When you come up with an engine modification for the Royal Enfield called the Ace Fireball 535, it sort of defeats the purpose to slip it into a stock bike, except for the much greater performance, a lot of folks might miss it altogether.
Chumma, one of the partners in the Fireball project, just finished his new Royal Enfield cafe. (correction: Chumma did the work on this bike for a customer.) Tom Lyons sent along these photos and it certainly looks great, but when you consider this bike, with the modified engine just being broken in, has already topped the ton, well it just looks all that much better. Tom thinks it would run competitively against a BSA Gold Star DBD34. These Royal Enfields are looking better and better as a platform for some nice builds.
Nice work, Chumma!
UPDATE: Be sure to read Chumma’s long comment below for the full story on this bike.
Link: Ace Fireball 535
Link: Yahoo group for the ACE Fireball 535
Will Silk says
Beautiful machine, and indeed, the Enfields are proving to be a great platform to modify for all sorts of custom applications.
Very well done!
B50 Jim says
A pure motorcycle, built to run fast but with reliability and tractability built in at a reasonable price, plus phenomenal fuel economy. Great effort, gentlemen! The more that goes on with Royal Enfields, the more I think my next bike will be an R-E.
Thom says
Wow… I love it! I’d prefer some real clipons to the clubmans, though.
Dr Robert Harms says
“Tom thinks it would run competitively against a BSA Gold Star DBD34”
That really seems a bit hyperbolic
menormeh says
This is biking in it’s truest form. I was not overly surprised to see that Aniket Vardhan has been talking to these folks. This is just the ticket that the Musket needs for those after market upgrades that every owner would want to give the Harley crowd fits……. Now, if we could just get Casey Stevenson at Ryca on board we would have a truly international Brit Monster out there. I ride a Goldwing and I love it for the highway for those long hauls. It’s my Winnibago with the windshield kicked out. But this, set up as a Musket cafe racer, would be my mount of choice for those city streets. Lean, mean, fast, with that sensual off cadence rumbling growl for the soul. This is todays Vincent for the working man.
B50 Jim says
The clubman bars are just right for the era the Fireball evokes — the late 1950s to mid-’60s, when owners swapped their street bars for clubmans on weekends and rode to the track for a weekend of racing. I believe it would run against a Goldie if it were tuned as tightly as the best Goldies were tuned. As it is, it’s a good, fast bike with excellent street manners. Those legendary racing Goldies were high-revving, temperamental monsters that ran like spit but wouldn’t idle, required frequent teardowns and scattered parts with the slightest provocation. As much as I would love to own one, for daily riding I’d take a Fireball any time.
Tom Lyons says
We’re having alot of fun with this stuff.
It’s fun being “the underdog” that people underestimate.
This bike is very quick. The engineering and craftsmanship put into these Fireball engines is as well-done as anything that was ever seen in the vintage days. We just worked this platform up to where it is, while keeping the inherent design nature of the Bullet for classic purposes. We didn’t copy anything. We weren’t making a copy of a Gold Star or a Manx,nor did we follow their design examples.
We made a Fireball, and it’s truly unique..It has its own personality and allure.
We wanted to bring up the stature of the Royal Enfield marque again. We wanted to show people what it could be, if things were done right.
And it’s all done, right from the initial design stage on paper, to do what it does. We didn’t just copy some other cam grind from a BSA or a Velocette or anything. This is a custom cam grind that is intended to work with this platform.
We didn’t just “do a port job”. We have this head re-worked from the ground up by Joe Mondello with his porting expertise, and a completely re-designed and improved valve train. Everything is flow-matched. Combustion efficiency is drastically improved.
The port/cam match is idealized for the rev range intended.
Our bottom ends are built with Carrillo rods and trued to <.001" runout.
The pistons are lightweight forged ones, designed to work with this combustion chamber.
The jetting is dyno tuned to be perfectly smooth with no hitches or flat spots in the power delivery.
The intake and exhaust systems are wave-tuned lengths.
The power band is designed to work with the gearbox ratios.
Everything has been taken into consideration in this overall design, and it works.
Yet, externally, the engine retains the vintage appeal, and it's a beautiful looking engine from the golden era.
While it may be debatable about "what bike would be what other bike", the truth is that this bike will hang in there with anything from the British vintage singles era. It may or may not "win", but they aren't going to "run away from it". And it's eminently "street-able".
So, there's what it is. Something completely unique, unto itself.
