Warren Matthews

Jeff,
            What you see here is the newest rendition of the Yz400 salt racer now named the “baloney pony”. Its been awhile, well over a year actually, but hopefully I can pick up where I left off and then some. Life went all whackey on me and to quickly sum it up: moved back to Colorado but with no garage and ended up in a pretty dark place, so I joined the Army, got outta debt, moved into a better house and finally feel like I have life by the balls again. So here I am wondering if there is an opening within the ranks of FTW.
            The changes to the bike are pretty far and wide. Last time I was on the salt I spun tire at 111mph because of wind and being as emaciated as a half dead meth addict. And I looked like shit. So back to the drawing board I went. I slimmed everything down to a point where the pegs are where the bike is widest and that measures in at 19 ½”, skinny skinny skinny-suck it SoCal! With me on it, my fat-ass is the widest bit and I’m working on that too. While on the salt we added 22 lbs of concrete and got 2 mph faster, so I added 90 lbs of steel for this go around. To get my whole profile smaller I made a new “U” shaped tank and now look through the triple clamp. For a bit more power I went full-retard with the exhaust. Together with my dude at Olesen Moto we came up with a pipe that should perform a lot better with the trade off being a power band 300 rpm wide. The widest section of the pipe is 6” and total length sits around 70”, if it doesn’t do the trick, at least it looks pisser and I have an MX pipe as back up. I also enlisted my boy up in Montana, Adrien, to do the paint, he’s done a few hot rods and I think he nailed it, at least it looks faster AND matches my sweet Schwin seat!
            On paper it’ll do 141 and the record is at 137 sooooooo only time will tell at this point. 

Hope to hear from you, Warren.

Warren Matthews #9420

A/AG 500cc AMA Land Speed Racing - Montana

Word from Warren

So progress has all but halted over here at the Coconut Customs garage. With spirits and bank accounts at an all-time low, due, in part, to the long and cold Montana winter and several employers who have a unique ability to crush self-esteem; yet we will press-on.

Phone calls and emails have been exchanged and a plan is emerging. Recently I had the chance to look under the hood of a few dirt-track cars and midget racers. What I found was, on-average, hundreds of pounds of ballast strapped to the frames and under carriages. The same was found on the faster bikes out on the salt. And after a few short conversations with the pit crews I have come to learn that if there is a system for figuring out how much a car or bike needs to weigh for a particular track surface, these dudes either have no idea past a wild guess or they don’t want to tell me. Either way, what was evident is a need to have a ton of weight available and then just go with one’s gut. Fair enough. Hopefully the traction issue has been adequately addressed with the addition of 87 pounds of dead weight. This was made possible through a generous donation made by work’s scrap bin and a 3 phase welding machine.

Then came the task of finding a place to stick my head, it needed to be much lower in the bike. And considering the un-detachable nature of my melon, something needed to go away. So the stock tank was removed and tubing was ordered. What I came up with still needs to be finish welded but allows my noggin to dip totally out of the wind. Seeing the track will be an issue but I have gotten this far without knowing where I was pointed so I feel somewhat adapt at pinning it blindly towards the timing traps.

Outside of those two things, there is still much to do. An exhaust has been designed but not rendered; I still need to do a little more homework on the construction of that. New fenders also need to happen because the old ones got pretty thrashed but that task seems easy enough.

Peace out for now.

Help Warren Go Fast!

