Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

nperfect Weapon" for a Specialized Sport ~ . .,. . .. , .. ..' ..- ; •-.: / [ '. f ; . " ~he 1"s ho rt "1/ track Honda . ..... .,. c\. C. ~ - \J ~ XL250 disc. fro nt forks and rims . Ossa engine is ported. Seat and tan k fro m an ~AR by Janis Randall Conceived as the "Perfect Weapon", the never tiring mind of tuner and race aficionado O ren Goldstrand d evised this beau tiful assem blage of p ar ts to co m b at the eve r presen t on sla ugh t of Yamahas, Suzukis, e t , al. in th at very sp eci ali zed form o f oval track racin g; in door short track o n dirt. Afte r wa tch in g cou n tless races on these sh ort d irt su rfaces, Gold strand d ecided that there must be a be t t er machine. Most of these tracks develop, in one fo rm or anothe r, into a tight groove tra ck. In many cases, this can be a very ro ugh groove, es pecially entering th e tum wh er e b rak es (o r comp ress io n rele ase) are applied to ge t whipped arou n d to exit the tum in th e o p posite directi o n. T he ty pical sportsman ra cer .r ides a p rod uction d irt race r of a type usually d esign ed for m o to cross. In most cases, this results in m uch bu ckin g, p t ch in g, and, in general, n o t being able to ke ep on the aforementioned groove. Combine th is wi th the typical sportsman racer' s everp rese nt d esire fo r m o re horsepowe r, and y o u h ave a good reason fo r th e gro wing p opulari ty o f these races wi th th e p ay in g spectato rs. Cro ssed-up, fu ll bo re d o wn th e shor t st raigh t , lo ck up the rear wheel, an d ' Boom! Righ t in to th e e n d wall ! G old s tr and' s reaction t o these special ab ounds with goodies like a Trials machine . sit uations was te mpered wi th the real ity p rovide d b y h is two riders wh o re ported the fee dback fro m each race. T hese riders we re riding an Ossa 11 Speci al and a Honda XL 2 5 0 in basicall y stock co n fig u ra t io n, with m odifications accumulatin g as time p assed. .These ch anges resulted in so me class win s but n ot d omin ation , so G oldstrand began building h is weap on . The m achin e is b uilt around a ne w five -speed O ssa 175 engi ne. O ssa was chosen for its p reviously demonstra ted reliability and it's wide p ower b and characteris tics. T he b or e is 54m m and the stroke is 60m m. It breath es th rough a 29mm Amal. H orsep owe r .was some wh at on the low side in sto ck fo rm, so some mild porting w as d on e to allow the m achine to p rod uce a little more po we r main tai ni n g th e torquey outpu t. A peaky m ach in e is e xtremely hard to co n trol on the sm all dirt track s. In looking for a frame , there were several ch oic es ava ilable. The Dallas Ba ker sho rt trac k fra me was chosen , an d it p ro ved t o be th e perfect decision. Weldin g on th e fram e is better than ou ts tan ding; it is fla wless . It comes unpain ted an d was pain ted a gloss black. • A t this poin t , running gear h ad to be chosen. T he o bject was to keep the w eigh t of th e m ach in e as low as p o ssib le Craig Randall wins the Trophy Dash at Roseb urg, Ore. on the Baker-f ram ed Ossa Spec ial. an d ye t main tam the ab solu te reliabili ty nece ssary for these indo or ra ces. Honda running gear was c h ose n . T h e n ew XL 25 0 Honda and th e new 35 0 Honda Four were ch ose n as parts donors for th e m ach in e ry transplant. T he fran t a nd rear rims are th e 2 1" and I S" rims fr o m the XL2 5 0 H onda. T he fron t is spoke d to a spool, wh ile the ' rear is m ore un ique. T he fr o nt hub an d d isc b rak e asse m bly we re ta ken fro m the 35 0 H onda Four