The photo above was taken about 1986 at Willow Springs raceway in Calif. Hell bent for speed on a 320 lb 850cc Norton roadracer around 100mph heading into a downhill straight. Shift into 4th at full song and feel the tires skitter through the next turn pushing 140mph. Is this crazy? Other riders are doing it so maybe its OK I tell myself. The wind is screaming so loud that I can't hear the engine ready to explode at peak RPM. At this speed the air is as thick as water and it wants to pull me off the bike. My mind is working so fast that everything seems like slow motion. Each second is split into fragments as I negotiate every bit of the track. Knee dragging on the pavement, I must be as smooth and graceful as a ballet dancer because one jerk will break what tire contact I have left with the pavement and send me over the ragged edge. No time to worry about that because I need to tighten my turn before the next straight opens up. Finally a bit of rest as I tuck in to clean up air drag and wring the motor out to its max. Are those valves I hear banging against the tops of the pistons? Can I get past that guy in the next turn? Don't crash!

Racing is an addicting sport and Its very hard to quit. I have gone back and forth between music and racing thoughout my life. Racing was a wonderful experience with good friends and plenty of thrills. The technology I learned was transferred into my instrument building. In racing you must stay on the cutting edge in order to win - it is more important to improve the design than it is to hang onto old ideas and tradition. Risk taking, research and development become a way of life. Hence the innovative JS Engineering products.

I designed and built the motorcycle frame from scratch. It started out with twin shocks and evolved into monoshock. I designed and built Guillotine slide carburetors and experimented with alcohol. I did everything you can imagine to make it faster and faster. I crashed and rebuilt it several times. I won a few races and even placed 2nd at a National event (Laguna Seca 750cc Battle of the twins in 1984). But when one of my friends was killed and I was injured - I got a clue and gave it up.

The photo below is the Final version of my Race bike. I sold it to Ken Canaga who punched it out to 920cc and added some very nice wheels and brakes. It took a 3rd place at a National race against a field of Ducatti's with Rob Tuluie in the saddle at Willow springs raceway (Sept 1990 GP2 twins).

NORTON RACE MANUALS AVAILABLE.
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A must for every Norton racer - Novice or expert. This manual contains priceless info gleaned from some of the greatest tuners of our time including notes from Peter Williams, Ron Wood, Leo Goff and many others. Twelve 8x11" pages of text. Eleven pages of illustrations and text. Three pages of photos. Subject material includes crankshaft lightening, reshaping and balancing (how to balance your own crank). Strengthening of crank PTO shaft (very important). Detailed porting specs for three stages of tune. Exhaust pipe and megaphone specs for various states of tune. Making and fitting your own big valves (1mm oversize). Racing cam specs for Norton factory cams, C.R.Axtell cams's and other high performance cams. Piston and pin lightening. Handling/suspension improvements for Norton forks. Photos of rear monoshock layouts (racing frame) and much more for only $20 (plus $5 shipping). Order now and make your bike a winner.

NEW FORGED NORTON RODS AND LIGHTWEIGHT FORGED PISTONS

MORE ROD & PISTON INFO

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