Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

V.t ~ . 51 IlI:I 2: ~ ... .g g on r-- - C'l on ..... ;:l "" OD ;:l < Got a te chnical problem tha t need s expert ad vice? Send queries to ". Isk E.C. " c/o Cycle New s. Your reply will appear in the paper within a few weeks. Hard questi on s may take a little longe r .to an swer. By E.C. Birt One little, tw o littl e, three little Zuneys I 'm a beginning di rt rider who rece n tly purchased a 1971 R ick ma n 125 .\lX . My pr oblem co ncern s th e gearbox. On m y f irst adven ture in th e di rt it shifted f airly well excep t fo r a few f alse neu trals be tween gea rs. however, I ne ver fe lt totally at ease with it. Aft er a prob lem w ith th e k icks tarte r not alway s spinning the engi ne over, which was diagnosed as a misadjusted clu tch . I once again took the bike ou t in t o th e dirt, now it won't up shift at all. lip shifting f rom first gear p roduces th ree neutrals until I h it fifth, bu t by th en th e en g ine is l ugging. It do wn sh ifts beautif ull y how ever, with or wi th out th e clutch. Th e qu estion s that I am hoping you can answer are: (1) Is there a finn that p rodu ces a positive shift kit fo r Zundapps? (2) What is th e cost of th e kit and the p ossible ins tallation cost? (3) Ca n a pe rson u nfamiliar wi th Zundapp engines install suc h a k it ? (4) Where can 1 ge t serv ice f or Zun dapps in San Diego ? (5) Could a d ealer that sells Sach s service Zundapp engines? Ed Jlively San Dieg o, Calif. ... I ., 38 Ed , I ge t the feeling th at fr om the sound of yo u r letter that m aybe whe n y ou found o u t that y ou had cl u tc h p roblems that y o u removed th e righ t hand ca se of th e e ngine to lo o k at the clu tch an d d idn 't adj ust it righ t when you pu t it back together. Le t 's take it fr om the top and adjust the gearbox first . With th e t rans adj us te d r ight th ey don't shi ft all th at bad, b u t y ou ca n't stomp o n it or jam it lik e yo u ca n the gea rb oxes fro m th e land o f the Risin g Su n . Be gentle with th e Zundapp . (I ) Rem ov e the little cover t hat is at the back of the case o n the right side of the engine. (2 ) Now you see that little ro u nd adj uster that is held in place with two screws. This adjuster is called the setting be ll and it posi tions your shift-d ru m asse mbly so th at the selecto r r od is in th e righ t loc at ion to pick up the h alls tha t p u t it in o ne gear o r th e oth er. (3) Wit h the se tting be ll exposed check and se e if it is wo rn o u t before yo u loo sen the tw o screws that h old it in pl ace . To che ck th is wear co ndi t io n take hold o f th e gea rsh ift leve r o n th e o ther sid e of th e engin e and sec if yo u can p ush it in and o u t . If yo u ca n feel fr ee pl ay in th e thread s (in and o u t play) repl ace th e se tting be ll be fo re you go any fu rt her. (4) Re move th e two loc k screws th at ho ld t he setting be ll in place and rem o ve the selli ng be ll. Wash it a nd clean it goo d . (5) Now, start the setting bel l b ac k . on .to the threads of t he shift drum a nd wi th yo ur left hand reach ove r the bike , ta ke hold of the gear shift leve r and pu ll it toward th e left o f the e ngine (away fro m th e case) as fa r as it will go. (6 ) Tum th e se tt in g bell down the t h reads with y ou r right hand till it bottoms o ut o n the ca sco (7) Now very car ef ully push the shift lever toward the engine hut not to o hard or yo u will p ush it 0 ff th e stop pin. (8) With pressure o n the shift tu rn the setti ng bell in till it touch es the case once again - but this time count th e turns . (9 ) Now ba ck it up half of th at n umb er of turns a nd loc k it in to place wi th th e lo ck screws. This w ill place t he shi ft drum in the m iddle of its free pl ay and yo u r t rans will