Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/103755
0.1, Tlte fra.es Ha,e Been Changed By Doug Richmond There is no sign on the building at 7 SOuth 6th Street in Richmond, California, but I recognized Dick Mann's maroon pickup [rom afar. I was sure I had the right place wben I stepped through the door and almost stumbled over a pair of motorcycle frames on the fioor. One was very o~ viously a factory job. heavy and bulky; the other reminded me of one of the old birdcage Maserati frames. Slim tubing was very carefully angled with Dicklebronze welding on the joints that goes hand-in-hand with high-strength steel. The frames were side-by-side, I couldn't resist picking them up, one in each band. It was astonishing - the hand-made frame weighed less than half the factory frame's weight. I'd expected a difference, but nothing like this! When I came in, Dick was on the phone. and by the time he replaced the receiver. I was en grossed in examinin g the frame on the welding jig - it was Dick Mann with one 01 his Irames in the )1, he devised lor OOlldln, 'proto-types, One 01 Dick's hl&b-strenith arms installed, More hand work - despite gawkln, onlooks and noIsy photo,raphers, { One riI the arms Dick OOlids for the BSA Vielor. Customers will be supplied with nlckle-plated to better hold paint. unlike any frame I'd. seen before. The top tube was a full two inch diameter l>IId extended from the fork head almost to the swing-arm axle. It looked big enough to make a pretty fair oil tank, and that's just what it turned out to be. Dick explained that eliminating the oil tank together witb its associated mounting brackets cut down on weight, gave some extra cooling and got rid of several potential trouble sources. As Dick asked me, ·Can you think of a better place for oil than in tbe frame?· ·Do you usetbe wbole f'l'me for eil?· I inquired. ·No, I don't, because all the extra cooling isn't really necessary, and because in case of an engine blow-up it would be next to impossible to get all the tramp metal out of the nooks and crannies. As it is, the top tube holds two quarts and is drained with a single. conventional plug at tbe bottom. This makes it simple to clean the tank - a matter of prime importance to the competition tuner.· When Dick speaks of the tuner's problems he Is talking from first-hand knowledge - he earned the Number One National plate riding bikes he tuned. As a matter of fact, if his framebuilding activities allow him the time, he will campaign a Gold Star on the flat tracks this year. Mann-tuned, of course. Dick explained that the frames on hand were strictly prototypes and the end result of years of drawing pictures on the backs of envelopes and scratch pads in lonely hotel rooms in just about all the places where professional bike racing is carried on. His frames are most emphatically not factory-derived! One of the reasons Dick located in Richmond was because the Richmond Ramblers track is less than a mile from his shop, and a better place for testing dirt equipment would be exceedingly hard to find. Dick Mann doesn't intend to use his customers for test riders. In the last analysis, building motorcycle frames is an art, and the only way to know wbether a frame desi go is a success is to build it and then have an expert wring it out under actual operating conditions - the so called' simulated environment' just ain't the same. Dick plans to furnish his lightweight frames for all the popular types of competition - road racing, flattrack, enduros, and TT's, but they won't be the same frames. It will be necessary to specify just what the frame is to be , I/.: Here, Dick checks out oil hi s swln,lng arms at a recent Hare Scumbles, Test 01 cookln, I s In the tasting, used for when ordering. My attention was attracted by several massive swing anns. I picked one up, expecting it to be as heavy as can be, and was I wrong! It weighed about the same as a conventional swing arm. but was obviously much stronger. Dick exPlained that these were the only items he actually had on a production basis to date, and were [or BSA Victors. They are rectangular in crosssection, made of high-strength steel, and would increase wheelbase about two inches. This last. together with fantastic torsional rigidity, greatly benefits handling. The ones 1 saw were painted black, but as the nickle-bronze welds don't 'take' paint very well, the ones supplied to the customers will be nickle plated. One of the thin,s that m.akes Mann ane 01 the most popular men In raclng..,here he gi ..sDon Murray (NOV. sac) a IIltle advice on racl ng strategy.