Fabrizio D'Angelo Discovers Dan Kyle
And Likes What He Sees

Every once in a great while, one of us here at the Site makes a remarkable discovery. Historically, these treasures involve establishments that manufacture and encourage the consumption of fine ale, but not this time. In this case, we discovered the performance powerhouse known as Kyle Racing Engines, arguably not as interesting a find, but likely just as important.

I'd like to tell you it was my in-depth investigative reporting that lead to this discovery, but I'd be lying to you again. And lying would contrast sharply against the reputation of the protagonist here, Dan Kyle. Lets just say that a little birdie told me about this establishment-a very sober birdie. Tired of bouncing around from one bogus specialty shop to another, my little friend longed for a quality shop with first rate professionals that could handle all her diabolical sportbike needs. After many disappointments, she found her savior in a small Sand City, CA. shop, and proceeded to rave about it to all who would listen. Thirty minutes of lounging around in one of the aforementioned establishments, and I'll listen to just about anyone or anything… especially if they're buying. Sometimes I even manage to take notes.

Outstanding penmanship and the ability to function in a haze has always brought me good fortune. The next day, I diligently dialed the number etched on my forearm and met Dan Kyle. This was good because I was smack in the middle of rebuilding my trusty old Honda CBR600F2 race motor, and my arm was too swollen to do anything but hold a phone receiver. Dan spoke to me at length and finally encouraged me to bring my engine down for a free evaluation. "Okay," I said marveling at the fact that I hadn't revealed I was a newspaper man, "it's in boxes. I'll see you Saturday." A free evaluation; I hadn't heard those words since Big Bubba offered his services to me in a holding pen downtown. Like then, I was tad skeptical.

Unlike Bubba, however, I liked Dan from the first time I saw him. He's got that gearhead look you feel comfortable trusting, like the Mr. Goodwrench guy in those T.V. commercials. He proceeded to spend quite a bit of time looking over my worn engine and transmission parts and offered several valuable and actuate recommendations. He went on to explain the work and related costs, pointing out he had all the necessary replacement parts in stock.  Having endurance raced my Honda for years, and rebuilt dozens of F2 engines along the way, I pretty much knew what needed to be done to this particular engine and what it should cost. Dan just verified my game plan.

"Well thanks Dan, I'll have to think about your recommendations… err, what do I owe you?"

"No charge," he replies, "just let me know what you decide to do."

Well said, well spoken, I thought. This guy's all right. As I began gathering up my engine parts, I asked him a few unrelated question that where gnawing at me, like:
"Is that a ‘kitted’ VR 750 Interceptor I see there? What kind of Dyno is that? And that award says you were the 1996 AMA Tuner of the Year?

"Yes," he replied angelically, "that's my ‘84 HRC kitted Superbike. The Dyno is a $25,000 Superflow SF240, and I was named the ’96 and ’97 AMA Tuner of the Year.

Well, each answer led to another question and before I knew it, an interview evolved. As it turns out, Dan has been involved with motorcycles for decades. At 17, he was rebuilding his own motorcycle engines. Five years later, he opened a repair shop in Seaside, on the Monterey Peninsula in California, and parlayed that into a Ducati/Moto Guzzi franchise. During his free time, he deeply messaged every cool streetbike he owned: several Ducati Pantahs and 900SSs, a Laverda Jota, a Guzzi La Mans, a BMW R 90S & R100S, even a Honda CX500 turbo.

In 1982, still in his mid twenties, he sold the shop and went to work for a Honda dealer. That's when the racing started. Still a Euro-nut, he built and club raced an ’82 Harris-framed Ducati TT2 Pantah, with a full bore Superbike motor he built. "That went well," he recalled. Apparently in the mid-Eighties, a bright kid in his twenties working at a Honda dealer and cruising the race scene was destined for moral ruin. Dan soon met up with Udo Getl and Todd Schuster, who had previously run BMW’s factory AMA Superbike team, and were now heading up Honda's 1994 US Superbike program. As it happened, Dan's buddy had just taken delivery of a brand new 1984 VR750 Interceptor.

You can probably guess the rest, but I'll spell it out: RACING FORNICATION. The boys figured they'd go partners building a hot Interceptor race bike. Dan would set-up and tune the thing, and his buddy would bankroll the deal, ending up with a sexy streetbike when all was said and done. Another buddy, and former Team Honda rider Jeff Haney, would ride it. Dan promptly hit-up Getl and Schuster for help. 'You want parts for your race bike? Sure, kid.' For $8400 bucks, Dan scored a race kit front end, exhaust pipes, radiator, and a complete HRC Superbike race motor. Once completed, they ran the bike in several 1984 AMA Superbike events. By 1985, the bike was well sorted out and they ran it again in the Daytona 200 and finished third. Outstanding.