be in p roper adj ust men t. As far as shift k its go , there ar e o nl y two people tha t I ever knew tha t m ade a shift kit. One is Steve K oba in Los Angeles and I d on't know if he 's still the re o r not. The o ther is m ysel f. With Steve 's k it you w o uld have .to sp lit the cases to install it and with a $5 .9 5 Z un dapp sh op m anual that I co uld se nd yo u I'm su re yo u co u ld do it yo u rsel f. My kit is re d oing your shift drum asse mbly and selecto r ro d. T he cos t for this m od is $ I 6. I do n' t kn ow wh ere yo u ca n get service fo r yo ur Zundapp in Sa n Diego. Tw o places in Los Ange les th at might be a ble to hel p you no w are Ko bie's o ut in Ve ntur a a n d Pre cisi on Cycle in Lawndale . If worst come s to worst , y ou can alw ays ge t parts o r service from me . Co uld a dealer th at se lls Sachs se rvice a Zundapp ? Go od q ues tio n . 'The o nly th ing alike wi th a Zu nda p p a nd a Sachs is th at th ey 'r e both m ad e in Germ an y. l aw n a R'ick man w ith a Zundapp e ngine in it. Th e p ower is alright. but the t ransmission is th e ma in pr oblem . Finding neut ral b etween eve ry gear is a bit ch . I planned on racing this ma ch ine i n the I n t erm ediat e class but the t ransmission st ops me. There 's no wa y I cou ld ride th e bike in a race and win. I heard you had a ki t that helps th e shift ing a lot. and allo ws m e to power shift wi thout worrying about it blowin g up. Please te ll me what it docs and ho w much it co sts t o do it. A lso sen d m e a f ew tip s on ho w to ma ke th e bike go fas te r. Claude J o nes San A nselmo, Calif. Claude, lo ok at Ed 's ans we r a nd th at w i l l ta k e c ar e o f y o u r g ear bo x questions. I think y o u need to co nce n t ra t e m o re on how to ride faster th an on how to ab use yo ur gearbox. I d on't care what kind of k it yo u put in it , if y ou're go ing t o st omp on the gearshi ft lever yo u'll b rea k so meth ing. It j ust wo n 't t ak e it. Back a yea r and a half ago (may be it 's two and a h alf) wh en J eff Wright, Bru ce Baro n an d some o f t he o thers were rid in g Rickm ans fo r me. th ey had very lit tle gea rbox tro ub le and they didn't get be at too ofte n. These riders learned ho w to go fa st by rid ing skill, not o n ho w fast t hey co uld shift th e bike. Yes, they mad e a lo t of their sh ift s without a clutch, so me times you have to. Be gen tl e wit h it , it 's like a go o d girl fr iend , it lik es to be pampere d a little. Ho rsepower on a lim it ed b udget is a hard wa y to go. Abo ut all you ca n d o b y yo u rself is cut your intake skirt .060 and have you r head m illed .0 60 if it's a 12.5 DI N en gine and if it·s a 15.0 DIN engine , m ill it .020. I co uld send you a pipe kit for S38.4 7, and that will hel p you ano ther 25 0/0. I hav e prob lems with the front fo rks on my Zundapp, 19 74 En duro . Th e travel just doesn 't work right. Do you change t he rear sh ocks at all? / weigh 175 poun ds and stand five f ee t 10 inches tall. The motor see ms to have good power bu t so m et im es shifting is a little tricky; When I had 5 1 m iles o n the bike , the g e a rb o x brok e. I sent it ba ck to R ockf ord , A pril 26, and ju st re ceived it back again August 5 . I bo ugh t th e bik e be cause of th e sh ow th e f ac to ry team put o n th e ISD T. An y thing y ou can offer will be of great . help.. If there is a sh ift kit o ut f or th e 125 Sa chs, let me know. P.S. Also carb changes or gear changes. Ro n Green e Manch est er, Conn, In th e front fo rks use 20 wei ght oi l, T he front forks are go o d but they are a little short o n travel. There is nothing th at yo u ca n do but replace them if they d o n't do th e j ob fo r you. On carb ch an ges, you can go to the new V84 Bing but d on ' t ge t o ne bigge r th an 28 m m if yo