and laced to th e 250 rear rim. A t this tim e , an adap t o r w as m ach in ed t o allow th e b rake p ads to han g fr om th e re ar a xle, and a snow mob ile tie-rod was used to connec t this asse mbly to th e fra me. On the o ther sid e of the hub, a p la te was milled to fo rm an" ad aptor that would bolt on to the hub an d accept an XL250 sprocket, whil e lining up with the Ossa drive lin e. T h is was milled out of a block of aJuminum and great care was used to assure accuracy in the lin e up an d ligh t weigh t o f the com ponent . Front suspens ion was a di ffi cult d ecision. Hond a XL 250 fron t for ks w ere ch os en an d h ave prov ed t o be ex cellent in fun ction an d...rugged! O ssa t rip le-clarnp s hang this front en d assembly to the frame. Sea t an d tan k w ere b ecoming a w o rri so me m atter . What to use... with th e profusion of p roducts available to th e public ? It was d ecid ed that th e m achine should look as much like an Oss a as possible, b ut the masses of fi b e r gla ss wer e f ar t o o heavy. O ffhandedly, Goldstrand set an Ossa Mic k An d rews R eplica Trials tank and sea t on the bike. These , along with a p lastic rear fe n der, co m b in ed to fin ish a bike th a t we ighs 170 Ibs. wet! Tires are a m atter of ride r preference , but as in the case o f Pir ellis at Ascot, a Barum Trials m ounted on th e rear has proven unbeatab le. In th e races th e bike h as fun at two O regon in door t rac ks, the b ik e is in the high p oin t slots fo r it s class at b oth tracks. It has won every heat ra ce ente red, three of five Trophy Dash es , an d sev eral Main events , a record Gold strand can be pro ud of. T he bike handles fa r be tter th an any of th e o ther mach in es. This is born witness t o b y th e outside p assing th e ride rs can, and d o , u se when n ecessa ry . Lary i t d own and wick it on ! T hey aren 't lin gerin g ov er the spoils of victory fo r long. G ol d strand is n ow p lan n in g a 350 Hon da Four Half-railer. When it ' s d one , yo u'll see it h er e. :ANZ E N MONARCH PLASTIC FENDERS .. REC-PAC Ask your dealer fpr Now you CAN take it with Comfy you ! Light Get this Strong One Year Guaran tee .Black White Grey Red Ora nge Yellow quality BIG No. 101 4" Front 15" & 16" Wheel No. 1024" Front 17 " to 21" Wheel No. 105 5" Rear (for small bikes ) No. 106 6" Rear ( f~r large bikes) .$3.95 .$4.95 .$5.95 .$6.95 MONARCH PRODUCTS CO. P.O. Box 466, Wilmington , Ca. 90744 (7 14 ) 539-1980 (213) 835-8938 Distributor inqu iries invited accessory Rigid designed Protective for off- road Weatherproof motorcycle use. SPEC IAL INT RO DU CT O RY '5 $24-.~' " , . :.0 : :." PR ICE NOW ! estc e ":: Col o rs : Orange pa c, w h ite to p , b lack nyl o n we bb ing , chrome ha rd wa re . MOTORCYCLE PARTS AND ~CCESSORY SALESMAN EARN 200 EXTRA DOLLARS PE R WEEK L ead in g Japan ese nu t and b olt manu fa c t ur er can n o w su p p ly a complete com pe t i ti vely of h ard w are an d pa y 2 0% ~~~e~ISS :~ e. "n Y our customer s Will ge t same day S p'!Ient hi f rom o u r South ern Californ ia d lst n b u tl o n center . .O f rer this unique serv i C) t o your. pr esen t ac counts an d earn b ig c om rn tssto n s with ou t m aking an y e xtra st o ps F or ca.tal olue write : The Bolt King . 605 7 ih' ~~~3~:ce n e B lvd •• Los Ange les. Californ ia Dealer Inquiries Invited Orde r from: CYCLE NEWS PRODUCTS 2499 Cerritos Ave., Long Beach , Ca. 90806 se=e::;e:p:::-'::r~::s ::-J : my f ree fitted ice eh est . I enclos e $24.95 in check or money ord er. Name Address I I City, State & Zip . _ _ L .~----_ - ------- - - - - - -- -L.-....~:::::;;~~~ ._

• Cover