Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The start: Haney (151 Filice . Pietri (41. Hernon (1 11. McMurter (3 1 Ashmead (1 81. McDonald (2 1 Cooley (9 1. Haslam (6 01 1. Spencer (1 91. Merkel (11. . . . Mounted on th e front of Spencer's Superbike was a n outrageously-wide Michel in slick. enough wider than the tire o n Merk el 's bike th at it made a reporter do a double take in th e Honda pits. It was so wide that th e edges had to be tri m med wi th a razor blade to ma ke it fit between the fork , sliders. T he numbers on the tire's sidewa ll identified i ts size as bei ng 13/ 60 -16. compa red to Merk e l's 12/ 60-1 6; bo th bikes ra n 16170-18 rear tires. Youn g Sch wa ntz was th ird fastest qual ifier a t2 ;01.380 o n th e air-cooled Yoshimu ra GS 750 Suzu ki. Schwa ntz earned hi s rid e with Yos himura a t a test session a rra nged by a jou rn ali st w ho h ad b e en im p r e s s ed b y Sch waruz's per formance in en d ura nce ra ces o n a stoc k FJ600 Yamah a. Sch wa ntz's fa st la p ti mes , smooth style and ability to ex pe rime nt. si ft through adv ice a nd learn ra pi d ly h is lap times gelli ng fas ter a ll th e wh ile - co nvinced Yo sh imura 's Sueh iro Wa tana be to take a ch a nce o n h im a nd sign him u p. The wa y Watan ab e saw i t a fte r qu a lif y i ng. Sch wa ntz was rid in g th e Yosh imura Suzuki to 120%o f its capabili ties a na would be able to ta ke a run at Merk el [or seco nd p lace in th e race despite bei ng down on h orsepower. T he Suz u ki's previo us pilot . Cooley, q ualified fou rt h fa stest at 2:03.694. McDonald was fifth fastest a t 2:03.716 o n a n FL750 Yamaha p repar ed by the Yam aha Mo tor Co. Lt d . of J a pan testing and engi neering dep artment (as opposed to th e raci ng department. wh ich found itse lf too bu sy pr ep p in g 500cc and 250cc Worl d Ch ampionsh ip racebikes to get in volv ed in bu ild in g S u pe rbi kes fo r Da ytona ). T he Da ytona effort wa s overseen by th e U.S . testin g de p artment. a nd maha built two bik es; after Dayton a they'd be turned over to McDon ald for the season. For Daytona th e p la n was to have 1983 Superbike Cha mpion Wa yne Rainey rid e o ne . but Rainey cra sh ed a nd brok e hi s co lla rbo ne in hi s first practi ce sessio n - Yama ha rented the track a week befo re Speed Week 's si x days of official p ract ice and ra cing. So Yarn a- ha brough t in Canadian l\1c~lurter - who recently cu t a dea l wit h Ya ma ha Mo to r Ca nada [or racing in that co u ntry - to ride the second bike. The Yama has were short o n develo p me nt time bu t fast none-th e-less. Modi ficat ions were limi ted by th e a vaila ble li me a nd consisted of d ry clu tches. hi gh -compression p iston s. cams. a stronger ext ruded a lu minum swingarm, a T Z250 fro nt end with Brembo brak e d iscs a nd four-pi ston magn esium ca lipers, a T Z500 rear brak e asse m bly. Mikuni CV ca rbs wi th 3m m la rger vent u ris th an stock , Dymag cast magn esium wh eel s, a deep o il su m p cas tin g , a raci ng exha ust system a nd afterma rket shock a bso rbers - McDonald 's bik e h ad a Fox shock. McMuner 's a n Ohlins, bo th with rem ot e reserv oirs, Th e exhaust system, bu ilt by th e Yamaha factory, carried Kerk er LD . p la tes a nd will be d u p licated a nd be so ld by Ker ker - o ne of McDonald 's spon so rs - in th e nea r future. T he Ya maha used stoc k ignitio n systems powered by th e batter y, And wh ile th e alterna tor a nd electric starter wer e left in p lace to avoid goi ng undern ea th the 41O-pound m in imu m weig h t ru les, th e rest o f th e chargi ng system was d isco nnected . th e ign ition powered to tal loss. Other cha nges included bypassing the th erm ostat ho usi n g and ad ding an oversized oi l cooler. Wh en a ll th e work wa s done. th e Yamahas we ig hed 4 17 p ounds (with o u t gas. with fresh tir es) on th e AMA sca les , well ove r th e requ ired end-o frace, no-gas m inimu m of 410 pou nds. T hat wa s close to the weigh t o f Spencer' s Honda , wh ich tipped the AMA sca les a t 4 16 pou nds u n der th e sa me co n d itio ns . McMuner rode his bik e 300 miles in the early test sessio ns, incl uding 200 mi les a t one tim e to simula te th e Daytona 200. No problems were enco u nt ered. McDona ld had p lanned to ru n his FZ in Fr iday 's Fo rmu la One race as well . bu t did n 't wh en the engi ne devel oped a base gas ket