It's an Ace Fireball 535.
todd says
Pricing and availability please. You have to be a member of the Yahoo group to see the catalog.
I need to start saving now.
-todd
Tom Lyons says
Everything is available as of about a year ago.
It takes some time for certain things to get done, since the parts are custom orders for each build.
We have all sorts of options for parts and for machine work and building assistance.
For pricing, please contact me at ace.cafe@yahoo.com or twlyons@juno.com, or Chumma at madchummagee@hotmail.com
SteveD says
It’s very nice. For many, this bike has plenty of power. These “retro sports” are popular because they are fun and nice looking. There are quite a few folks out there not looking for 100+ hp and just want controllable power that handles well.
Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says
This engine isn’t 100+ hp, the bike has topped 100 mph.
Tom says
I’m already saving up for my next bike. Care to guess what I’m planning on it being? And what the first mod I plan to do is? đŸ™‚
todd says
If it is competition for a DBD34 this thing would kill my GB500. Regardless, it’s not the power I’m after but the light and nimble handling. I wonder how it compares there.
Perhaps I need to have Fritz Egli give a go to the rest of it:
http://www.royal-enfield.net/new_bullets/Egli3.jpg
-todd
Tom Lyons says
Todd,
I’m very familiar with Egli’s Bullet work, and I actually have one of his Egli distributor bodies for my bike. He started up the 535 overbore idea during recent times, as the max reliable overbore for this cylinder.
The handling of the Bullet is quite nice, once you get it on some good rubber, and upgrade the damping. The Hagon rear shocks on this bike are the latest iteration from the old Girling shock company, which Hagon bought-out. Nice vintage type shocks. They were good enough for Hailwood.
A fork rebuild with some good Bel-Ray fork oil, and some quality wheel bearings, and it is very nimble and exhibits good handling qualities. Turns in nicely, easy to flick, and tracks steady at high speed too. It may be a fairly “mundane looking” frame, but it does the job.
Getting some of the weight off, such as getting rid of the electric starter system and converting to kickstart-only, installing light alloy fenders, and converting to right-side shift and left-side brake also helps. That was all done on this bike in the pictures.
This bike has the 5-speed transmission, and the older 4-speed box can be replaced by the 5-speed gearbox, if desired, and it’s worth doing.
We don’t race these bikes on the track because they are made for street riding, and the 535 bore is not compliant to 500-class rules. We don’t push the 7000rpm limits, like the Gold Star and the Manx do, because we have a little longer stroke. But we ‘could” rev up there if we really wanted to do that in racing on the track. We have an electronic rev-limiter at 6200rpm on this bike, and it can hit the rev limiter in all 5 gears.
But the best part is that we don’t have to slip the clutch to get moving, or get any weakness in the lower rpms, such as race-tuned bikes often have. We are very quick from 0-70mph, where most street riding happens, and the bike feels amazing within legal speed limits. We have such a broad torque curve which delivers alot of grunt from very low in the rpm curve, that we can come off the starting line really quickly. And a top-gear “roll-on” will have us up to 100mph in a very short time.
In fact, even though we can deliver a peak hp that is within about a few hp of the “famous vintage singles racers”, we deliver that hp at a lower rpm, so we don’t need to rev up as high to reach our peak hp. And we deliver that peak hp and torque over quite a wide rpm range. Our amount of power “under the curve” is extremely good. Once we are up high in the revs, all shifts remain on the powerband, so you don’t lose hp on a shift..It delivers +/- about 1 hp all the way through the powerband as you shift thru the gears from 2nd to 5th, shifting at redline. It does this because as we approach redline, our torque number is trailing lower, but the rpms keep up the hp. When we shift, the rpms go lower, but we”re on a fatter portion of the torque curve, and so we stay on the power exceedingly well.
This makes the bike feel quite fast and exciting to ride(for a vintage type single), and it performs faster than people expect it would.
And down in the lower rpms, the torque curve is so fat, that you are never feeling down on power at any point in any gear. You give it throttle, and it goes, no matter what the rpm.
Now of course, this is within the expectations of a vintage single. This bike isn’t going to beat any Hayabusas or Ninjas, etc. But it is a very fun bike to ride, and the enjoyment of being able to use the entire capability of the engine and bike at speeds that aren’t double/triple the legal speed limit is a VERY satisfying feeling. And that’s what we wanted. We realize that this is a vintage single bike that isn’t going to beat modern multi-cyl sport bikes.
