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/126518
IClockwlu from top IeftI Here'. e peek at the oth. aide of the long. low former·MX mllChlne. Merzocchl dirt trlICk forb euepend the borrowed Grlmec:e dille en Grlrnece rear dlac. It p. .ed the AMA TIICh Inepecdon; h. .•• the bend of proof. And finally. the mighty. tree:tllble 4IOc:c Melco motor...wfth eight extnt ho..... at been sitting in a bus terminal 20 miles from home for the past three days. Alex Rosa skidded up in his blue excuse for a truck and aaked if I needed help. "Co get the Number Plates." Five minutes later, National Service Manager for Maico, Selvaraj Narayana called me. "How's it going, Terry?" It was now two and one· half houn before the pits opened. 12 We made plans to meet at Wheelsmith Engineering, 45 minutes from my home. I made it in SO. We checked the Bing against the specs. Whoever was assembling carbs that day must have had a bad attack of Sauerkraut gas; nothing in the Bing matched any of the specs. Plugging the standard jet· ting in, we immediately had a weapon. I jetted the rooster a little leaner than stock all the way around since we weren't running 40·minute motos, and all of a sudden, we had a certified 216pound hot rod on our hands. Another 30 minute low flight homeward, stacked up against the 45 minutes I used up to jet the. hot rod, left me with 45 1IW\W:lI.t.P_~. til. AKQl..wbidl. lV.a&,4.. 35·.minute drive. And I still didn't have the number plates in' my hands. I got the number plates, trimmed and mounted them to the bike, grabbed a coke and sat down to enjoy my last couple of minutes with my wife. She inquired about my distant stare: "Which turn are you in?" Caught. I was mentally predicting the gearing necessary to pull the right hander before the jump' At the race track WIth more than a minute to spare, I looked up Bill Boyce of the AMA to hand him the fmal paperwork approving the Maico for National Championship Dirt Track competition. (Ya can't put these things off 'til the last minute.) Boyce was really neat, and wished me "best luck" with the Maico. Next, I had to locate my rider. I had never met him before, 50 it was a little embarrassing, asking Randy Goss if he was Rod Spencer. Eventually Spence', his dad and I connected. We grabbed a pit spot and compared notes. He ran . the hot rod on the back straightaway and we shortened the wheelbase, • .changed ti1e.fork.aiL, .and..G!.....~4,J1l. tire pressure. After practice, we flopped the tire and changed the gear to make him lug the motor more. His adrenalin was making him buzz the motor, and that wasn't where the motor's power curve was most efficient. He qualified, got fourth in his heat, won his semi, and picked up 14th start· ing spot in a grid of 16 National finalists. Spencer rode the wheels off that suckah. In the National, be moved from dead last into .fifth spot less than halfway through the race. After that, he and Gary Scott diced it, turning exact same lap times as the front three guys. It was a jazz night, Spencer and the California Hot Rod Maico. After Spencer pulled into the pits, we "post-mortemed" the bike. From that post-mortem, the following changes will probably be made by the time Spencer rides the bike at the Re· gional TT in Boise, Idaho. 1. Shorten the wheelbase another ~ inch. The powerband is so predictable, it doesn't need extra wheelbase. 2. Add more fuel tank reserve. • Spencer ran out..of go -OIl ,the last lap and finished on fumes. S. Move Knight's forward-mounted petcocks rearward to keep them COY. ered up while under power. He had them forward to clear the 500cc thumpen. 4. Gear the bike taI1er yet. We never really did get the bike solidly planted in the middle of its power curve. In fact, it was out'of gear in the middle of the straightaway. (Fifth place ... heh, heh,) 5. Change the mounting method and location of the pipe. Wayne Rainey ran into it with a 310-pound Harley, and only safety wire saved the night. . 6. Change the top motor mount to Maico's recommendations..Our attempt made Maico's predictions come true. Namely, a gaping hole in the backbone, and two motor mounts which eventually became four pieces of two motor mounts. 7. Raise both footpegs, or get a slower rider. I thought the clearance was great, but Spencer found new ways to get down and pivot the bike on the foolpeg brackets at 60 per in the infield corners.