Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• •_.0:. " •• ~I .. "'Ii ' . "~ ... lq - First, you pass tech By Russ Cazier 1 10< So you 've decided to put that hot street scooter on the track and enter the exclusive. I Society of Knee Draggers. Good for you.L i Before you canrace, however, your motors I 12 1 51 cycle must pass a technical inspec tion, and th is article will tell you how to prepare for it. It is worthwhile to under - (Top) Author's GPz is ready to go. (Middle) Catch bottle mounts atthe rear of the engine. Carb overflow tubes can also be routed there. (Above) Safety-wire bolts to other bolts. (Below left) Front number plate bracket. (Below right) Ail oil fittings should be safety-wired. 40 stand what is and wh at is not accomplished by tech nical inspectors at ama teur road races. T ech inspectors are trying to insure th at your motorcycle is not go ing to end a nger o ther riders by littering th e track with sp ill ed oil and dropped parts. They are not con cern ed with whether the mach ine is competitive o r even if it meets class specifica tions. For all th e tech in spectors care. you cou ld enter a Yamaha TZ750 in 450cc Product ion, just so it meets th e club's safety requirements. You cou ld, of co urse, expect form al and vigorous pro test from a nyo ne who fin ishes behi nd you in 450cc Producti on . T he fir st step is to join th e near est road raci ng club and get a rulebook . Next, in addition to th e usual assortment of hand tool s, yo u will need th e following parts and eq ui pment on hand: - Engin e oi l, su ffici ent fo r a .cha nge. Filt er too, if required. - Sa fety w ir e. No su bs titu tes, pl ease; get a roll of stain less steel safety wire a t a parts store. - Quarter- inch drill and two or three bits, size II I6th-inch. - Five feet of !18th by I ~ - i n ch alum inum strap ." - Eigh t-ounce can or pl astic bottle.· - T hree pl asti c number p lat es, 10 by 12-inch . - Six quarter-inch (6mm) bolts, nuts a nd one-inch t25mm) wash.ers." - T wo metal tire valve caps. • - See text. Organization helps. G et a box, label it and put every nut, bolt, washer and part int o it tha t you take off the bike. You will be very glad you did. Drain th e engine oil and do th e safety wiring. You will need to drill and safety-wire th e oil-fill plug, the oil-drain plug, and a ny nuts or bolts that secure the oil filte r. If yo ur bike , ha s an ext ernal oil cooler, all its mounting bolts and connections should be safeiy-wired. As you can surmise , racers do not like oil on the track and the idea is to safety-wire any fastener that will spill sli pp ery fluids if it comes loose. Newer bikes hav e an automotive-type oil pan, secured by numerous small bolts around its perimeter. You are not required to safety-wire these bolts, on the premise that several would have to come loose to spill any oil, but check them periodically for tightness. Assemble everything that you are going to drill and have at it , drilling nuts and bolt heads across a corner as shown in the photo. Allen-head bolts are easy to drill; slotted or phillips are tough , and in the unlikely event that your bike has any screws that must be safety-wired, you should replace them with allen-head or regular hex -head bolts. Reassemble everythi ng and wir~ 1J1 the se item s in such a manner tnat th ey can not turn a nd loosen. T tie (J5 photos shou ld help, a nd remember that you can often anchor th e safety'll wire by at taching it to another nut to' be wired, su ch as th e oil-drain plug and the oil-filter bolt head. If your bike has a chain a nd th e chain has a ma ster link, th e little fish cl ip should be safety-wired. Also, an y fuel-line co nnec tio ns that don 't ha ve a positive clamp sho uld be secu red by twisting a loop of safety wire. The a rtistic safety-wiring yo u ' see on professional race machines is don e with a spe cial tool that costs around $50, but careful work done with a pair of pl iers will give more th an adeq ua te results. Remove th e turn signals. I Fabricate th e front number-plate bra cket. This is aluminum strap bent into a square-U sha pe a nd is mounted on th e bolts securi ng the headlight bu cket. The glass pa rt of th e head! light sho uld be removed for racing. 1D The bracket ma y have to go inside~£ the headlight bu cket if your bike has b a fairin g; normally it is a ttach ed on q th e o u tside of th e bu cket to the ma i n "~ mounting bolts. Use two quarter- " inch bolts with on e-inch flat washers"h to a ttac h th e number pl at e to th e I bracket. Sma ller washers ca n pull 0 through the plastic. ) The side pi a tes are mounted toward th e rear of th e bike a nd must be fu lly visibl e with the rider on th e bike . If o yo u can m oun t the pl at es directly on 1 the bike to ex isting holes, say the pas- lJ senger grab rail mounts or the turn > sig nal mounts, grea t. If not , make brackets from ' alum inum strap. For 0 later resal e purposes, avoid drilling any new holes in th e bod ywork. The front fork drain plugs need ,. only be covered by du ct tape, bu t 1I make sure th ey are properl y tightened before you tape over them. Most clubs require covered Ioo t' pedals, whi ch usually means coverin g the brake pedal. A segment of bicycle inner tube works well , though most ra cers just wrap the end of the pedal with duct tape. ' It is common to cover most of the nori-essential glass in the " dash " with duct tape, to avoid scattering glass in a crash . I especially recommend taping over the speedometer, because of the temptation to look at it for a clue to entry speed into the comers. Purists can remove the inner cable of th e speedometer drive - there must a " ,h undred th of a horsepower being wasted there. Also , when it's time to sell the motorcycle, you can point to the odometer and truthfully say, " Not one of those mi les was on a race track, " when yo ur prospective purchaser asks about the safety wire and the ground-down footpegs. If it's not too much of a hassl e, remove the tail /brakel ight assembly, or cover the lens with duct tape. And cover it well , or disconnect the brakelight. There is no point in letting the competition know exactly when you are on the brakes. o ,

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