Castings Put the Motor in
The fastest motorcycle in the world was developed from a blank sheet
of paper and a little help from the metalcasting process.
Shea Gibbs, Assistant Editor
R
ocky Robinson couldn’t see
as he pushed the Streamliner
motorcycle he rode toward
300 mph. Several feet from
his face, the front wheel had
become misaligned, and the rotations
were causing extremely high levels of
friction. The resulting vibrations—traveling from the crux of the wheel into
the suspension, running the length of
a carbon fuselage, diffusing across cast,
fabricated and machined components,
and finally reaching Robinson in the
cockpit—were so bad, his eyes were
shaking in their sockets.
Joe Harralson and Denis Manning,
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along with several others on their
team, were able to see all too well on
that Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1996. The two
visionaries stood on the solid ground
of the salt flats in Bonneville, Utah,
disappointment the only thing clouding
their view. For eight years, the pair had
been working on the bike that Robinson now was bringing to a stop with
the drag of a deployed parachute—a
bike designed to break the world land
speed record. They thought they could
get the machine to 350 mph, enough to
beat the old mark of 322. On that day,
it wouldn’t top 280.
But the setback did nothing to diminish the team’s dream.
“We thought that the record was
within reach,” said Harralson, a mechanical engineer. “We really expected
to set it the following year.”
The problems seemed minor enough.
A few subordinate systems and the shifter
needed tweaking, but the bike was still
cruising under the power of an engine
design that hadn’t been altered since
the original plans were drawn up. The
engine had yet to experience a major
malfunction, relying on two cylinder
heads and an engine block all made in
the green sand metalcasting process.
Nearly 10 years later, when Harralson and Manning finally had their
motorcycle ready for another serious
charge at the record, the crew had a
new driver, a new chassis and a more
realistic attitude.
“You’re dealing with a book that has
blank pages,” said Manning, owner of
BUB Racing Inc., Grass Valley, Calif.
MODERN CASTING / March 2007
Record Breaking Cycle
A natural division of labor developed
between the men. Harralson, with his experience as an engine designer, designed
the metal components that would become
the engine, and Manning supervised the
overall construction of the bike.
Harralson initially envisioned casting the cylinder heads, engine block,
four injector bodies, two valve covers,
two cam carriers and a crank case—a
dozen castings all told—by commissioning a patternmaker and metalcaster. “I
wouldn’t have tried to make that engine
without castings,” he said. “It’s really
the only way to do it.” He was only
partly successful.
“It takes time to evolve.”
The page on which the engine
had been drawn, however, remained
the same.
Two Dreams Converging
Joe Harralson had never before said a
word to Denis Manning when the men
began working together.
Manning addressed the Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE) in 1988,
mentioning that he had preliminary plans
to build a motorcycle that would break
the world land speed record. Harralson,
an SAE member, paid attention.
“I went home, and the more I thought
about it, the more intrigued I became,”
Harralson said. “I decided to make some
rough layouts of an engine.” Harralson
began drawing up blueprints for the
components in an engine that would
eventually displace three liters and
make 420 horsepower.
With his layouts on the drawing
board but incomplete, Harralson invited
Manning to speak to a group of student
engineers at California State Univ. SacraMODERN CASTING / March 2007
mento, Sacramento, Calif. The two had
a chance to talk motorcycles over pizza
later that evening. Harralson didn’t mention that he already was on board.
Harralson had engineering experience
with metalcastings, so drawing up pattern
blueprints was well within his ability. He
contacted Manning when the drawings
were complete, and the two men quickly
were caught up in the project.
“As a normally very practical engineer, I should have known that the
project was impossible,” Harralson said.
“Like so many people, I was swept up
by Denis and his dreams.”
The central step to realizing that dream
was to build the powerful 3-L engine from
the ground up. It would be the largest
motorcycle engine ever built, excluding
automobile adaptations that have been
mounted on two wheels. Previous efforts
to make similar engines had sometimes
involved combining two distinct power
plants, but most of those piebald attempts
had encountered problems.
