Crane Cams teams up with racer Chris Rivas to break a land speed barrier.

Crane Cams teamed up with racer Chris Rivas to advance the development of valve train and ignition products for motorcycles. Already an industry leader in the automotive market, Crane Cams looks to take over the motorcycle valvetrain market as well.

Chris Rivas, four-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle National Event Champion and a five-time Bonneville land speed record-holder, worked with Crane Cams on the Rivas Signature Series cams. Unveiled at the recent 2012 Black Hills Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, Crane’s Sean Holly says, “We expect the new product to revamp the motorcycle segment of our business,” adding,”We enlisted Chris Rivas to help design our latest V-twin cam because he does a lot of hands-on engine building.”

Earlier this year Rivas set out to break his own Bonneville land speed record in the 3000 APS-PG class. In short, Rivas was driving an aftermarket chassis with partial streamlining body work in place, with a 3000 cc gasoline fueled, pushrod engine. Frequently called “the Bagger class” because of the saddlebags on the motorcycle.

His previous record of 186.465 set the standard for the class, but Rivas had another goal in mind. “In the racing world there aren’t too many barriers left to be broken. I think there is a possibility that someone else someday might also go over 200 on a bagger, but there will only be one first and that is what I wanted.”

After three years of battling to break the 200 mph barrier, Rivas and his Crane Cams equipped S&S Cycles V-Twin broke the 200 mph mark setting the record 201.503 on August 15, 2012.

“Chris Rivas V-Twin has had a strong relationship with S&S Cycle for about eight years, and now we are building a great working relationship with Crane Cams. I truly believe that accomplishing these milestone goals together that can never be taken away is huge in our industry and allows us to service customers with a higher quality in mind,” says Rivas. “The great thing about this combination is that we can use this same technology and the same high quality S&S Cycle and Crane Cams components for our everyday customers when we install big bore and stroker kits into their street driven bikes.”

Information about the Chris Rivas Signature Series cams from Crane Cams can be found at www.cranecams.com/motorcycle/.