Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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clutch modifications. Powe r flows from the countershaft sprocket to the rear wheel via Tsubaki 630 HSL Super Chain. The oil pan has a flapper-gate to hold oil around the oil pump pickup. ·A Lockhart oil cooler mounts to the tail section and is fed by braided steel lines from Earl's Racecar Supply. Carburetion is handled by Els . EI carburetors are second generation Lectrons. There are no main jets. Tuning is accomplished by changing the metering rods and is "infinitely adjustable." The exhaust system is a standard Denco "Tri-cone." A Martek 440 ignition system is fed juice from a 12 volt battery. From there the electrons flow to a set of Mike Burke coils. At that point it becomes Z-zap and follows the Accel ignition leads down to the Champion N59G or N57G spark plugs. Rob North was responsible for the extremely sanitary frame modifications. Not only did he modify the steering head and swingarm pivot, but he also installed gusseting between the head and the 'frame backbone. For that he used thick gauge sheet metal but he tied the backbone and the side rails together with tubular pieces . The arms of the swingarm were split and thick sheet metal inserted lengthwise. An extra tube ties the arms together just forward of the rear tire. The swingarm had to be relieved to clear the rear tire. The motor is secured to the frame with aircraft bolts and aluminum motor mounts manufactured by AGV Products. Standard KZIOOO fork clamps are used with stock fork assemblies. Number One Products Top Bearings are installed in the sliders to gain extra engagement on the stanchion tubes. r Springs and damper rods are from S&W. The shock absorbers are cantilevered to 48° from vertical and will either be LL series motocross un its with 100 lb . springs or H4 series Strokers with 901150 progressive rate springs. Up front , an OW31 master cylinder puts pressure to twin Grimeca calipers. There are two drilled Harry Hunt plasma-sprayed aluminum disc rotors on the front wheel while the rear brake uses a single small undrilled Hunt disc. A stock KZIOO rear master cylinder O shoots the juice to another Grimeca caliper. All brake lin es are Earl's -3 (3000 ' PSI) braided steel line. Dick Cormany did a nice job- of manufacturing the caliper hangers. Brake pad material hasn't been decided on yet; that decision will be made at Daytona . . Goodyear slicks are mounted on Morris magnesium wheels . A 3.25Wx19 01950 surrounds a WM419 and a 3.75x18 01705 is used on the WM6-18 rear wheel. These sizes and compounds are common to most Superbikes. . Development work being what it is, the day I went to Ontario to ride the bike, Steve and Harry were very busy shaping things up . Because of that and various little problems, 1 got to ride the bike very little. 1 was pleasantly surprised. My heart was revving because of the reputations that many Kawasaki-based Superbikes had built. Although 1 had never ridden one before, 1 had seen their antics close up . I'm fairly brave, but a 150mph wobbler is not fun . In the half-dozen or so laps I got , I rode it ha rd enough to skid the rear tire coming out of the comer, bu t the bike never wobbled. If it were going to wobble, that's when it woul d ha ppen because the chassis is loading and unloading. . There is a very good possibility that Steve McLaughlin and Harry Maillet will put a non-wobbling Kawasaki into the winner's circle at Da ytona this year. • IIATIDIIAI. 125/25Occ CHAMPIDl6ftflfest . 180 minutes oT' . .. : mot~ross racing. p p BOB HANNAH MARTY TRIPES JIM WEINERT DARRELL SHULTZ REX STATEN BROCGLOVER JEFF WARD MARK BARNETT TONY 01 STEFANO BRUCE FLANDERS KENT HOWERTON RICH EIERSTEDT BRIAN MYERSCOUGH " M A GOO" CHANDLER 1/ _ _ . .MiI~~' MII1It:NIIIDfrIDaIfT ASSOC1IUl11I S.I2J:DLllaCK i6 ,aBE cgrl~~~~'IA SUNDAY ::~~.~~::T-1~:::: 52500000 4119 '= t • GEN. ADMISSION V.I.R ADMISSION - •• .;,2ii-868=8,n PRO PURSE AND CONTI NGENCIES S~ORTSMAN DAY $600 Expert Purse . A ll memb. cards ho nor ed: AMA. CRC. CMC. AM E. NMA . I . ALL CLASSES ! I ' 30 p~;~~;~yo~:;; ~~::~~~:~ ~;~k:~ChangeS! $ 1 S . PER CLASS MAil Hlncom....t. ... ntrl.. Official Entry Blank 1··· · ·,_., _ will be mailed back , .. a.a._ S~"SO" ." •••••• _. ,,, -=.::- . . . . . . . . _... CLASSES GATE : SAT tS . PER BIKEUNCl . RIDERI MINIIEXPERT ONlYI I S . All SPECTATORS 125cc NOV JRIAM ·INTI EXP. , : I I _, . .tr_ No overnight camping I I ~"".::... .::-~ ~-= ~-: . "':. .................... ~, .... lI_-worr -" ..... ! ._ TRI-CROSS P.O.BOX 46 NORWALK CA. ~0650 E=~~"! ,__ I a.._.... .. ~ Entries Close March 20th : I send w ith entry : I ne self -addresse d -sta mped lega l size en velope : Race numb ers w ill. be assigned ! MAIL TO MARCH 31. 1979 r----------------------------------------------j TROPHIES 1 ST FIVE PLACES : 250cc NOV JAfAM ·INTI EXP. OPENcc NOV JRIAM ·INTI EXP. 510. 515. h ' . .... rc I I ,..... . ~._"". " ~::::::'...~..:~ 2~; :; 1 _ _II . .. . _ - ,........,10 """ ( . . ".. " ,- . .. ... ASSU.-tlOH 0 ' ItM: Aan'MI...t .... ..:~~=~=::::.:::~'::::: ..::':--::.~:::--::~:..~;:.~ ~_ _ .. "'" . _ ...., IN ... . -..t~.- _ ~ I. _.~I'...... _ ,Iy ~ ._. ':;'".'::: _ . ~-:. ~..=~:. . ":' .:::::.'=.:";, _I::: =:=."': :.:,..,,.=.::::;""..;:..:::..'.::"':::..:......~"'::::-"'=~ ::.':'; 1 .---................, .........,_ . __ - . . . . . . 11 ...-.- I HAVI ••AO ntiS _ t " MAHIl: AlotO AGIII to tN' .-_ - . .. ..... Ov. COtolOlflQlin ' - - - - - - - - - -''-:-_ - - ' - - - - ..J • BUY DIRECT from M.nuf.cturer .nc1 SAVE Free Engraving & Delivery r