Saturday, August 9, 2008

Zen Moment: The tandem Hayabusa.

Via: Super street bike via mainline nation
The swingarm is a custom one-off creation built by Myrtle West Cycle in Longs, South Carolina. Conceived by Dagostino and CAD-developed by the crew at Myrtle West, it is more than 4 feet long and features extra underbracing to ensure strength and stability. Only the center wheel is driven–the rear wheel is fitted with a dummy sprocket that has had its teeth machined off. Dagostino says the logistics of driving both rear wheels are complicated and would likely require a jackshaft and second chain, but driving the second wheel is a goal for the future. There is a rear brake fitted to both wheels right now, but this is also a work in progress.

To run both brake calipers off the same lever and get optimum performance will require a proportioning valve to balance the load, and Builder Dagostino says he hasn’t been able to find one that looks good enough to add to the bike.

None of this stops Dagostino from riding the bike regularly–he put 2500 miles on since wrapping the project up, 600 of these miles at this year’s Daytona Beach Bike Week. “It tracks pretty well,” he says. “The only place you really feel the extra wheel is on hard, 90-degree turns. The second wheel will scrub a little bit, just like on a dump truck or any other tandem vehicle, but you know when this is going to happen so you can deal with it pretty easily.” Fortunately, Dagostino, who makes his living driving a truck for the New York highway department, has had plenty of practice with tandem-wheeled vehicles."



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