leak withou t enough time left before th e stan fo r repa irs . McMurt er, wh o q ua lified l l th , repon ed th a t the Ya m a has, although fast. d id n ' t ha nd le as well as h is so rted-ou t 1984 Hon da Superb ike a nd wer e ha rder to rid e; th e 1'7.250 fro nt forks especially ca used p roblem s, a lth ough wo rkin g bet ter th an stock forks d id wi th the Brembo brakes in stall ed. But to McMuner, it looked sma rter to ride a bike th at was th is good a t the beginning of its development (th e Ya maha ) tha n to ride a bike a t th e pea k of its deve lo p me nt (the Honda ) - and Yamaha 's renewed interest in ro ad racing, n o m ailer th rough wh at depa rtm ent - look ed bett er 10 him than Honda 's recent, grad ua l and ongoing withdrawal from factory-team ro ad raci ng. (Accord ing to Yam aha Mot or Corp. US A eng i n ee r ing c hief R ichard Okan o , th e co mpany wi ll soon sell raci ng p a n s kits to priva teers a t su bsid ized prices.) Haslam was sixth fastes t a t 2:04.695, followed by Busby o n hi s Tea m America VF750F a t 2:04.697; Adamo was eig h th fastest a t 2:04.901, Fil ice was n inth a t 2:04.958 o n hi s Super Tea m FZ750, wh ich was much clos er to stock than th e McDona ld /McMurter bik es. Fi lice's bike, li ke a nother Super Team FZ750 ridden by 1975 Ca mel Pro Series Cham pion Ga ry SCOll, had a chassis prepped by Lou Valle rga of Pa lo Alto (Ca lifo rn ia) Yamaha a nd an engi ne bluep rinted a nd m ildl y mod ified by Woody Kyle a nd Dan T hom pson. Both bikes were filled wi th Performance Mach in e spun a lumi n um wheels a nd 12-inch Performance Machine front dis c bra kes with four-pist on Brern bo ca lipers. Vallerga bu ilt th e rea rset co nt ro ls and re-rou ted the radiat or hoses to clear Su pe rT ra p p fo ur-into -one exhaus t svsterns: Filice's bike was fi tted with a ' stain less steel system usi ng taper ed head pipes. Scott 's bik e with a more con vent io na l steel system. The sta n da rd CV carbs were rejc ue d a nd ru n wit h th e bottom of th e airbox (a nd rubber veloci ty stac ks) in p lace. A Fox Twin C licker rear shock was insta lll ed . T he engines were d isassembled and ch ecked by Thompso n, who mad e su re a ll the bearing clearances were co rre ct a nd th a t a ll the gears located properly during shifts; Kyle chec ked combustion cha mber -o l u m c and did racin g va lve jobs ; 0.020-in ch was mi lle d off th e cyli nder to ra ise co mpression, a nd ca m timing was ad j us ted. Eac h engi ne's alte rna to r was removed; th e ign itio n system a n d timing rem ained stock, and the electric starter ended up being reinsta lled to mak e sure th e bikes wo u ldn ' t have an y problems making th e minimum weigh t. T h e a ma zing pan o f a ll th is was the fact th a t th e bik es a rri ved in Da yIOna - in stoc k con d itio n - a week bef ore S peed Week s tar red . Va llerga an d th e o the rs co m man deered a local m achine sh op and went to work, a nd a fter o ne 35-hou rs-s tra ig ht bu rn and co u p le of three-h ours-of -sleep day-and-night sessio ns , th e bik es were readv. J immy Adamo ro de a Tea m Leon i 748cc Alazurra Cagiva in stead o f a rules-allowed 1000cc Ca giv a (Duca ti ) because Cagiva doesn 't sell a 1000cc machi ne in th e U .S. Dal e Quarterley a nd Rich Oliver both rod e Kawasa kis ; Quarterl ey' s GPZ750 and Oliver 's KZ750 both painted green, a nd severa l privat eers a ppeared with nea rstoc k FZ750s. But th e bulk o f p rivateer hopes were pi n ned on VJ 750F H onda s, m ost with owne r-modified chassis a nd bought-fro m-Honda RSC raci ng en gi nes . So m e o f th e privateers orga n ized the mse lves into grou p or team efforts, lik e Rob ert o Pietri a nd Busb y's T eam America. But most m ounted so lo efforts with h elp from a few frien ds or sm a ll sponsors ; that describ ed th e programs. o f men like Ricky O rl ando , Hart h . Barr y, Terry H a m p ton. Bett en co u r t. Fin la nd 's Vesa Kuthal ah ti (who, wi th England 's T eam Bike, fini sh ed seco nd in several24-hour ra ces in Europe last year , incl udi ng th e World Championship ro u n d in Belgium ). Some priva teers too k incredib le risk s 10 ma ke th e race; 20-yea r-old Pa t Hern on and friend-and -tuner Laj os Silbers tein showed u p at Daytona (fro m Ohio) with 1000 bo rrowed from Hernon 's broth er . By Saturda y 7

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