One of the most interesting motorcycles at last year’s AMD World Championship was the Leroy-Thompson Salt Flat Racer, built by Scott Webster. It attracted a lot of attention, but to everyone’s surprise, it didn’t register in the top 20 results. Why? We’ll never know. But it’s a bike that deserves closer inspection, because it’s not just an unusual concept for a mainstream US ‘chopper’ builder; it’s also packaging some interesting engineering. The motor is a Twin Cam 96 Harley running a gear-driven ProCharger B-1 supercharger, with a faceted intercooler to increase power even more. The official power output of the stock 1584 cc engine seems to be a closely guarded secret—Harley merely claims 93 ft. lbs. of torque—but the ProCharger kit will boost the presumably meagre horsepower of the stock motor by 50-65%, with a useful increase in torque as well. The front end is an inverted Mean Street item, and meaty Brembo brakes will haul the Salt Flat Racer to a standstill double-quick. Maybe that’s why this Harley racer didn’t win: it’s as much about the go as the show.
