Report: race-HPV convert to commuter---success!

A few years ago I bought the old WISIL Missile with the idea of racing
it as well as commuting with it. It had been a longtime winning
racebike already. It was an early dual-sus lowracer, made in 1991, I
believe! Sean sprinted it to a top speed of 52mph, as I recall. The
club sold it to get funds to work on new projects.

It came with two canopies---I discovered that the head-out one was only
good for averaging about 28mph, but the head-in, fully-faired total
canopy was good for cruising easily at 32+ with 40mph not a strain in
favoring conditions. I used the head-out for commuting at first and
thought I could be happy with it, but I couldn't. When I was in shape I
could commute at 25+ on my USCF bike and 28 just wasn't enough faster.
I wanted real car-speed!

However, I did do a couple fast races with the bike unfaired as well as
with head-out canopy. I might've gotten 2nd at the Waterford Rally once
with the head-out, averaging 30mph for the hour (I was in shape). I won
a USCF crit with the unfaired lowracer itself. And I had a couple
starts with mechanical failures at Waterfords with the head-in.

I decided I really wanted to make the head-in config suitable for safe
street use. To do this I needed opening side-windows for
signalling/access. It took me a long time to do it, but I finally did
it and it was easy. I just partly sliced the tape holding the windows
in, toward the rear and installed velcro along the edge. The long thin
plastic windows have a great natural springiness that snap the window
back shut when I pull my arm back in.

I went and tested it today and the new opening windows worked great.

I've installed a trunk area in the rear of the canopy as well, to make
cargo-hauling a breeze. I think I'm set now to enter Utility Vehicle
contests with this bike---and maybe win! I can readily install a
tail-flasher and a 6W front headlight for such events.

It's a DARN fast commuter, I tell ya! While out testing it today I
stopped to turn around and a superfast racer dude on tri-bars went
flying by very impressively, going well over 25mph. He said Hi, I
turned around and fiddled with closing the canopy again (now dialed in
better). Suddenly he came flying past again---he must've turned around
as well. By the time I got rolling he was nearly out of sight on the
flat road---a good quarter mile ahead. I got excited and rolling fast
in my 66x10 (700c). He came zooming back to me. I passed him in a
minute or so going a good 10mph faster. I popped my hand out of my
window and gave him the peace sign.

Main plan: to do 5-10-mile errands with it and to do next year's Black
Bear 100 Mile open road race as well as the Waterford Rally.

Two troublespots still: #1: the poor thing looks like a ragamuffin,
like a homeless person's fast bike, it's trashed, beat-up, ragged. I
need to get all new tape for it and do paint touch up and add an *OYB*
logo and slogan on it for a change! #2: the canopy pieces aren't
fitting right anymore. I haven't ridden it much lately, but darn
something is off and I can't see what. The nosecone isn't fitting
cleanly---costing maybe 2mph. The center section has gaps,
too---another 1mph. Rats! Probably a total of 3mph due to current ratty
level of fit and finish. And one last complaint is that when I got it
the lowracer weighed 30lbs and the whole rig wasn't too heavy---due to
all my patch jobs both the bare lowracer and HPV are TANKS and
LEAD-SLEDS. Too bad---that costs a few mph right there. But it would
take a buncha work and cash to clean it back up again weightwise:
mostly it needs a new seat made, but really I suppose it needs a whole
new fairing---not for me!

Here are links to pics of this bike in its various configs:

http://outyourbackdoor.com/Images/hpv.missile.sm.jpg ---fullyfaired,
fast but note the ratty seams, prior to window conversion

http://outyourbackdoor.com/Images/hpv.jeff ---naked lowracer

http://outyourbackdoor.com/Images/hpv.jp.jpg ---lowracer in race action
(after doing most of the fullyfaired event, I popped out the lowracer
and did the unfaired event---the fork was going bad and was too
unstable for faired speeds)

http://outyourbackdoor.com/Images/hp...missile.sm.jpg ---head-out
canopy

--Jeff Potter
http://outyourbackdoor.com