“We wanted a single engine, a V4,”
said Harralson. “It had to be packaged
to fit into the Streamliner, and the width
of it was determined by the width of the
rider’s shoulders, so a 3-L engine was
difficult to put in that space.”
Garage Band
The first time they ate together, Harralson and Manning dined on pepperoni
pizza. During the early days of developing the bike’s components, they met at a
Chinese restaurant. Manning reportedly
has a penchant for drinking pink Chablis
in a box. The team wasn’t exactly vying
for a position on the Fortune 500.
“At first, it was just the two of us,
and we had no budget whatsoever,”
Harralson said. “All the while, Denis had
multiple schemes to raise money, none
of which ever worked. He was filled
with wildly optimistic ideas and called
me with a new sure fire plan every few
weeks. The budget stayed at zero.”
Harralson did all of the drawings
for the cast engine parts with a pencil
and paper. His budget kept him from
investing in CAD software, and on
principle, he chose not to employ a
bootlegged version. Versed in programming language, he was able to design
some helpful programs himself, but
most of those were focused on modeling the engine as a finished product to
determine just how fast the motorcycle
might be able to go.
By the time Harralson had finished
drawing up patterns for the parts that
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The Streamliner’s record breaking engine includes 12 castings—two cylinder heads, an engine block, four injector bodies, two valve covers,
two cam carriers and a crank case.
would be cast, Manning’s business had
begun to grow—slightly. What started
as a garage outfit expanded to become
a barn outfit. So when Harralson visited
a patternmaker to have his drawings
turned into reality, the $20,000 price
tag still gave him pause. He decided
to make them himself.
“The patterns were made old
school—mahogany with a disc sander
and a lot of hand tools, traditional patternmaking,” Harralson said.
Nevertheless, the patterns proved to
be complex, and the specifications were
exacting. In addition to the mold halves,
Harralson made 11 separate coreboxes.
And he did it all using a set of tools
that were a Christmas present from his
wife, measuring with a shrinkrule and
gluing on fillets.
When it came time to make molds
and pour molten aluminum, Harralson
was unable to go it alone. Here, he
needed an experienced metalcaster.
their enthusiasm and the buzz they
were able to create in their circle of
acquaintances, all walks of manufacturers joined up free of charge.
Mark Thomas, Betra Manufacturing,
Carson City, Nev., offered his time and
resources to pour all of the castings that
would go into making the engine.
Bringing in a Caster to Go Faster
Harralson and Manning didn’t encounter budget constraints when they
started looking for someone to make
castings from their patterns. Owing to
22
The team dissected the first viable casting
poured to determine whether the cores were
functioning properly.
“I’d known Denis for some time,
and I’d done other work for him,”
said Thomas. “I took this job to give
my people the experience of pouring
different kinds of castings. We were
doing some parts for [aviation] ground
handling equipment and canning equipment—nothing very sophisticated. This
was a more complicated casting than
we had ever done, and the quality
had to be high. We had to stretch our
capability a little bit.”
Thomas says that, at the time, Betra operated as a machine shop that happened
to pour castings. They have since grown
into a metalcasting shop that happens to
do some machining, but in 1992, when
the first heads were cast in A356 aluminum, Thomas’ simplified operation was
lucky to receive quality patterns.
“Joe’s pretty hands on,” Thomas
said. “The one problem we ran into
was keeping the cores in position. In
both ends, we had to put a window
for the core prints.”
That was the only significant obstacle
they encountered on the metalcasting
side of the project. “Setting the cores
was tough for neophytes like us,” Manning said. “It took us a long time to do
MODERN CASTING / March 2007
was performed on a manual Bridgeport
The new set of castings is ready
it.” But once they did do it,
lathe, wasn’t focused on castings, as
to be mounted on a second
Thomas was able to get a
some of the parts were fabricated diversion of the motorcycle.
sound casting from his
rectly out of billet. But the more intricate
But obtaining a second set
green sand molds (the
machining occurred where the cylinder
of components for the next
only mold medium he
heads and engine block came together,
generation of the BUB
had in his shop) after
and there Jans used a CNC mill.
