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883 Sportster series bikes

Discussion in 'WERA Vintage' started by kenessex, May 14, 2023.

  1. kenessex

    kenessex unregistered user

    Does anybody know where there might be an old 90's 883 Sportster that was actually raced in the AMA series back then? I think one of those might be cool to have and resurrect if it could be found cheap enough. How modified from stock were they?
     
    418 and evakat like this.
  2. Pneumatico Delle Vittorie

    Pneumatico Delle Vittorie Retired "Tire" Guy

    It was of course a spec class so not much you could do. You did suspension, seat/tail section switch to clip ons. Stock bore, valve train, and carb were used. Most teams on Saturday night would tear the top end down to check the push rods and the complicated valve system.

    Fun as hell to ride! I spent a day at Sledges on one until they kicked me off it.

    Downside is where are you going to find a 90/90-21 and 150/80-16 race rubber? And maybe Bartel's HD still has a few?
     
    Last edited: May 14, 2023
    CR750 likes this.
  3. kenessex

    kenessex unregistered user

    Didn't they use a 19 front?
     
  4. Pneumatico Delle Vittorie

    Pneumatico Delle Vittorie Retired "Tire" Guy

    Brain fart 100/90 or 110/90-19
     
  5. CharlieY

    CharlieY Well-Known Member

    I liked that series as well....it would be cool to revive one of them, or more.

    A friend has a HUGE photo / poster (4ftx6ft or so) of Higbee running one, maybe Road America but not sure.

    I liked those bikes too.
     
  6. Pneumatico Delle Vittorie

    Pneumatico Delle Vittorie Retired "Tire" Guy

    Ahh good times for me in the 90s and brings back the famous 883 cheating scandal. One team was accused of changing the frame geometry, while one ported the cylinder heads and tried to blame the port's different look on Elf race gas, while another had access to HD warehouses where he was allowed to measure con rods to find the longest ones to help bump compression
     
  7. Boman Forklift

    Boman Forklift Well-Known Member

    Interesting. I don't know anything about this. Can you tell us more?
     
    footwork likes this.
  8. stickboy274

    stickboy274 Stick-a-licious Tire Dude

    I remember the Elf fuel claims.
     
  9. Pneumatico Delle Vittorie

    Pneumatico Delle Vittorie Retired "Tire" Guy

    OK. I think it went down like this. Don Tilley from Tilley's HD supposedly had a special relationship with Milwaukee, and it was said he was allowed to enter HD warehouses to measure con rods looking for ones that were ever so much longer for that tiny bump in compression and remember there was minimum modifications allowed outside of blueprinting the motors.

    I put the Bartels deal together, and that was the biggest 883 team to switch to Metzeler and that pissed off many. Ben and Eric Bostrom among others rode for Bartels vs. Mitchell's Modesto Matt Wait. And a bunch of other guys raced and competed with these three, but the main story was these two teams. And to put it in perspective the Metzeler ME33 racing front was much better than the competition's front but their rear was a touch better than the Metzeler rear. And Andy Fenwick rode on Contis.

    Bartels complained about getting walked down the straights, and a protest was requested. The AMA tore down Matt's bike and their heads looked different. The given answer was the Elf fuel is corrosive and that's why the ports look different. Meanwhile I think Mitchell's protested or talked about protesting Bartels for rake/trail frame modifications because their bikes handled better. Hint, hint the ME33 front tire. So, nothing happened with either protest. I've mentioned in other posts that Metzeler and Pirelli unintentionally ;) pissed off the officials, the OEMs, and a competitor. So maybe that had an influence on the result of said engine protest but who knows, right?

    A couple of years later when I was Teknic Snails Mangler I was dealer calls with the Modesto area PU rep Mark and somehow, we got on to the subject of the protest. He laughed and said WTF everyone in town knew something was up because Elf fuel was acting like acid on aluminum? Here's an interesting read about a jeweler's loupe used on the valve seats.

    Mitchell's Harley-Davidson SuperTwins Harley 883—From The Archives | Cycle World
     
    VFR#52, malik ross, MattTries and 3 others like this.
  10. Boman Forklift

    Boman Forklift Well-Known Member

    Thank you for taking the time to write this up. Interesting stuff.

    Tell us how you pissed off those groups, if you can?
     
  11. Pneumatico Delle Vittorie

    Pneumatico Delle Vittorie Retired "Tire" Guy

    At Daytona in the late 80s or early 90s the Metzeler race manager helped a Metzeler sponsored rider protest and claim Scott Russell’s winning rear tire in the 600 Supersport race. And holy shit how dare you claim a factory sponsored big buck rider’s tire at the biggest 600 race of the year.

    Then by the time I started in 94 the war was won big time. I had to fight to rent a garage at Daytona because the Speedway may have been told we were not serious about racing. But the thing that really caught the OEs and the competition off guard was the possibility of getting smoked by a bunch of MT60 equipped privateer riders in the rain at Daytona. Remember in those days the Japanese OEs had a huge influence on the market and racing, so can you imagine the meeting with those OE racing managers, the officials, and someone else after they saw the lap times we were getting in the wet? So that’s when I was told by the AMA the DOT approved MT60s were illegal to use even though they were on the tire homologation list and even in the Parts Unlimited dealer catalog. We planned better than the others, used the rule book correctly, and how dare us for trying to beat the factories.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2023
  12. kenessex

    kenessex unregistered user

    So nobody knows where any of these bikes are? They don't have any real value, so there must be some stuffed into the back of smebody's garage in pieces under a tarp with some boxes of parts and christmas decorations on them.
     
  13. 90kacoupe

    90kacoupe Novice seeking Help

    There was somebody racing one in the Thruxton class in AHRMA. I never realized what it was until seeing that article. It was either the real thing or a good replica.
     
  14. Linker48X

    Linker48X Well-Known Member

    Ken, those things had a very short life, I wonder if there are any actually left? And if one did survive, whether you would really want it after a close look? I was working on my bike at MMI in Daytona back in, maybe 95 or so, and several of these were there, having not mechanically survived the dirt track up at Jacksonville the night before. Think about that--a bike is actually running in a dirt track race maybe, what, 20 minutes?
     
    VFR#52 likes this.
  15. kenessex

    kenessex unregistered user

    Jamie,
    I bet you are right and if so, I should be able to find one in less than optimal condition for cheap enough that I would consider getting it. I think it would be fun enough and interesting enough to have an actual race bike from a pro series. Where are all the CBRs and FZRs from the early days of AMA ss 600?
     
  16. dave3593

    dave3593 What I know about opera I learned from Bugs Bunny

    So kenessex, are you planning on going to VMD at Mid Ohio? I remember your Harley at Nelson Ledges before it was worked out. Do you still have that one?
     
  17. kenessex

    kenessex unregistered user

    I never had a Harley at Nelson, must have been somebody else. I do have a 73 Sportster now, but it is always a work in progress. I did endurance race an 883 at Road America one year, but it wasn't mine, it was Alex Bub's. I have never raced sprints at Nelson, only a couple of 24 hrs and an 8 hr.
    I doubt I will make VMD, this year.
     
  18. dave3593

    dave3593 What I know about opera I learned from Bugs Bunny

  19. SundaySocial

    SundaySocial Blue & Gold

    The Bostrom brothers / Bartels spent a significant amount of time and resources with ARRA around that time frame.
    Some others labored to make an XS650 get around WSIR respectably.
    The silly things that fuel your dreams, and your labor ! Fun times.
     
  20. michael_chicago

    michael_chicago Well-Known Member

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