Xtreme Street2

Xtreme Street2

Insanity with license plates!!! Cycle World's annual search for the quickest, fastest, nastiest streetbikes in America

NICK IENATSCH

SMOKE ROILED OUT FROM THE HAHN Racecraft GSX-R as a second-gear burnout bounced the turbo's scream off the empty Pomona Fairplex grandstands. The NHRA Winternationals had just left town, the right lane was sticky with VHT and anticipation ran high as the big Suzuki's Dunlop warmed to the task. The bike staged, the lights flashed and scant seconds later, 8.82 to be exact, the Hahn Suzuki posted an unbelievable number on the bottom half of the lighted time board a quarter-mile away: 170.8 mph! Welcome to Cycle World's Xtreme Street shootout.

`to fully understand this story, simply study the title. Xtreme Street says it all. The bikes must be extreme in their performance, appearance and modifications, yet they must be able to not only survive on the street, but actually func tion in the real-world situations we encounter daily. That means sidestands, turnsignals, mirrors, DOT tires and licenses with legal registrations. Each bike's wheelbase can be extended up to 6 inches for dragstrip testing, but must be shortened to stock for a street ride immediately following the quarter-mile sprints. The bikes can also be lowered for the dragstrip, but must be returned to stock ride height before venturing onto public highways. After all, Crete World isn't a race-sanctioning body. We test streetbikes,

and Xtreme Streeti~ the isaii of street-speed art.

For this year's running of achieving motorcycles to our two-day Florida came the New Tech CyclèH C turbo; from Pennsylvania, ProFab Motorcyc~~ normally aspirated CBR945RR; from Massa~h arrived Dracut Alternator and its turbocharged Ri 186; and from Illinois came the raucous GSX-R Turbo of Hahn Racecraft. California horsepower mc were represented by South Bay Triumph's turbocharged T595 and Two Brothers Racing's all-new Kawasaki ZX 9R turbo.

The speedfest began at Pomona's famous dragstrip, moved to the snaky environs f our favorite canyons and culminated in a rush of horsepowé!4at..the Honda Proving Center of California, where site managei~ Steve Pawling and crew allowed us to stretch the limits of each XS maè~j~eon the facility's 7.5-mile oval. The Southern California Timing• Association's Jack Dolan was on hand with his unblinking electronic timing lights. The numbers speak for themselves, and our time on the freeways and in the canyons proved that these were indeed streetbikes. Nasty, pavement-gobbling, wheelie-popping streetbikes. Insanity with license plates.

SOUTE BAT TRIUMPH T595 The Queen's sportbike gets a boost

If you frequent Bonneville or El Mirage, historical haunts of the straight-line speed merchants, you know Matt Capri. He's a 200-mph Club member, the owner of South Bay Triumph in Lomita, California, and a fun guy to talk horsepower with. For years. Capri has piloted tur bocharged motorcycles on the lakes and on the salt. They aren't particularly sophisticated, pretty or subtle, but when South Bay's under-i -liter Triple honked through the Pomona timing lights at 151.8 mph, looks didn't really matter.

Allen Harvey owns the bike, but Capri's function-first mental-

ity is apparent throughout. The bike feels racer-raw, with the barest of street equipment and a spare, lithe feel. The stock, single-sided swingarm prevented South Bay from taking advantage of our extension option, holding the bike to 10.13 seconds in the quarter-mile. This three-cylinder bomb accel erated so viciously that injudicious use of the throttle in third or fourth gear would smash the top triple-clamp into our tester's chinbar. Strange to think that too much horse-

power hurts, but when trying to launch a short-whe~1base motorcycle down the quarter-mile, the point becomes clear.

The single component that made these runs even pO~ib1e was a fabulous lock-up clutch of Capri's design; it offered exact feel and perfect control leaving the line, and helped to subdue the invariable wheelie, while clamping the clutch pack solidly enough to deal with the quick-hitting horse power. Unfortunately, the turbo's wastegate was jammed shut by a too-long actuating arm, and the Triumph overboosted itself and expired on its first top-speed run at HPCC. Despite popping the head gasket 300 yards from the speed traps, this tenacious Triple coasted through the lights at 171.102 mph while bathing the rider in coolant.

