For several years, we had been calculating horsepower and torque of The Red Baron based on engineering equations and results from race runs. The most direct way to get these numbers is using a dynamometer, but that gets complicated with our starting procedure and our reverse-shift pattern: push down to shift up, and lift up to shift down.
When we finally took The Red Baron to a local dynamometer, the first run went smooth, but the nightmare began with second run when the technician accidentally shifted the wrong way — BOOM! Catastrophic damage. As Smitty said,
“We have the Oklahoma Warranty: We get to keep all the parts.”
Back at the lab, we had a lot of damage to review…
- Bent swing-arm
- Bent brake caliper
- Potentially cracked engine case
- Shocked gears
- Flat-spotted bearings
The recovery was long, but we have managed to make the most from this rebuild opportunity!
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