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/127291
TEAM CALAMARI . YSR . tel Husqvarna SWING ARM BRACING •• • • . •• • . • • •••. .. .. •. 86 9.96 CAlLORWRITE FOR DETAILS Wha t you wa nt for dirt trac ki ng is so mething wit h just enough travel to soak up th e relat ively sma ll bu mps of. a dirt ova l, wh ile prov iding cornpar. ably stiff compression and (especially) rebound dampi ng, as well as a low center of gravity. We too k ou r bik e to White Bros. in nearby Garden Grove, California , whe re bo th the front and rear wheel . travel were reduced to just about half th a t of sto ck. . Procedures for sho rten in g the suspens ion travel vary from mach in e to mach i ne. Forks requi re th a t th e reb ound spri ng be len gth en ed or boosted with a spacer (whi ch then requi res a sho rter or shortened fork spring), or tha t th e dam per rod be ph ysi call y cu t, rewel ded , a n d mach in ed so that its outs ide diameter is constant. Needless to say, thi s sho uld only be attempted by an expert. Forks sho uld also be modified for in cre a sed re bou n d da m pin g a nd sp ring preload. It 's likely that adjusting your stock for k's rebou nd dampin g screw to its maximum still ma y not yield th e required cha ng e; reduce th e damper rod rebound hole size by abo u t 50%, or if you have cartridg e' forks, use a stiffer shim stack. Shocks need to have a spacer made to shorten thei r availa ble travel, and rebound damping sho uld be in creased in a manner sim ilar to th at of th e forks. The spring will need to be repl aced 'with a shorter, stiffer one, or ap pro pria tely modi fied. When we got the bi ke back, it was an abo mination - it looked like a yellow H on da MR175. I mean , here was a dirt bik e with a pathetic amo u nt of suspen sio n travel and no front brake. Setting our prejudices aside, we next ' had to find tires designed to cope with th e sm ooth surface of a dirt track. While knobbies are permitted a t some sh ort tracks, we were pl anning to run th e bike down at Carlsbad and th e promoters th ere consider rea r kn obbi es contraband, although fro n t kn obbies are permitted . . H ere we faced our first major decision: The RMX's stock wheel sizes are 21 inches at front and 18 inches a t rear, the problem being that 19:inch hoops are de riguer for dirt tracking. With this in mi nd, we op ted to alt er our wheel sizes. Another call to Robyn at Suzuki scared up a pair of 19-in ch rims, the same as those used on th e rear of an RM. It was then tha t 'we realized we should probably also consider trying to find su ita ble tires for the stoc k whee l sizes - in the true spi rit of low-budget racing - so yet a no ther call to Robyn yielded a set of stock RMX hubs to wh ich we cou ld lace the 19-inch ri ms. T ires presented a series of problems, There are only so ma ny sources for 19in ch dirt track tires, and at tha t po in t most of them had little experience with DTX bikes. A & A Racing 's Ch ri s Carter sent u s his catalog, while Ron Wood Racing's Elliot Iverson (the hot DTXer at Carlsbad, in ci de n ta lly) scribbled down .a list of po tential possi bilities. After h unt ing dow n a few leads and speakin g with some DTX racers, we op ted for a set of Metzeler Sahara Enduro tires to fit the sto ck ri ms. One of our staffers had P irelli MT53 and a Carlisle un iversa l tire, and a casual phone conversation one day with dirt track er-turned- road racer Ri ch ard Arnaiz resulted in h im sending us a set of slightly used Carlis le Avengers, We then needed to find someone to lace the wheels. Whee lworks, like Wh ite Bros. located in Garden Grove, California, was happy to do the job, a • rr:& SWING ARM NEEDLE BEARING KIT •• " .• • • . 039.95 FORK AIR,CAPS " 029 .95 FORK SPRING KIT . " " " • • , ., ., ;" • • , • . • , .• ' 29 .9 5 BlUET AlUMINUM FORK BRACE • • •. • .. . . . • •859 .9 5 2 FINGER LEVERS 19.95 PR. 02 1.95 HEAVY DUlY CLLlTCH KIT WITH SPRINGS COWUNG GRAPHICS SET ' <9 .95 Speoify Color FLUORESCENT COWUNG GRAPHICS , . " •••• ' 8 9.95 TEAM CALAMARI RACING P.O. Box 991 Marina, CA 93933 . 