Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

A skid plate is added to protect th e vu lnerable engine cases from getting smashed by rocks. Kawasaki custom-built a "shark fin " to protect the rea r disc bra ke. An 18inch rear wheel is also used. a vai lable t hrough a ny Ka wa sa k i d ealership fo r the KX250, or KX500. Norfolk lowered the fir st- and secondgear ratios to co incide with a much ta ller fi n al drive ratio . Norfo lk replaced the stock 14-tooth countershaft sprocket with a 15-tooth sprocket, and changed the stock 48-tooth rear sp roc ket to a 40-too th sprocket. With th ese gearing changes the KX250 can cruise between 97- 100 mp h , according to Kawasak i's radar gun. Befo re putting t he engine back together the center cases were surfaced and resea led . Since m uch of the Baja 1000 takes place at night, a slightly modified Kawasa ki Enduro Ign itio n Kit (with li g hting coils ) was installed. The l ig h tin g co ils were rewrapped uo increase wattage to power a 55-watt af termarket IPF Super Rall y headlight. The stock kit puts out between 40 and 50 watts. . The co m p lete headlight housing requ ired fo ur cus tom-made, L-s haped brackets that were bo lted to th e tri ple cla m ps to hold th e headligh t unit in p lace. T he fo ur L brackets have ho les in th em, so that th e complete headligh t housin g can be easily a nd quickl y slipped in to posit ion . Once in p lace the head ligh t assem bly is Secured with pins at each br acket. A hole is a lso cut into th e fron t number p la te wh ere the elect rical p lu g (fro m the ignition ) waits to be con nec ted to the head ligh t p lug . T he wh o le headlig h t housing ca n be installed in less th en 15 seconds. Everything else in th e power p la n t department was left stock, except th at th e pa int o n th e exhaust pi pe was sa nded off so a ll th e sea ms co uld be rewelded to stren gthen th em. Carbureti on was cha nged slig h tly; a o ne-size ric her m ainjet was used , as was a o ne-size leaner pilot je t. The needl e je t a nd slide were left stock. T he chass is received the fi ne- tooth co m b tr ea tm en t. Wher ever a bolt mated to the fra me, Norfolk sa nded o ff a ll the paint to help prevent th e bolts fro m bac ki ng out. The swi ngarm pivot area was sh immed up to eli mi na te a ny gaps or play , p lus Norfo lk custom built a n a luminum rea r brake ca li per guard that he welded on th e ca lipe r holder bra cket. T he n he in stall ed a n aluminum pl a te on 'the back side o f th e cha in guide to in crease rigidity, and, to p rot ect th e vulne rable engine cases from roc ks, No rfolk installed a n af terma rket Pro-Ci rcuit bolt-on ski d plate. Norfol k also fabricated a g ua rd to protect the waterpu mp and ignit io n housing. H e then built a stai n less steel guard to p rotect the rear su b-fra me from the d rive chain, where it runs righ t next to the frame. H e po p-riveted th e p ro tector to th e frame. The fin ishing to uc hes' included a T subaki O -ring cha in, a n IMS Dry Break (q u ick-fill gas cap) gas tank, Acerbis hand guards, Du n lop (K139 front and K696 rea r ) tires with heavy- On th e back si de of the cha in g uard, Kawasaki installed a fabricated aluminum p late to strengthen it. A q uick -fill gas cap was installed to keep pit stop times do wn to a minimum. A special gas can is needed. duty tu bes, and two rim locks on th e rear wheel. Norfol k als o switche d th e stock 19-in ch rear wh eel to an 18-inc h wheel, in order to use a h igher -profile tir e to he lp p ro tect the rim from rock d in gs. For fuel Nor fo lk recomm ends using Trick Racing Fuel at 108 octa ne with Bel-Ra y H IR oil. The moment of truth Satisfied e ve ryt h i n g was bolted down a nd ready to roll , Norfolk's project bi ke took o n the Baja 1000 and finished th e rac e with flying co lo rs. During th e 660-mile-plus rac e, the eng ine was never turned o ff, not even for a rider change. The bik e co m pleted th e ra ce in j ust over 15 hours, with a n average speed of a little more than 45 mph, a nd during that time, the bike required abso lutely no m aintenance or repairs