Hank

Silly 7evin, the radiator is hidden behind the intercooler! He needs to put Evil R on the intercooler.

I received the plate and registration today at 2pm. I drove home and I could not fight the hunger pains any longer. No breakfast and no lunch had caught up with me. I slurped a vegetable soup down while I read the USA7s forum. After I ate I dove into the garage and quickly made holes to put the license plate on. I checked the fluids, checked the torque on all of the main bolts, and I pushed her out into the driveway. I cranked her up and once she warmed up I checked the oil level in the dry sump tank. I gathered all of the proper paperwork, wallet, helmet, and cellphone. I backed down the driveway and I sneaked out of the neighborhood without being spotted. First time on the actual highway (instead of around the loop in my subdivision) so I took a few back roads at 45mph until I felt comfortable. Service road along Hwy. 1 has a lot of stop signs so I was able to check the brakes out for the first time. Earlier in the day while on the trailer I put 13 gallons of 93 octane in the tank so I'm good to go. Gauges are reading what they should, no cops, traffic is light, and the clouds are keeping the sun off my arms and neck. Once I got to the Intercoastal Bridge I turned and found a familiar stretch of highway that is 3 miles straight (industrial district). Speed limit is 50 mph. I accelerated to 50 mph a few times with no one around to make sure nothing fell off the car. Nothing did, so I decided to pick my first stop. First destination was to NAPA in Port Allen to thank every single person behind the counter for helping me find parts to put on the car. Bunch of people were asking questions in the parking lot. Most people don't know motorcycles so when you tell them the engine is a Hayabusa they say "a high-ya what"? The word "cute" was mentioned a few times by some girls. It makes me twitch like someone ran their nails on a chalkboard. "Toy" was spoken a few times too. After a few minutes of gabbing I bought 2 more cotter pins (split pins) for the passenger side 4-pt harnesses. Away I went. Second destination was back to my house to eat boiled crawfish. My plan was to ask the wife for permission to drive to bike nite across the river in Baton Rouge. When the word "okay" uttered out of a whisper I didn't bother asking again. I washed my hands 4-5 times and I jumped back into the driver's seat. Wallet. Check. Helmet. Check. Clear safety glasses. Check. Fed Ex envelope with all of the paperwork. Check. I fired her up, put her into reverse (and 1st) and I backed down the driveway. Neighbors are used to seeing this odd little white roller skate tooting around the neighborhood, but they were puzzled as to why I was now wearing a full face helmet. Third destination was bike nite at Friendly Yamaha on Airline. Reception was wonderful from the bikers. Not one negative comment. Tons of Busas there and a bunch of people recognized the engine type from the exhaust note alone. Great group of people there. No Harley riders there, only crotch rockets. I tried to park away from the street where the hooligans do burnouts, endos, wheelies and other stunts. A friend of mine wanted a ride so we both jumped in. Not as easy to get into the 4-pt harnesses as he thought. A 5 minute wrestlefest between him and his wife and he was strapped in. We left the parking lot and hit the service road. I still don't like how fast the turn signals are. Twice as fast as they need to be. We turned onto the highway and peer pressure forced me to accelerate quicker than the law allows. Absolutely a dream to drive. 11,000 rpm came QUICK in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and I slowly backed off the throttle. Amazing. The drive home was uneventful. Night time now so my tinted helmet visor is raised and I'm wearing clear safety glasses. Earlier in the day people would stare and wander into my lane to my amazement. At night they slowly pass as to not care. Just what I like. Pulled into the drive and I killed the engine. Neighbors don't like noise so I ran inside and opened the 1-car garage door. I pushed the MEGABUSA (now nicknamed "Lucky") into her home. What a night. What a day. It's been a rocky 6 months, but it has finally paid off. I will take final pictures and update my website soon. Thanks for reading. Hell, I hope somebody reads this whole thing.

More pics to follow, but I'm going to go driving right now! heheheh Who needs wipers? 2 boxes of donuts went a LONG way today! http://www.hanksmegabusa.com/images/052109/01.jpg

I think I would either cry or puke if I calculated the money spent per mile right now. Hopefully I get her certified today and the ratio can drastically change. Right now, I feel like I'm the guy at work that spent $7500 to go hunting last year, and I didn't see a damn deer.

Okay, so I'm trembling in my flip flops right now. State Police Trooper Sheldon will be calling me back to come over to my HOUSE and look at the MEGABUSA. He will be bringing inspection equipment and a 3512 form to assign a VIN. Once the inspection is complete I will trailer the MEGABUSA to a local chassis fabricator to stamp the VIN in the chassis in several spots. Then I pay tax, title, and license fees. I pray the aeroscreen passes. It's a roadster without a top, so windshield wipers and squirters would do absolutely nothing in a rainstorm. Is it easy to see through a helmet in a downpour on a motorcycle? I've never been on one. *crosses fingers, toes, and eyes*

I have a running tab at NAPA Autoparts. I told the clerk when I get over $100,000 they will give me a name tag that says "Co-owner" of the store. hahaha

BAA HAHAHAHAH Ian.