Capri's methods are beautiful in their simplic ity. "The engine is stock, filled with Torco oil," he says. "I got this roller-bear ing HKS turbo from Japan and added a Haltech Microfueler

fuel-management system to take care of a second stock injector rail. We fitted oversize Lucas injectors to kick in when the bike makes boost, helping out the stock injectors. We've been dialing it in on Hawthorne Boulevard." Classic Matt Capri. He sounds casual, but he has a few years and more than a few Bonneville passes worth of turbo experimentation into the Australian Haltech system.

Unfortunately, the Triumph suffered overheating problems at the dragstrip, despite a custom radiator made from a converted Earl's oil cooler-the then-undiagnosed overboosting problem was certainly the culprit. The South Bay team remounted the stock oil cooler under the seat.

While the turbo T595's horsepower takes center stage, its wheels and a few other chassis bits were chromed to match the polished-aluminum frame, and AirTech bodywork dropped weight a few pounds. The forks were shipped to RaceTech for a pair of Gold Valves, matched to a RaceTeched stock shock. South Bay chose Dunlop D207 tires, Sprocket Specialists chain rings to run the Tsubaki chain, and added EBC iron brake rotors and racing brake pads. The chassis easily handled the horsepower South Bay Triumph threw at it, and we were left wondering if the errant wastegate had prevented Cycle World from experiencing our first 200-mph Triple. Not to mention our first 200-mph Triumph.

Shockingly eager to wheelie in fourth gear/Sounds like a Y—8 mated to a blown Harley/Stuck wastegate ended a party that was headed to 200 mph STEEBTABJ Racebike—like detail—

ing/On1~i the bare neeessitie~ ior the

street/Chassis handles the extra power with aplomb/Big boost brought big heat/450 pounds half full

South Bay Triumph, 2101 Pacific Coast Hwy., Lomita, CA 90717; 310/784-7690

PROFAB HONDA CBR945RR

Nasty 900 in RVF Clothing

Chris Geiter's handiwork has appeared in motomags for years, but the feature stories have never produced performance numbers to explore the lunge behind the look. This time is different. Rather than just snap pictures of ProFab's trickosity. we lined up Geiter's bike at Pomona and HPCC to see just how well this beautiful Suzuka Eight-Hour replica works. Quite well, thank you very much. Since Geiter's no dummy, he went for the best while assembling this 945cc engine. Falicon's rods and Supercrank started things off, holding

Wiseco pistons and geared to a transmission undercut by Fast By Gast. Geiter credits the impressive 142.31-mph

dragstrip terminal speed to Mike Velasco Racing. "Mike spent a huge amount of time on this head, adding 1mm oversize intake and 1.5mm oversize exhaust valves. He's developed cam specs that really work, plus some trick oiling procedures. It's the headwork that really makes this thing run," Geiter says of the 945.

The result came off the truck with perfect jetting, a mile-wide powerband and a hit that impressed even our turbo-addled testers. It made seven dragstrip passes and seven top-speed runs, posting its best efforts on the final run at each venue. is

Even with the knockout numbers the bike posted, Geiter is still learning. "I vented the crankcase into the airbox, and with the speeds we were running, I believe airbox pressure was also pressurizing my cases, preventing the bike from revving freely," he said. "I'd like to re-route the vent tubes and run it again." Geiter's post-test discovery was obviously frustrating, but illustrates the learning curve many XS competitors must ride. After all, this kind of speed is available in very few places.

ProFab's chassis sophistication leads this extreme test. Stock suspension has been replaced by a WP fork in Kosman adjustable triple-clamps, and a Fox rear damper acting on MVR link plates. Brembo Goldline calipers squeeze Brembo 320mm floating rotors up front, and two miniature Performance Machine calipers are bolted to a ProFab bracket to act on the rear 8.5-inch PM floating rotor. Why two binders? Because under the left handgrip is a Graves Motorsports thumb-brake; Geiter included the standard foot pedal so testers wouldn't freak.

A PM 6.25-inch-wide rear wheel matches a standard-sized front, shod with Avon Azaro tires (Geiter also runs Dunlop D207s). The AirTech RVF-replica glass holds a CBR400 headlight mounted just ahead of a multi-function Stack tach, and another fastidious paint job by the supremely talented Elmer Blackstock puts the glitter on this diamond. Every one of these trick pieces mounts with Yoyodyne titanium or aluminum fasteners, of course. Not surprisingly, the ProFab Honda weighed-in as the lightest XS gun, tripping the HPCC scales at 390 pounds with 1.5 gallons of gas in the expanded steel tank. All the more impressive, considering this Honda wore all the required street equipment, right

down to a working horn. Though the turbos posted bigger numbers, the ProFab RR clearly illustrates that a lean and clean Eight-Hour replica fits perfectly in Xtreme Street. XTREME: Short wheelbase killed ET but thrilled testers/As good-looking as it is hard-running/Airbox pressurization problems held the bike to "only 181 mph on top Full complement of

street details/At home on any starting grid/Chassis sophistication on par with factory racers

