KEN'S  BIO

                                                Bio By Ken 

Name:     Kenneth A. Kuhnke

Education : blah, blah, blah. We all know the education starts when you leave high school and college. So lets start this section by saying I started working on motorcycles professionally in 1974. During this time period choppers were everywhere and we had a drag strip near by.
Hondas were selling by the millions.  We had the boring bar going all day, Installing 1080's 900's, and 836cc big bore kits. (cams, porting etc).
The problem back them was always carb's. (Hence, Our carb system was developed)
I was not going through this carb thing again.
Of course there was HD stroker motor's, Kawasaki's and Suzuki's
The chopper thing was out of control. The majority of them were unsafe (sloppy work, junk parts, Etc. It was so bad that we were not allowed to test drive most of the bikes because of insurance issues.
Does this qualify as a education bio ?  Maybe not. But I am saying A person learns what not to do in life just as much as what to do in life.

Work History :
  I do not want to name a bunch motorcycle shops where I have worked  (that's boring to me) What I will tell you is that in the early stages of my motorcycle career, I had one great teacher. Ralph (last name is anonymous). The reason he was such a great teacher was because he was highly educated and had patience to deal with a young know it all. I learned a lot and we worked well together.
 The later stage of my MC career was different, Because I worked at other peoples shops. The jobs and business decisions had to be done to the owners satisfaction (right or wrong)
A person learns what not to do just as much as what to do at work.

Racing:
Ok, lets get to fun stuff. It took many years and money to develop very high level race bikes. Just look in a catalog at people claiming exaggerated horsepower parts. This can get very confusing for a upstart racer. My first big road bike was a Triumph Trident and every income tax check went into this bike. (I received checks every year because motorcycle mechanics  never made money). This was the bike that I really concentrated  on. (Because people said its a waste of time)
As time went by, This bike turned into a 3 time world record holder ( IDBA and Dragbike Association) But we knew the real money in street racing (Honda 1080's and stuff like this) It was always easy to get a race if you were on a Honda because the Kawasaki's had a lot of potential right from the start.
We also had a Kawasaki H2 (2 stroke) With a full mod FAST by GAST motor. This bike was a handful to drive sometimes. Years later when Sue and I moved to Northern Wisconsin we found snowmobiles to be a way of life.
Once again there was those 2 strokes again. Modifying them because the sport was kind of lawless. No speeding tickets and you could have a bunch of beers if you wanted. Not to mention they could produce over 200 horsepower on gas.
Cannot remember why, But we started to race 4 wheelers (Quad 2 strokes) on oval tracks. These things were set up similar to sprint cars. This was not a hobby to us we also took this racing very serious and pushed it to a high level. (until we crashed real hard) Ask Sue about that.

Personal Bikes:
I have many bikes to choose from, but we have always liked a simple, aggressive style.
I am personally putting together a Honda with a Boxer Frame and of course a big motor.
But I do like my 1975 HD shovelhead. (looks like a pit bull or something)
What's up with the bikes now-a-days? It looks like there is a ugly contest and there is a tie for first place. (Easy man)

Likes and Dislikes :
Love my wife and kids. Love creating cool motorcycles. Its almost like being a artist and mechanic in one. Keep in mind that some art is nasty to me.
Dislikes are another story. I will refer you to my Quote segment below, You will get the picture after reading it.




QUOTE;
    PERSISTENCE WILL  WEAR DOWN RESISTANCE.
    I did not make up this quote but it deserves to be said over and over to your self.

QUOTE;
    I ALWAYS HERE REASONS WHY NOT TO DO THINGS. I RARELY HERE PEOPLE WITH REASONS TO DO THINGS.
 This quote is for people who run into resistance and have a million excuses why not to do anything. They will justify  why not to do something all day long. Do you hear me young people?