Streamliner hasn’t been
only a few iterations.
“There were a few dimensional eras easy when it comes
The first component
rors, but I found very few defects in the
to other parts. The team
that satisfied their
course of machining,” Jans said.
is still in the market
requirements went
In the cases where Jans machined
for a tire that can
straight to the band
parts directly from a hunk of metal, he
withstand the world’s
saw so they could
said he did so for expediency. However,
fastest speeds.
examine how well
he recognized that the castings were of
the cores fit. The
Machining Brings
a superior material. On a bike where
dissection led to
It to Life
thermodynamics are a key to success,
only minor tinkerthe cast components exhibit far superior
John Jans, a caing with the pattern
thermal qualities, he said.
reer machinist from
and the next pour
“This is one of the very few purposeGrass Valley, walked
produced a casting
built bikes to be manufactured in the
into the motorcycle
that was ready to
U.S. in a long time,” Manning said.
enthusiast’s equivalent
be machined and
“One of the most important things is
of Dr. Frankenstein’s
mounted. Thomas
thermodynamics; you have to make
laboratory when he
poured three sets of
sure you can cool the thing.”
paid a visit to BUB Raceach cast component
Harralson believes that the project
ing in the early days of
that would go on the
made a manufacturing convert out of
the Streamliner project.
bike and sent HarralJans, whether or not thermodynamics
He expected simply to
son and Manning on
played into the change.
pick up an exhaust system
their way.
“I convinced John that castings
for his Triumph and en“We made the castings
weren’t such a bad thing,” Harralson
countered an airplane-like
way back then, and we’re
said. “I think we won him over.”
motorcycle chassis, as well
just pouring three more sets
as raw engine castings and
now,” Thomas said.
Finally the Fastest
blueprints.
This time, owing to
The minor problems that Harralson
“It turned out that
Thomas growing his
this guy was a mabusiness from three
chinist, motorcycle
employees to more
nut and somethan 20, the castings
one who likes
will be a little different.
Betra Manufacturing
Number of miles per hour crazy projects,”
Harralson said.
now uses only primary
the BUB Streamliner, the
“He signed on
aluminum, transitioning
fastest motorcycle in
and donated
from secondary some
the world, traveled on
a bunch of
time ago. Thomas’ outfit
Sept. 5, 2006.
hours.”
also has improved its
Those hours
skills by transitioning
proved to be invaluable, as
into more sophisticated end markets.
neither Harralson nor Manning
They currently produce hydraulic
had the skill necessary to do the
valves for elevators and castings for
amount of machining that was
cryogenic pumps, impellers, transducnecessary to produce the engine
ers and diffusers in permanent mold
they envisioned. Plus, Manning’s
and nobake. Betra also is capable of
two old fashioned lathes were
centrifugal casting. According to Thomaging quickly.
as, the company now does a job for an
“Quite a bit of machining went
injection molding machine that it won
into the castings,” Jans said. “I stopped
owing primarily to exposure working
counting at 3,500 hours. That was all
with the BUB Streamliner.
before the motor ran.”
Harralson said he was impressed
All of that work, 60-70% of which
with Betra’s capabilities the second
time around.
“Mark likes to say he went from the
Engineer Joe Harralson designed the engine block
19th century straight to the 21st,” he
and cylinder heads, the most complicated castings
on the motorcycle.
said. “[The castings] are even better.”
By the Numbers:
350.884
MODERN CASTING / March 2007
23
Rapid Prototyping for a Speedy Group
T
he process Denis Manning and
his team dredged through to build
the world’s fastest bike was—to
exaggerate only slightly—one of the
world’s slowest. Future efforts to build
motorcycles with super speed will be
more appropriate, at least in a metaphorical sense.