ProFabMotorcvcle Service, 5949 Hamilton Blvd., Wescosville, PA 18106, 610/481-0097

TWO BROTHERS RACING KAWASAKI ZX-9R

Streetable Kawashocki

In two short days. Craig Erion was hooked on Xtreme streetbikes. When he first arrived at Pomona, the owner of Two Brothers Racing couldn't have cared less about his Kawasaki `s performance in the quarter-mile, and top speed wasn't much of a concern either. "We just wanted a good running streetbike, so we bolted an

Aerocharger turbo onto a stock ZX 9R," he said. `It runs 8 pounds of boost and blows through the stock airbox and carburetors.. .but after getting a taste of this stuff, I've got some big plans for next year!" We can hardly wait because the TBR effort was impressive-except for one mistake.

TBR certainly nailed the look we love at XS, asking: Paint-n~P1ace to spray the. stock.bodywork with wild orange, green and

white ribbons, set off with black wheels carrying orange pinstripes. Get your RayBans! Erion's racing background pushed him toward a set of lightweight PVM magnesium wheels carrying Galfer rotors squeezed by Performance Friction brake pads in the stock calipers. Galfer also sup plied the stainless-steel brake lines, while Pirelli provid ed Dragon tires and Fox supplied the rear damper. The only additional chassis changes were adjustable TBR clip-ons and a GP-inspired double-bubble windscreen from Zero Gravity.

The chassis changes don't take much ink to list, and nei ther do the engine mods. Everything's stock, with the exception of a Factory jet kit and billet right-side cover. Erion and crew designed and welded-up the turbocharger's necessary exhaust plumbing in stainless-steel, and a cleanly integrated intercooler helped make the most of the turbo. In keeping with the streetbike theme, the engine exhaled through a civil TBR filament-wound carbon-fiber exhaust canister. Initial testing pointed to the need for an additional fuel pump to supply juice under boost, and TBR addeda fuelpressure

gauge to the stock instru ment cluster. Clean, quiet and well done. And that brings us to Craig Erion's big mistake. After shining at the drag strip with a I 0.09-second, I 43.9-mph wheelie-fihled run, and wow-

ing us all on the street ride, the TBR. effort arrived at HPCC for a little "What'll she do?" action. Having little experience with boosted bikes, Craig had called AFAM sprockets and "...ordered some really tall gearing, enough to go four teeth taller than stock." Oops. Unfortunately, turbos go through gearing like twin toddlers through Pampers, and the ZX-9R banged the rev-limiter almost immediately, posting a gearing-limited (but nonetheless impressive) 192 mph. Erion kicked himself all the way home, but he's a quick learner. As he latched the doors on the sano TBR rig, he let us know, "This is the last time I bring a knife to a gunfight!"

XTREME: Note to Craig: Gear Lor the moon/Retina-popping paint matches periormance/ Chassis can . get into the corner, engine can

get out/ Teeds extended swingarm at Pomona STI~EETABILITY: Stock parts guarantee rideab ility/ Turbo parts wonderfully integrated/ Remarkabl~' unstressed under all testing conditions Two Brothers Racing, 12 13-A East Hunter Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92705, 714/550-6070

NEW TECH CYCLE HONDA CBR900RR

Sanitary Insanity

There's a tiny toggle switch on the right handlebar of the New Tech 900RR that takes the bike from demented (8 pounds of boost!) to crazy fast (12 pounds!!) to criminally insane (14 pounds!!!) by electronically controlling the Aerodyne 350cfm turbo's output. This little switch could be placed in any of the three positions at any time-depending upon how quickly you wanted the bike to flip over when it was at stock wheelbase, or lunge down the quarter-mile in its long-wheel base guise. We found that launching from Pomona's christ mas tree with 8 pounds of boost

and then flipping to 14 pounds upon engaging second gear felt righteous and netted impressive results: 9.54 seconds at 153.8 mph to be exact.

