to that hydrometer. I made my chart on a weekend of Coors, hot ice and some nitro sitting in the garage. S&S had a pretty actuate chart but I believe it was for a 70 degree hydrometer. The one I had was a 60, the 70's were kind of hard to find. They were better if you were mixing with ice, didn't have to wait as long for the fuel to get to that temp. in the summer.
About Fairing
There are a lot of really cool looking bikes in the past years with full body's, I always wonder how they handled. I know my King Rat with that little fairing on it didn't handle well at all, that's why you didn't see it very often on the bike. Actually it had a better average without the fairing. It was hard enough trying to make a full pass and keep the front end on the ground with out fighting the ill handling part.
By the way, I didn't know Larry rode that bike. Don't like hearing about anyone crashing, it hurts.
By the way, I didn't know Larry rode that bike. Don't like hearing about anyone crashing, it hurts.
Brazilian Magazine
This is a Brazilian Magazine, came out in May 2008. The Master Jumper on the front cover, I got the last page in the book, have no ideal what or how wrong the article is.
How long does Nitro last
Frank,
Yea, a fuel mix will change after that long, and Alkie does evaporate but not as quick as PO. Man, that was a long time for a gallon of Nitro Mix to sit around. Also did you take in account of the Temp of the mix and what temp your hydrameter read at.
Yea, a fuel mix will change after that long, and Alkie does evaporate but not as quick as PO. Man, that was a long time for a gallon of Nitro Mix to sit around. Also did you take in account of the Temp of the mix and what temp your hydrameter read at.
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