Gallery

 

Article from American Iron Magazine, May 2000 Story by Alan Dockery • Photos by Jeff Hackett Reprinted with permission of AIM ZEUS II Like the Greek god it's named after, this bike grabs your attention when it speaks ZEUS: Supreme diety of ancient Greek mythology. Zeus was the head honcho of the Greek gods, the one who demanded y our attention and made you jump when he spoke. Zeus is also the fitting name for Ted Shrode's eye-catching, powerful Harley. This is actually Zeus II, a reincarnation of the original Zeus featured in the October 1995 issue of AIM. The first version, Zeus I, was a unique bike in 1992 with its Warbird-style fairing and air dam. "The bodywork was hiding things like fuel pumps and filters," according to Ted, or ET, as his friends have nicknamed him. ET is also part of the name of his company, ET-Performance & Racing Products. "There weren't a lot of Harleys running around back then with fairings and bars tucked in like on Zeus. This design was as much a styling preference as it was a performance issue." Zeus was also one of the first fuel injected Harleys that actually worked. People had been trying to use EFI on an H-D for awhile, but they were having a hard time making it streetable, especially on a high performance bike. "Zeus II came about because people were saying you couldn't make fuel injection work on a Harley," says ET. "They didn't understand the problems, much less how to cure them. The mechanical and electronic parts are straightforward; it's programming the EFI maps that's the challenge." With the flip of some switches and a turn of the ignition switch, the buzz of an electric fuel pump is heard as the fuel pressure builds. A quick stab at the starter button is all that it takes to get Zeus to speak, loudly. He then settles into an ear bleeding, pebble dancing, idle that sounds like it should be coming from a top fuel race bike than something you would ride on the street. A flick of the wrist is all that's needed to make Zeus howl as the engine instantly revs to 6000 rpm and then back to idle. "Generally, getting the proper fuel/air mixture, at all rpm, into a high performance, carbureted Harley is extremely difficult because of the basic Harley design," says Ted, who has a doctorate in physics. "With electronic fuel injection, it's now possible, but you need to use a computer with two-dimensional mapping or you're not going to get there from here." Ted has spent years learning how to get there. Was it worth it? ET says it was. According to him, horsepower and acceleration go up exponentially with a good fuel injection system. "Basically, it gives you a 20 to 25 percent increase in an engine's performance. If you have an 80" motor, it will run like a 100 incher and a 100" motor will run like a 125," states ET. "People say fuel injection is no better than a well-designed carburetor. I don't care what they say. You give me a motor and when it's done it'll give you about 20 percent more performance with fuel injection." According to ET, nearly everyone he spoke with felt that even if you could make EFI work on a basically stock motor, you couldn't do it with a big inch motor and big throttle body. "So I put together a difficult combination that you probably wouldn't want to ride on the street: a 97" engine with 16:1 compression, two 47mm throttle bodies, and four-valve heads. That's about as temperamental a street combination as you can imagine. So, did it work? "I managed to make a bike that is street ridable, starts easy and won't melt in traffic. I've ridden it nice and slow on toy runs and then gone on to hunt for Ninjas." Most of the challenge is due to the 45-degree, single crank pin design of the engine, which is also responsible for the sound we all love. Basically, those two large cylinders fill and fire close together then nothing happens for over 400 degrees of rotation. The result is large volumes of air/fuel mixture starting and stopping. The same goes for the exhaust pulses. ET overcame these problems by going back to the basics and monitoring as many parameters as possible. These include using the computer to evaluate items such as crank position, air intake temperature, oil temperature, barometric pressure, and more. "By monitoring everything I can, I get as much data as possible and, with the Haltec computer, I'm able to control the injector and ignition timing," ET says. With the instant throttle response that the EFI provides and a 16:1 compression ratio, Zeus