Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

1JpicaI _ , Carr's ball"*" II a Mrfne 10 hil _pllsh..-.., ......... ....., of hiI _ t prized traphieI, Inclucllng hiI first AMA Grand Natlollal trophy, from the 1986 Peoria n. Into a flat tracker. But the thing that I don't want, is to see us running stock frames on twins - that's just not going to happen. "The other concern Is that they're going to have to make one that is campetltlwl," Carr adds. "There's no doubt that the XR750 has been a great dirt tracker for many years, but It also JOC an advanta&e in that it has 30 years of cIeftIopment on It, and that It d0esn't have to meet as stringent a requirement IS the odlIr brands that are currently campedna. I believe that It is in Harley-Oavidson's best Interests - not only for themselves but for flat track as wwII • to produce sornethlna that Is more In bne with what they're com- petIna "nit cummtIy." Arrd cost. Carr says, Is a major IsIue. WhIle the recent inroads made by AmericIn Suzuki (with Its productJan..basecl SV/DLI000) have IntraduQId stabl-Of-the-an technology Into the sport, such as electronic fuellnjectIon and liquid coollnJ, they have not come at Increased monetary expense. Currently, an entire Suzuki SV/DL motorcycle Is rouahly the same price as a HIlI'Iey-DaYklson XR750 enaine, which comes in boxes and must be assembled by a skUled mechanic who is well versed In Its idiosyncracies. XRs are expensive to build and malntain too expenslw - according to Carr. "I don't know what the costs of operating and running and programming fuel injection are - that's not an area that I have any expertise In, but I do know roughly what we pay for parts," Carr says. "Obviously, with the position I'm In, we can get a deal on them or get them for free, but for the average guy who wants to build a bike competitive with mine, he's going to have to spend a chunk of change, and there's lust no way. These guys can't afford that. Even though I'm not a factory rider, I still have the resources to do what I need to do to my engines to make them competitive, but the average guy can't do that. Of course, you can look at supercross and superbike, and there's nobody who's golna to be able to build a Ricky Carmichael RMZ..50 or a bike as fast as Mat Mladin's, so you're still going to have that in any form of motorcycling - the haves and the have-nots. But we do need to have everybody start out a little closer than they have been." The same could be said for the singles, according to Carr. "If we're running on short tracks or indoors or something like that, it's not a horsepower war at the 450cc level, but if we start running ..50s on the mile or even on fast half miles, then you're going to have a different engine for miles and half miles than you have for your short-track stuff," Carr says. "With the tires that we're currently run'niog, we can't put more than 60 horsepower on an arenastyle racetrack and get it to hook up - to work. You're better off with something in the low 50s, and stock, they come with about 48 right now, but to run on a half mile, you've got to have an engine that puts out about 64 or 65 horsepower to even think about being in the ballpark. You have to increase your output by 30 percent over stock, and you're not going to do that with a pipe and a jet kit. You're going to have to get into the engine and do some cylinder-head work. You're going to have to get some better valves, if not bigger valves. There's a whole myriad of things that you're going to have to do to be competitive, and It's going to be done. It's being done in supermoto now. If anyone says that Jeff Ward and those guys are just running close to stock bikes with just wheels and tires, they're fooling themselves. There's a lot of work that is being done to those motorcycles to get them to run up front in supennoto races, and if they had to buy every little part and piece that's on them, you're looking at about a $15,000 investment before you buy your tires." On the other hand, looking at the mainstream dirtbike Industry such as it is, and if the AMA packages the smallbike series accordingly, Carr holds out some hope that if the rules are such to keep the costs in line, the plethora of bolt-on goodies that are currently available to the average racer will give him the closer starting point that Carr alluded to earlier. That, he says, is an opportunity. "If you keep them on the smaller tracks, they're going to be more bolt-up, and guys aren't going to need to have their heads done by Phil Darcy or somebody else," Carr says. "I recall that I rode a KTM like that at the Cow Palace [in 200<4] and won the National and made $15,000 between purse and contingencies. It was the highest single payday that I've had in two years, and I didn't have to have a $20,000 motorcycle to do it." Carr's 2005 KTM 505SX-F was truly unique in that the engine was mounted in a hybrid chassis that utilized a stock mainframe with a cut steering head and a flattrack-style rear suspension. Outwardly, there was very little distinction between it and a stock KTM. For singles, Carr suggests that this machine is a perfect example of how the class should evolve - retain the stock frame and stock appearance but allow a flat-track back half.

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