First of all:
Happy holidays! May you consume too much egg nog but still wake up in your own bed! I am in the market for a beat up, cheapo sportster tank. Rust is not an issue and leaks are fine, but it can't have any big dents. Drop me a line (sponsor@ftwco.com) if there is something like this kicking around in a shed, in a box or under a bench somewhere.
Thanks!
Warren Matthews

Word From Warren

My attention span is only so big, and it's now shifting towards some other fun. The mountains of Montana and Wyoming are beckoning and I will obey their call. It will be strictly a backcountry season this year and readying the fleet is paramount. The local pass is too expensive for what it offers and I would rather spend the meager pay I earn on bike parts. The time I will be spending waiting for the snowpack to build up I have hit the 2-stroke books. I have a dude helping me with the exhaust dimensions and have been pouring over notes concerning weight distribution and suspension. Jeff's post about the fundamentals of suspension was a decent read and helped to solidify some concepts I had rolling around in the empty can I call a brain. I will be fattening up the bike by about 100 pounds in order to keep the wheels planted, and some dyno time was instrumental in figuring out my baseline specs. So it's game on in the library, soon to be followed by full garage season.
See you when the sun sets.
PS: does FTWCO need a snowboard division?

Word from Warren

By the skin of our teeth we made it out to Bonneville, then things got tricky. I spent he first day waiting in line and arguing my way through Scrutineering while Dylan replaced the timing cover gaskets on the mobile sodomy station; it was pissing out 2 quarts every 200 miles.
Then, as it turns out, electricity and salt don't get along. This was made apparent during a testing session when salt bridged from the plug cap and grounded straight to the motor, sweet. It took the rest of the day to regain spark and we would have been dead in the water if it were not for a honeydew melon and another hungry race team. Because all of our money went into the gas and oil tanks we traded the melon for a non-resistor plug and everything started to come together.
Fast-forward to several runs later... wheel spin sucks. At the top of 5th while running 16-28 gears I should have been doing 126mph, I did 109. Super lame. So we stepped it up to a 19 up front to help reduce torque and up the speed potential, that got me to 107. WTF!?! The motor was screaming, I burnt out the temp gauge and that's it?!
After speaking with some other teams, we figured that the bike was under weight by a lot. After scoring some 2" conduit and cement we were 22lbs heavier and 4mph faster, but out of time and options. I could have leaned things out for more HP but to what end? No way I was going to make up a 30mph deficit without going back to the drawing board.
All in all I did my best for this year but my best sucked. Every problem that kept me from my goals was well within my control; no excuses. So in an effort to not fall on my face (again), I took a lot of notes, made some contacts and booked some dynamometer time.
Thing could have been worse though. For instance, if my friend Dylan (pictured on the left) had not been along for the trip, things would have been a complete disaster. Not only is he a great friend for cashing in his vacation time to come along but he is a fantastic mechanic, therapist and acquisition specialist; I wish him all the luck and cougar-tail in the world. Later.

Good/Bad with Warren M.

IT LIVES!!!!!! Considering the intake never completely closes, I feel like the motor actually running is a huge win. Although, when I was thinking it through, I am sure glad that we have extra reed petals cause those are the only things keeping the charged air in the crank. The wiring problem was solved when my head finally emerged from my assholes. So, I couldn't wait to start it 'til the next day, my world would have most certainly come crashing down. So I closed the garage door and started kicking. The cocktail of pre-mix, gasoline and engine assembly lube produced an overwhelming cloudy cornucopia that filled the garage within seconds, but we were in the middle of a heat cycle so there was no shutting her down, just grab the mask an hope to survive. I'm kinda surprised/alarmed that my neighbors didn't call the fire department considering the smoke bellowing out of my house. I think they secretly want my shit to burn down, dicks. Anyways, the van has also had it's chicken resurrected at least until it comes up with another diabolical plot to quash my hopes and dreams. So everything is in order (knock on wood) but there are still several weeks and several hundred miles to cover till the salt, so we'll see what develops.
(4 days later)
Yeah, thats my hand. Small accident at work turned into a few hours at the Belgrade Urgent Care Clinic. With a little under 3 weeks 'til race day and a ton of tuning to do, I now have 13 stitches and one broken finger. Now things are a little complicated. It hurts a bit, but what concerns me is getting my gloves on to wrench and race. I should be healed in time but to be safe I have Dylan on standby as the pinch-hitter. Lessons learned: make sure your best friends are about the same size as you, so when they have to be you, they can fit into your tight leather suit. Im sure there is another lesson to be learned but one a day is enough for me.
Warren Matthews

