American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 174 January 2014 | Page 19

Fr o m St r ip t o St r e e t When it comes to performance camshafts, there is a lot of choice. it seems that every manufacturer claims to offer the most benefits, but Wood performance backs its claims up with continued success at dyno shoot-out events. AmD talked to company founder Bob Wood to discover just why his cams are so good… Written by Duncan Moore [email protected] Knight Prowler cam kits include Wood Performance 'Directional' roller lifters and proprietary valve springs i N the motorcycle industry many people are literally born into the business, riding bikes almost before they can walk. They then go on to make the lifestyle a business. Then there are others, people who buy a bike later in life and realize there is room for improvement, whether that be the bike’s looks or performance. Bob Wood of Wood Performance is definitely in the latter camp, but with a lifetime’s experience of high-performance engine tuning behind him, he has continually set new benchmarks for Harley engine tuning. As a youngster Bob had no interest in motorcycles, cars were what fascinated him and how to make them go as fast as possible. It was on the drag strip that Bob started to really learn how to get the most from an internal combustion engine. At just 18 years old, driving a supercharged ’55 Chevy Coupe, Bob set his first NHRA National www.AMDchampionship.com Record. Ten years later he repeated the feat with a second NHRA national elapsed time record in the NHRA Fuel Funny Car class. By the late ‘70s Bob had moved on from Funny Car racing and had developed an interest in aircraft, so much so that in 1978 he opened a Cessna aircraft dealership, flight training school and FAA repair station in Opa-Locka, Florida. He also owned and operated Wood Engineering, which was involved in designing and producing unique products for the aircraft industry. For most people that level of commitment would be enough to keep them occupied, but not Bob. It was at this point that motorcycles came into Bob’s life in the shape of a brand new 1990 FXR. Talking about that first bike Bob says: “I felt it never rode right, so I developed the carburetion on it and then looked at the camshafts. I used the knowledge I had from automotive racing and simply applied it to a four-stoke motorcycle engine. “All my life I’ve wanted to go faster. Starting with my first car, all I’ve ever wanted to do is make things go faster and faster and faster. I just used all I’d learnt in the past, in the school of hard knocks. When I started drag racing you used to throw some timing at it, some fuelling at it and then did you go faster? Did you win the race? If not try again. That’s how I got started.” hen Bob got started in the motorcycle business, the first part he brought to market was reworked Keihin carburetors. The work Bob did on the carbs included boring them out to make them bigger, and changing the calibration on the transfer ports. The aim was to simply get more fuel into the engine, using, as Bob says, the same principles he used in his car racing days. “I used the same type of development techniques as I had on cars, that was something Keihin never got. They didn’t develop carbs like we did in America. Keihin made good carbs, but they just weren’t calibrated for high performance camshafts. But that type of work just came naturally to me.” Today Wood Performance has a range of carbs available that includes the King CV. Designed for use on Evo and Twin Cam motors, the King is offered in sizes 40.5mm through to 43mm, making it suitable for W AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - JANUARY 2014 19