Faulkner's Fantasy

FAULKNER'S FANTASY

American FLYERS

A VTX for show and go

FOR VINCE FAULKNER, IT was a classic case of love at first sight. "The moment I laid eyes on Honda’s new VTX 1800 back in 2001,” he recalls, “I just knew I had to have one.” That was a pretty easy goal for Faulkner to attain. As general manager of Jim Walker’s Honda-SuzukiYamaha in Daytona Beach, Florida, he was able to glom onto the first VTX that arrived at the dealership. He then customized that bike into a stylish ride that drew Walker’s shop considerable attention.

Faulkner, who also is a practicing drag racer, felt that the 1795cc V-Twin might make a decent quarter-milcr. So he set to work on another VTX, hoping to use his customizing skills and enginebuilding prowess to create a competitive dragbike. Based on the machine seen here, he seems to have succeeded.

With neither factory backing nor a big budget behind him. Faulkner decided to compete in AMA Prostar’s Hot Rod Cruiser class, which places fairly strict limits on

allowable modifications. He dropped in a set of MTC 12:1 pistons, but with the stock bore, since class rules limit displacement to 1800cc. Web-Cam ground a set of cams with more lift and duration, and Ferrea provided 2mmlargcr intake valves and 1 mm-larger exhausts. Faulkner started out running a Muzzy exhaust, but recently switched to a DG system. Street and Strip Performance in Sanford, Florida, ported the heads and helped pull all the engine modifications together.

So far, Faulkner’s VTX has posted a best dyno run of 132.6 horsepower at 5400 rpm, with 145.5 foot-pounds of torque at 4200. And it consistently turns the quarter-mile in the lowto mid10s at around 125 mph.

That’s pretty impressive for a machine that could pass for a custom showbike.

Class rules mandate the use of “stock-appearing” gas tank, body panels and headlight shell, so the front fender is still stock, but the rear is a Faulkner-designed fiberglass replica that’s much lighter and incorporates a flush-mount LED taillight in the shape of an “X.” To further save weight, Faulkner uses just one front disc brake and even machined the unused caliper mount off the right fork leg. Both wheels are lightweight 17-inch RC Components pieces. For paint, he sprayed House of Kolor Black Cherry over a purple base mixed with purple microflake, then ghosted a tribal-design background done in a black marbleizer.

Faulkner thinks there’s a lot more performance to be squeezed from the VTX and hopes to see some of it very soon. He’s awaiting a 4mmlarger throttle body to replace the stocker, along with a set of 14:1 pistons. And he claims to have a few fuelinjection tricks up his sleeve that should quicken the VTX’s elapsed times without straying beyond the rules.

“Maybe I’ll never win that class,” says Faulkner, “but I’m learning a lot and developing some pieces that we’ll probably sell here. Most important of all, I’m having fun. What else could I ask?” Paul Dean