Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

U.MJ. Racing USA Quick-Fill C ap Product Evaluation Billet, don't spill it f you have chec ked the retail price of a dry br eak fuel sy ste m la tely, yo u a lrea dy kn ow th at th e y a r e n o t cheap . But , in order to perfo rm quick pit s to ps durin g a lon g off-ro ad ra ce, so me sor t of fa st fu elin g sys te m is n eed ed to s tay .co m pe t itive . A ll th e m a jor off- ro a d p ow er h ou s e s , like Team G reen, ado p ted the car ra cin gstyle d ry br eak syste m nearly a decad e ago . O f course, th ey ha ve th e bud get for s uc h lu xuri e s . Wh at a bo u t th e strugg ling pri vat eers th at are tire d of sp ill ing gas all over th eir bikes when tr ying to make quick p it sto ps with a fu nnel o r some sort of gas-ca n spou t? U.M.1. Racin g U.s .A. ha s a tr ad e off for racers th at are trying to compet e, and not go broke in th e p ro cess. Th e new b ill e t q uick -fill ca p is th e ne xt bes t answer to a dry break sys tem. The billet qui ck- fill ca p still requires you to u se your existing screw-on gas cap, so it' s no t as quick as some fueling sys tems. Co nst ructed of 6061 T-6 billet al u m in um, the ca p screws on top of most five-ga llon su per jugs and is capa- I ble of tran sferring five gallons of fuel in ju st o v e r 30 seconds . An auto -stop che ck valve with a self-sealing ad jus tm ent ring p revents over-fueling . Never th e les s , it is h a rd so me times to te ll when th e tank is totall y ful l. When there is no noise in the area yo u ca n hear the flow of fuel sto p, but w hen th e eng in e is running it is imposs ib le to hear. For $149.95 you get a well-designed fuel system th at is quick, clean and versa tile. It ca n be used on just abo u t any m ot o rcycle and even some wa tercraft. What you won' t ge t w it h the cap is a gadget th at will fall apa rt or blo w seals' aft er a few months. Our uni t has been ha nging around for m on ths and ther e are no signs of w ear o r tear ye t. A drawback of the cap is th at a rubber dust cap fits over the filler tube to keep out unwan ted debris, and the cap is easy to lose if yo u do n't keep track of it. We lost ours once and found it soon a fter, largely beca use it is bright red . A nother thi ng tha t y o u will no t ge t ' with the cap is th e quickest pit stops in pit ro w. You still hav e to unscrew yo ur gas cap and screw it back o n wh en it's all over. Tha t's the price yo u pay wh en you' re ra cing o n a n on-ra ce bud get, yo u r wife n eed s a new d ress, junior n eed s b o ok s fo r sc hoo l a n d th e h ot wate r h e at er jus t d ied . Isn 't tha t w hy we race anywa y, to esca pe reality? eN Matt Freeman Performance Engineering Aluminum Throttle Tube Product Evaluation . ~Trickness, incognito h is is one of t ho s e produ cts a t which som e people are bou nd , to sha ke their heads. Yes, it's a very cool doo-dad , but w ho can jus tify dropping 50 bones o n somethin g th a t looks thi s cool, on ly to tu rn aro und and cover it up with a $2 rubber gri p? It' s kind of like p u rchasing an A rmani su it , th en hiding it u nder a cheap, plasti c raincoat. Well, beli eve it or not , Performance Enginee ring's a lu m inu m throttle tube does have, on the' o ther ha nd, a cool, gn u rled su rface similar to th at on th e T left end of m an y high-quality alum inu m ha nd lebars; it helps hold a grip, thou gh yo u sho u ld still use g ri p glue an d /or . safety wire. We tried a Performance Engin eering tube on ou r 2000-model Yamaha YZ125 tes t u nit, whose s toc k throttl e barrel goes for $24.62 - about half the price of the afte rma rke t part. It 's ma ch ined to tigh t eno ug h toleranc es th at it mounts up and accepts th e throttle cable like a stocker , and it feels snappy and smooth (we recommend lubing any throttle barrel with grap hite). To as suag e o ur so rrow a t covering the alloy tube, we did so wi th Smith's cool new gray grip . Would w e bu y t h e Perfo rm an ce Engin eering throttle tube? Yes and no. If we had alread y ruined th e stock unit, we wo ul d spend the extra bucks on the repla cem ent, but not un til then . Also , we wou ld n' t use it on an end u ro bike, since we'd have to drill or cut the tube to acce p t w ra p -a r o u n d -s t yl e hand guards. Chris j on num New Products Stand in Everyb od y sho u ld have at lea s t o ne 1 N igh t S t an d , bike stan d, that is. Mad e by Meta ltek, the 1 Night Stand is m ad e for m o to cro ss and off-ro ad motorc ycles and is construc ted of alum inum. A removab le pa rts tray com es as a n o p tio n, a nd we sug-' ges t you shell ou t the extra 20 bu cks for the hand y tray. A ho le in th e ce n ter of th e stand allows you to change the oil in your bike. jus t remove the parts tray and rep lace it with a d rain pan . Th e 1 Ni gh t Stan d also has an alum inum plate for you to d ispl ay your spo nso r's stickers . The stand with the tray retails for $89.95, and $69.95 wi tho ut. For m ore informa tion contact Me taltek, Dept. CN, 340 Vernon Way, Su ite H, EI Cajo n, CA 92020, 619/ 588-4360. Slip in~o so...e~inll co",'o~able ...ore No w av ai lable from Holesh ot Performance Products a re th e ne w Conco u rs Vortex s li p -ons. Th e n ew Kawa saki sli p-o n wa s d ev el oped to inc re ase midran ge torqu e and horsep ower an d rem oves nearl y 10 pounds from th e stock motorcycl e. Th e se t includ es polished s tain less / alu mi nu m Vortex m ufflers with turndow n tips, hig h -hea t sa ti n- b lac k elbow p ipes w ith center an d side sta nd stops attached, and new gloss black powder-coated muffler han ger brackets. Sta inl ess clamps and hardware also in clu ded. The Concours Hol eshot Vort ex slip-o ns retail for $479 pe r se t. To order ca ll Da le Walker ' s Hol eshot Perform ance , Dept. C N , 320 Babe Thom pso n Roa d , La Selva, CA 95076, 831/761-2808, www.ho leshot.com. en en en a) N ~ E a en '" 43

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