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/125625
.... Subtitle: If You Aint Got It, Get It, THEN Flaunt It I Bolted On A Reed And Flew By Chuck Clayton Having long been a lover of large, lusty motorcycles, I used to look upon tile tra1lblke class witll tolerance and faint amusement. Then tile trallblkes began to sport stingers and grow hair and suddenly my big open class dlrtburner seemed awfully slow and heavy. I purchased a Hodaka 5-speed Ace 100 on tile pretext of giving it to my wife and after a decent Interval of riding It, Intact, In tile nearby Dominguez Hills I began Its conversion, and mine. Good tblngs were being heard back East about tile BN Supply Hodaka goodies. They'd develoPed a reed manifold, mounting a McCulloch diaphragm carburetor, that really pumPed up horses, it was said. Iu Los Angeles, where Steen and Crowell Hodakas hold sway, tile BN line was nearly unheard of. Nobody badmouthed It, which was a good sign, but nobody seemed to be using tile line eltller. Getting In touch witll BN Supply was easy tIIey advertise In Cycle News. Bill Nuge'nt Is tile man behind tile Initials. ., We're not too big In L.A. yet," Bill acknowledged, "But In tile San Diego area, If you're not running reeds, you might as well stay home." Nugent agreed to send us a selection of tile good things he makes for our Hodaka and Iu a short time tile man from United Parcel brought us a box tile size 01 a jumbo fireworks assortment packed witll two black racing pipes (upswept and down), a full race cylinder barrelported for reeds, a standard barrel similarly ported, two BN Speed Reeds (4-petal), an Amal carb tuned for tile BN Speed Reed, reed adaptors for 24 and 26mm Mikunie carbs, two forged' pistons, ported for Speed Reed, a springer frontfork assembly, 3x6 Filtron element for tile Amal and a reworked McCulloch diaphragm carbwitll spec1alllnk3ge kitand twtstgrlP. (Nugent is McCulloch distributor for tile area.) It was like Christmas on tile 4t11 BN pipe Is well constructed, lucks well out of tne wIIJ. But toolbox can't be useO In stock lac allan. gear and close tile tIIrottle as you turn tile switch. Brake to a stop In neutral and remove tile spark plug. The electrodes should be dark brown or dark BN standard ported barrel, reed valve manifold 32mm Amal concentric carb, FillIOn flll~r and racing pipe are Installed as easily as bolting on stock parts. No special tuning or too.ls are required. 01 July! First we tried just tile high pipe. Bolting it on is as simple as changing a plug. Later we had Bob BaIley weld on a neat rear bolt bracket, replacing tile straP Iron ring provided, which kept getting mislaid. Wow, it's loud! Was It just tile illusion of speed, or was tile stock Hodaka measurably faster witll tile simple addition 01 a 40-dollar tuned pipe? I ran It across tile street to Dominguez Hills, tile nearest thing Cycle NeWj; has to a dirt drag slrlS>, and clocked it from tile sand pit to tile trash heap. Pure stock, I could just touch 5t11 gear Iu 13 seconds at tile burned mattress. Wltll just tile racing pipe and no changes In jetting I was shifting soon., pulling In 5t11 and shaving a fat second off tile time. The fraction 01 a horsepower that tile pipe added took full advantage of tile standard trail gearing but called for a plug check. Running on tile malnjet and cutting clean Is not easy witll a stock Hodaka. The clutch and switch are on tile same Side, so tile trick is, unless you have fitted a kill button: nick tile shift out 01 SACHS TRAIL BIKES This Is what comes off to COllV"" tne stock Hodaka to dirt trim. Seat and tank will CO back on, anli standard skinny tires will be replaced wltn trials universals. grey. If tIIey are very light or white, you're running too lean and you'd better not ride over 3/4 throttle very longunt1I you put In a larger main jet, lest you torch the piston. Two stroke engines are sensitive to tuning changes, and tile switch to a racing pipe is a big change. Fortunately, new Hodakas are set up ratller. rich and ours was jetted just right. The plug read a nice, moist brown. We urge every fellow bolt-on speed equipment entllusiast to lakeaplugreading after each alteration of engine breatllIng or displacement. The minute it lakes to be right is not wortll as much as a burned piston. We could have been happy for days just playing that racing pipe, but new thrills lurked witbln tile BN box. Chuckling In anticipation, we whistled tile Hodaka off to Bob BaIley's Gentleman Racer's Motorcycle Speed Service Emporium on Western Avenue in Soutll L.A. and engaged his facilities for tile grand excltemimt. Like Neandertbals discovering