Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Roberts) and Harley-Davidson race c hief Di ck O 'B ri en who eac h contributed their specia l kn owledge to compone nts of th e en gi ne, 68 -yea r-old Art Early fro m Ch ampion Spark Plug who m ade a special tri p fro m Ohio to Cal ifornia to consu lt on development , Win dy Briggs wh o is working seven days a week hand -assem bling each engi ne - just to na me a few. The design approach chose n b y Ken a nd his associates was simple: a n al yze existing speedway eq u ip ment, pick it apa rt piece by piece, and design out each of its shortcomings. T he result , fa r from being an updated Jawa , is a to ta lly fresh design . Taking ea ch point individ ually: - Existing equipment has the pri mary drive and cha inc ase on th e left , where it is most likely to ge t . ground int o th e dirt if the bike is la id down . The oi l pump is mounted on the right suc h that if th e rider hits th e wall , he'll knock th e oil pump off, maybe carrying part of th e ca se with it. On Ma ely's engine , the primary drive is on the right , effectively sealed and guarded , whil e th e oil pump , a patented Maely design , is tucked into a flush -mounted integral crank end cover that is both strong and out of harm's way on the left side. - T o change engine sprocket gearing on existing sp eed wa y motors , you have to move both engine and transm ission , th en adjust everything up again. Mael y's engi ne has a unit gearbox, an d HyVo p rimary d ri ve (worked out with th e help of Roger Willi ams of Morse C ha in Co . ) . Gea rin g ch a nges a re d one just like on any other motorcycle - by cha nging the co untersha ft sp roc ket , leavi ng the engi ne and prima ry d rive a lone . The primary side is sealed. the clu tch runs in its own oil bath , a nd everyt hi ng in th ere stays clean. - T o p u ll t he h ead o n m ost common speedwa y engines, th e mechanic has to work be twe en th e head fins with a n ope n end wre nc h a third of a tum at a tim e on each head nut. On Maely's engi ne . th e top end is se cured by fou r massive ai rcra ft Grade-8 Allen hea d ca psc re ws that run st ra ig h t through he ad a n d cylinder to steel inserts in th e cases. Complete top end rem oval can be accomplished with a speed handle in under three minutes, - On th e Jawa , a worn m ain bearing race means new races at $38 apiece. in add ition to new roller beari ngs. Mael y has found 12· roller needl e bea rings a vai la ble from a n American source in .0002 oversize inc re men ts (used in double-row pa irs on each side) . so t he m ain bearing races ma y be re peat edl y grou nd oversize and m a y n eve r re q u ire rep lacem ent for the life of th e engine. - The most co m m o n speedway re ar whee l/ h u b asse mblies ha ve several p roblems. They're m achined to ta ke a sp rocket on one side only; a nd it's a com mon co mplai nt that the sprocket bolts stri p out th e th reads in the hub . Plus. when you pu ll th e rear wheel in th e pits durin g a typi cal betwee n -races scramble , th e sp ac ers fa ll o u t on t h e g r ou n d . Sound insign ifica nt ? It 's not , when seconds count a nd you're fum bling around in th e d irt a nd gra vel (Few speedway pits are p aved.) for two spacers that are unequal in len gth . a nd whi ch must go ba ck on th e bike each on the correct side , The Mael y hubs are m achined to take a sp roc ket on either sid e . The wheel may be turned to equ a lize tire wear without dismounting th e tire. The wh eel spacers are equ al length , so th ere's no way the wheel can be installed wrong ; an d th e spacers are pressed into t he sea led whe el be arings so they'r e not a bo ut to fall ou t. Instead of sp rocket bolts , "ESN A" -type stop nu ts hold the sprocket on studs wh ich a r e a ctu all y Gr ade -S c a pscrews .. , threaded through th e hub flange from the inside, so th ere's no wa y th ey'r e going to strip out. The foregoing ex p lana tion m ay be a bit overdone . but it's typica l of th e thinking , based on over a ge ne ra tio n in racetrack pits ac ross the country, th at has go ne into each piece of th e Ma ely m ot or cycle, Com ponent s a nd mat erials back up Ma ely's claim to t he b est of everythi ng. T he cra nk flywheels a re 8620 all oy a special steel tou gher t