The bike is just a lot of fun to ride in the real world!
lostinoz says
Very nice, well done and clean looking. I love the R.E. and hearing 100+ out of a single is great! I think the only thing I’d want different is the brakes though, I’ve never personally liked drum brakes on any vehicle, especially on a motorcycle.
HigherRPM says
With the title of Ace Fireball 535 it just has to be EPIC! LOVE IT!
akumabito says
I think it’s a fantastic upgrade to the RE. Prices aren’t that bad considering the performance upgrade – it completely transforms the bike. I am not sure about the costs, but I’ve heard about ballpark figures somewhere in the $1800 range, but I bet a lot depends exactly on what you want to have modified, and to what extend..
Two of these kits and Aniket’s V-Twin mods would produce just about the most amazing motorcycle a more-or-less sensible budget could allow for.
B50 Jim says
The drum brakes probably are fine for average riding, even with the Ace’s potential. As Etore Bugatti said when critics complained about his brakes: “A Bugatti is meant to go, not to stop!”
Keep it up, Tom! You did your homework and applied a lot of knowledge to the Fireball. You’re doing it right.
Tom Lyons says
Thanks Jim!
BTW, regarding the concerns about the drum brake, if anyone prefers a front disc brake, there is a kit readily available for an easy conversion to front disc brake. One of the kits even has a new wheel and spokes all laced together on the new hub, so it’s very easy.
Many people prefer the drum brake, because it keeps the vintage appearance, and it’s a double leading-shoe type which can be quite decent when adjusted properly..
You can go either way.
B50 Jim says
Tom:
Correct you are. My B50’s 8″ twin-leading-shoe drum brake can make the front tire howl when necessary. Nothing wrong with drum brakes except they require a firm hand, and they will fade if used hard enough to get them really hot. I admit a disk is superior in most ways except for a vintage appearance, and if I were planning to ride hard and fast, or to race, I’d certainly order the disk. Keep up the good work!
todd says
Agreed. I’ve had some drum brakes that have out-performed some of my disk brakes. It’s all about the design and setup. Disk brakes just have better cooling.
-todd
Simon says
Very nice, very tasteful, very pure. The only thing I’d change would be the bars, as I would find them uncomfortable on a daily driver, which I think this bike would be if I could afford it. (I may have to start saving up.) I always liked the original RE and thought the Interceptor was one of the most beautiful bikes of all time, right up there with the BSA Lightning Rocket, the Ducati Diana, and the Gold Star. What kept me from buying one of these Indian RE’s when they first came out were concerns about reliability and parts availability. (Like Donald Sutherland’s Oddball in the film Kelly’s Heroes, “I just ride ’em, I don’t know what makes ’em work.” Changing the oil and the spark plugs was always the extent of my expertise.) However, the more I see being done with these, the more I’m thinking I would really like to own one. The McDeeb bikes are lovely, and this one is simply Old School bliss. I LOVE the idea of a kick-starter on a bike again. (You can’t jump a modern Sporty because of the EFI and I wish they still made these with the kick-starter. I recall kick-starting my old Ironheads, and it always kept my legs in shape.) I am really pleased to see this trend toward a simple, purist aesthetic with twins and singles. It makes me wish I had taken shop courses in high school instead of English lit. Then maybe I could do stuff like this. Very nicely done, Tom,
Aniket says
Greetings, my brothers!
More meaty meaningful motor magic!
I’m having trouble sleeping, thinking about what it would feel like to have a Fireball Musket with around 75 hp…of course, we would work out frame, transmission and brake upgrades.
Tom and Chumma, I think some sort of epic collaboration is possible with our synergistic projects.
Here’s to a fire breathing, snorting, roaring beast coming alive this year.
Deepest respects,
Aniket
B50 Jim says
Rest assured, everyone, there WILL be a Fireball Musket. These blokes simply can’t let it go. That Musket will be the best mid-displacemnt V-twin on the planet —– and because large-displacement V-twins are no more than ego trips, the Fireball Musket will be THE best V-twin on the planet, period. I’d bet mental development work already is under way, and they’re warming up the CAD application as we speak.
Chumma says
Hey guys!
Thank you for all the supportive emails and comments. Pictures of the bike and the entire build process can be found here on my flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/god_of_fireball/sets/
Well, It’s been a busy week for me outside of motorcycle related stuff so pardon this late reply. After years of toiling, prototyping, and eternal wrenching, it’s damn satisfying to read comments from fellow motorcycle enthusiasts.
