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1970
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Sputhe began his association with
R & S Pattern Co.: A company specializing in the design and
manufacture of patterns, permanent molds and investment dies. A
reputation for quality and innovation led to contracts with NASA
to build wind tunnel models for the Space Shuttle; food and
pharmaceutical processing equipment; medical and dental
instruments. This diversification led to the formation of
Sputhe Engineering, a company that integrated engineering with
the manufacturing process.
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1973 |
Developed the “mini-sump” for
the XR-750 (Harley-Davidson has adopted this feature on every
model engine that they build).
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1977
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Alan Sputhe designed and built a
set of dual carburetor aluminum heads for the 1000cc street
Sportster that he raced at El Mirage Dry Lake in Southern
California. This machine was timed at 157 m.p.h.
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1978
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Alan designed and built his
first cast aluminum big bore cylinders and redesigned the heads
to suit. The performance of this engine caught the attention of
the Harley racers who demanded replicas.
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1979 |
Sputhe Engineering began
building complete Sportster based 1300cc aluminum XR-750 type
engines.
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1980
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Sputhe powered machines won
the AFM Open GP, and Open Super Street Championship and set a
record at Bonneville; 1300 MPS-AG at 176 MP (this record still
unofficially stands as the 1350 P MPS G record 24 years later),
won numerous hill climbs and set many drag strip records. Cycle
World Magazine road tested a street version and declared it to
be the “fastest motorcycle of any kind that this magazine has
ever tested” (July, 1980). To this day it is still the fastest
Harley-Davidson.
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1981
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A Sputhe powered machine again
won the AFM Open Superstreet and Open GP Championships.
Established a new Bonneville record in 1300 APG-AG. Alan Sputhe
won first place for the 1981 season in S.C.T.A. Dry Lakes
Championship. Moved from Southern California to our present
Grass Valley location.
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1982 |
Introduced offset cam chest,
high deck, Sportster crankcases
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1983 |
Built the first of the famous
5-speed automatic Sportsters.
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1984 |
Introduced the 5-speed
transmission case for 4-speed frames. Built the first 4-valve
heads for Harley-Davidson Big Twins.
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1985 |
Acquired Froyd’s Grinding
Service, which greatly expanded our production capabilities.
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1986 |
Introduced the 95” and 104”
aluminum EVO cylinder kits. Acquired the Nitralloy Co. Moved
into our present building.
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1990 |
Became totally CNC. All machine work is now done
in-house. Introduced an improved die-cast version of the
Nitralloy ™ cylinders.
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1991 |
The first
Sputhe 60-degree installed in a road bike (112 cid. in a FLHT
chassis). 60-degree engine banned from US drag racing.
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1992 |
Began
production of Big Twin crankcases, high performance EVO cylinder
heads, The Sputhe 60-degree engine, and dual carb induction
systems. Australian Danny Grotto sets records on 120 cid.
60-degree Sputhe powered dragster.
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1993 |
Began
production of complete 5-speed transmissions for 4-speed frames,
high deck 4-inch bore racing and street crankcases. The first
125” Evo engines.
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1996 |
Began
producing high performance Sputhe FXR type motorcycles custom
built to the customer’s specifications.
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1997 |
The Sputhe
Spectre set an unofficial Bonneville record of 158 m.p.h. (poor
salt condition canceled formal record attempts that year) and
won the White Brothers Horsepower shootout with 125 hp at the
Long Beach Mukuni Show.
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1998 |
Began limited
series production of the Spectre motorcycle powered by the
Sputhe 60-degree engine.
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2002 |
Introduced
right side drive transmissions. Introduced the Fatvo
crankcase. Introduced a super narrow version of the
kick-starter five speeds for four speed frames. Introduced
lightweight aluminum swing arms for FXR, FXD, FXST, - XL and
Buell.
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2003 |
Introduced
super heavy-duty gear clusters for drag racing and big inch
street bikes. Introduced a totally redesigned 4 to 5 speed case
and bearing housing that is twice as strong as any other case
made. Introduced belt drive primaries for Softails.
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2004 |
Introduced the automatic neutral finder and a
wide tire kit for Dynas.
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2005 |
Primary Belt Drive earned Easyrider’s award for
Performance Product 2005.
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