I walked right into Panhead heaven, Accurate Engineering, and talked to Eric at the front desk. I introduced myself, and said I was there to seek an answer to a question from Bandit…..I could tell right away I was gonna like these guys. Eric’s got this big old black eye, with stiches….Rides a Buell, and has a mohawk glued to his helmet.

Eric says “Whats the question….and who is this Bandit?....You may need to speak with Berry.”

I shoulda seen this one coming….Boom, the lights went out. I awoke strapped to a chair in the back room, surrounded by Berry and his crew, including Molly the shop dog, who sat there growling and drooling, waiting for Berry to turn her loose on me…..

Berry started things off. He still had his welding helmet on and a pair of vise-grips in his hand he kept opening and closing….he asked, “OK, if Bandit sent ya, he gave ya the password, what is it?”

…..Jeez, I could just envision the big guy chuckling to himself back in Calif……I had to think quick here…..”Bonneville!!” I hollered. Eric and Foy dropped the jumper cables and put the Rattlesnake back in the shoebox, then went back to work, lookin’ mighty disappointed. Molly just wimpered and jumped up to lick my hand….

Berry said,” “Well why didn’t ya say so, what can I show ya?”

Sorta. He was still leary. I almost expected to hit the proprietary Information wall. I hold a DOD Security Clearance, and deal with it every day. Plus I could understand Berry’s concerns….he didn’t know me from Adam, and I was asking questions about why he was the best. Hell, I’d be careful with what I said if I were him too, but he didn’t have to worry about me. I’m nobody, who just happens to enjoy the engineering details!

We literally talked while he was welding on a set of rocker arms. Things were busy, and he had just made some personnel changes. ”You picked a great day” he said as he shook his head. So we just started BSing as he kept welding

Come to find out we had some things in common. He was working at the H-D dealership in Fairbanks, Alaska, at the same time I was working up in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. We had both run the haul road… He’d spent some time out near Bandit in Mojave / Boron, and I’d spent time out at Edwards AFB / Rosamond. I work on airplanes, so had he….he used to race bikes, I race now. I thought we hit it off pretty good. I really enjoyed talking to Berry.

Back to Bandits question….in general, I would almost have to list every component of the motor. Numerous parts are Accurate Engineering Proprietary parts, designed from the ground up.

The real answer is within Berry and his crew. These guys are true craftsman. They literally touch, inspect, and massage every part that goes into these engines, and bring it up to Accurate Engineering standards. It’s these standards, specifications, and tolerances that make these engines run hard for a long time.

On to Page 2...