QUOTE:
 I REALLY WANTED TO DO THAT BUT I RAN OUT OF TIME.
 Remember the first to quotes? I had purchased some tooling from someone. He walked into my shop and loved what we were doing. He pulled me off to the side and said "I really like what you are doing. I wanted to do the same, but I ran out of time."
I cannot get this out of my head. He mentioned resistance and many reasons why he did not peruse his dreams. Now he is too old and maybe has health issues.

QUOTE;
I DON'T KNOW WHAT COULD HAPPEN BUT I KNOW WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN
This quote came from people who always ask me stuff like this. "What would happen if my motor was stuck and I freed it up with chemicals and ran it?"
Ken said: "how do I know, I do not know what could happen but I know what should happen."

QUOTE;
 WANT TO GET YOUR FEELINGS HURT? . ENTER YOU BIKE IN A SHOW OR PUT YOUR BIKE ON A DYNO
This was said by Tom Rad .  Many people have experienced this type of heart break

QUOTE;
ITS NOT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE LATELY?
 This is for people who sit at the bar and brag on themselves. Talking about things they have done 30 years ago like it was yesterday. They are a star at the bar.
Do something.

QUOTE;
WE NEVER LIKED THEM, WHY RESTORE THEM?
We like custom bikes. period

Maybe I should stop this quote thing.

PEOPLE ASK US ABOUT OUR STREET FIGHTER MOTORS . PEOPLE ASK US WHAT'S NEW FOR HONDA'S. PEOPLE ASK US WHERE WE FIND ALL THIS COOL OLD STUFF.
WE PUT ON THOUSANDS OF MILES A YEAR LOOKING FOR VINTAGE CHOPPER PRODUCTS, AND THESE PRODUCTS ARE GETTING REAL HARD TO FIND!
WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE NEW CUSTOM STUFF WE ARE MAKING FOR YOUR HONDA'S
STREETFIGHTER MOTORS-----(Stay tuned)

                                  1975 SHOVELHEAD
                        There is nothing pretty about my Shovel Head. No million dollar paint job. This bike is masculine
                                                                        from  top to bottom.

                RACING QUAD (Built by Cycle X )
                      This is the 4 wheeler mentioned earlier. If you could drive this thing, You could win a national race!
                                                                     (THE HIGHEST LEVEL)

 KEN'S GOT AN ANSWER TO THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD:
 
                             IS YOUR SOCIAL LIFE STAGNANT? 

ANSWER: GET A CHOPPER!

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT DRIVING A CHOPPER GETS MORE CHICKS. EVER WONDER WHY THE HOTTEST CHICKS IN HIGH SCHOOL ALWAYS WERE WITH THE GUY IN THE LEATHER JACKET? GO FIND OUT WHY AND GET A CHOPPER.

         TIRED OF GETTING LAUGHED AT AND SPIT ON DRIVING
                                         YOUR STOCK BIKE ?

ANSWER: GET A CHOPPER!

PEOPLE WILL APPROACH YOU TO LOOK AT YOUR COOL BIKE RATHER THAN APPROACH YOU TO URINATE ON YOUR STOCK BIKE.
REMEMBER; WE NEVER LIKED EM, WHY RESTORE EM

                             NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF- ESTEEM ?

ANSWER: GET A CHOPPER!

THERE IS NOT A PSYCHOLOGIST IN THE WORLD THAT CAN HELP YOU WITH THIS PROBLEM.
THEY WILL CHARGE YOU 100.00 PER HOUR AND THEY NEED JUST AS MUCH HELP AS YOU MIGHT NEED.
AT 100.00 PER HOUR A CHOPPER IS CHEAP TO OWN TO BOOST YOUR SELF-ESTEEM.

                                     NEED A BETTER JOB?

ANSWER: GET A CHOPPER!

NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE HOTTEST CHICK IN TOWN, A RESPECTABLE BIKE AND IMPROVED SELF ESTEEM YOU CAN GO INTO A JOB INTERVIEW AND NAIL THE $250.000 DOLLAR A YEAR JOB BECAUSE THEY ALL WANT WHAT YOU HAVE (COOLNESS)!

