Steve
Burns isn't the only Mancunian who knows what it's like to exceed
160mph. His mate Dave Knight can do it as well.
"It started two years ago," Dave recalled,
scratching the stubble on his Geldof-like chin. "Secondhand
Katana 1000, 3,000 miles on the clock, 1,700 quid. I was out for a
ride one day with Steve, who'd already had his turbo for four years, and
I was flat out chasing him at about 110. He shut off and I whizzed
past while he slowed down to 80 or 90. Two seconds later he came
past doing (totally improbable speed deleted - Ed). So I though
hmmm, rang up NCK and ordered a Mr Turbo kit off 'em.
"I arranged to pick it up from the Boss, Graham
Nash at the Ultimate Streetbike Final last year. The next night I
fitted it to the motor, and by three in the morning it was ready for a
spin. It was awful, not even as fast as stock. Steve had one
go up the motorway and told me it was detonating."
At the time, this was a new word in Dave's vocabulary
and he didn't really know what it meant with the result that after 150
miles, the motor 'felt funny' during a dice with a GS 1000 and broke a
piston.
That taught him to run a turbo with the standard
compression ratio. The next step was to get V&M Racing to
rebuild the motor using bigger bore 1,105cc - but lower CR forged
pistons.
Two hundred miles later the Katana was off the road
again. Dave had suddenly decided that new paintwork (his own
design) and a set of 18" CMA wheels would be in order. They
certainly were: Jack Valentine at V&M Racing offered him a last
minute entry to the Street Drag Category at Bike World '86 in Doncaster.
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The tank, tail unit
and fairing came back from Dream Machine two hours before Dave set off
for the show. To qualify, you had to prove your bike was rideable
by negotiating a small course. The recently-assembled brakes
hadn't been bled but he somehow got round without hitting anything, and
won the class. Steve, lurking in the background with his Spondon, was
mere runner-up.
Even though Dave's engine and turbo unit is almost
identical to Steve's (and presumably just as powerful) getting it to run
properly isn't just a question of copying everything Steve does.
The Katana motor seems prone to building up a lot of crankcase
pressure. Initially it blew out all four cam bearing grommets (one
after the other) and now has three crankcase breather pipes to cure a
problem Steve doesn't have.
Out and out speed is apparently slightly better than
the Spondon. The Katana has two teeth extra on the front sprocket,
a larger rear wheel than stock and the ability to rev 1,500rpm past the
original nine grand redline. At this point, Dave says, the speedo
needle is pointing to where 175mph would he.
Acceleration is hampered by this gearing and the
stock gearchange. Dave's best time is ll.ls/136mph. The
terminal speed is comparable to some 10 second bikes so the next step is
an NCK air shifter to improve control.
None of this performance comes easy; at the drag
strip air temperature affects boost and boost affects the jetting:
insufficient fuel flow affects everything. "Yeah, it's total
ball-ache trying to get a turbo running right - it's just so much hassle
- but it's worth it when it does." |
