AMA Magazine Will Feature Any Vintage Wanker

Seems the July 2002 issue of the AMA's magazine has a nice three page article on vintage racing. It features BBS regulars Carl Anderson, Chris Spargo, and even Scott McCain.

Nice job guys. Now that you've scared off anyone that was remoted interested in vintage racing, we will never suffer from crowded tracks.

 

I haven't seen it yet- maybe it's in today's mail. Did they have any Spargo quotes that were out-of-context enough to sound completely insane? As long as Chris looks like a bigger wanker than me, I'm OK with it.

 

Yep, my brother called at lunch and said our mugs made the magazine.

I haven't gotten mine yet. He's going to bring his copy to Kershaw this weekend.

I figured they must have been talking about Scott when they mentioned some guy frantically spinning wrenches while the rest calmly prepared to race or something to that effect

 

When the words "frantic" and "Daytona" appear in the same sentence, I tend to picture Mr. Barlow...

 

Calmly sitting in the pits while his race is going on would be Spargo

Ray

 

Ooooooh. Yeah, I hadn't thought of that one in a while.

 

me frantic? most of the time maybe, but at daytona it wasent too bad since we broke the bultaco before the first practice. after that i just lowered my expectations and goals and met them.
i did see spargo finally torque down his cylinder head at the sav opener just in time for third call. this after his motor ingested some foreign matter.

 

Glad for the AMA write-up!

Guys, I was really glad to see that write-up. I had been thinking of doing something with those old RDs buried out in the shed, and after reading that article, I decided I was going to race RDs!

My current plan is to buy a race ready bike, legal for Formula RD. I have been talking to a friend of Bob Hurst's up in Wisconsin about buying his bike. Wes somethinorother his is name. I cannot recall exactly what his last name is right now.

My plans (as I live in Indiana) is to race WERA Formula RD and Formula 500 and the F500 class in AHRMA. The tracks will be Putnam, Mid Ohio and possibly Nelson Ledges and Grattan(sp?).

I would like to race the bike I buy while learning everything and observing all of the goings on, and build a competitve Formula 500 bike out of one of my current RD350s to race at Daytona in a few years.

I am dead serious about getting in to this, as you all seem to really have alot of fun doing it. Got any advice for a newbie?

I have been riding on the street since Oct. '87, I am 34 years old and my current ride is a 1999 Kawasaki ZRX1100 (GO EDDIE!!)

Brent Hobson

 

F-RD

My advice: Do it. The F-RD class at CMP this weekend was one of the better attended classes, and it was evident this the fun factor per investment is very high in that class. My advice is to build a well-prepped ( i.e. make sure the WHOLE motor is in good, fresh working order) fairly stock bike, and add performance in a methodical manner. Guys like Gary Stumm (MRA) and Lyn Garland ( Vintage Specialties) have a great knowledge of setup for the required 28mm carbs. Advice and tuning work from the experts is money well spent when getting started. There's no point in "re-inventing the wheel" and blowing up motors.

 

Formula RD did look fun this weekend.. Just make sure to always run the proper oil level in the trans.

 

Oh man! Is that what went wrong? That bites. Give me a shout if you need spare parts. I've got quite a few leftovers from my 400.

RD tip: The RD oil cap/dipstick has a metal "stick" in a rubber cap. This is one part that should not remain stock. The stick can vibrate out of the cap and become a weapon of mass destruction in your clutch cover. Remove it. You can use a spare cap with dipstick to check oil level.

 

Re: F-RD

I am planning to buy a racebike...one that has been freshend up recently and already has all the "goodies" on it. Not a full blown mega-buck bike, but one in the $1500 range. I am looking at 2 of them right now. One in IN the other up in Wisconsin. I figure it is best to buy a race-ready machine, then I can copy the mods to one of my 2 RD350s. Really looking forward to this. I love 2-strokes, and I really lovve the challenge of getting around quickly on a bike that is not so, well,modern. Used to love chasing sportbike guys thru the twisties on my old Honda Magna (1987)....was fun to feel the bike flexing and twisting. Yeah, I am dimented, what can I say. I mean, ANYONE can hop on a late-model GSXRFZRZXRCBR and ride fast, they're EASY. But to make good time on a 20+ year old "flexiflyer"....that will require learning to ride even better. FUN! Have to say though...still wish I had both my '94 888 and my '84 RZ500....those would have been a blast to actually get on the track with!

Thanks for the advice guys!