| Pressure Cooker |
Matt Capri’s 200-mph K100RS record holder Spanning the years between 1985 and 1994, Matt Capri was The Bavarian Jedi. Working to promote his BMW aftermarket performance firm Luftmeister, Capri developed kits for all of the popular BMW models. And while Capri’s catalog wasn’t focused solely on boosting output, evidenced by his efforts in improving chassis and braking performance, making wailing fast BMW’s is what he was best known for. “Working with BMW owners was a rewarding experience” remembers Capri. “The loyalty was strong, but there was always the underdog element. They’d read that their bikes were slow and didn’t handle, so there was an underlying interest in improving that; a way of making their bike a complete package”. But saying you’re fast is easy. Proving it is what Capri is all about.  When the K100 was imported late in 1984, Capri’s intuition of the new four revealed an instant contender for one of his two racing vices; LSR, or land speed record competition. “The Boxer isn’t an optimum design for that kind of thing” says Capri from his desk at South Bay Triumph, where the tuner is currently re-writing history with his rapid Bonneville and Thruxton twins. “But studying the K100 closer, I reasoned that with some specific modifications it could make some serious horsepower”. The key says Capri, was the Brick’s hearty construction, compact combustion chamber and its long stroke; ideal anti-detonation design elements for his favored method of gaining horsepower; turbocharging. In time, a plan was formed. The heart of the Luftmeister K100 is its Warner/INI intercooled turbo. Capri ‘stroked’ the engine by re-positioning the crank pins and fitting longer Carillo rods, still retaining the critical stock bore and stroke dimensions. The head of the “long rod” K100 was ported, polished and machined to accept an O-ring copper head gasket, then fitted with 8 separate injectors. After a harrowing run when the stock transmission broke, Capri fitted a German-made Kaiser gear cluster and a titanium clutch with heavy duty springs. For more stability Capri raked the frame, retaining the Fichtel & Sachs fork and machined a custom drive shaft to fit inside the K’s extended swingarm. A faring from a 600cc Kawasaki was cut to fit, and vented to flow around the ice-packed intercooler fitted in the nose. “That was comical” laughs Capri. “At speed, that would begin to melt and ice chips would fly around my head. I needed a damn windshield wiper for my faceshield!”  With just the head and turbo boost the Luftmeister LSR, which began life as a 1985 K100RS, rocketed up to 197-mph. With full bodywork, 10.0 compression, a 2.54 final drive ratio and using 22-lbs of boost, the 300 horsepower K100 sailed past the magical 200-mph barrier, setting a SCTA 1000cc/Gas record of 206-mph. A record that still stands. “Don’t forget we were racing on dirt and salt” says Capri. “So often, too much boost would just spin the tire. We added 150-lbs of lead to the rear of the bike just to control that alone”. (Total weight was 950-lbs, rider and bike) Capable of sub-10 second quarter mile times and F18-like sprints, Matt Capri’s Luftmeister LSR proved the K100 much more than just another boring German punter. “The harder you pushed it, the cooler it ran. The Brick is just a great design; a great engine. One of the very best ever”.  In September of 2009, South Bay Triumph/Norton set five new land speed records at the 2009 BUB Speed Trials at Bonneville. The big news late last year announced Capri as the US Importer for Norton, bringing a whole demographic into the equation. Knowing Matt like we do, you can be sure he’s making plans for it... Nolan Woodbury http://www.triumphperformanceusa.com/ |