whatsoever. The Ka wasak i, however, did have its share of bump s and bruises, so to speak. A th o rough inspection' o f th e bi ke after the race revealed a missi ng ex haust ma nifold sp ring, a missing rear brake pedal return sp ri ng and a broken rear spoke. Also , so me time What's it take to win the Baja IOOO? o r the first tim e in SCORE Baja 1000 h istory, all six of th e motorcycle classes, in the 1990 race were won by o n e m o torcycl e brand Kawasaki. But out of th e six clas ses (C lass 21, 22, 23, 30, 40 a nd 50), th e Class 22 (5OOcc) win ni ng team - Larry Roeseler , Ted Hunn icutt and Dannv LaPorte - was Kawasaki's only real "factory " race team , the rest of the teams were, more or less, privateer effort s. However , T eam Green didn 't just focu s its a ttentio n on the Roeseler! Hunnicutt/ LaPorte team, th ey also too k care o f every Kawasaki rider in the ra ce, and if you were to ask th ose riders. th ey wou ld tell yo u th at th ey were treated as though they were factory racers. Basicall y, with T eam G reen 's support all you had to do was show up on th e start line with yo ur bik e a nd a fu ll tank of gas a nd race. The rest was all in the hands o f Team Green . They supplied the pits, gas, emergency parts, maps, chain lube, etc. No. it wasn't free, but for approxi ma tely $180, you bought, in a sense, a factory ride for a weekend. For Team G reen, however , the Baja 1000 is a costly and time consuming race. Taking care of 24 tea ms in this year 's Baja 1000 was no easy task. T eam Green 's J ames Degain gave us some interesting statistics on what it took to win every class: I. Three months of preparat io n (meetings , pre-ru n n ing, etc.), 2. Seventy -five pit peop le. 3. T wenty vehicles (incl ud ing cha se F . The pain t on th e exhaust p ipe was sa nded off so that all the seams could be rewel ded to increase durability. during the race , a roc k had bent th e chain guide, causing it to rub agains t th e sides o f th e teet h o n th e rear sp roc ket. H alf o f a ll the teeth (fro m the side) were wo rn off; another 10 or 20 mi les a nd the sprocket wo u ld've probab ly giv en up the fight. Bu t th ere's a good chance the bike wouldn ' t ha ve finished at . a ll if Norfo lk hadn't in stalled th e al u m in u m plate to beer up the cha in g uide. It just goes to show how proper maintenance a nd preparation of a motorcycle ca n mean the difference between win ning and lo sin g, or finishing and not finishi ng. We' re sure tha t you' ll agree th a t the re's nothing wors e th an th ose big ugl y lette rs DNF - next to you r name on the results shee ts. Pre-race preparation can hel p pr event that happening to vou .cs ca rs , box vans , trucks and rnotorhomes). 4. Twelve manned pit areas. 5. T we n ty-I ive sets of spa re' race wheels for a ll Kaw asaki r iders! teams o n an emerge ncy basis o nly. 6. T wenty tot al days of pre-running. 7. Putting together 100 20-page booklets co n ta ining pertinent information regarding the race, including a hand-drawn map of the course, detailed maps showing each Team Green pit location, detailed mileage information , estimat ed speed and tim e avera ges between pits, etc. 8. T wenty-fi ve qu ick-fill gas conta iners. 9. T wo th ousand five hundred ga llons of gas (race bi kes). 10. Seven thousand ga llons of gas (includ ing race bikes a nd gas used to pre-run on mot orcycles a nd for the chase vehicles). II . Sixty-seven Kawasaki riders. 12. Twenty-four Kawasak i teams. 13. Fee for eac h Ka wasa ki team to use T ea m G reen 's services: $164 (125200cc); $180 (250cc); $195 (50Occ). Fees included gas and o il. 14. Total cost - "A lot i" said Degain. Obviously, T eam Green lakes the Baja 1000 seriou sly, and wh en asked why, Degain said, "Of course we want to get more peop le rid ing Kaw asakis, but we a lso' want to get more people inv ol ved in the sport. Racing Baja wi thout support is just too expensive for most people, so we tr y to make it m a rc affordable. Sure, it takes a lot o f work, time and money to do the job right, but if that's wh at it takes .. ."

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