The corruption didn't stop there, however. That same year (‘85), Getl offered-up an RS 500cc two-stroke triple, allowing the boys to experiment in Formula One racing. It was the full on Honda factory racebike Mike Baldwin rode throughout the AMA Formula One Class the year before. They parked the Interceptor (that bike sits in Dan's shop today, sexy as ever), and raced the RS500 rather successfully throughout the ’85 season.
Success made them ambitious and the following year, they headed off to Europe to compete in the US-UK Roadrace Challenge. Again, the team was very competitive, winning several rounds with Fred Merkel at the controls. Their main competition came from an unknown young kid named Kevin Schwantz.

In 1987, Dan got a call from a then fledgling racer, Kevin Erion. He, and his brother Craig, needed a tuner to help campaign a Ducati F1B in the California Willow Springs series. Hands shook, and they proceeded to win the 1987 Willow Springs Open Twins Championship on the Ducati.
They went AMA racing with the Ducati in 1988, beating-up on a colorful upstart named Eraldo Ferracci at Daytona, and continued on to win the Championship.
The following year (1989), Dan hooked up with Randy Mamola and Rich Oliver, tuning for their 250 GP team. They finished second to John Kocinski in the AMA championship.

Dan worked with Erion Racing until late 1997, not only as tuner, but as the Team's engine builder, as well. He not only built the Supersport engines, but was solely responsible for developing the CBR900RR from its initial 145 hp naturally aspirated configuration in 1993, to its 167 hp ram-air configuration later on. They were the winingest team on the AMA circuit in 1996-97, and also won the Formula Extreme Championship each respective year. I remember it happening and I've seen the awards. It took Dan 35 minutes to tell this story. By this time, he'd pretty much passed the audition as far as I was concerned; I grabbed a bunch of his business cards to hand out.

Dan opened his current Sand City shop in November of 1998. His goal is to provide a full service facility at reasonable rates, and apparently to do a little corrupting of his own. Although he'll provide normal repair and maintenance, he specializes in racing/performance set-up, and modification for almost any sportbike. He's acquired an astonishing array of modern equipment to do this. From a near sterile engine building station, to a modern Bridgeport mill, and the latest-greatest engine dyno. In addition to bike performance, Dan designs, manufactures and sells a large selection of specialty engine and chassis tools. He also has a complete chassis station. In addition to his expertise in the field, Dan employs Scott Orehek, a full- time, highly trained chassis/suspension expert. Not only does Dan provide fork-revalving service, but he's also developed tools that can check the geometry settings of your bike and dial-in the "sweet numbers" he's figured out. Currently, he's working on his own optical chassis measuring system, that's simpler and more accurate than the Computrack system. But unlike Computrack, Dan's not secretive with his information; He'll share all his chassis findings and the necessary changes with you. After re-valving the forks and altering geometry, he'll have you come in to set the suspension and sag settings, as well. This is service that's sadly lacking when you ship your suspension off to a far away shop.

I was very impressed with Dan's knowledge, professionalism, and shop. In case you haven't figured it out yet, he's got a pretty impressive big-named resume'. This is a guy that had been working with big time teams, factories and riders almost all his working life-and is still involved in flashy racing. During the 1999 Suzuka eight hours endurance race in Japan, he tuned a ZX9R for Sam Yamashita, of Moto Liberty fame, in a back door factory Kawasaki effort, ridden by former World Superbike champion and Suzuka winner Doug Polan and Takahito Mori. This year he'll be fielding a PACE Series 600 Supersport effort, with 16 year old AFM fast guy Tony 'the Tiger' Meiring as the pilot, and Honda support in all likelihood. It'll be interesting to see how that program develops.

Dan knows engine development, performance tuning and set-up. Hell, he's won 5 AMA championships. This guy's a find, and he's right here in the Bay Area. I've talked to several of his local and out of state customers. My impressions mirror the feed back I've received from each of them. Dan Kyle is honest, straightforward, and reliable. Not only is he a professional and knows what he's doing, but he's one of the nicest guys to do business with you'll meet in this industry. The shop rates are some of the most reasonable I've come across, as well. Kyle Racing Engines is a virtual jewel in our mitts. If you're still doubtful, give me a call. I'll take you down to the pub to get your own etching. -- Fabrizio D'Angelo
 

Fabrizio D'Angelo is a freelancer writer and motorcycle enthusiast from San Francisco. This is his first contribution to AMASuperbike.com.
 

Kyle Racing Engines
801 B California Ave.
Sand City, CA. 93955
813 394 1330
www.kyleusa.com