han the 41004300 series steels (the popularly-known chrome mol y) a nd Blan cha rd grou nd in the same shop that does the crank flywh eels for the factory H a rl eyDa vidson XR750s. T he crankpin ho les a re m icro -fin ished to a m irror surface, as a re the crankpins. Windy Briggs , with 15 years of engi ne build in g experience to call upon , explains what th is kind of finish a nd toleranci ng means: "W hen r press th ese cranks together , th er e's none of this jerk-jerkje rk you get with m ost assemblies; it goes together with a silky smooth motion th at belies the tightness of fit . I ca n drop this assembly into a jig and press it right up to within one or two thou , blind. It 's when you go to true it that you realize how solid that joint is. An amount of movement that normally takes one hammer blow will inste ad take four or five. " He shows me a mangled lead maul to illustrate his words . The alum inum alloy cases , cylinder barrel a nd head a re c as t in permanent.molds ·(Ma ely has $20 ,000 tied up in patterns alone), a fact whi ch in itsel f means this engi ne is in for an ex te nded production run . The Siftondeveloped ca m is ste el billet and tu rns on T orri ngton d r awn- cu p n eedle roll er bea rings . The connect ing rod is a beautifull y pol ished artwork of h igh tensile alloy a lu mi nu m with a m assive pressed -in steel lower end bea rin g race. The piston is a n Alcoa forging with d ee p , po lishe d po ckets in its fla t head to clear th e fou r va lves. T he -oil pump gears and sha fts a re made of 8620 steel (like th e crank), anodi zed a bronze color, a nd honed an d fin ish ground . Ma tin g oil pump p arts a re h and-lapped to with in .0005" of each othe r . The heat treating on the 86 20 stee.!..parts is done by a hel icopter a nd a ircraft components-compaI')Y. - a nd again is the sa me as used on Harley racing parts . Ma ely receives the head, barrel a n d cases as-cast (m a ting su rfaces a re ro ug h -p la ned at th e found ry), a nd m at es th em with the fin ished and sem i-finis he d interna l com po ne n ts in his own sho p . The main build ing is a long ti n she d wi th a se mi -o pen breezewa y, and is fla nked b y open· wa lled sheds that house crank-typ e sta mpi ng p resses a nd bulk m et al inventory , all of which nestle on th e cliff top behind Maely's ranch hou se , overlooking the practice track . Two tool room engine lathes and two mi lling ma c hi nes (o n e of whi ch doubles as a jig -borer) handle most of th e machining chores . Irwin Moon co mes in and does most of the case machining on th e big 24" Rockford . A full -ti me tool a nd diernaker , Ed Laverso , is in the process of m a king prod uction m achin in g jigs. Yes, it's possib le to make production jigs in suc h a sma ll shop if you kn ow how. Eac h jig is based on an al umin u m a lloy plat e pla tform suppo rted on tool steel legs. Locat ing pads m a de fro m tool stee l rod bolt to th e un derside of th e pl at e ; t he pa rt is clam ped aga inst th ese referen ce " ha rd point s." Steel d rill bushings p ressed into th e p late te11 the machinist exactly where to insert t he cutti ng too l for ea ch hole a n d guide the tool dow n . Th e ha rd ening of eac h d rill bush ing is do ne by Mael y with a n acetylen e torch , practi cing th e sa me kind of village bla cksmithing skills that he has , , . Rough head casting. applied to his skid shoes for ove r 25 yea rs. Ca rl Tresser, a No rCal dirt track Expert (#45z) work s full tim e helping wit h ma chining . Ken 's Dad , ("Tha t kid there , wh o raced H a r levs a nd In d ians in th e 'Teens") , 74 - y~ar old Slim Maely, handles jig . m achin ing of Maely's speedway fork crowns, engi ne p arts d eburring and in coming in sp ection . Ken's wife Jud y does uph olst ery for TT sea ts and th e speed way bik es . Sh e ' a lso ge ts her kitch en invaded peri od icall y for th e heati ng of cyli nders and heads in her oven pri or to th e inserti on of cylinder liners or val ve guides. She goes to th e freezer to get a pizza a nd find s 25 cylinder lin ers chi lling down on top of everyt hing . It 's a pa rt of t he life . The Maely motorcycle itself is ' not. on the surface . a ra d ica l depa rt u re from th e trad itiona l speedway chassis. The fra me is t he standa rd