And  With Sturgis 2000 looming over Bandit's head we've been firing away at the getting the job done. Bikernet East machine was well out in front in the competition when we wheeled the Agent's low slung Softail onto a slick Gold Rush semi and said goodbye as the rig, packed with Ultra machines, Big Dogs and customs from the west coast, headed east. Eddie Trotta from Thunder Design was more than happy to have the bike unpacked in his shop in Fort Lauderdale, so he could point a finger at Bandit's creation for Agent Zebra and bust out laughing, "You expect to ride that to Sturgis?" he said rolling on the floor of his shop. We weren't discouraged and neither was Bandit as we strapped the road wings wheels, the Weerd Brothers Front end on the Daytec rigid and went to work.  This was no ordinary installation. First, time was a factor, second it's no normal, stock carburetor swap. The 98-inch S&S motor offered taller cylinders and improper intake manifold fitment. The stock Super E S&S manifold was too big for the 42 mm polished Mikuni Carburetor. Stock manifolds shove the carb out too far and aren't wide enough for the tall S&S cylinders so a quick call was made to James Simonelli of S&S who rushed the correct manifold to Mikuni. Lee also wanted to explore an American Iron Horse manifold available for their customs which pull the carb in closer to the engine and "L.T." or James Little of American Iron Horse moved equally fast and the parts were in hand in one day. The next hurtle: The cables. A call went out to Xavier at Barnett Cables who turned about a set of Mikuni compatible cables which are set up the same as stock H-D cables, but cut to Bryan's specifications for the job. They also arrived in time. 
Bryan pointed out an adjustment on the left side of the carb as you face it, a main jet air adjustment. He told me to inform Bandit to turn it out a half turn in Denver for more compatible running in altitudes. The bike immediately fired to life for the first time. Two weeks to go. --Wrench Back to Custom Chrome on Bikernet.... |
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