Kenny Dreer's 355 lb street tracker

[grandpaul]

I almost bought those forks and wheels from Kenny in 2010, to go with the monoshock bike. At that time, he told me the box section swingarm & "big bearing" cradle he also sold me, was one of only 3 that he ever built. Now I see he must have made three more since then. He's been threatening to build that bike for a good while, but his drag racing got in the way, then his move to Florida.

That is one cool bike.

 

[grandpaul]

I am excited to learn that Kenny hasn't put his inventive gifts on the mantlepiece.
Kenny, if you read this, please let us see the details of your swing arm and cradle, also the cush drive assy (rear hub?). Is the cradle and box section swing arm a straight retrofit?
A fixed location gearbox is the way to go, even with belt drives!

- Knut

Straight retrofit with possible need to adjust axle spacer length, and of course chain adjusters. A standard cradle must be modified to hold the big bearings (standard steering neck sealed bearings)...

 

[Matchless]

The problem with the reversed lever is easily solved by copying the factory John Player race bikes. I have done this on the three Nortons I have that have rearsets. Makes for a very nice gear change as the lever can be positioned parallel to your foot. I'd post a piccy if I wasn't such a Luddite.
Would posting pictures be easy if I became a VIP member?

Martyn.

 

[850cmndo]

Got a call from Kenny Dreer yesterday and he told me about his latest 850 project.

"Jim, here's several photos of Norton scoot. Triumph TT pipes make up the exhaust system. The bike ready to ride is 355 lbs. Pictures of the swing arm cradle Assyria. I made about 6 of these units, boy do they work well. Vernier adj, you'll notice the gear box is positively located, a HD Sportster nylon shoe works to adjust the primary chain. I worked w Tom Reid to design the cush drive Assy. Urethane bushings from golf cart leaf springs, always available at Amazon. I'm running the oem points ignition with a Dyna Ignition Booster and Dyna 3 ohm coils, Shorai 14 amp battery, works great. Running the motor on Penn Grade 50 w here in FL."

Seat looks a little stiff.

Real nice. Thanks for posting.

Any chance he'd want to make a 7th one?

The seat's not the only thing stiff right now. That thing is hottt.

 

[Schwany]

I'd post a piccy if I wasn't such a Luddite.
Would posting pictures be easy if I became a VIP member?

Martyn.

This will upset somebody, but.... Posting pics is probably drag and drop as a VIP member. That is a guess though. I use my own hosted site for pics, and link to them. I've been doing that for a long time. Way before I ran across this site via a Google search for parts. I do not have a home page or any of that fancy whooha. I just use the site space for storage. Like a cloud before clouds were a thing.

This tracker bike is almost enough to get me going on doing something with my Norton. Nah, too cold in the garage.

 

[olympus]

The problem with the reversed lever is easily solved by copying the factory John Player race bikes. I have done this on the three Nortons I have that have rearsets. Makes for a very nice gear change as the lever can be positioned parallel to your foot. I'd post a piccy if I wasn't such a Luddite.
Would posting pictures be easy if I became a VIP member?

Martyn.

Apparently yes I'm told... i would be interested to see a piccy if you get the posting matter sorted

 

[mdt-son]

What is the advantage of having a fixed gearbox?Is it a matter of less flex in the drive train?
Thanks,Mike

Mike,
In addition to what Marinatlas mentioned (#14), the top and bottom bores in the g/b shell and cradle can be drilled and reamed for precision bolts, so no more jerking around of the gearbox. Cradle can be fitted with outboard welded spacers to improve the supports.
With this arrangement, you are getting close to a unit engine in terms of stiffness.

- Knut

 

[jseng1]

More photos as requested.

 

[mdt-son]

Straight retrofit with possible need to adjust axle spacer length, and of course chain adjusters. A standard cradle must be modified to hold the big bearings (standard steering neck sealed bearings)...

GP, Thank you for your info. My next year's project is set!
As you obtained one S/A from Kenny, can you please quote dimensions of the box section (H x W x thickness)? How wide is the swinging arm inside? The shock mounting is favourable.

I guess each vernier "nut" acts on the inner bearing race, compressing it against a stepped spindle and allowing the outer race to float in the swinging arm boss. It's my understanding Kenny left the S/A bushes in place for transfer of axial loads.
There has to be some way of shimming and sealing the S/A -- cradle joints.

The advantage of using a ball or roller bearing is absence of the oiling chamber(s) needed for the plain bushes, is it ? I have some difficulty figuring out another advantage of a ball bearing at this location.

- Knut

 

[grandpaul]

GP, Thank you for your info. My next year's project is set!
As you obtained one S/A from Kenny, can you please quote dimensions of the box section (H x W x thickness)? How wide is the swinging arm inside? The shock mounting is favourable.

I guess each vernier "nut" acts on the inner bearing race, compressing it against a stepped spindle and allowing the outer race to float in the swinging arm boss. It's my understanding Kenny left the S/A bushes in place for transfer of axial loads.

- Knut

There were no instructions, or directions from Kenny on how to set it all up. I used sintered bronze thrust washers, and a threaded hard steel pipe for the spindle. Cut and machined my own chain adjuster / axle blocks, threaded and used grade 8 adjuster bolts.

