Daily Slideshow: Biltwell's El Diablo Run Hooligan

Old and Fat

To understand the man known as McGoo, one must understand the company that he helped create. Biltwell Inc., founded in 2005 by Harold "McGoo" McGruther and his pal, Bill Bryant, is a no-frills, back to basics kind of company that focuses on building quality motorcycle parts and gear. Biltwell's mission statement is pretty simple- build good quality parts, sell them at affordable prices and back it all up with great customer service. 

McGoo may describe himself as "an old, fat guy," but that doesn't mean that he doesn't want to get out and have fun. So, he took a bike that he already had in his collection and decided to turn it into a dirt tracker that he could take on the 2017 El Diablo Run. If you don't know what the EDR is, it's a 130-mile ride from southern California into San Felipe, Mexico on whatever the hell you want to ride down on. Once you get across the border, there are motorcycle races, biker games and all sorts of revelry and general debauchery.   

>>Join the conversation about Biltwell's El Diablo Run Hooligan right here in HDForums.com.

McGoo's Hooligan

There's lots of talk these days about Hooligan Races but a lot of people don't know exactly what those are. Basically, a Hooligan race is a "run what you bring" race. The only real rules are to go fast and try to win on whatever the hell you have with you at the time. McGoo already had this 2001 883 Sportster in his garage, so he took it and started spinning wrenches and tearing it apart to build his dirt machine.   

>>Join the conversation about Biltwell's El Diablo Run Hooligan right here in HDForums.com.

Custom is always cool

While McGoo's bike originally started it's life as an 883, a few years before starting the Hooligan project, it's mill had already been upgraded to a 1200, so the "go-fast" part of the project was already ahead of the game. McGoo started with the wheels by swapping out the original hoops for some 19", 40 spoke Sun Alloy rims. The rear hub is pretty much stock H-D while the front is a one-off Biltwell design from several years ago... one with no front brake. The hubs are laced to the hoops with some custom cut stainless steel spokes from Buchannan's and a set of Maxxis DOT dirt tires are what provides the grip to rip.

The headlight and taillight are "function over form" pieces that serve their intended purposes. The seat is a cool custom snap-on that is a nice mix of leather, brass and silky smooth suede on a custom GP Glassworks fiberglass pan. 

The control center of said beastie didn't change much because it didn't need to. It already had a nice accouterment of parts like Biltwell's Tracker XL bars with a Whiskey throttle and some Torker grips that are safety wired in place. A trick billet clutch lever from Hawg Halters is the only hand control as the bike has no front grabber.

>>Join the conversation about Biltwell's El Diablo Run Hooligan right here in HDForums.com.

What the fork?

The front end proved to be a bit of a pain for McGoo as he didn't quite realize the extent that the MoCo is always changing little details like fork widths and axle diameters on otherwise similar looking parts. He got a hold of a set of 39mm trees from a late model Forty-Eight and tried to meld them with the shaved and shortened legs off the donor bike. But alas, the width of the newer trees required a comparably wider axle that isn't made in the needed diameter. In short- the parts didn't match up, so he solicited some help from a few experts in their trades and got the pieces that he needed fabbed up and installed on the bike without further delay. The good folks at Burly/Progressive donated a nice set of pre-load adjusters and heavy duty fork springs and that, combined with the 14" Progressive 490's that he already had out back, got the bike's bounce under control and the stance looking mean as ever.

The exhaust is Cone Engineering's stainless steel 2-into-1 combination muffler/pipe and it looks wicked on the bike. Once installed, McGoo and crew made some final adjustments, re-jetting the CV carb with a smaller jet for better power delivery throughout the entire rev range so that this Hooligan could ride as well as it could race. 

>>Join the conversation about Biltwell's El Diablo Run Hooligan right here in HDForums.com.

San Felipe bound

With McGoo's Hooligan finished, he was prepped and ready for the EDR. While I'm not sure if he or his filthy dirt monger Sportster survived the trip, I'm sure that it takes a hell of a lot more than a few hundred miles and a few laps around a sketchy dirt lot to slow down a guy as ornery as McGoo. 

I must admit, I love the Biltwell brand. I like what they build, I like their traditional quality and function over form and fashion, their attitude, and I like the way they price their products for the blue-collared working class grease monkey like myself. 

Part of Biltwell's "manifesto" (as they call it) is:

"Every Biltwell product will be engineered and manufactured and priced to meet standards of function, performance, and value that make sense in the real world. Simple, honest and high-quality motorcycle parts and accessories that anyone can afford, and that everyone will be proud to use and own."

With guiding principles like that, how could anyone not like them?  

>>Join the conversation about Biltwell's El Diablo Run Hooligan right here in HDForums.com.

For help with your maintenance and repair projects, please visit our how-to section in the forum.