Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

MONOTRACK: , Updating the Stre Machine et J fa st e r a ro u n d a t -oad racin g c o u rse th an bikes . "Lt. ' s a maz in g- th a t bikes can ge l ar o un d a s fast as th ey d o , m o stl y bec au se o f th eir n arr owe r tr ac k ." F o llowing a utomotive tre n ds . Dan se es several genera l advan ces c o m ing abou t in m o torcycle design : lo we r ce n te r o f gravit y, better p ower to weigh t ra tio , an d a larger con tac t p atch . Al ong th es e lines, II an n e b ri n k h as several irons in th e fire . His Y am a h a TR 2 sp o r ts six tee n in ch wh eels with very special Goodyear tires. Wit h this m o d ifica ti o n , h e h as b oth lo wered the m a ch in e and in creas ed the co n tac t patch . T he ti re s a re over four and a h a lf inches wi de. II is p raise and re sp ec t for Goody ear are very impressive . lIe co n su lt s them and re ceives a great d e al of h el p fro m th em. " If Suzuki h ad go ne to the ti re p e op le and asked the m to deve lop a tire and m a ke rec om m endatio n s th ey wou ld ah ve been bette r off at Daytona . In st e ad th ey deve lo ped 100 h orsep o we r a n d w he n th e tir e came apa r t sai d , ' Y o u' ve go t a week to com e u p with som e th ing.' Nicholas c an te ll yo u h ow well it w o rk ed ." M N > ::;: '" ;g w Z W ..J U > U A n oth e r idea tha t M on o tr ac k is p lay in g w ith is b e lt drive . II on d a i 50s h ave h ad a lot of cha in problem s, so Am erica n II onda h ad II an n eb rin k p u t a be lt on o n . Th e " treatme nt" to a Kawasaki Th ree; street legal. By Art Friedman Ba ck in 19i 1 Cycle News ran a c o ve r fea turing a drawing by Dan lIan nebrink of a ve ry adva nced- looking m o torc y cl e. The cap tio n read " Is this the m oto rcy cl e of the fut ure ?", an d the art icle . specula ted tha t the m a ch in e mi gh t b e a r ea li ty by [ 9 8 5. R e cen tly, h oweve r, w ord d rif ted b ac k to us th at Dan lI anneb rin k an d his ~I o n o tra c k E ngineering we re w o rk in g o n so me th in g really far o u t. I m a d e p lans to go check i t o u t. When [ called, Dan w as still a t' R oad Atlan ta wh ere he to ok 14th in th e J unior ra ce. As soon as he re tu rned I m ad e a rra nge m en ts to se e him , a n d hi s projects. M on o tr ac k E nginee ri ng is lo cated in a sh o p com p lex , surrou n d e d b y m an y h ousin g c o m p le xe s in C o st a Me sa, Ca lif ornia . Th e s ign in th e do orw ay sa id "Keep O u t. " [ di d , u ntil lI annebri n k invi ted m e in. Th e fi rst th in g I sa w as I e n te re d th e shop w as a s trange , b o x y -lo okin g car. The re ar of th e ca r sp ro u ts th ree ex pansion cham bers wh ic h c o n n ec t to a Kaw asa ki 5 00 engine . A ro u nd the car a re all sorts o f m o to r cy cl e p ar ts. O n the w a ll hang ro ad raci ng fairin gs. ex pansion chambers , vario u s d ifferen t sw ing arm s, d rawi ngs, the ro o m. Bu t I' ll get to that la ter. His react ion when 1 men ti o ned Road A tlan ta was not of his o wn rac e bu t that of Cliff Carr. Carr h ad just lilted his Kaw as ak i i5 0 racer w ith tw in Mon otra c k m a g w heels and [ 2 in ch d isc b rakes. " We've n eve r p ut two 12 in ch di scs on a whe el be fore . I h ave One 12 in ch disc on m y Yamah a TR -2 an d there are two 10 in ch un it s on tha t II [ -R , b u t they wanted the m a x imu m ." T he resu lt s were q u i te imp ressive . Carr ran righ t with th e fr ont ru nners, and was engaged in a d ice wi th G ary Nix o n fo r a lon g ti m e . Even th ough th e f a c t o ry -sp onso re d Team Han se n Ka w asa ki th a t Nixon w a s ri di ng was e q ui p ped with d isc b ra kes , th e l\l on o tra c k u ni ts sh one . "They'd c om e do w n th a t lo n g h ill an d in to th a t tum at th e b otto m where all th e ra cin g fra te rn ity we re stan d ing. C arr w o uld p ick up a c o u p le o f le n g th s on N ixo n ev ery lap ." Carr h ad so me proble m s. F irst in a gas s top, and he fi n all y lost his c ra n ksh a f t , b ut n ot b efore lI annebri n k took severa l o rders fo r b ra kes and wheels . Af fu rth e r tes tim o n y to the qualit y of his prod ucts, H a n n eb ri n k p ull ed a w h eel off a bench a n d h anded it t o m e . l\l ono tr