Pathetic? I might have 10 miles on mine (within my 80 lot neighborhood). Damn state troopers are taking forever to respond for final inspection.

Continuing the trend here, 1.

I'll consider a bartered trade.

Do welders ever get carpel tunnel from all of the intricate work they do? My mother-in-law is a title clerk and she's had it TWICE in both wrists from typing a lot. I figure a welder making manifolds like that might end up hurting later.

Only LEDs on my Megabusa are the front turn signals. I did not want to install the large nosecone pods and amber lights so I stopped by NAPA and picked up 2 LED semi-truck lights. Probably used for decoration along the running boards. Turned out really nice. http://hanksmegabusa.com/images/050309/11.jpg

Buy my Westfield. Hell, Louisiana might not make it street legal for me. Only 5 miles on it!

Hell, I got "SHOCKER" on my Expedition in Louisiana. Google it if you don't know. I saw a Mississippi tag yesterday with: OOUNAST hahah On topic: WSCC members use the word daft. I think it means awkward. fitted = installed

Along the lines of what Ian7 is saying, most FWD cars have unequal length halfshafts and they cause torque steer when launched hard. Other than a hard launch you cannot tell the difference. For a street car it probably wouldn't matter. If you are building the car for racing purposes I would stick with equal length halfshafts and find a different rear diff. IMHO.

USA / British ------------ Chassis Dyno / Rolling Road Sway Bar / Anti-Roll Bar (ARB) Aluminum / Aluminium

I cry foul. Maybe a few of those 1000 are actual bots. I demand a recount. Congrats on passing the millennium mark.

Yeah, but keep in mind I will be wearing a helmet in lieu of the windshield, Josh.

Between DMV and DPS I thought my car was 100% street legal. It turns out the DPS should not have given my car an inspection. The State Police Towing & Recovery section owes me an inspection. DMV made me jump through hoops and provide a copy of the original motorcycle title for the engine/tranny combo I bought from Texas. I have been bonded for insurance, and all other paperwork is in proper order. I called on Monday afternoon and left a message with the State Police Towing & Recovery section to inspect my car. I called on Tuesday and left another voicemail. It seems Trooper Greene is a busy man. While waiting on Trooper Greene it was brought to my attention that my car might not pass inspection because of the lack of a proper windshield, wipers, and a wiper nozzle system. My car is equipped with an "Aeroscreen" that is just below my eyesight while sitting in the car. If my car was a 3-wheeler like a T-REX then I wouldn't need a windshield as it would be a motorcycle. Louisiana law states anything with more than 3 wheels cannot be a motorcycle. I wonder if wearing a helmet and having a topless roadster warrants the need for a windshield. If it rains on me wipers won't help. Below are snippets of Louisiana law that may or may not be applicable. Motor Vehicle Inspection Requirements for Passenger Vehicles Only http://www.lsp.org/lse_form4.html Here are the Louisiana statues: Definitions: http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=88016 Windshields: http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=88289 Is an "Aeroscreen" considered a windshield? I think so. Safety Glass Required: http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=88291 Is Lexan considered safe? I think so. No doors to speak of. Safety Glass Defined: http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=88292 Lexan doesn't shatter. Only time I can get it to crack is by drilling a hole in it and tightening a bolt too tight through it. Approved Types of Safety Glass: http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=88293 I hope Lexan can be approved. Windshields must be equipped with wiping and washing systems: http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=88288

slngsht: You might want to change the 2204.6 lb in my equation above to 2000 lb for a ton and not a tonne. Keep it English units.

Welcome to the board! Your car is very well put together. Is your front swaybar the version 1 that came with the car, or is it aftermarket? My 2008 Megabusa has a different front swaybar (I believe version 2).

Beautiful job, Jim. If you are truly concerned with aerodynamics I'm told the proper angle is 5 degrees upward from the front of the diffuser to the rear. They mentioned the 5 degree angle is good until 175mph. Anything above that and the angle changes for the salt flat guys (typically the only people to take advantage of it). I hope to get around doing this soon.

Spaz, unfortunately that is the only picture I have of that car. I found it on the WSCC Forum.

Oh come on, you can't just provide 1 picture! I want to see a lot more than that! Any pics showing how far you went in? What material? Any angle of attack from the start of the diffuser to the back of the car?

My wife had a Great Dane puppy shipped to us from up North. When we arrived at the baggage claim area everybody else was standing around for their luggage. A few bags made it through the door onto the conveyor, but when the large kennel plopped out they all jumped back. I picked up the kennel and we walked out. Weird.