408-899 -1300 FAX 408 -899-0444 A LL MAJOR CARDS • MR . SQU ID SAYS, ... ~E GO FAST SECRET IS HANDLING " Th~s for Making 1990 Another Great Year! Have A Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! White Power/Ohlin Suspens ion Specialists Full Machine Shop Service/Qu ick Turna round Larg e Husky/Cagiva Parts Inventory 1991 Duc a t is Available Now! Want Ad Informati on - 213/427-7433 I\V.N Vintage &: Racing lyres Mac Exhau st Syst ms for e riumph & 8MW/2 Norton - T Norton & Triumph Parts Lucas & Amal , Ed Lalelle Cycle Engl . -ring Philade lphia, PA 215 472-4512 FAX 215476-2167 Y OUR DUC TI/HUSQVARNA/KTM HEADQUARTERS A (708) 495-2273 @ • (708) 495-7942 FAX 1015 E.St. ~ha rles, Lombard, IL 60148 fi 1991 ORLANDO AMATEUR SUPERCROSS PLANNED SCHEDULE Sunday. January 13 G ates O p en Rider Meetin g Pra c tic e Races ~ January 13, 1991 6 :00 AM 8:00 A M 8:30 AM 10:00 AM RIDER CHECK-IN Check-In at Race Headquarters - Da ys Inn Friday. January 11 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM Saturday, January 12 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Stadium Soturdov. January 12 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Sunday, Janu ary 13 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM West side o f stadium near Pro p its . ousid e of g a t e A RACE HEADQUARTERS PRE-ENTRY FORM Am ateur Event Only Days Inn Orlando 1-4 & 33rd Street - Exit 32 2500 W . 33rd Street Orlando, FL 32809 (407) 841-3731 Adu~s ...S8.oo Children (10 ond Under)...S5.oo On Sale Sunday at Stadium ONLY DIRECTIONSTO STAD IUM: Exit 33 aff of 1-4. go north 3 miles,left on South St..stodium is straight ahead . ADMISSION enl. e AMA andWorld Sports membership w1l1 be required. They maybe purchased althe ev AMA merrbershipis$20.00loron year and World Sports me_ip is $Sloronayear. PLEASENOTE: n plan onriding theOrlando Amateur S'upercross.January 13th. you must gel your enlry innow l Thorewill beUMrrED you POSTENTRlES accepledtolin gales only! ALIM ITED NUMBER OF ENTRIES ARE BEING ACCEPTEDI nIhoro isaproblem withyour entry you will be contacted. ALLRIDERS MUSTCOME TO CHECK-INI erede ntla/s will "" Issuede1this time ,) NO ConflflTlation 01entY will be sent. Ticksls totoo Pro Supercross wi be sont toyou i n 'Cr PilandParking information will be issued at check-in. 'Cr YES, onemoney order orcasnars cooc:x IS okay lor tiCket orders andreer ent y. r '0' There is noovernight panting at the stadium. . ,),Y WILL BESENT AFREE PRO TICKET. !I you would Iiko to Sit wrth lam l~ and tnendS OO make sure you usetheorder lormbelow loradditionallidl.ets. ,) MAlL'INENTRY FEE IN CLUDES: Rider Gale Fee. RiderEntiY Fee. Bonus tor MalHn ' . Entries · One Early EntiY Pass. One Ad"n Pit Pass. OnePro Tickelper EntiY. ,) A TEVENT ENTRY FEE $SO PER CLASS IN CLUDES: Amaleur Rider Gate Fee. Amateur Ridor EnliY Fee ' NOPRO TICKET Early EntiY Pass or Adlon P rtPass! Clip and Sa ve Top Portion for Your Informotion . ------------------_. ~-------~----------- CLASS STRUCTURE Place a .I in the ctossres) you c hoose to ride. _ _ 51CC Auto 4-8 PRE-ENTRY _ _ 65cc7-11 MAIL-IN ENTRY FEE _ _ 85cc 7-11 S5O:00 Per Class _ _ 85cc 12-13 MECHANIC PASS _---,85cc 14-15 S10.00 each (One Per Rider) _ _ 125 C Novice Includ es Amateu r Admission _ _ 125 B Intermediate ONLY AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ATRIDER CHECK~N _ _ 125A Expert MUST BE POSTMARKED 'BY _---,-125 Youth 12-15 DECEMBER 31,1990 _ _ Plus 25 _ _ 250 C Novice 250 B Intermediate - - 250/500 A Expert l~ea5 TX.... a - - - Seniors 30-Up U\1illJ~ I'!rrI ~ ___ Seniors 35-Up ..... fIiiiIlIII[' (12 and under) Quad Amateur . L - - - Quad Expert J- ORLANDO ONLY TOTAL ENCLOSED $_ _ THIS TICKET ORDER FORM CAN ONLY BEUSEO TO ORDER TICKETS FOR THE PRO ORLANDO SUPERCROSS En close a Sell-Addressed Siamped envelope it you wouldlike your tickets mailedto you. THIS OFFER IS LIMITED !!! ..oUN.£D_. i ---~;~~SN~~~ Name: Address: _-'Zip: ._ _ _ _ _ _ _ Phone: Bike Brand: HOUSTON, TX ASTRODOME JA NUARY 20 ;;:;~A p. ~ -.J Age: _ "HOTTICKETS" . AduK Riding #: l~ ~ td«.: S20+ lIf\iDchilvel - - Ch ild AMA I: City: _-'- Number of EntriesChecked: I NO - ~ 1.01_1 • $18X •$ _ 1_ FREE "HOT TICKEr Per Entry X_ _ ' - - -HOTTICKETS" - $10X •$ Plus$S per orderhandling charge + $5 Expires: _ S tate : 2nd Choice X $50.00 equals TH PRE-ENTR YFORM MAY ALSO BE USEDFOR THE AMA TEURSUPERCROSSESTOBEHELD INHOUSTON AND IS SEATTLE 00 NOT USE THETICKETORDER FORMFOR HOUSTONORSEATTLE LET USKNOW IF YOU ARE USING THIS FORM FOR HOUSTON ORSEATTLE • HOUSTON • SEATTLE _ --,- _ (Amount Due) I SEATTLE, WA KINGDOME FEBRUARY 2