                                                          

                                                    DON INTERVIEWS KEN:

QUESTION:  Ken, you sound upset on some of your bio page What's up?
Credit card scam's, bad check's, theft in our salvage yard, Imports, exports, phony disability's, Frivolous law suits. I am about to scream! (How's that?)

QUESTION:  Then how would you describe yourself?
We are all members of the wild kingdom. I would describe myself similar to a raccoon.  I just mind my own business and do my thing but if you poke me with a stick. I will bite . 

QUESTION:  Favorite color?
 I like the color black on bikes. Green I guess.

QUESTION:  Favorite food?
Lobster tails. Enjoy them once or twice a year. (Their expensive man.)

QUESTION:  Lets talk about motors. What do you think about exhaust system theory's?
Its about time.  This topic seems to be controversial, but my opinion is this.
4 into 1 exhaust work well because the exhaust leaving a cylinder will pull exhaust gases from the other cylinders.
The cylinders will be working together extracting exhaust gases.
Sound beats or shock waves are a 2 stroke thing.
The diameter of the primary pipes (head pipes) affect midrange and top end power. Smaller head pipes will give you more midrange punch and larger head pipes are drag race thing.
Baffles can assist in tuning and consistency (Keeps the cops off your back).
Drag pipes seem to be very inconsistent for tuning inline 4 cylinder bikes . But they look good and sound good, I guess.
Why do some motors run better with 40 inch drag pipes rather than 36 inch pipes?
Why do people put a simple 1/4 inch bolt at the end of there exhaust and the bike runs better?
Why do we see  differences in horsepower in various kinds of exhaust systems?
Motors  need the right combination of cams, carb's, ignitions and exhaust system for your particular preference.
So select some pipes you like and tune around the exhaust systems characteristics. 

QUESTION:   Are you saying your super drags are finely tuned for Honda sohc motors?
No, Its not like us to sacrifice performance, but if you ever heard these pipes they will blow your mind. We have always liked long pipes on Honda's  for the sound alone. (And looks.)

QUESTION:  Tell us a little about the carb systems and intake theories.
The carb systems were really tough to develop. Now they are super easy to make minor changes as necessary. The mikuni carb's have been around forever and will be around forever. Jets are available at any motorcycle, snowmobile shop if you need them.
During the development of the manifolds, We made many changes but first it was necessary to make the intake runners equal  in length. Then we had to test quite a bit to find the perfect intake runner diameter. Not to big, Not to small. They had to flow like water. Flow like water? Yes. Bigger is not better. Just like cylinder heads, velocity and direction of the flow means everything. Think of intake flow like a garden hose, If you squeeze a garden hose the water moves faster. If you have a great big garden hose the water moves slowly.
We knew we could gain a lot of torque and some streetable horsepower if we pushed the carbs away from the head a little, But we also knew that the carburetors had to feel a signal (or pulse) from the motor. 

Some of the carb systems we have seen in the past have had a long tube or something with carbs attached to it. We have found this theory impossible to work in the real world. All the carb feels is vacuum, not a signal (or pulse). 

Remember, carburetors should be tuned from the bottom up. (Main jet is last.)
We tried 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40 mm carb's. The bigger carb's made a lot of top end power, but the goal was to make the system suitable for all purposes. We use the 34mm carb's. Test, Test, test and then hit the Dyno to check fuel to air ratio.     
And of course the carb system had to fit as many frame variations as possible. This is a summed up version of the efforts put into this carb system. We just summed up a years work in a few paragraphs. Lets move on.  e manifolds  

QUESTION:  What about that motor is only a air pump theory?
Stupid,  I guess a motor is a air pump. Where do people find this type of literature, from the 1930's?
I think we will leave this topic to the chat rooms.

QUESTION:  Lets talk about the Honda sohc motors.
OK, Maybe we could continue this later. I need to work.

                                                    TO BE CONTINUED!