Moto Photo

Vance & Hines Speed Shop

posted October 16, 2011 by Graham Johnson

Vance & Hines Speed Shop

The Vance & Hines speed shop is a 44,000 square foot facility tucked away in an Industrial park outside of Indianapolis. It's never opened to photography so trash bags were used to hide trade secrets. They have a lot of secrets.

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Eddie Krawiec set the NHRA Record for the quater mile in March at 199.26 MPH on a Harley-Davidson V-Rod prepared by Vance & Hines. Seen here making heart-shaped gestures around his balls, reportedly insured by Llyods of London.
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Terry Vance dominated motorcycle drag racing during the late 70s and 80s, earning 14 national championships, riding bikes prepared by Byron Hines. Vance & Hines run a successful aftermarket parts business and speed shop today.
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Shifting must be done manually in drag racing so a shift light is key to performance and saving the powertrain for another day.
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Riders change position three times during a race and the seat is specifically designed to accomodate each position.
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Performance Machine brakes are also found on high-end customs from shops like Indian Larry.
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The partnership with Harley-Davidson began in 2002 and has resulted in a lot of fast bikes and a lot of NHRA trophies.
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The Vance & Hines speed shop is a 44,000 square foot facility tucked away in an Industrial park outside of Indianapolis. It's never opened to photography so trash bags were used to hide trade secrets. They have a lot of secrets.
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The Vance & Hines speed shop is the speed freak's ultimate shop on well, speed. It's got every part, tool and machine you can imagine to build, test and improve motors.
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Vance & Hines builds motors for their own team, but are so dominant that they manufacture the motors for their competitors. There is nothing faster.
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Six CNC machines were in heavy use.
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Cylinder heads are machined from 70lb blocks and engine cases from 400lb blocks.
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Every aspect of every component is checked and double-checked.
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Think with your dipstick.
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CNC machines aren't the only tools in the shed.
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Motors need a controlled, fast flow of air from intake to exhaust. These heads are ported to ensure just that.
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More custom millwork.
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Magnets hold every day items in hands-reach.
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An engine ready to be tested in one of three dynamometers on-site.
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Technicians monitor the dynaometer tests from a separate room.
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Testing is a simple concept. Bolt it down, hook up sensors, provide fuel, operate motor, monitor performance, vent exhaust, stop. Repeat as necessary.
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I think Blake is on a bit of an ego trip.
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The secrets covered in the shop largely centered around air intake. Always the biggest bang for the buck.
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The Harley-Davidson team components move down the hall to be assembled for testing and racing.
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Drivetrain takes an incredible amount of abuse from the torque generated by the sexed-up motor. It has to be re-built after 25 runs.
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Engines only run for about a minute during competition and if everything goes to plan, which is rare, they are rebuilt after 20 runs.
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I know how to weld, but I do not know how to weld like that.
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The drag bar at the business end.
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They run two bikes and each bike has two spare motors which can be swapped in 20 minutes. Every component is made in the USA.
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Vance & Hines helps to pay for all of this craziness by selling aftermarket pipes built around a core philosophy of performance.

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Vance & Hines Speed Shop

Tags: Drag Racing, Harley-Davidson, Moto, Moto Photo, Motorcycles, Vance & Hines