“We recently obtained a rapid prototyping machine, and we’re cranking out
models on that,” said John Jans, sitting at
a motorcycle convention months after he
and the rest of the crew had watched Chris
Carr go 350.884 on their BUB Streamliner,
breaking the world land speed record.
The group invested in a stereolithography (SLA) machine, something that
BUB could have only dreamed about
18 years ago when it consisted of Man-
anticipated clearing up in a matter of
months after their October 1996 run
proved to consume years.
“We had endless problems with the
bike—tires, electrical and oiling systems
for the engine,” Harralson said. “The
shifter had to be completely redesigned,
and then it took quite a while to debug.
All the time, the basic engine was never
changed or modified. The problems
were always elsewhere.”
The one engine problem occurred
when they took the bike to Australia
for a test run. With the Streamliner approaching 297 mph, the engine threw
a rod, and the run-up was once again
stopped prematurely. It was around that
point that things began to look grim,
and with more than a few reservations,
Manning and his team decided that
ning and his wife, two lathes, a tubing
bender and a welder. SLA machines,
as opposed to those manual pieces,
are additive process prototype makers
that build plastic parts by following the
design of a computer model.
According to Jans, the prototyping
machine may be used to make adjustments to the existing land speed record
holding motorcycle, but it will primarily
be pumping out plastic for a 1,500cc,
v-twin version of the engine that will be
fitted on a street bike.
All of the castings for the new street
bike will be based on the design of the
BUB Streamliner, but Jans said that the
prototyping machine will make intricate
components such as oil pump castings
far easier to produce.
MC
they would have to build a new bike.
They did, however, transfer the original
engine components and transmission
design to the reconfigured chassis.
To complicate things further, Manning
and rider Robinson soon had a parting
of ways, and the team was left without
a pilot for their jet on wheels. But they
weren’t going to let a few bumps in the
road keep them from speeding into
history. After all, pink Chablis from a
box tastes a lot better when you’re the
fastest team on earth.
Once again, the team had hype on
their side. Manning posted an internet
ad requesting a rider who wouldn’t mind
becoming the fastest man on two wheels,
and he received replies from 50 worldclass racers. He decided on Chris Carr, an
accomplished street bike champion.
“Carr is the best rider in the world,”
Manning said. “He’s a virtuoso, and I
knew we’d get along.”
He got a chance to prove it on Sept. 5,
2006, at the BUB Speed Trials, an event
started by Manning that featured three
riders who were challenging the speed
record that existed for 17 years. One of
the three riders made Carr’s work a bit
more difficult on Sept. 4. Less than 24
hours before the BUB team launched its
bike down the flats, another bike hit 342
mph, breaking the longstanding record
and setting the bar even higher.
But Manning and Harralson believed
the BUB Streamliner could go faster.
Their goal remained the same: achieve
the 350 mph they thought their bike
could achieve. And the motorcycle
was finally ready, the many interrelated
systems and chassis finally catching up
with the engine.
“The bike is decidedly high tech with
two onboard computers and a monocoque chassis made from carbon fiber
and honeycomb,” Harralson said. “It
looks like a jet fighter with no wings.”
Carr strapped himself in, armed with
fire extinguishers and the nerves of
a competitive racer. On his third run
down the salt flats of Bonneville, he
saw a reading inside the Streamliner
that indicated he was going nearly fast
enough to break the record. In fact,
as he was soon to learn, he rode the
motorcycle to 350.884 mph, a new land
speed record.
“We vowed that if we ever got the
record, we would drink a toast to the
[people] that said we couldn’t do it,”
Harralson said.
Time to break out the Chablis. MC
The team working on the Streamliner grew as the project generated buzz; most volunteered their time and resources.
24
MODERN CASTING / March 2007