This article really came as a surprise to me. As happy as I am about being featured in the kneeslider, which I feel is the coolest motorcycle publication around right now, there was some miscommunication on our part which led to key information being absent in our initial email to Paul about the build. The entire story is a truly interesting motorcycling story that I think you all would love.
First of all I must stress that this is not my bike, though this was one of those special builds that I long to somehow be able to keep. Ironically, as readers of the kneeslider, you’ve already seen this bike before- just in it’s past form. It was the bike that lost to me in that impromptu drag race featured in the first ACE fireball article. The owner of the bike, Chuck, is a friend of mine whom I had initially met on a royal enfield forum.
Chuck and I got to become casual friends as the fireball project was nearing it’s initial completion. When my bike (fireball 1) was ready for testing, he happened to join another friend and I at an old abandoned airstrip in Brooklyn (floyd bennett field) where the first fireball videos were shot. It was the first time we’d met face to face. His candid comments and quirky jokes gave the video a raw human character and made it an unforgettable day for me.
Chuck’s a truly unique individual. An avid cyclist and ex bicycle racer in his late 40s, born and raised in Brooklyn with the most witty positive outlook on life… Something very rare for a New Yorker to possess, especially a blue collar city worker as himself. Most of us fall into that usual caustic trap and too often find ourselves constantly seeking out petty opportunities to spit fire at any given moment. He’s one of those dudes who is able to balance an old soul’s disposition with a child’s love for adventure.
After decades of exploring city streets via pedal transport Chuck finally bought his first motorcycle, A 2006 model Enfield ‘sixty-five’ purchased in 2008. In 2 years he quickly put 24,000 miles on the odometer, every mile of which was done within the confines of new york city streets. It wasn’t hard to realize this man really loved his bike and the new found freedom it allowed him.
Fast forward to sometime last August… It had been a while since I’d seen or got in touch with Chuck when one day while randomly browsing I saw his bike on craigslist for $2000 with a very odd sounding description… the kind of description that accompanies a bike that the owner really doesn’t want to sell. “great bike with a greater soul, owner must treat it kindly, give me a call within the hours of 1 and 1:05pm etc”
I gave him a call and asked him whats up. He sounded very distraught. Kept on saying he doesnt want to do it and may regret this for a long time. We agreed to meet the next day at a local pizzeria where we managed to spend hours discussing bikes and life.
He mentioned several bikes he’d gone and test driven and what he liked and disliked of each. He said he’d really miss his enfield forever and how selling it might be a decision he’d regret for life but he needed it to be “more bike” to allow him to adventure beyond the city and onto the winding country highways upstate.
We then took a walk to Indian Larry’s old shop which is now inhabited by his old employees who still build custom bikes under their own names (keino and paul cox). Another resident of the garage is a guy who restores vintage italian bikes. There were a couple old guzzi’s and ducati supersports which he kept pointing at asking questions about. I got an idea of what his perfect motorcycle would be and I explained it to him what I could do and we rambled on about “a dream enfield.” He wasnt sold on the performance of the Fireball so I let him test drive my bike after which he came back with a huge smile and said ‘just do everything you’ve done to your bike to mine and add everything else we talked about before’.
He wanted something sporty and responsive that would remind him of his bicycling days but not an outright boy racer – something more versatile enough to take long rides upstate with girlfriend in tow. An classic, timeless, urban roadster with subtle displays of craftsmanship which made sense to me after seeing the walls of his apt… which are lined with at least 10 pristine but well ridden immaculately beautiful 1970s-1980s bespoke bicycles. Lean, sleek, mean, machines with delicate practical use of contrasting metal. Stainless steel, high grade alloys, 1970s titanium, exquisitely wrapped leather grips etc.
Born out of that day came the bike in this article. It is fireball #10. Teardown happened in mid october and the photograph you see on this article was taken on Sunday. Despite Chuck giving me full artistic ‘carte blanche’ (to a set budget), There were easily 50 long emails and 100s of phone calls between us picking each other’s brains over minor details. His eager love and appreciation for his vehicle pushed me in my craft. The end result became a full restoration on steroids. Trimmed and muscular, the bike is 80lbs lighter than when it first rolled in. Countless essential parts from the crank down to the wheel bearings, brakes, and hub spacers were replaced or modified/improved upon. I’ve got Chuck constantly teasing me about when our next drag race will be… which I certainly will lose.
