Iraq Moto: Zagraniski’s F450 Blog, Part 5

By Ted Zagraniski, in An Nasiriyah, Iraq

For part 4, go here.

As I wind down my tenth month serving in Iraq, I can say with confidence that this is probably the most exciting time for me and the team at Killeen Power Sports because of the progress and status of our Formula 450/GT3 project. I delayed this month’s blog entry somewhat for a couple of reasons. First of all, the mission out here comes before everything else, and I had a business trip on my itinerary for last week. Second, I wanted to touch base with Dustin Sterns, my project leader, and get his comments on the build to share with all of you. Of course, I would only realize after I hung up the phone that I should have been taking notes when discussing the bike, but I’ll do my best to convey Dustin’s thoughts to you.

At this point you must all be wondering what could possibly be so exciting about the project at month eleven. Well, a number of things converged during October, and we’re now achingly close to putting this bike through its first round of tests on the Killeen Power Sports dynamometer.

As Dustin said to me the other day, the team’s biggest accomplishment of late has been successfully attaching all the bodywork to the motorcycle. We all thought at the outset that mounting the plastics would be the very least of our concerns. Imagine everyone’s surprise when the body kit turned out to be a total flop! Mechanics and machinists working on the bike have spent many hours working some refinement and modification into the brackets and carbon fiber we expected to simply “bolt on and go.” The gas tank cover was one of their biggest challenges—turns out it interfered with the clip-ons and didn’t quite fit our CRF450X frame. Dustin told me that the final solution was a 1.25” bracket that took about eight hours to design and machine from billet. But once it went from workbench to bike—bingo! A little body shaving later, and the spacing problems were solved.

Every other part of the body kit also demanded some attention from Dustin and his team. For example, the lower fairing actually rested on the exhaust pipe in two places. As much as I’m expecting a hot ride from this project, I’d rather it not bake its own paint. The Killeen Power Sports solution was a combination of a strategically placed hole to clear the exhaust header and heat tape to wrap the pipe. The list of body modifications goes on and on. Sometimes the simplest step requires the most attention.

Our custom racer also required a custom subframe assembly. The guys at Killeen Power Sports realized early on that changes were needed to accommodate the racer’s seat. When we removed the dirt bike bodywork, we also had to find new homes for some electronic bits and the battery. Dustin told me he assumes that most teams probably zip-tie these components to the rest of the bike in a “best-fit” configuration. However, I’m glad to say that Killeen Power Sports prides itself on a certain refinement when building custom motorcycles.

Dustin and the guys worked hard to design a set of brackets for all the refugee parts. Instead of settling for a mediocre solution, hours of attention were poured into making the new subframe. I think the end result is nothing short of outstanding. Instead of zip-ties, our bike’s subframe uses brackets that almost look like OEM bits.

Another major hurdle the team encountered recently was how to attach our Vortex rear-sets to the bike. Our modus operandi throughout this project has been to source a part before we fabricate it. Sadly, all searches for CRF450X-to-R6-rearsets mounting kits came to naught. Once they got the green light to start from scratch, the team at Killeen Power Sports hacked up a superb pair of brackets in a matter of hours. They are even thoughtfully stamped left and right—probably for yours truly, if ever I should have to remove them from the bike!

As Dustin put it, we have just the slipper clutch, the airbox, the front fender, and the data acquisition unit to go. It won’t be long now! As soon as the airbox and fender come in we’ll be able to complete the pre-fabrication and send the bodywork off to paint. Our slipper clutch will be released from the factory to Tucker Rocky in four to six weeks; we already have it on order. If the black box requires another custom bracket, I’m sure the guys at Killeen Power Sports will be glad for the challenge; they haven’t balked at one yet, and this project has been full of them.

With so many bases already covered, I can’t help but feel confident in our pace and the direction of our project. Dustin told me the other day that literally every mechanic at Killeen Power Sports has contributed in some way, shape, or form to this custom build. The shop owner has come down to inspect progress from time to time. The sales staff has added our bike to its usual dime tour of maintenance for prospective customers. A couple of members of the public have even been intrigued by this motorcycle. It seems everyone at Killeen Power Sports is just as excited as Dustin and I are. After eleven months invested in this project, we all seem to have found a special place for it in our hearts. There is absolutely no way I could have guessed that my first conversation with Dustin over a year ago about a Super Single custom road racer would grow the way this project has grown.