In 1990, the AMA introduced a roadracing class dubbed Supertwins, for Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster models. The class was intended to be an inexpensive avenue for riders to enter professional racing, either from club racing or from flat-track, where the majority of the USA’s roadracing champions started their careers. Race winners in the class included the Bostrom brothers, Aaron Yates and Jake Zemke, all of whom went on to win championships in the AMA’s more traditional classes. Unfortunately, creative interpretation of the rules became rampant and the class ran its course before the end of the decade. Fast forward 20 years, and the AMA is hoping to repeat the successful part of the class with its new Vance & Hines XR1200 class, which became part of the series midway through last year. While a media bike is available for members of the press to race at various rounds in the series, we decided to build and race our own bike, for a more in-depth look at the class. Harley-Davidson lent us an XR1200X model, and we made plans to race it in the Infineon round of the series.
Rules for the XR1200 class are very strict, both in order to keep costs low as well as to ensure fair competition. Most of the modifications are limited to those included in the Vance & Hines race kit for the bike, which includes almost everything needed to convert the sedate XR into something more track-worthy — an exhaust system and matching fuel controller, a 17-inch front wheel to replace the stock 18-incher, a steering damper, bodywork and mounts to relocate the stock oil cooler out of harm’s way. The kit retails for $3500, a bargain considering the individual parts add up to more than $5000. We obtained a kit and installed everything in a few days. All the parts are well-designed and nicely manufactured, typical of Vance & Hines products, and practically every detail has been addressed. The only finicky part of the installation was enlarging a hole in the lower triple clamp to mount the oil cooler bracket.
On the business side of the...
On the business side of the XR’s engine, you can see the 2-into-1-into-2 design of the Vance & Hines Widow exhaust pipe; the system has four bungs for O2 sensors, allowing the stock sensors to be retained in addition to the use of aftermarket sensors. The Öhlins steering damper and its related brackets are part of the Vance & Hines kit. The kit also includes the lines and brackets to relocate the oil cooler from the left side of the engine to behind the front number plate, a tidy installation that keeps the cooler safe in a crash.
The Gilles Tooling rearsets...
The Gilles Tooling rearsets are beautifully crafted and feature adjustable levers and footpegs. The shifter assembly permits both standard and race-pattern shifting. The right-side rearset did interfere slightly with the exhaust, requiring some trimming on the back part of the brake pedal.
The Vance & Hines Fuelpak...
The Vance & Hines Fuelpak (included in the race kit, $330 if purchased separately) allows fuel injection changes without the need for a laptop, and came pre-programmed to match the kit’s exhaust system.
This flat handlebar from Flanders...
This flat handlebar from Flanders is just one of a plethora of options available in Harley-Davidson one-inch handlebars; we opted for a medium-width, medium-bend drag bar. Spider grips intended for a standard 7⁄8-inch bar stretched on, while a G2 Ergonomics quarter-turn throttle is used. Note the stock master cylinder, mandated by the rules, and single Galfer brake line.
With the kit installed, we addressed the other areas open for modifications. For suspension, we turned to Fast Bike Industries, an Öhlins service center that has ties to the XR1200 series that has run in Europe for several seasons now. FBI provided us with a set of Öhlins shocks ($1274) with all the necessary adjustments — rebound and compression damping, preload and ride height. Our XR is the X model, which has a Showa Big Piston Fork assembly, and there were a couple of options for upgrading the fork. Many teams simply gut the internals and install well-proven cartridge kits, but we chose to replace the BPF pistons with aftermarket items, a cheaper alternative. The pistons are made by the Andreani Group, an Italian company that manufactures suspension components as well as provides trackside support for many of the Öhlins World Superbike teams. Cost for the fork modifications, including new springs, the pistons and assembly, came to $640.
Twisted Throttle sent us a...
Twisted Throttle sent us a full R&G protection package for the XR, which included front axle sliders ($51), rear axle sliders ($51) and these nifty Cotton-Reel swingarm spools ($250). The swingarm spools mounted with no drilling of the swingarm and allow you to remove the rear wheel while using a paddock stand. The company also offers a set of frame sliders to protect the oil cooler when in the standard position, but with that item moved safely behind the number plate we felt the sliders would be unnecessary.
The front fork (a Showa Big...
The front fork (a Showa Big Piston Fork on the X model XR1200) was modified by Fast Bike Industries with an Andreani Group piston kit (insets), a cheaper alternative to installing aftermarket cartridges. The front wheel is part of the Vance & Hines kit (a matching rear wheel is available but not allowed under the rules), as is the fender. The linear potentiometer is used with our Racepak data acquisition system during testing.
The front fork (a Showa Big...
The front fork (a Showa Big Piston Fork on the X model XR1200) was modified by Fast Bike Industries with an Andreani Group piston kit (insets), a cheaper alternative to installing aftermarket cartridges. The front wheel is part of the Vance & Hines kit (a matching rear wheel is available but not allowed under the rules), as is the fender. The linear potentiometer is used with our Racepak data acquisition system during testing.
The Öhlins shocks are a whopping...
The Öhlins shocks are a whopping 60mm longer than the OEM units, which helps in some ways (increased ground clearance, quicker steering) but hinders in others (decreased stability). The seat and its padding are included in the Vance & Hines kit.
Hand and foot controls are also allowable modifications, and we replaced the stock handlebar with a Flanders drag bar ($122). As you’d expect with something like handlebars for Harley-Davidsons, there are a multitude of choices for the XR1200 — Flanders manufacturers more than 1000 different models. We chose a flat bar with moderate width and sweep, something that would provide leverage to turn the heavy XR but not stick out in the wind too much. We added a quarter-turn throttle from G2 Ergonomics ($50) and used Spider M1 grips intended for off-road and motard use. The Harley’s one-inch handlebar limits options for both the throttle tube and grips; G2 makes a one-inch tube specifically for H-D models, while we were able to stretch the standard-sized Spider grips onto the bar. For foot controls, Gilles Tooling sent us a set of its Factor-X rearsets. These have adjustable footpegs, while the levers — also adjustable — pivot smoothly on ball bearings. It’s a bit tricky to switch the XR to race-pattern shifting, but the Gilles rearsets solve this nicely with a replacement clutch cover that houses a pivot for the shifter. Even with the thicker-than-stock engine cover, the Gilles parts trimmed more than 2.5 pounds in weight compared with the stock (steel!) parts. That quality does not come cheap; the rearsets retail for $822.
Brakes are ultra-important with a big, heavy bike, and we replaced the stock front brake lines with a three-line Superlight kit ($131) from Galfer USA. The XR’s front calipers are Nissin units and accept the same pads as many Honda models, so there are plenty of options available. We used Galfer’s HH Sintered Advanced Ceramic pads, which have fewer metallics than many OEM and aftermarket sintered pads, an important aspect as the XR class mandates stock rotors. The Galfer pads have a ceramic-coated backing plate that further helps to dissipate heat away from the pads and calipers, keeping the fluid cooler for better performance.