sounds kind of like a top fuel bike, making a loud bark when you crack the throttle. As ET winds it up, the sound resembles an Italian sports car. That distinct exhaust note exits the engine through custom-built pipes. Basically, the strange-looking pipes are a four-valve design near the cylinders, a Big Twin in the middle, and SuperTrapp at the end. A slip joint in the middle allows ET to remove them easier. An oxygen sensor is mounted in the collector for data input to the computer. The engine's exhaust gasses are so hot that glass or metal muffler packing melts after only a few minutes, but a muffler is necessary on Zeus since the bike is so loud. The solution? ET praises the Airborn coating on the exhaust, saying it looks great and holds up very well to Zeus' abuse. Once people get past the throttle bodies and exhaust system, they start noticing the other accessories on Zeus. Some pick up on the fact that it's been lowered with FLH front tubes, which are four inches shorter than stock, but most are drawn to the knob, LEDs, and switches on the dash. The LEDs are connected to various sensors, which let ET know things are working as they should. The switches control the computer, fuel pump, and oxygen sensor. The knob allows ET to adjust the fuel mixture by plus or minus 10 percent. It's kind of like changing jets in a carb. When he's fine-tuning the bike, ET can look at the oxygen sensor reading and tell if it's set too lean or too rich and adjust accordingly. The EFI can also run as a closed loop system, which is when the oxygen sensor talks directly to the computer to maintain an optimum fuel-to-air ratio. The taillight, which consists of 140 LEDs, is also computer-controlled. All those little diodes provide running lights, turn signals, a brake light, and special messages. ET has a switch on the dash so he can signal tailgaters to "Back Off" or give them a stronger message that can't be repeated here. According to ET, the real thrill about this machine is riding it. ET can't stand anybody in front of him, and he also loves going out on the highway and hunting for Ninjas. "They click down a gear and go," says ET. "I can go down to fourth gear at 100 mph, twist the throttle, light the rear tire, and leave them behind. Some guys pull up next to me later and ask, 'What the hell is that?' Zeus' license plate - EFI HOG - should give them a clue. The only uncomfortable thing about the bike is having to run a stiff clutch to handle all the power." So the next time you hear a loud, barking Harley in the parking lot or one howling by you on the highway, look to the skies and see if Zeus is smiling down on one of his children. - AIM MAY 2000 • AMERICAN IRON MAGAZINE TECH SHEET Owner: Ted Shrode, PhD Home: Santa Barbara, CA Builder: ET-Performance & Racing Products Year/model: 1988 FXST/C Time to build: Six months Cost to build: $35,000 Painter: Owner Colors: Candy Blue, Candy Red, Candy Purple ENGINE Model/year: Custom-built Builder: Channel City Engineering, Santa Barbara, CA Displacement: 97" Horsepower: 161 Cases: Delkron Flywheels: Stock, modified Balancing: Precision Balancing Connecting rods: S&S Cylinders Sputhe 3-13/16" Pistons: Custom 16:1 Heads: Fueling/Rivera four-valve Cam: Leineweber E5S Valves: Manley Rockers: Fueling/Rivera four-valve Lifters: JIMS Push rods: Minneapolis Custom Cycles Throttle bodies: Two 47mm Manifold runners: Two custom-made Injectors: Matched Rochesters @ 54 lb/hr Air cleaner: 1mm screen Exhaust: Muffler Jerry, Santa Barbara, CA Ignition: Spyke multiple spark single-fire Wiring harness: Wire Plus w/ ET Ignition Ignitor built in Coils/wires: Spyke Oil pump: S&S Cam cover: ET-Performance Computer: Haltech E6 Fuel: About 2.5 oz. of nitro per gallon of pump gas TRANSMISSION Year/model: Spyke Case: 1988 H-D Gears: Spyke Mods: ART trapdoor Clutch: Barnett Kevlar CHASSIS Frame: 1988 FXST/C modified Front forks: Modified Swingarm: Stock Shocks: Progressive Suspension Front wheel: RC Components 3.50/19" Rear wheel: RC Components 5.50/16" Front brake: JayBrake four-piston caliper Rear brake: GMA two-piston caliper Front tire: Dunlop 100/19" Rear tire: Dunlop 150/16" Front fender: ET-Performance Rear fender: Kermit, Durable l, Custer, WA Fender struts: Kermit, Durable l ACCESSORIES Headlight: Stock, modified brackets Taillight: Owner Fuel tank: CCI, owner modified Oil tank: Stock Handlebars: Drag bar with built-in risers Air dam/fairing: Modified Arlen Ness Seat: LePera Footpogs: Stock Dash: Owner