u're goi ng t o leave th e engine sto ck. It won't handle it. Zund a pp m ak es a whole set of co u nter sprockets from 12 to 16 teeth for yo ur bi ke. Rear sprockets have to be m ad e special for th em. Hungry Honda I have a 100 Honda E lsinore that is extremely f ast, bu t has a tenden cy to eat rin gs at a rate of one set every two races. Do y ou th ink that those p oppy rings would help ? A lso , would the dyk e pis ton wo rk and last longer than th e lViseco pisto n and rings ? Woul d it be p ossible t o square out th e in take like it sho ws in p h ot o A in th e Cy cle News ' article and add a th ird p ort? flow mu ch is th e ex hau st flange and w oul d it wo rk o n m y 10 0 ? A buddy has a bik e lik e m in e an d he took a lViseco p iston and made a second ring groo ve in it. Can I put this third p or t in m y 100 piston or d oes th e dyk e pis to n com e with one? If I p ut a third po rt in m y p ist on do I have to do an ything t o th e cy linder ? One last question . wha t kind of p ipe w ould be th e bes t fo r my 100? llarold R ob ins on Stron gsville, Ohio Sounds lik e you have a sic k 100ce Ho n da . Let 's st ar t from th e t op. J ohn Ciar amitaro, o f Forgetrue , a nd I are still working on th e Forgetrue 100ce p iston wit h dy ke rin g. For th e t ime being why don 't you use a piston o u t o f a 100cc T .:l1. Su zu ki. It fits right in and is the best piston th at y ou ca n use at this time. This wa y y o u won't have to mac hi ne a new ring groove a nd go to all th at ex tra wor k. You must weld u p you r cy linder if you squar e up you r inta ke because you will go righ t through th e side of it a nd th is makes it more than a little d ifficu lt to tunc. . Third p ort is gro u nd in by hand and if you want t o use a th ird port design you have to put the port for the piston in the bottom ring land. I have a feeling th at y o u have a Wiseco sleeve and I d on't th ink th at it has enough room in it for th e port. You m ay have to use one o f my sleeves for this t ype of port and it will come with th e p ort machined in it fo r you . Yes, m y flan ge kit will work on your 100 and th ey cos t $ 10, a E.C.W. pipe kit runs $38.47 . If y o u have a 1975 Ho nda your stock p ip e will work real go o d with th is flange kit. Wheels of Hodaka I have a 19 69 Hodaka Ace 100 with " Baby" Ceriani fron t f ork s. It has a one an d on e-half inch longer swingann. I want to go to a 3. 25 x 18 rear, 2.75 x 21 fro n t. Do y ou recomm end the 21 inc h wh eel with t he sm all frame ? Would a 2.75 x 19 be better? Craig Kratzer Pittsford, N ew York If y o u're goin g to ride motocross the 2 1 inc h front will be alri ght. For a trail bike I like a 19 inch front wheel. It 's a stronger wheel and the bike sits a little closer to the ground. Better bouncers I need some inform ati on on different fron t fo rks fo r motacrossin g. Th e bike is a 100" 19 72 Ya maha. Th e fo rk s I have at t he mo m en t are: 1. 10 0" Kawasak i ( Green St reak) 2. 175" Ya ma ha (enduro) 3. 125 " Harley -Davids on 4. 100" Baja IVhich set would be the best one for motocrossing in y o ur op inio n? P.S. It 's f or m y w ife. 1 don 't race. J im Hisen Merced , Calif. I guess it all boils down to ho w goo d o f a co o k she is and if you wan t to kee p her aro u nd for a while longer. I'd go for nu mber fou r, Terry Clark didn't d o bad with them. Rowdy Rat I wish to modify m y '72 Hodaka Super R a t . What recomm enda tio ns would you make as to fuel/oil m ix tures, po r ting t e c h n iques, a larger carb, ex haust syste m s, proper je t t ing and boring-out? Presently I have a Webco high co m pression head , co m bined with a G. E .M. reed valve . I hav e been th inking about th e kit you use to modify th e engines f or th e Bamt bik es.

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