I’m smokin'. This is going to be a scrambled, heavy report, so grab a beer and relax. Just when we thought the Assalt Weapan effort was toast or in serious jeopardy, the gods of Stroker Motors stepped up. First we had a glitch with the frame and Paughco saved our butts. Then Berry Wardlaw called and announced, in somber tones, that he was faced with financial woes, and well, you know, trouble in paradise. I immediately spoke to Brett Smith at S&S and his team was on the case like ants on spilled ice cream. I was smokin' again, except that S&S doesn’t build a Panhead engine, or didn't at the time. We discussed a Shovelhead and a configuration for success at Bonneville with Eric and Scott from their racing department, but many things bugged me. How could I build a secret engine powered bike and write articles about it.

We started with Accurate Engineering, and I hated to switch mid-stream. Plus, this is the World Fastest Panhead effort. What the fuck? I went back to Berry, and he was dedicated to the project. I told him to stand tall, with his right hand in the air and his left on a 120-Outlaw 45 caliber pistol, and swear to the gods of salt that he could deliver. He quivered and answered in the affirmative. Berry is one hard-working brother. He's pulling through the hard times, getting back on track and building the best classic performance engines in the industry. We were rockin' once more. But when would his engine be delivered?

Regarding S&S, I thanked them profusely and offered to build a bike around one of their motors next year and take it from start to finish throughout 2008. Suddenly we were back on track. But that’s not all. As you will see, we’re messing with sheet metal with the help of a local biker, Jeremiah, a talented construction worker with a passel of ex’s who harass him constantly. Rick Krost from U.S. Choppers came over recently and gave me a hand with some of the sheet metal efforts, and suddenly we were missing a plasma cutter and had to muster the cash to buy a new one.

Here’s that knockout American wheel in place with the Avon Tyre. We'll shave it soon.

The performance master, Bob Bennett.

Beyond the shop woes and adjustments, we constantly reach out for information, knowledge and insight into making this the World’s Fastest Panhead. A Bikernet reader, Rick R., recommended that I find the March issue of Hot Rod magazine and read their article on Wind Tunnel testing.

Although I don’t trust levels, I use them like crazy to give me some guide to straightness.

Here’s an excerpt: "… As any bench racer knows, if a car is running at its top speed, then to double that speed would require eight times the horsepower. More practically, to go just 25 percent faster—say, from 125 to a bit over 155 mph— requires double the horsepower. Or you could go faster without adding a single horsepower by making the car sleeker, being more friendly about inviting the air to step out of your way. That means getting familiar with aerodynamics…"

Meet Tank, who is in charge of shop security.

That’s what we were talking about. I remember standing on the salt and someone telling me I had to push my hp up five times to increase my speed, while I looked at a 50-cc, 130-mph streamliner. Something didn’t jive.

This ol’ Hamster Air Dam might come in real handy.

Here are some other tips I absorbed from the article:

"Lower the ride height. Dropping the car front or rear will reduce drag.
Block the grill: Always get air around a car rather that through it. It also reduces lift.

"Add a front air dam: Keeping air out from under the car both reduces drag and neutralizes lift for solid aero gains."

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