ope n · bottomed ha rd tail " b icycl e" . jig. weld ed and then stress-rel ieved and a nnealed , sti ll in the j ig. T he oil fille r neck . part of a ll common speedway fram es: is st rengt hened and moved closer to th e stee ring head , so t hat the stee ring head gussetting helps 'relieve the inherent stresses crea ted by th e p res ence o f th e filler hol e . T ha t 's where most other fra mes b rea k. As me nt io ned earlier. the co mplete pa ck age . (motorc ycle , t ra in in g a nd spares) , will be so ld fo r $2,5 00 to racers a nd only to ra cer s - no dealers o r midd lem en. T he schoo ling will be handl ed by Ke'n- and -Mike Bas t. . five days of in tensive live-in wor k a t th e Maely ranch . Mornings will be spe nt on the track with video-ta pe ru n ning for p la yba ck a nd cri tiq u e la ter , afternoons in t he shop lea rn ing com p lete teardown a nd maintenance . " I won 't sell to anyone u n less he 's willing to come out here and spe nd the days with us, learning to ride and , ma intain it himsel f," Ken sa ys. " If I feel he (t he rider) can't cut it. I'll refund his deposit. " At his p rice and on his te rms , Ken already has the first production run of 25 (cu rre nt ly being 'assem bled ) sold , a nd is selling well into the next produc tion run of 50. After that , production lots will be 100 each. T he next logi cal step in Ken 's mind is to create a unit gearcase with a fou r-or-five -speed clus ter so th e engine m ay be used for TT or c1 ubman road ra cin g . He has a co uple of TT engi nes on order rig ht now, " . , . to riders whose names I won 't revea l bu t whose in it ial s a re KR andDM ." For fu ture development , th ere is des igne d-i n po te nt ia l in th e basic casti ngs a nd piece parts. Art Early from Ch ampion has told Mael y th at th e lower end he's built ca n ta ke upwards of 100 hor sepower. T here's room eit her for lightening or fo r po wer develop ment. Ea rly has taken a unit ba ck to Ohio "to p lay with. " T he head has met a l arou nd th e four ports for playi ng with the port configu ra tion. The pocket for th e overh ead cam not onl y ha s a designed - Oil pump module and worm drive. Primary side. showing oil guide. in oi l reser vo ir fo r cold -sta rt ing protection , bu t enoug h ext ra volume to accom modate any co ncei va ble cam pr ofil e on a number of base ci rcles , or to allow the use of ro ller followers in place of the radiused rocker -followers used in th e present design. What 's it a ll add up? Ken Ma el y has a prototypica l co tt age ind ust ry - a piece of Southern Eu ro pe carved ou t of a Southern Cal ifornia ca nyo n . In it is what a mo u n ts to a family-oriented work -commune , a 20th cen tu ry tribal factory conceived a nd built by a man : who is a un ique a nd unspoiled human bein g from centuries past. It' s some th ing to co ntemplate in th e ea rly dusk , watch ing Ken a n d W in dy fit th e first engi ne wit h a Kroeber-like Am eri can COl u nit next to a 75·year o ld wood stove topped b y a n oi ldrum /airbox th at throws waves of hea t across t he draftv shed. Outside is the muffled bed lam ~f kids, dogs a nd severa l feisty geese. Across th e ca nyon on the ot her side of the speedway ova l, some of Maely's ca ttle pose in bovi ne bored om . chickens scratch up and down the d riveway. In addition to bu tcher ing his own beef a nd having a constant supply of poultry products. the Maely ra n ch grows alfa lfa a nd th ree vegetable gardens a year. T he ra nch ho use follows the pa tt ern Maely built it h imself over a pe riod of 13 yea rs, a ided by th e ba rtered la bor and / or equipment of his frie nds and neigh bo rs, There is a sense of self-co nt ai ne d community here , a sense of roots. Ken 's engi ne d id n't spring overn igh t on win gs of bo rrow ed mon ey, m iddlem an agem e nt hy pe a n d . e m p ty p romises. It' s the culmin at ion of a p ro cess that took a ge ne ra tio n to co m p lete. Up unti l th e 20t h cent ury, this is how a ll progress took pl ace. If th e th in ve-neer of our ma ss -consu mp tio n civilization is stri pped away by even ts as is often pred icted . the n this is what the world is co ming to again . It 's beautiful. • . .-, I _ J. • • ... I I .: ~ • I 15

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