However, owner Barry Henson admitted to arriving at XS2 without a fully loaded weapon. "We've had a problem bending the turbo's vanes when it overboosts. That means it's losing boost at high rpm," he explained. Too bad, but it couldn't dim the brilliant effort this team put together. Only ProFab's Honda CBR945RR could match the New Tech team's level of detail and factory-like fit and finish, high lighted by Bruce Fishman's powdercoating skills and T&R Custom's abilities with a spray gun. From the sano swingarm modifications to the tasty row of switches on the right fairing panel to the Pi Research onboard diagnostic system, this RR exuded class and engineering sophistica tion. It hauled ass and never even hiccuped.

You must do your homework to produce a bike like this, and New Tech's toil includes a set of JE pistons and Carrillo rods attached to a Falicon Heavy Supercrank, all assembled by Kenny Fahy. Barry Kondracki at Full Lean Racing ___________ ________ fabbed up the trick under-

seat exhaust sys tem. The stock carburetors were tossed in favor of a Mr. Turbo fuelinjected tur bocharger system, which the team dialed-in to perfec tion. It idled, it revved right now and even had great partial-throttle manners, a diffi

cult accomplishment on a big-numbers turbo bike.

We loved it in the canyons because Henson and crew spent as much time with the chassis as they did the engine. A pair of 17-inch Marvic wheels worked in conjunction with an Ohlins damper and well-sorted fork held in Erion Racing triple-clamps. Henson rounded out the chassis with Performance Machine six-piston calipers and PM front rotors, with a Yoyodyne titanium rear rotor. Hard to fault a combination like this, and nobody did.

In an effort to better their 203-mph top-speed run, New Tech filled a 2-pound nitrous bottle hidden under the seat for the final two passes. While the turbo system and chassis were fully sorted and proven, the NOS system needed a bit more work-either the bottles were inadequately pressurized or the laughing gas "hit" was too small. The day ended before we could find out.

We did have time for a bit of high-speed heroics, though. With special permission from Honda VP Gary Christopher, we chose the New Tech Honda to set a closed-course lap record at HPCC, and did so with an average speed of 172.767 mph around the 7.456-mile course, despite a hugely chunked rear Michelin. We held the little.red Honda wide-open down both 1.25-mile straights, and as close to wide-open as we dared around the two 2.5-mile corners for the 2 minutes, 35 seconds it took to complete the lap, leaving no doubts as to the impressive reliability built into this rapid 900RR. The team left HPCC with a track record and left us with a lasting impression of bullet proof, and bulletlike, speed. XTREME: Showbike that hits like a racebike/Impressive electronics to

control boost and injection/Bent impeller hurt top end/Nitrous system misi'ired/HPCC lap record holder STREETABI1ITY: Track-tight chassis inspires confidence/Amazingly subtle touches on a 203-mph streetbike/Spoton Mr. Turbo EEI system New Tech Cycle, 4907 N. University Dr., Lauderhill, FL 33351; 954/748-1114

DRACUT SUZUKI GSX-R1186

Beast from the East

Eric Paquette's frustration was tangible as his GSX-R tripped Pomona's timing lights at 9.75 seconds and just over 150 mph. "This thing runs low 9s and 160 all day long," the New Englander muttered. But there was a hitch in the turbo 'Zook's gitalong as the motor refused to pick up after shifts, bogging momentarily before throwing our rider back into warp drive. Too bad, because when the power hit, the pavement blurred.

Paquette doesn't represent a tuning shop and isn't a parts hawker; he's simply a horsepower enthusiast with a high-tech bent. His '92 Suzuki wore a fuelinjection system sourced from late-model GM cars, breathing through an intake manifold that Paquette fashioned himself. In fact, most of the parts and pieces on the bike came from the mind and hands of this talented fabricator, including the modified triple-clamps, the aluminum fuel tank, all the fairing brackets, a clutch cover that accommodates the lock-up clutch...the list of stock parts is shorter than the list of pieces touched, changed or replaced. It's been an ongoing engineering love affair, assisted by Rick Stetson at Harry's Machine, who took care of the headwork and other machining duties.

"We can electronically set boost in any gear," Paquette told us as he attached his laptop to the bike's brains, "which

allows you to launch with manageable power and build boost through the gears. You can shift with your foot, with the horn button or the bike will shift automatically at 10,500 rpm-or wherever we program it. On automatic, let out the clutch and drive it like you stole it. Just tell me

what you want." We even took two dragstrip runs with the laptop in place, but failed to uncover the post-shift bog problem at Pomona. At the top-speed site, Paquette and his crew from Dracut Alternator Service spent hours checking and double-checking the systems, finally diagnosing a faulty pressure switch controlling the wastegate. Too bad the discovery wasn't made before the dragstrip. The fix did, however, net the team an impressive 213.776-mph top-speed pass at HPCC.

