Iraq Moto: Zagraniski’s F450 Blog, Part 7

By Ted Zagraniski

For part 6, go here.

Do you remember wishing with all your might that you would get exactly what you wanted from Santa? Do you recall when you last rushed to your gifts on Christmas morning to find out if all your wishes had come true? Well, I had precisely that experience this year while flying out of An Nasiriyah, Iraq, to Kuwait. I found myself wishing just one thing for Christmas, and I asked Santa, God, and the Easter Bunny for it with all my might: I wanted to be back in the USA for Christmas. So when I woke up in Copperas Cove, Texas, on December 25, 2009, I didn’t have to open a single gift to know that all of my Christmas wishes had come true. After 357 days in combat, and the joy of being back in the United States and seeing my parents, there was just one more thing I needed to make my holiday season complete. So at my first opportunity I paid a visit to Killeen Power Sports.

When I walked into the shop office, I was reunited with Paul, one of the lead mechanics at Killeen Power Sports, and I soon learned he had served as primary fabricator (and shall we say, “mad scientist”?) on my Formula 450/GT3 bike throughout the year. With Dustin away on a well-earned vacation, Paul was kind enough to tear himself away from another ongoing project to give me a detailed introduction to my motorcycle. Monopolizing a mechanic’s time in a busy maintenance operation is no small accomplishment; the time I spent listening to Paul and his partners made me appreciate their efforts even more.

As I have learned, any fabricator will tell you that no part sold as a “bolt-on” can actually be bolted directly to a custom bike and expected to work. Over the course of the year, Paul and two other mechanics were forced to adjust, modify, tweak, or custom-fabricate all the little “puzzle pieces” that brought together a track bike from supposedly bolt-on parts. When it came to major steps forward on the project, Paul credited Randy—a soft-spoken and exceptionally dedicated member of the Killeen Power Sports team—with nearly every big leap forward made all year on our bike. After working together for more than two decades, these men have a nearly unconscious communication that allows them to fluidly complement each other’s efforts without stepping on anyone’s toes. Randy took the build through its major milestones, and Paul filled in the little pieces, parts, and changes to make all the big blocks fit together. All the while, another Killeen Power Sports wrench named Bill assisted both lead men and inevitably put his thumbprint on our project, too. Bill filled an essential supporting role to Paul and Randy’s efforts. By their combined abilities and no small amount of collective problem-solving, Paul, Randy, and Bill brought my dreams together with Dustin, John, and Matt’s plans. The result speaks for itself in a throaty, angry growl from the heat-tape-wrapped FMF full titanium exhaust.

Have no fear, readers: a short video of this beautiful bike at idle is coming in next month’s update. Hopefully, you’ll be able to hear all the secondary sounds that echo off the inside of the bodywork and that really make this bike’s voice unique—even at a standstill.

A unique voice is just one of many special aspects of this project. Would you believe there are three one-of-a-kind parts clearly visible in that image? There’s a one-off bracket underneath the top triple clamp that mates the front fairing support to the original X model’s headstock. Even the OEM gas cap had to be modified to work with the GT3 body kit. And the tank cover had to be cut away to eliminate interference with the fork. With so many custom adjustments and unique parts in only one area of the project, you can imagine the level of attention to detail that was required from the Killeen Power Sports team to get the entire bike working properly.

Another interesting example of a custom modification can be found at the rear-brake master cylinder. Maybe you’ve seen a CRF450X close enough to notice that the rear master cylinder is bolted to the right frame down-tube behind the right footpeg. You may also remember that the adjustable rearsets Killeen Power Sports chose for our project were designed for a Yamaha YZF-R6. Well, take a look at where our rear master cylinder wound up. The X’s cylinder is slightly smaller than the R6 bit. See the triangular bracket at the front of the rearset, where an allen key is holding the master cylinder in place? Yep, that’s another custom piece courtesy of the team at Killeen Power Sports.

Little finishing touches like those can be found all over the bike. After talking to Paul, Bill, and John about the many nuances of our project, I must say I’m very excited to see what it all can do. To that end, Dustin and Paul have conducted brief test rides on a closed course (read, “parking lot”) and—as Paul put it—confirmed that the bike “goes, it turns, and it stops.” Of course, slightly more detailed testing methods are available to us, so I’ve included with this update a photo of our project’s next stop. So long workbench, bring on the dynamometer!

I look forward to giving you a report of our dyno run along with the aforementioned video next month. Until then, have a safe and very happy New Year.