Ranger 2 speed gear drive trans

[Big John]

11

[hosszz4]

John,

You need help posting pics here? Just let me know. Pricing may help as well and complete specs.
Lots of guys in Europe have the older bikes and may be interested in this. I'm heading to Pullman City in June, so I could spread the word if need be.

Cheers
Aldo

[Big John]

Hi, Aldo,

and thank you.
Actually, as I was laying out, before, most likely,
a body would be better off having it(the conversion) done in my shop, at least the basics, as it seems most guys are having a bit of trouble copying even the original version, and still making some basic mistakes. Then, when it comes to clutch and shifter linkage, there gets to be some real out-of-the-box thinking!
It's amazing what different results occur from the same instructions!
I have swingarm bearings, hydraulic clutch linkage, heavy-duty shift linkage, computed the rear suspension alterations, A 3" Gates Eliminator belt drive that will hold up to big power, etc.
The bottom line is, I've done enough of them to know what I'm doing, and believe me, you don't want to fight for the same piece of ground twice, on these. Just too much work and time.
I'm thinking of selling a kit, possibly, so that our friends far away can enjoy this fine transmission conversion.
This next bike that I'm into is going to get my newest clutch rendition.
I just got back from a 75mi ride, and, wow!, mine sure feels good to be on, after so much time being laid up with the arm.
I'm downshifting at 50mph, if I wish, did some 85mph upshifts(don't forget the gears are 2:1 low, 1:1 high) 80mph is 2750rpms, so I was possibly shifting up at around 5800rpms-very impressive, indeed, considering you continue after that at 1/2 the rpm's plus almost a thousand before it stablizes=3800-right on the power band, and climbing to over 100 in a second or two. It may see 100 from a standing start in around 5 seconds or so, I am too busy to notice, but it's damn fast getting there, I can tell you, and I wasn't using GPS. Did it twice today. It just screams.
Saw 130+ a couple of times, 100 a lot of times, and did a little bit of smokin', passed some Mustangs and a Vette and it sure felt good. One of the funniest parts of the day was, when I left my Dad's house, and there were a bunch of people in their 80's, all gathered out on the front lawn, to see me burn out when I left! Cool!
I held back a little, and just did a little woopdedoo fishtail a couple times, not too much smoke, and backed off, but the looks on their faces was priceless!!
John

[Big John]

John,

You need help posting pics here? Just let me know. Pricing may help as well and complete specs.
Lots of guys in Europe have the older bikes and may be interested in this. I'm heading to Pullman City in June, so I could spread the word if need be.

Cheers
Aldo

Price will be around $2000/unit - you ship.
This is for the do it yourselfer. I will help some,
but not going to wet-nurse you through it!
I don't make much money selling these, and again,
want to make it clear that this is for the skilled craftsman, not
the layman. My conversions are the way to go, if you are not
ready for some hard work, thought, and part hunting.
I can sell a few, for now, and see what happens.
If a person wants a conversion, and it is NOT a clutch bike,
you will need to come up with a Curtis angle drive.
Don't forget that you will need a flywheel, clutch set, and bellhousing/clutch arm&ball, and it doesn't end, there.
I can provide some accessories, by mail, if you are far away from sunny California, possibly, such as a clutch mechanism-has to be custom built, belt drive-also custom built and not cheap, either, but works really good. Tire size is somewhat limited by the belt, but far better than chain. My tire is around 11" wide.
All of this is one-up customizing, not really generic.
Will try to get a few photos to look at.
For those interested, it is possible to keep the wheelbase the same, or nearly the same as it was. I think a small block Boss will be around 79-80", if done correctly. Check out how long the Vanquish or a V8 chopper is. I think you will find that a BossHoss can be made to be a fairly compact bike, with a little work. The frame is really too big. I am still working on mine.
I shortened my swingarm by almost 7" and lowered the rear frame loop. There are a lot of things you can do to improve it.

[Big John]

John,

You need help posting pics here? Just let me know. Pricing may help as well and complete specs.
Lots of guys in Europe have the older bikes and may be interested in this. I'm heading to Pullman City in June, so I could spread the word if need be.

Cheers
Aldo

I guess you went to OK, because I can't get hold of you.
Email me, if you would-or, maybe you didn't see my PM?
thanks, John

[Big John]

John,

You need help posting pics here? Just let me know. Pricing may help as well and complete specs.
Lots of guys in Europe have the older bikes and may be interested in this. I'm heading to Pullman City in June, so I could spread the word if need be.

Cheers
Aldo

Aldo, I just read that you would eat the page if someone had a bulletproof transmission!
The Ranger, in another form, has been able to stand up to the Baja and other off-road racing, and in back of Monster Truck motors, for almost 50 years, with few failures!
There are a few bikes with 50k and more miles on their Ranger.
My friend owns the first Ranger bike, and has over 80,000 miles on it, since it was put together back in 2000.
I first put mine up in 2003.
It has around 35k on it, and is just breaking in, and blew up 2 motors in front of it, the last one a hot stroker, now a 389" stroker, changed the oil in the Ranger twice, now, since new.
The oil was clear, like fresh new oil.
I used to try to break it~!!!

I've been reading the other site, and really am amazed at how everyone loves their Nescos. It seems a lot like pseudo-masochism !
When I hear that it is "all that you have to work with", I wonder if they really wouldn't like something better? !

Yes, it would be nice to have an automatic that holds up, for a reasonable price, but, face it, YOU DON'T !!
When you get tired of that same shit, and want to put a bike together that stays together, let me know.
There are no excuses for not getting a Ranger, unless you like what you got, and listen to people talk about how long they have had 'trouble free' service for 50k miles, from their Nesco.

