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/126020
; • ~ 11II E lC') r- O"l ,.....; O"l l-< Q) ..0 8 Q) u Q) 0 ..... J: U a: .J :l Z J: o ., By Dale Brown There exists a bike which many people would consider the best of both worlds. That is, a four-stoke engine in a monoshock frame. G e o rge L any o n of Bishop , Cali fo mia is a con fi nned four-stroker ' 1 . f rea k • F onner y a c OI?pe~tor on the AMA National CIrCUit on a Gol~star and once Ho,:,da's national service manage~, L~yon IS now a des~rt ra cer. Competing m th e DR;A S.em?r class as an Am ateur, Lanyon IS thud m the point standings. George is !"n~g a modified ,XL-25 0 Honda engine In C Be J s new monoshock frame . If y o u wanted to duplica te the set-up , you would have to do your own engin e, but th e frame can be obtained from C 8< J right now. . As far as the engin e go~s, it 's far from stock. Branch F1ow-m e tncs flowed ~d ported the head. A forge d Ven o ha piston resides in a .0 80 inch o vers ized cylinder. A Webc am h as been fitted as well as an ARP. button mag. Gas flows through a 32mm Mikuni carbo George prefers th e M iku ni to a constant-velocity carbo All this results in abou t 22 hors es to the ground. But use able power starts at 3500 RPM and the engine will rev to 10 ,500. The truly unique feature of the machine is the new monoshock frame developed by C 8< J. They do a lot of Here it is, a mixture of Honda, Yamaha and af te rmarket products that bring out the best of both worlds. 30 the fra me s that factory motocrossers run. On Lanyon's m achine, which was th e seco nd of the 40 or so fr ames they 've they develo p ed the do n e since prototype, there are features like an adj ustable steering head , adju stable swingarm height and o f co urse, the mon osh oc k re ar suspension. The frame utilizes the nitrogen/oil dampin g unit fr o m Yamaha. The cost on that item is $ 183 . George uses a soft spring and 275 lb s, nitrogen pressure. The swing arm is eq u ip pe d with a rod en d to ra ise or lower the bike to alter either ground clearance or fender-to-tire distance if you 're u sing an 8.5 inch travel kit on your shock unit. It's an o p tio nal item though, and it will set you bac k an extra $37_50. C 8< J custom-made the frame for the item s Lanyon used on the bike, such as th e engine, the Betor forks, the Elsinore wh eels, the Yamaha seat and the Malcolm Smith plastic gas tank. They do that on all the frames they build. Speaking of the items George uses, the Betors are fitted wi th a Terrykit for 8.5 inc h travel. The steering head comes with sealed TIm kin tapered be arings. Optional is an adjustable steering head in which the fork rake can be adjusted from 30·32 degrees. $40 is the price for th at ite m . Lanyon says that his bike weighs 232 pounds with one gallon of gas in the tan k. That could very well b e, because C 8< J's frame weighs between 23 and 26 pounds. A stock XL frame tips the scales at 48 pounds, 22 more than the trick it em . As a matter of interest, the C 8< J frame is 10 pounds ligh ter than a Yamaha monoshock frame. If the idea of the monoshock frame is intriguing, then break open the 01' piggy bank and see if the $515 price tag can be met. For that sum, you will get the frame, with all the tubing and gussets made from 4130 chrome moly, footpegs, brake lever and all necessary nuts and bolts. It's available from C Be J Racing Frames, 3873 S. Main St., Santa Ana, CA. 92707. Or call them at (714) 540-7350. • Beca use the coun tersh aft sprocket is so close t o the swingarm pivot, no chain tensioner is required even with eight inch axle travel.