Racer, fabricator, and welding guru Nitrous Chris sounds off on the topic of building a bike. Whether it’s prepping a race bike or getting your own custom off the ground, he’s laid out some tips below to help you get started.
Chris putting heat in the meat
Man where to start! first, you nailed it when you mentioned in your tech tip, when you said to start small. Like with a carb rebuild. Too many people start a project and are in over their head in 2.3 seconds! With that said, when people ask me about my bike and how to go about doing something similar, I break it down for them like this. Set a goal, a visual goal for motivation (BIG part! have a vision! day dream about it!) and since we are just talking drag bikes here, an ET goal as well. don’t come out of the box looking to run 6 seconds, be realistic. pick a time that is attainable, and MAINTAINABLE! Many times, new builds fall victim to the “I cant afford to race what I built!” disease. These bikes don’t maintain themselves and they WILL break and wear stuff out. So set a real goal “zone” you will be happy with, can afford, and keep alive and at the track where you can enjoy the fruits of your labor! It took me 7 seasons to get this bike to where it is now. I make changes and upgrades every winter, and I do it out of pocket and paycheck. I WILL NOT charge card, ANY bike parts, its an exercise in patience which makes it even more rewarding in the end!
Set a goal, a visual goal for motivation (BIG part! have a vision! day dream about it!)
What I usually do, no matter if its a fresh build or a winter refresh / re-build, I make lists, WISH lists! These lists can be things I need to change, want to change or just plans on upgrades. I break the bike down into 3 areas. Motor, chassis, electrical. So all this season I have been making small changes to gain performance without TOO much down time. But now that it is winter, its time to forget social life and prior time commitments! Its time to get down with the plan for next year, to straight up, shit, on everyone else’s day! A huge part of putting together a real deal RACE piece, is staying motivated, productive and most importantly, on track to the end goal/ vision. This is where all the internet shit talking comes into play, its all in fun, but can be motivating! And once you start tearing into the bike, DO NOT STRAY FROM YOUR PLAN! You will never finish, or improve on last year, if you are easily distracted or detoured.
First step for me now that the weather is turning bad, will be to drop the motor. I always go thru the motor every winter, no matter the condition. Ill drop the motor and put all the body work in bags, and hang it in the trailer. Safely out of the way! then the chassis gets put on stands and covered, and set aside. My focus will be the motor ONLY! I start with tearing the motor down and separating it into “sub assemblies”. Not really looking at or inspecting anything yet. just a complete break down. Then I take a break and head home! NEVER do too much in one day! Don’t work sloppy tired! This thing goes 170 mph plus, if I miss something or lose track of something, shit will go south in a hurry! So, next trip out to the shop, ill work on cleaning each and every piece, and now inspecting. Any OEM stuff that needs replacing, will get listed on a recipe card (100 for $1 at the dollar store) and I will place an OEM parts only, order, that night with whatever seller has the best price on my bulk order. Usually just some seals and O-rings, bearing and guides. Now I get out my goodies list that I have been making, of motor performance mods! ill prioritize that list since some of the stuff can be expensive. Ill then decide what I can get ordered first, to be able to at least start, reassembly. And once parts start showing up, ill start reassembly from the bottom up, all while replacing the worn OEM items and adding in any upgrades. I may have to do this a few times over time, as I save and order parts for the next step of the rebuild. But I try to always have stuff slowly but steadily showing up. Once the motor is done, it gets saran wrapped and set aside. Normally id put it right back in the chassis for break in, but I have some stuff to do to that as well that will be easier with the motor out. Now its on to the chassis and electrical stuff!
NEVER do too much in one day! Don’t work sloppy tired! This thing goes 170 mph plus, if I miss something or lose track of something, shit will go south in a hurry!
At this point, I go to my trusty lists! Chassis and electrical! same story here, clean, inspect, order, upgrade! I try to make any chassis mods without disturbing any electrical parts. I HATE having a fresh motor going into a chassis with new or fresh wiring changes! imagine a fresh bullet that wont start because you shit the wiring all to hell! NO BUENOS! But fortunately for me this year, I’m only making minor chassis changes, that wont require wiring to be moved or removed. And also, I’m only changing a few wiring items around. The wiring changes wont happen until the motor is back in and running, just to be safe. Since I know the whole package works currently. When I’m happy with the fit and finish, ill slowly button things up and finish it off with the body work going back on and a good polishing job! The biggest mistakes I see people make on builds, is thinking that something cant be done or modified, or the dreaded…Its billet so I must NEED it! Remember, just because someone makes it doesn’t mean you need it! if its not related to your visual or ET goal…fuck it!
The biggest mistakes I see people make on builds, is thinking that something cant be done or modified, or the dreaded…Its billet so I must NEED it!
I hope this all makes sense or you get some chatter worthy stuff out of it! I love winter project time and enjoy getting people motivated to work on their own stuff! If something doesn’t make sense or you want some of the voids filled, just ask! this was a 4 month rebuild, cliff note session! ENJOY!