What, maybe the factory should award blue ribbons to those who actually had one last that long. Those people must really know how to 'ride their Nesco'! You have to sit just right on the bike, don't you know, to shift it, and part your hair in the middle, or you may blow a planetary! Heaven forbid should you fart in the middle of a shift! It may need the clutches and converter replaced, if you do!! Maybe you didn't hold your hand on the throttle just right!!
What a joke!!!



Yes, the Ranger is about as close to "BULLETPROOF" , as you can get, no bullshit about it. I have been there, done that, and can assure everyone that it really is a good unit, and that you will not have it fail on you-and it is guaranteed not to fail by the factory, unless you fail to put lube in it, or get water in it, or something careless, which is unlikely to happen.



John

[Big John]

Yes, the Ranger is about as close to "BULLETPROOF" , as you can get, no bullshit about it. I have been there, done that, and can assure everyone that it really is a good unit, and that you will not have it fail on you.



John[/quote]

Wildman should be posting some Ranger photos for me soon,
so keep looking, and I'll try to get a good collage going for everyone to see, and will field questions, of course.
It seems that there is more interest than ever, now, in the Ranger, and I can assure everyone that they are as good as it gets for toughness and the clutch issues are not an issue, and the clutch itself will wear very well, as it does not have to slip to get the bike going like clutch bikes did-nice low gear, and nice high cruising gear-what the bike always needed!
I just don't understand why people think a clutch is a bad thing?
What other motorcycles have automatics??
Everyone wants a bunch of HP and gofast and smoke.
Clutches don't slip and put all the power to the ground!
You won't need nitrous with a Ranger trans, nor will you even need a super high lift cam. I'm running a .460 or so lift cam in mine, like street/strip, for mileage and 6,000 rpm redline stuff.
It is a screamer. Still bumbles around town in high gear, and is so quiet, like that, nobody even hears me coming, unless I put it in first, then it sounds like a hot street rod coming down the street, and will punch off and burn the tire without touching the clutch, at will. Shifts down from around 60, will shift up at as high as 5500 rpm's or so, which is really, really moving.
This thing is very nasty, in the right hands of irresponsibility!
I haven't tried a Ranger on a motor of over around 450 hp.
Really don't need to, for the street. Just how fast do you want to die?
Breedlove has, however(like, 750 hp), and he couldn't break it! He tried!
Maybe people are afraid of this??
I sure love my bike!!
It is really trouble-free, go anyplace, low maintainence, and fast.
Have a good clutch setup, as well.
I have a few options for that, depending on your wallet.
Tony Sanders, now of Vanquish Motors, invented one for Breedlove, while he worked at Sabertooth, which is actually available, as well, a multi-disc setup, which could be used-they say it is really good.
I've never had one in my hands, actually.
It could be duplicated, if one were to desire.
Tony would probably help, if a person were to call him at Vanquish, I'm told. Nice folks down there.
At any rate, my version is very good.
Actually better, if I do say so, myself, as it has no cable.
I'm running a hydraulic/hybrid, which does not need the cable.
Tony's version, as well as Carl's, and the stock setup, and most others, require a clutch cable, although all could be converted to hydraulic, with some ingenuity, I would imagine.
Haven't tried, yet, anyhow, although I do like the multi-disc idea.
I did away with the cable, ultimately, and good riddance.
Do not like broken cables to deal with.
So, don't worry about that end of things.
You can have a really sweet handclutch, with foot assist, or not. I actually like the foot assist, just out of habit.
Do not like a Jockey, but you can have it if you were to want one.
I like my foot shifter.
This is fully synchro, with a neutral in the middle, and works out just great.
I really like the solid hookup feeling that the clutch gives the bike.
It is not for the gramma rider, but, since I see that most of you are hotrodders, this should put some lead in your pencils!
You can drive it hard, or mellow, and either way, the performance is solid, dependable, and will not disappoint you.

JOHN

[Big John]

THESE ARE ALL RANGER BIKES:






















The bike on the right is the first bike to run a Ranger lll, and has over 80,000 with it's Ranger installed-
zero breakdowns behind a big-power stroker

[AR]

Interesting stuff BJ. at the risk of encouraging you whats the story with the rear caliper on the black bike?

[Big John]

Interesting stuff BJ. at the risk of encouraging you whats the story with the rear caliper on the black bike?

Rob, Firstly, as you may know, Black Bikes Go Faster.
I think that you may be referring to the 96 with dual calipers?
96 year had those, I don't think any other's did, as they can be hard to bleed, so the 97's and on are hung upside down.
Actually, I like Wilwood brakes. The dual calipers do stop good, and all four calipers on the bike are the same, pads last and last, and don't chew up the rotors.
The 96 year bike was about a darn good bike, good alloy frame, and all the pretty stuff. They go pretty good, too, in stock form, contrary to what many may believe.
I would never have bothered to do much to mine, in the first place, other than to put a stroker in it, except, of course, that they just won't cruise comfortably with the gearing.
Are you inferring that I talk too much? Just sit right back, and I'll twist your ear!
John

[Big John]

THESE ARE ALL RANGER BIKES:






















Ranger Bike#1, on the right, has over 80,000mi on its Ranger transmission behind a hot stroker, with no breakdowns

Both of these Bikes are strokers and get 20+mpg


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[hosszz4]

Hi John

Anyone with a 502 run a Ranger tranny? If so, it must be some serious stump pulling power unleashed as there would be less power loss through the drivetrain.

Aldo