This bike was designed to perform better than it looks and it delivers. Performance is nothing short of breath taking. As the years have gone by, I’ve gotten a better grasp of my tools which allowed me to true Chuck’s crank to within .0005″. The rewards of which are obvious. There is not a hint of high frequency vibrations anywhere. As we say here.. it rides smooth as butter or better yet: ice cream in the microwave. 90mph feels like 50mph. The bike effortlessly motors past 100mph with a slight flick of throttle while cruising on 80mph while displaying no vibrations at redline in each gear.
Chuck’s been antsy still got the bike for 1 more week which I’ll spend on final carb tuning and sorting out. After these 300miles of breakin which includes a couple oil changes, brake adjustments and a head torque; Chuck will have the bike all to himself with a full 10k/2yr parts and labor warranty. I don’t doubt he will put an easy 15kmiles on it the first year alone. I’m really gonna miss this bike.
Hopefully I havent put everybody to sleep with this post but Ive been asked by others via email to leave a short bio on myself so here goes:
I’m a late 20something, born in birmingham uk (birthplace of bsa, norton, enfield, vellocette, etc) to parents of indian descent and raised in nyc/nj. During family trips to visit family in India I learnt how to ride on a 250cc 2 stroke Jawa at age 10 and was hooked. I became the youth in the family constantly begging his relatives to ‘park their bikes in the garage’ via the long way . I rode my first enfield 2 years later and also witnessed and played a hand in my first RE engine build.
After high school, i studied engineering and, like Aniket, always dreamed of bringing an Enfield back from India and testing out the various engine design philosophies being taught in my school’s internal combustion engineering classes. Soon after I started my tinkering, I read the posts of Tom Lyons on various enfield forums. We became great friends and started collaborating together on various aspects of what is now the Ace fireball kit.
After years of grassroots r&d, long waits for prototypes, and days/nights spent in the garage we are where we are now. I can not thank Paul more for the platform he provides and motivation it gives to me and other “small guys with dreams” out there. I also met Aniket through this site and we have since become the best of pals with many many juicy motorcycling related endeavors in the works. All of which we will keep you all posted on as they come into fruition. Jim, if you’re still reading … you’re on the money man. Those CAD programs are in full flux. Long nights have been great nights…
Well I’m really gonna miss this bike. As there is nothing much left to do to it I find myself going through a withdrawal phase of what’s next. If anybody out there has a vision and would like my help in creating something, feel free to get in touch. The core iron barrel Royal Enfield bikes have unlimited potential and can be found very cheap. I recently picked one up, untouched, with 1600miles for $1400 which I’d love to use for another build. My mouth salivates at the thought of building a full trials style machine…
Chumma
Chuck’s first ride around his neighborhood on his brand new Fireball #10.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDOIgXhpUAk
This video is just an appetizer for whats to come. Excuse my camera handling skills,I had no idea where Chuck was for minutes at a time or from what direction he would next appear from. I sort of just followed the rumbling thump… didn’t see him for 20 minutes after he turned that last corner shown in the video.
menormeh says
I have emailed back and forth with Aniket Vardhan a few times regarding where the Musket is going and when will it be available (1070 cc version). As a matter of fact after reading the first Kneeslider article regarding what you have done and are doing I was not overly surprised to see that you two had been talking behind closed doors. As I told Aniket and will tell you, with what I have seen here and what both of you have been doing I can envision a bike that will, once it hits the bricks, will take on almost cult status. A new /old modern day Vincent of sorts for the riders out there that are not techno freaks or die hard HD vee twin dudes. (You have a Meteor in the Enfield thumper, a Comet with the thumper and the Fireball kit, a Rapide in the Musket, and a Shadow with the Musket and the Fireball upgrades.) As Aniket pointed out, Phil Irving, Vincent’s chief engineer basically thought of doing the twin while tracing a drawing of the Comet single and placing a second cylinder tracing on top of the drawing.
You see, not all of us want variable rate suspension, processor controlled fuel injection, and die cast alloy frames. What beckons us is something that rattles and shakes and has a soul. This is grass roots building where it all started and went on to become legends that survive even today. Watching you two young men reminds me of another young man back about 45 years ago. He had a dream to build the ultimate American sports car. Using guile, charm, determination and a lot of hard work, he realized his goal. Today a Shelby Cobra is the most copied car on the face of the planet and Carrol Shelby’s name invokes memories of iron men and fiendishly brutal machines that changed how the world saw racing. The best part was they had fun doing it. I wish both of you the same kind of success and I can’t wait to pony up the cash to get one of these machines.