We already made the 2002 Kawasaki Mean Streak a little meaner. Now that we've handed it over to Sherms Cycle Products for its speed trials overhaul, it's going to be down right fuming mad.
As many of our readers already know, MotorcycleUSA has teamed up with Sherms Cycle Products in order to build the fastest Kawasaki Mean Streak on the planet. We're going to take the beast to the Bonneville Salt Flats September 6-10 for the BUB International Motorcycle Speed Trials where we plan on setting a new AMA National Speed Record for the Mean Streak.
When we last left off with our project, we still weren't 100% sure of the rules and regulations regarding what we can do to our bike in order to make it scream, but now the smoke has cleared and the confusion has turned into a plan.
The first thing that ran through many of our readers minds was why we chose the Mean Streak as the platform to make a run at a speed record. Guy Mobbley, Sherms motor technician, wasted no time explaining that the ideology revolves around the weight of the bike. Most people would naturally assume that a lighter motorcycle can go faster. This may traditionally be the case but when you're running two-wheeled rockets at the Salt Flats more weight can actually be a bonus.
"When you get going fast like that, you jump up on top of the salt and then your back tire starts spinning and you aren't going anywhere," Mobbley explains. "If you add weight to the bike it pushes you back down, you catch traction, and you actually pull more miles per hour."
But the goal isn't to just add weight to the bike. You have to know the exactly where you want to add the extra pounds because even though more weight is the key, there are some areas on the motorcycle that will benefit from Sherms' weight reduction program.
The other reason the Mean Streak makes a good speed-trial bike is because it's naturally geared higher than some of the other metric cruisers. Since the rules state that the gear ratios can't be changed, having a high-geared motorcycle will be an advantage. Plus, the Mean Streak is our favorite project bike so it only makes sense we used this machine.
"What it's going to be is whoever is geared the highest and can get to redline will be the fastest," the 28-year motorcycle mechanic veteran describes so matter-of-factly.
The goal is to enter our Mean Streak into the Production Frame Class, which includes any motorcycle with a frame that was produced by a recognizable manufacturer. A minimum of 500 frames must have been produced for sale to the public. All of the bikes in this class have to be presented in street driving condition, so the front and rear lights, fenders, brakes, air-intake box, and un-modified exhaust must remain intact. The other stipulation is that the bikes engine size must fall between 1351cc to 1650cc.
The current record in this class is held by a Buell motorcycle that traveled at 152 mph across the remnants of Lake Bonneville. A Kawasaki Mean Streak has also pushed for top nods in the past by running 149 mph. Both are marks we plan to beat.
"You can almost calculate how fast people are going to go," describes the motor technician. "Let's take that Honda VTX. You find out what their final drive gear ratio is; find out what their redline is; punch it into the computer and it will tell that with that gear ratio how fast it will go at that rpm."
Out with the old and in with the new - 11:1 pistons replace the 9:1 stockers.
The first thing Sherms is planning to do in order to gain valuable horsepower is port, polish, and flame-groove the heads. This increases flow both in and out of the combustion chambers. Stock heads typically have rough surfaces throughout the intake and exhaust ports, but smoothing out the jagged edges induces the fuel/air mixture to be ingested and expelled more efficiently. It's a lot like trying to drive down a road that's full of speed bumps. You're constantly speeding up and slowing down, but if the speed bumps are removed, you can drive uninterrupted. Big-inch motors have a lot of potential for power, but without easy aspiration through the heads, the fuel system can't be effectively utilized.
A big-bore kit will also be added to the Kawasaki powerplant in order to increase the engine size to 94.7 cubic inches (1552cc). Flat-top pistons will replace the stock concave slugs, increasing compression from 9:1 to 11:1. This will allow Sherms to be able use 112-octane race fuel and help propel our 2002 Kawasaki Mean Streak into the record books.
One of the areas that can stand to lose a couple of pounds for the better is the engine's bottom end, so Sherms is going to shave some weight off of the crank and the flywheel. They have plans for some more drastic alterations that will slim down the 637-pound behemoth, but there's no sense in spoiling the fun yet.
Kawasaki modified the cams on the 2004 Mean Streak to give it better performance, but that doesn't help our 2002 model. So Sherms is going to do a little updating in this area. They've figured out that degreeing the cams is a simple way to supply a few more ponies.
"We took the Vulcan to a new level when we did that," Mobbley attests. "We are just using the technology that is out there on the superbikes, on the cruisers, and it works."
In order to get the most out of the Mean Steak's tall gearing, Sherms plans on using SP11 IRC ProTech are Z rated tires. They were chosen for their larger diameter which will increase the effective gearing for our top-speed blasts.
In the Production Frame Class, builders aren't allowed to remove the stock fuel injection systems and replace them with carburetors, which would increase the power of the bike. Instead, Sherms is going to add a fuel controller specially designed by Mark Dobech from Dobech Performance. This redesigned fuel management system should give our Mean Streak better fuel flow without adding a larger fuel pump and fouling up the low-end power of the bike.
Adding extra electrical and computer components to the motorcycle is going to draw more juice. Unfortunately, the stock battery wasn't designed to produce power for all of these extras on the bike. The weakened voltage creates a dead spot in the low-end of the powerband. In order to combat this, Sherms is adding Black Magic to the bike. But this isn't the voodoo dancing, pixie dust, and chicken heads black magic that's displayed in the movies. It's a Black Magic surge protector that's installed in the bike, so it can maintain 14.5 volts, which supplies ample juice to all of the components and eliminates the dead spot.
With our best laid plans in action, we are reaching the building stages of the Bonneville Project. If you are interested in getting involved with the project, check out
www.shermscycleproducts.com for more information on getting your commemorative SCP & MCUSA 2004 Speed Trials Project patch and certificate of sponsorship. Also, check back for future articles on the Mean Streak project and continue the journey with us to the 2004 Speed Trials by BUB at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