Warren Matthews Too Close to Bonneville

It's down to the wire. With three weeks 'til race day, here is where it all stands:
The motor has been ported beyond all reason and sits in the frame but has not been started yet, electrical spark is nowhere in sight but parts are on order, carb has been punched out like a cheap hooker, exhaust pipe calculations are based heavily in WAG methodology, the chassis sits strong and ready to rock, bodywork is being redone due to a MAPP gas incident, my transportation to the salt flats is currently sitting in the mall's parking lot waiting for a master cylinder to be installed, and non-refundable entrance fees have been paid. FML.

Word from Land Speeder Warren Matthews

Feeling very fast but very busy. I got a job and that has put a damper on garage progress. However, I sent my motor out to my dude for porting and it's been a few months and haven't heard from him... fortunately I have another engine if he's spontaneously imploded. The fairing is posing to be a bit of a challenge and new rules are putting me at quite a disadvantage. The record I want has been standing for 30 years and the fairing rules were a bit more lax back then (I think) That bike also has 100cc on mine. However, bulldogging my way forward has served me well in the past, so I continue to press on. I had made some fiberglass fairings but am a little disappointed with the how they came out so I think I'll be doing that again, maybe in carbon this time. I have also recently adopted a college student to do my math homework. I put flyers up at the local University's engineering department and got a decent response. Unfortunately once they met me they realized that I am just some wingnut and not a full-fledged "race team". I made sure to be wearing a FTWCO shirt when I first met them and the usual reply was "are you okay"? F those turds. The dude who was not discouraged by my persona is a gem. He is currently building a triumph chop and knows who FTWCO and COC are; win. We have a trade worked out: I am his voice of experience in motorcycle building and he helps me work out the go-fast on my salt racer. He totally gets screwed in this arrangement. Either way, fun is happening but progress is slow. Sorry this was so wordy but I live in montana now and don't know anyone around here. Later gators.
OOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Almost forgot, do you know anyone who knows about running tubeless with spoked rims? i need to get rid of some rotating mass and have an idea how i can get it done but it would be nice to talk to someone who has run with this. i promise not to rat-out anyone's race secrets and will keep any information shared as top secret. okay, buy buy.
Any help for Warren can be emailed to sponsor@ftwco.com

Word from Warren Matthews

Yo dudes, its full-on garage season up here in Montana! Still no big breaks in the engine-design department but serious moves are being made on the chassis.
A good friend welded up some tabs on the fork socks and thus begins the task of streamlining. Several new rules have been enacted governing the use of streamlining in "open class" vehicles and so I am pretty limited in options. In the class I am gunning for (A-AG 500) I have to have 210 degrees of front wheel showing and cannot cover up any of the back rim, nor can i have anything extend rearward of the tire. In addition, any rear fairing section cannot be 5" higher than the seat and my ass must be visible from the back. Okay fine. The fun part is that I get to make the fairings, but I really have no business handling any substance as sticky as resin. Moving on...
I got a sweet banana seat! It should add at least 3-4hp and more importantly, it's super cozy. In order to use it and get my profile lower I had to make the shock reservoir a remote one. A hack-saw and some Harley brake fittings made it an easy job. Also, in the rule book, its stated that my seat needs to be below the tire-line; looks like the 21" will stick around for another season.
Next is to get all the controls to work from farther back and to find a space warm enough to play with epoxy and fiberglass. Later gators!