a c k w h eel s. T he wheel s a re m agn e sium. lIan neb rink re ally li kes mag. " l r' s 40 perce nt lig hter th an alu m in u m an d st ron ge r. I've lots of e x perie nce c as ting it , an d i t m a ch in es b ea u ti fu lly . II ' s a lso easier to weld that alu m inum. ;. II an ne b rin k is an engineer, The b u sin ess en d of Mon otr ac k bothers him so me . lIe regre ts bein g fo rced to ru n th e business end of l\l o n o tr a c k . "I'm a n engineer. I like working out in th e shop or a t the dra win g board ." The e ngineer on th e fut ure of h as theo ries p aveme n t-goin g m o torcy cl es. "R ac in g b ikes will evolve a long th e same lines as ca rs a nd s tree t bikes w ill fo llo w ra cing bik es." A t t he moment, cars are much There w as a Kawas a ki i 50 in th e shop when [ w as the re to b e fitte d wi th th e fu ll co m p leme nt of goodies. Contra ry to rumo r , the M on otrack ai r-oil suspen sion units a rc st ill ava ila b le . T hey wi ll go on th e Kaw i5 0·3 a lo ng with w h ee ls, fiberglas s, and sw ing ar m kit . T h e swing arm k it fo r the 500 Kaw fits ri gh t on , also. S o w h a t wi ll D an Il an n eh ri n k's version of the great American motorcycle look like? Well , 1 can 't tell you . '" ot yet. II an n eb ri n k wan ts th e first o ne fin ished a n d o ut ru n nin g around be fore ev ery one and h is kid b ro th er knows h o w i t lo o k s and performs. It will be a lo ng so on and w ill b e us ing all proven c o m ponen ts - b u t it w ill be a lIannebrink o rigin a l. I t w ill b e a r o ad m a ch in e, wi th a c o m p an io n racin g versio n . I t will b e m ore " A m e ric an " th an any oth er p roje c t b ik e aro un d . It w ill also be h er e before 19 8 5 , which is incredible e nough in i tse lf. Bodaka. II won'l run oul of 'guls before you do. The Hodaka is b u ilt for on e p urpo se , To out-lest a nd out- pe rform its competition . Hov..· is this do ne? By refir.ing the same basic. superio r desig n ye ar a fter year. Pe rfec ting the litt le thin g s tha t m ulti-model ma nufac turers don't have time to n otic e . Care fully examine the new Ho da ka. No tice the tri p-se t odome ter . The Iecther -Iiqh t clutch operation an d s pri ng protect ed th rottl e cable. An d the r ubb e r mo u n ted gas tank , Mono trac k-d esigned front w heel assembly is super- trick. w i th air -oil sh ocks. m u cho m agnesiu m and a 12" d isc. a n d tw o bi cy cles. Aro und the sh op a re m a gne s ium wheels, c ra n kshafts. cy lin de rs , frame s, mac hi ne t ools, an d two ass is tants. Hannebrink e scorted me into h is office wh ere the feeli ng of the m a n reall y com es th ro u gh , R o ad racing scream s a t v o u from every w here in pi cture s. drawin gs, p h o tos ~d p arts. Bac k in th e com e r is an engin ee rin g award he re ceived for so me bike p roj e c t. A Lave rd a 75 0 en gin e sits next to the door a nd The Project ( Han n eb rink 's ver sion of st re et b ik e o f th e fu tu re) sit s on :.IIH I a round a drawina board a cros s T he wh eel h ad been o n " Cou rage o f Au str ali a", a t h r e e -w h e e l e d rocket-p owered dra gster th at h ad go n e 31 I mph and 5 . l O? se c onds in the qu arter. A ll th re e w heel s we re l\lon otra c k i te m s wi th Dan ' s b rakes. T h e wheel I was h ol din g had so m e scra tch es o n th e spokes. "Th at h appen ed wh en it ( th e d rags rer ] got sideway s in a de mons tra tion ru n in Aus tr al ia, I guess o ne of the pu c ks go t involved w ith th e whee l. " T h e b u ild ers of the m ach in e a re now b ui ldin g a w orl d la nd speed record m a ch in e , w h ic h th ey ex pect to b rea k the sound barrier. 11 w ill han' Little th in gs tha t a d d up to big thi ngs. We on ly b u ild on e bike. But we b u ild it better tha n an yone e ls e in the world .. ' ",. THE GUTSY ONE LEADS Jack Wa rre n fi rst , David Hileer se eond 0- 10 0 Ex perts at So uthwest MX Pa r k , Loe khart, T e xa s, A pril 2 3 , 1972. 1iIi.....1a1J Mike La ney first 125 E x pert at H.RA. 395 Ha lf Mile , Adelan to, Californ ia , April 22, 19 72, Jac k Haza rd fi rst 10 0 Inte r rnedia t e/ Ex pe rt a t US M RC Moto cro ss, E I T o ro, Calif ornia , ay , 19 72 . ~. ~""",_ ~ ..

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