I can get dimensions from my AutoCad drawings (I reverse engineered it all and made a duplicate for a client)

 

[cliffa]

The problem with the reversed lever is easily solved by copying the factory John Player race bikes. I have done this on the three Nortons I have that have rearsets. Makes for a very nice gear change as the lever can be positioned parallel to your foot. I'd post a piccy if I wasn't such a Luddite.
Would posting pictures be easy if I became a VIP member?

Martyn.

Hi Martyn, yes you can just copy and paste photos into a thread as a VIP member.

 

[Matt Spencer]

The problem with the reversed lever is easily solved by copying the factory John Player race bikes.

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maybe .

The Cradle G P posted , one would think a reinforcing strip would be adviseable therough the narrow section up top , decided increase in % loading there . Initial Fail Point , unreinforced .

Id throw a strip say 9/16 or the same material perpendicular ( Rt. Angle to ) right across the top of the hole , nudged aft a tad . For a more consistant disposition of material . LOADING .
Double X Section there would halve the stress . Otherwise ' P A N G ' before it gets to the end of the road . Not my lookout .

 

[marksterrtt]

It's easy to ruin the look and function of old bikes while upgrading parts for the wrong reasons. Huge forks and double 320 discs on RD Yamahas for instance. Kenny's bike is how I like to see it done. Other than the seat it looks ready for action. I do wonder how the tires will last

Yes I agree also on the looks and to me a street tracker in it's most minimalist form is the epitome of a motorcycle.
The rear tire appears to be a Dunlop K180 DOT 120/90-18 and I can't tell but front should also be a K180 but size unknown. Also wonder how they'll do on the street as I've been thinking of using them on a Triumph version of this bike. I had 18" wheels laced up, 2.15" front and 2.50" rear but wasn't sure about the tires and sizes. I would like to know what size tire & rim Kenny is running up front.

 

[SteveBorland]

More photos as requested.


Thanks Jim, much appreciated.

 

[Matchless]

?????????????????????????????????????

maybe .

The Cradle G P posted , one would think a reinforcing strip would be adviseable therough the narrow section up top , decided increase in % loading there . Initial Fail Point , unreinforced .

Id throw a strip say 9/16 or the same material perpendicular ( Rt. Angle to ) right across the top of the hole , nudged aft a tad . For a more consistant disposition of material . LOADING .
Double X Section there would halve the stress . Otherwise ' P A N G ' before it gets to the end of the road . Not my lookout .

I saw this bike at P&Ms a few years ago when I was there dynoing the 930 OIF T160 I built. I drooled over it & said how I thought it was one of the best looking race bikes ever. Richard didn't have much love for it, saying it was a pain to make, & even more so to work on.

 

[grandpaul]

The Cradle G P posted , one would think a reinforcing strip would be adviseable therough the narrow section up top , decided increase in % loading there . Initial Fail Point , unreinforced .

Id throw a strip say 9/16 or the same material perpendicular ( Rt. Angle to ) right across the top of the hole , nudged aft a tad . For a more consistant disposition of material . LOADING .
Double X Section there would halve the stress . Otherwise ' P A N G ' before it gets to the end of the road . Not my lookout .

Notice the cutout on the primary side for the e-starter. If I read your above note correctly, there would be no place for that strip.

Or, what?

Hmmmm.... on further review - you are saying a narrow fore-aft strip on the outside of the timing side, at the top of the hole for the transmission "nose".

Not a bad idea, I have seen some cracked ones on the opposite side at the thin lower side of hole there.

A few 880s have gotten further than the end of the road without breaking...

 

[Fast Eddie]

A few 880s have gotten further than the end of the road without breaking...

Were they that bad ?

 

[worntorn]

From what I've read they were that bad.
There was a pristine 880 for sale here some years ago. The price was very fair and I nearly went for it.
Reading about the blow ups put an end to that!
Then again, why would a 920 like mine be any better? It might be worse.
The full Maney engine like you have seems to be the answer to more power with some durability.

I'm hoping the MK3 cases and crank along with stock cam on my 920 might be enough.
Then again, I think Kenny did some work in that area with a strengthened case half, did he not?
Apparently it wasn't enough.
I suspect the max power output of a Dreer 880, until she detonates, is somewhat higher than a 920 like mine.

Glen

 

[Fast Eddie]

I wonder if it’s related to the fact they were kinda touted as ‘modern‘ bikes and were consequently revved to destruction by people who didn’t know any better?

 

[worntorn]

That might be the problem.
One fellow blew his up 880 showing off to some friends.
Iirc , he pulled a wheelie in first gear which ended abruptly with the conrods coming thru the bottom of the cases, big splatt of oil on the road.

I suppose that if the engine is tuned to make great power in that higher rev range, then it will likely get tested in that range.

The stock cam makes max torque at 5000 rpm in the 850 and max bhp at 5800.
Going much above 6000 rpm with that cam is pointless, the power output drops while opportunity for catastrophic destruction rises rapidly. I did not realize this for eons, trying to be a better owner nowadays.

Glen