fire, we Los Angelenos marvelled at tile assortment of speed parts. Famous tuner Tom Turner already bad a "banana fork" springer on his Hodaka that I admired, so I knew BN had made anotller sale In L.A. I vowed to save tile forks for last, when tile Hodaka became a trlais mount. SACHS I had taken tile precautiol) ot c.arefully washing tile Hodaka, for Bailey has tile reputation 01 showing customers to tile gunk rack who bring him dirty motorcycles to work on. Bob nimbly whisked tile standard barrel otf and replaced It witll tile BN standard ported barrel, reed manifold, carburetor and nylon throttle. All tile road gear and electrics were removed except tile ignition wires and a kill button added. Leaving tile chain guard on (chains are expensive, guard 'em) tile striPPed Hodaka weighs 172 Ibs. Now I was waiting for tile neighborhood kids and tIIeir hot trail bikes to come into view. Ah, I hear one. I sidle up to him In the weeds and get on it. He gets on it too. It's Gary BaIley on his lOOcc Penton. I am had! But what's this, tile Hodaka is catching and passing tile Penton. I win! Unfortunately, tIIere were no witnesses to this gratifying feat, and I didn't want to push my luck. The new speed from tile reed asked far too much from tile standard forks, shocks and tires. I checked tile plug (nice, tile reed valve really pumps tile mixture through. Gas consumption 15 way up, but tile carb is' jetted perfectly just as it comes from tile box). Sometime later tile engine quit and I discovered tile air cleaner had come off. It was found and put back on, but tile damage was done. The piston soon seized and I never did get to check tile reed through tile dirt drags. I'd expect It to shave a couple of seconds off tile time, anyway. One Bul Lobito rider we spoke (Jeff Woodhouse #824x) to says since he's been using tile reed and a 32mm Amal concentric carb be'S moved way up in tile races. He says tile only trouble he's found 15 tile revs build up so rapidly he has trouble keeping tile front wheel down. "I like it a lot," Jeff reports. We found ourself shifting sooner, accellerating quicker tban we'd tIIough possible witll only bolt-on stuft. You had to buzz it, tIIough. Under about 2500 rpm tile engine seems to load up and even conk out. Starting is no problem, however and tile engine pulls strongly from 2500 rpm UP. After cl1mblhg a full octave tile engine really comes on tile pipe, and when that happens you know tile $85 cycl1nder, $15 reed, $20 piston, $40 carb and pipe are worth it. Meanwhile, racetuner tIIoughts were going on behind Bob Bailey's brow. He put tile full race barrel and reed and tile McCulloch carburetor setup on a favori te customer's SSHodakaandcustomerGary Little promptly went out and won his first 1st place trophy in a Lightweights M.C. TT. Needless to say, tile kit was Sold, and we have to rely upon lucky Little for tile test of tile McCulloch speed reed. He says tile McCulloch carb is not for tile novice tuner. It adds about one horsepower to tile conventionally carbureted engine, and in tile trailbike clasS, one horse is like a herd of advantage. The power is all through tile range, not just at tile top and once it's adjusled right, it's dependable as tile tide. MIke Kidd, tile Texas phenomenon, is sponsored bY BN through his tuner Earl Barker of Terry'S Hodaka In Ft. Wortll. Mike's been topping tile results columns a lot lately since he's been running tile McCulloch BN reed. And so have a lotot otllers. So tile next time you feel you need more speed••.reach for a reed. Now, does anybody want to buy a 40" 4- stroke set up for dirt? LOMITA HONDA Sales· Parts • Service of Speed Equipment Custom Painting, Frame Works, Frame Oesl ping & Builclng WINS Complete~ine Discount Prices on All sales 2073 Pacific Coast HW)':..' or 326-3816 .. 100.__.. 326-3810 Ponderosa Hare Scr....les July 5, 1969 Trail Bike CI ass 1st Ray Sloppy Jr. - Sachs t SPOOL HUBS FRONT Sl1.00 15, 11, Dr 2011Ill AXLE SIZE ~\\.a~ ... Sachs' new 1969 Enduros, 1<-100 and K-125GS, are successors to the iamous Boondocker K-BOGS, which won the greatest number of national events in the 1967-6B season. Whether your bag is trailing, racing, or general fun, check out the new '69 Sachs at your dealer. [S] SACHS Dealer InqulJles InVited importer and Western Distfibutor HERCULES OIST. LTD. IS: 1812 Colorado St. Santa Monica, Calif. 90404 PH: (213) 451-8728 REAR $42.00 4714 BrilOk s . Montclair, Calif. 917&3 . Dealers Welcome I HARLEY-DAVIDSON I Of ." " .."•• ""_" INGLEWOOD F_, __ ~ 871-780. or 871-7800 ~ OP. . . ,....,-""""'.....1011.. ~1 ...... 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