With its wheelbase extended for the speed runs, the DAS bike ran straight and true; we couldn't have asked for a more well-behaved motorcycle at speeds almost four times the double-nickel. Then, just about the time the team was dialing-in fuel mixture from a safe rich condition, a light tapping in the cylinder head signalled the need for a rocker arm adjustment. With time dwindling, the team sat on its 213-mph pass, putting their bike in the rare air of motorcy cles capable of busting 210 mph.

Since Paquette enjoys this bike on the street, he spared no expense on chassis upgrades. He added Brembo rotors and six-piston Tokico calipers actuated through an AP master cylinder, with a pair of trick carbon-fiber Dymag rims holding Pirelli Dragon tires. The swingarm is a modified GSX-R1100 unit, though Paquette often runs a short 750 arm on the street. Can you imagine fourth-gear wheelies? Paquette can.

While a few of this red-and-white bike's details were somewhat rough, the basic package proved unbelievably tough-and we ran it hard. Paquette credits Motul oil for the engine's longevity and performance, and made a few modifications and additions to extend engine life, such as separating the stock oil pump into two single chambers. An oil cooler receives oil scavenged from the turbo and cools it just

for the cylinder head, while the other side of the pump sends Motul to the usual hot spots. Paquette designed a liquid-toair intercooler-on an oil-cooled motorcycle!-by fabbing an ice/water tank complete with pump to move cold water past the intake charge; we only filled the intercooler tank once and that was good for 213 mph. That final run, the one after Paquette finally discovered the errant wastegate valve, made this team's drive from Massachusetts worth the effort. Hey, can we go back to the dragstrip?

XTREME: Tech sheet reads like a NASA project/Wastegate flutter ruined the first da^/Car parts, bike parts and Paquette s parts jell thrillingl^/Made 421 rear-wheel ponies at Daytona s HP Shootout

STREETABI1ITY: Inconsistent idle quality/Function—first details/Tank mount accommodates lagtop/Racer graphics say "Arrest me now! /490 pounds completely full (gas, intercooler, nitrous)

Dracut Alternator Service, 1901 Bridge St., Dracut, MA 01826; 978/452-2735

HAHN RACECRAFT SUZUKI GSX-R1117

Simply the World's Fastest Streetbike

We asked each XS team to ride its bike from the Pomona Fairplex to the site of our street testing, a freeway and canyon jaunt of about 70 miles. But after the record-setting quarter-mile blast of the Hahn Racecraft GSX-R, one of the CW editors decided to discover first-hand just how streetable this Chicagobuilt bruiser was. Owner Kent Stotz and genius tuner Bill Hahn, Jr. shortened the wheelbase, raised the bike, unplugged the Pingle air shifter and turned us loose with a casual wave.

Seventy miles later, their confidence was justified.

How was it, really? Well, the chassis is decidedly tired, which happens after about 650 quarter-mile passes by AMA

ProStar Quickest Streetbike Champion Stotz, and that looseness can be felt over the ruts and bumps of L.A. freeways. In its short-wheelbase guise, the old Suzuki handles truckishly, but can run as quickly as the rider dares and accelerates far too hard for any CHP-patrolled road. The bike stops great, idles perfectly. has a pair of usable mirrors and provides partialthrottle fuel delivery that should make Hahn proud. We rode it through the rain and cold of a California winter day, enjoying every minute of it and reveling in the occasional blast to 120 mph between groups of traffic.

Street amenities have been replaced by race-boy needs. There's no tach, just a shift light, and the speedo and horn have long since been ditched. A huge aluminum intercooler resides inside the AirTech fairing where the headlight once lived, and the AirTech fender now holds a tiny light that might be legal somewhere in the world, but not in California. The left handlebar switches no longer control tumsignals and high/low beams, instead setting the boostcontrol system that Stotz and Hahn have developed. "Over the last three years, we've tried about 12 different turbo combinations," Stotz related. "This turbo spins up quicker than last year's, it's a completely custom setup done by Bill. Another big step for us came with the refinement of the boost control, and I credit those refinements with this year's 170-mph quarter-mile speed." Last year, the bike sprinted to 163 mph in the XS quarter-mile; the 7-mph improvement is huge in drag-racing terms. And it led us to expect big numbers at HPCC. We weren't disappointed.

