Raptor Racer
Raptor Racer
PRIVATEER PERFORMER
H ow io BUILD A STREET-LEGAL roadracer? Easy: Start with a rep utable racebike. Aimed at AMA Formula Xtreme and NASB Form ula USA competition, the Muzzy Raptor 850 turnkey racer retails for $25,000 and produces a claimed 178 horsepower at the crankshaft.
It's based on a Kawasaki ZX-7R with, ahem, a few changes. "This is the full-race version of our Raptor streetbike," says Rob Muzzy. MAMA-legal Superbike is also in the works. "It will be a machine equal to Doug Chandler's," affirms Muzzy.
Chandler showcased the Raptor's eye-opening potential with a runaway win at the Daytona F-USA event during Bike Week `97. Privateer Steve Grigg is the prototypical Raptor buyer, however, having spent last season cam paigning a modded ZX-7R.
"We had about $50,000 into our `95 ZX-7R, and it wasn't as good as our Raptor," says the 28-year-old North
Carolina native. "Right now, we have about $35,000 into our Raptor program, including spares. Basically, it's an affordable way to win in F-USA."
Muzzys offers a long list of options for the Raptor racer, including a $6995 Ohlins fork. "The stock Kawi fork was a hassle to change spring preload," says Grigg. "We had to pull the caps and change the spacers. Plus, anyone who is winning is using Ohlins. It might be men tal more than anything, but anyone who's tried a good aftermarket shock knows the improvement."
Straight from the crate, the 365-pound bike impressed Gngg. At his home track (Roebling Road in Savannah, Georgia), he lowered the lap record by nearly 2 sec onds. Despite that impressive debut, Grigg still looks to Muzzys for advice on chassis setup, gearing, etc. "He's been a big help," Grigg says of Muzzy's input.
While Grigg experiments with chassis settings, Muzzys handles continuing development on the engine, which has a 2mm-bigger bore and a 2.6mm-longer stroke than a stock ZX-7R. "We return the engine every few races," says Grigg. "Muzzys is experimenting with cranks, pistons and rods, and we benefit from the updates." Current mods include gear-driven cams, lightweight valves, cylinder-head porting, forged high compression pistons, close-ratio six-speed transmission and billet crankshaft.
Grigg has yet to stand atop the F-USA victory podi um, but he finished second at Road America, and watched Dave Sadowski win on another Raptor at Portland. Grigg is confident the bike can deliver. "If I don't land a factory ride next year, we're going to buy a second Raptor," he says excitedly. A wise plan, indeed. Nick Ienatsch