Word from Warren Matthews

 Yo guys, I need a little help and maybe you can point me in the right direction. I need to hook up with someone who knows about fluid dynamics and venturis. The mental image I have of the perfect person would be a little nerdy MIT student who is pumped on oddball designs and knows their way around CAD modeling, and a working knowledge of 2-stroke motors would be  plus. I have a decent understanding of the physics involved but have no one to bounce ideas off of, nor do I personally have the resources nor mentality to beat my head against the wall with trial and error.
 I want to add a scoop to my 2-stroke and grab some free HP in the form of RAM-air. The complication I am running into is the shape of the scoop and the proper carb to run. The round-slide, 39mm Mikuni I have been using meters fuel based on the volume and speed moving through the venturi. If I successfully force air into the intake I will be increasing the mass of the airflow but not the speed and volume and thus will create a lean mix at high speeds. My solution is to get a CV carb, but what carb? I was thinking about running the same CV some dudes run on ironheads: 40mm keihin. They are easy to find and use, but where I need help is in the making of a scoop. The rendering is easy, I can make it, but the shape cannot be arbitrary. I can calculate the opening based on my engine's needs and the speed I am hoping for, but the shape is key and I don't know enough about gas dynamics to make it proper. To complicate things, I have very limited space, an odd motor and would like to integrate an air box based on a Helmholtz resonator. What's more, from what I understand about scoops, the openings are often too small until i reach the projected speed and beyond that they drag; sweet. I'm not sure how or where i can make compromises.
 Anyways, I welcome any and all input, but this may be a bit too involved for anyone to enter pro bono on, and I am working my way through a stack of books. Thanks for getting back to me.
Send any good ideas to ride@ftwco.com

Word from Warren Matthews

I found this on Loring's page, number 9402. It doesn't have my name next to it but no one else is gonna own up to making such a silly mousetrap. .  what was I thinking when I called this "race ready"? Granted its a solid bike and it slipped through safety inspection like a greased walrus, but ready to race?
Things to do: get those silly wires out of the wind, feet way further back, reversed shift pattern, HEAD DOWN, some slick fenders would help, lower the whole bike, HEAD DOWN, hands farther back and in tighter, enclose the rear section, gotta get my ass a little lower and get that bulbous, bean-can down and out of the wind...

From new FTWCO  Land Speed Racer Warren Matthews:

   I must say this up front: Land racing is a pretty slowly progressing thing. Races don't happen very often and are usually really far away, making attendance sometimes a bit tricky. There are also very few places to test  one's bike before competitions, making the whole endeavor a little silly. Couple that with me being a broke turd and things can sometimes take a little while. All that being said, I am not messing around. I really like this stuff and am not dropping it for anything short of catastrophic brain failure.
 
           This all started with a very simple question. My girlie asked "why haven't you ever thought  to race on the salt flats"?  To which I had no good answer. She immediately donated her dirt bike to the cause and asked: "how fast do you think you can get it to go"? Again, no good answer. That Spring, her '77 and my '78 YZ400's went under the knife and made a showing at the 2008 BUB Speed Trials. My top speed was very disappointing because of a gross miscalculation in my primary gearing resulting in a 89mph pass, what a bummer.

              Shortly after, we both relocated from CO to MA. The transition was very rough and work was scarce forcing competition to the back burner. However, progress continued. I made a new much lower frame and began sourcing parts for more go-fast. Aside from the frame, the best score was an old Yamaha wheel that bolted right into my set up allowing me to go from a 40 tooth sprocket to a 28. Fast forward a full year.

               While testing for the next available race, my "side A" motor reversed phase and switched to external combustion. But with a wave of some magic honing paddles, the "B side" motor showed enough promise to risk the entry fees. A week later we jammed up to Loring Air Force Base in Maine to bag the M-G 400/2 record with a 100mph pass (would have went faster if it were not for some sissy clutch springs).

             With next season I hope to run out of gearing completely and run the bike up to north of 140mph, and with the help of a super slick porter I have hidden in the mountains of CO, I hope to bag the AMA 500cc record of 139mph. More lofty goals include the SCTA record that sits around 170mph. I am back in the garage this weekend and that record seems a long way off.

Warren