Since the Hahn bike owns the HPCC speed record at 233.766 from last year's XS competition, all eyes watched the bike's every run. And as impressively as it ran, 224.438 mph to be exact, a new top-speed record wasn't in the weather charts. Last year, an 18-mph tailwind pushed the bikes through the traps, but that "El Mirage Horsepower" didn't make an appearance this time. Nonetheless, the Hahn entry set the pace not just in pure numbers, but in the team's ability to move forward with each run, relying on Dynatek onboard diagnostics to set boost pressure, fuel delivery, ignition system and chassis dynamics. Dynatek plays a huge part in this team's reliability, consistency and speed, and when coupled with Hahn's intrinsic ability to build break-

proof engines, it's a winning combination of technology and technique. "The Dynatek data-recorder allows us to make three or four changes at a time, rather than one change per run," Stotz revealed.

The chassis carrying these goods wears trick RC Components Triton prototype wheels, the rear 6.25 inches wide and wearing a car-like 200/70-17 Michelin. Traction is not a problem. The team turned to Vince Costa at American Made Motorcycle Suspension for a rear damper. A new Tsubaki chain and RC Components sprockets were the only other changes made to this war-weary chassis since last year. Its age and abuse affected the drive out of the comer leading onto HPCC's timing straight, spinning the tire in fourth gear as the bike slithered off the comer at over 160 mph. Do the math: If you can't get off the comer, you have an effectively shorter straight. Hahn's onboard diagnostics showed the bike entering the speed traps at 10,200 rpm, about 700 rpm short of optimum; a longer straight would see higher numbers and a better chassis would lengthen the straight. But no matter, this bike mies straight-line contests, acquits itself well on the street and has re-written streetbike records for the past two years. Because a new bike is in the works, it won't be back next year, but the Hahn Racecraft Suzuki may remain the XS target for years to come. XTREME: Hardest-hitting streetbike in the vv'orld/Record-setting Pomona numbers in only five runs/Tired chassis squirms and bucks against the onslaught of bhp/Tech trickery controls power and ensures reliability/HPCC legend STREETABILITY: Easily handled the street ride/Stock Suzuki comfort/Power wheelies at 120 mph/ Adds vocabulary: "Hello, Officer, nice day..."/497 pounds with 2 gallons of gas

Hahn Racecraft, 1981 D Wies brook Dr., Oswego, IL 60543; 630/801-1417

ENVELOPE EXPLORATION

Mr. Editor Edwards looked around the paddock at the Pomona Fairplex approvingly, and said simply, "Nice bikes." Those two words spoke volumes about the six machines involved in XS2, bikes that were near (or beyond) the outer edge of the streetbike performance envelope, yet started with a push of a button, idled in traffic on Foothill Boulevard, cruised freeways at the speed limit in your choice of four gears and then lit up riders' faces through California's legendary canyons. After all, CWcould invite a bunch of dragsters or Bonneville bikes if we just wanted big numbers. This group brought us the rolling imaginations of men trying to build the nation's most Xtreme streetbikes.

Coming up with a bike for Cycle World's annual California speediest requires that a tuner satisfy all aspects of streetability and straight-line high performance, and this year's crop of Xtreme addicts discovered how tough it is to mn serious numbers on motorcycles required to pull street duty. Eric Paquette traveled all the way from Massachusetts only to discover a boost glitch that hurt him right up until the final topspeed pass. Craig Erion got a lesson on turbo gearing, and also learned that without chassis trickery at the dragstrip, big power is actually a liability. Chris Geiter uncovered an airbox pressurization phenomenon that would never appear in even the most rigorous non-XS riding. Matt Capri's engine overboosted and popped a head gasket under the all-telling gaze of HPCC's mean timing straight, a stretch of pavement where bullshit stops and simple numbers tell the story. Barry Henson's New Tech team never came to terms with a nitrousoxide injection system that wasn't matched to an engine traveling at 200 mph. Xtreme Street2 placed all these teams at the outer edge of an envelope that few will ever lick, an envelope that Hahn Racecraft has sealed, stamped and delivered for the last two years. The challenge continues. □

Cycle World extends a special thank-you to American Honda 's Gary Christopher and HPCC's Steve Pawling for their help with this story.