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/141041
III '" '" The Boyd & Stellings '" '" ,... 0.. M MN . .., <: ~ w Z W ...J o ~ o Pull the fr ont end in and increase ef fective sw ingarm length for better smo oth trac k hand ling as some pros w il l show at the H ouston short track this mont h. (I ~ - -/ ( f . # With th e front end raked out and wh eelbase adj usted to rider prefere nce, the B&S -frame sets up for t he roughest so rt of moto cro ss track. by Joh n Hu etter Photos by Dave Schoonmaker an d K.C. Brin tnall Cust om frames are no thing ne w. Spe cialty fra m es for fla t-tr ackers an d ro ad racers have bee n aroun d and used fo r years. Factory-frame d rno tocrossers in exotic Iigh tw eight metals ar e nothing new - to the tw o or th ree riders th at cam paign th em in th e Internat ion al Grand Pr ixs each year. However, something has em erged during the last year which had n ot be en seen that mu ch previously. It can almost be ca lled "new". That is the custo m-built, non-standard frame for the privateer an d the sp ortsman dirt rider. The tre nd is now very nearly a rule among well-o ff and sh op-spons o red motocross rid ers : find an engine you like and find a frame y o u like. Put th em together. G o racing. The in crease in quality and quan tity of compe titio n in American mo tocross doesn't allo w too many wins, even to the talented, unless eve ry thing is goi ng for y ou . If these are the go od old days of motocross in th e U.S ., they are very tough days, indeed. The edge that a surprisin g number of Experts in both m otocross and desert racing h ave chosen to give th em selv es is a collec t io n of large d iameter chrome-m o ly bdenu m stee l tubing called t he Boyd & S telli ngs fr am e. Walt Bo yd an d Lar ry S tellin gs got toge ther to b uild a fra me fo r dirt mo to rcy cle racing , based on their ex perience in d esigning fr ames for In dy cars and o ther four -wheel racers. The su ccess of 'th e bi ke fr ame has been d ram a tic, main ly in term s of sa tisfied custo m e rs. You expect a trick frame to improv e han d lin g, an d the B&S un it does. Bu t with th e handling im p rove me n t also com es a sm oo ther, less bod y-p oundin g rid e an d a frame th at has never, in tw o ye ars .under so me not oriously rough rider s , brok en , bent o r cracked . "Ad ap tin g a Body .& Stelli ngs fra me to y our favorite engi ne allo ws a lo t of thi ngs to happen that just d on 't happen C w ith m o s t s toc k f rames. Most im p ortantl y , th er e don ' t see m t o by an y h andling trad e-off s. You d on ' t h ave to give u p slid ing t o get a mach in e th a t will also squar e off co m ers q uickly . Yo u d on ' t h ave to worry "b out cra cks in th e tubes in orde r t o ge t light wei ght. An y rid er , Novice o r Ex p er t, will fell fres her afte r a m oto d ue to th e m ore con tro lled , gentle rid e it p ro vid es. And yo u will b y goin g fas ter than o n your stro ck-framed machine. even o ne with th e sa me p owerplant, sin ce th e handling and responsiveness in crease rider confidence in alm ost all racing situ atio ns . Close-spoken Old Man of th e Desert, George Walker; remarked about his B&S-fram ed Kaw asaki, "I f gives me co nfidenc e." A nard ch arge aro und th e AM E' s long, rough T eam MX co urse at Arroy o con firm ed th is stateme nt. T he fram e d oes ta ke so me adj us ti ng to. It d oe s th in gs by its elf that you have to d o wi th other stock frames . Like stay uprigh t. It is ver y fo rgiving of tha t first mistake while still being responsive in an d o u t of co rners. Again , the re doesn 't seem to be that trad e-off between staying uprigh t or being quick th at pl agues other geometries. Get the adjus table frame dial ed in to yo ur rid in g s ty le an d abili ty so th at it "fits" just righ t before d o in g an y seri ous cam paign ing . You 'll be rew arded. Ho w ? Well , th e frame wrap pe d arou n d a smo oth-running engi ne de fin itely will enable almo st everybody (Can ' t thi nk wh y it wouldn 't be every body who rid es bu t th er e's b o un d t o be an excep tion .) to n ego tiate a m oto cro ss o r cros s-co un try co urse faster. And yo u ca n go faste r lo nger. Yo u use up less energy in fighting an d co n troll ing the bike over two o r th ree m o ros than o n a sto cke r. The re is no side-to-sid e rear en d wheel hop over -wh oop -de-d o os. Lar ry S tellin gs beli eves this to be due to th eir speci al swing ar m wh ich d oes not flex . Th e sw ingarm is bu il t up with heliar c we ld ing from alum in um cas tings, tubing and p lat e. It is rigid and co m pletely heat treated t o keep it th at way . It p ivo ts a t th e fram e o n a stainless stee l pi n and n yl on bushings. Th e swing arm that goes with the frame h as two and a half in ches o f rear axle adjustm ent which allows considerable wh eelbase adj ust men t. Braking with the frame is also a lo t smo o the r, fro nt and rear. There is good, co n tro lled weight transfer th at is co mp le tely manageab le in b oth rapid acceleration and de celeration . A Boyd & S tellings-designed full floa ting rear brake helps keep the rear end on the gro und wh en slam m ing on th at bi nder. T his is p articu larly n otice abl e going in to smoo th, fas t co rn ers. We sus pect that eve n with ou t the full floati ng brake, e tc., th e in her ent fr ame d istribution of weigh t and co n trol o f weigh t transfer wou ld sm o oth braking o u t a lo t , just as it d oes whe n wicking th e throttle on o r off abruptl y . Vi sually, the frame lo o ks bi g an d somewhat bulky due t o the larger di ameter tubing that goes with the increased wall th ick n ess. Actually , th e fra me weigh ts 16 Ibs. T he en tire fram e kit to change ove r y o ur scoo te r in cl udes th e b ar e fr am e , the sw ing arm (which is pretty nice in itsel f), a chain guide, seat , foot pegs, engin e m ounting b olts an d bu shings, a brake pedal an d rear brak e torque arm. That co llec ti on wei ghs 29 Ibs. Both d ouble down tube an d sin gle down tube frames ar e buil t t o cr adl e differ ent en gines. T he steering h ead is adjus t abl e an d no failures h ave been en co un tere d h ere . eit h er. You ca n vary th e rak e from 24 degrees, wh ich will p ull most ti res right in to th e dow n tube o u t to 32 degrees. T hi s feat u re, c om bined with the g ene ro us a mo u nt of rear axle a dj u s t me n t pe r m i ts vary ing the wheelbase from 5 3 in ch es to 5 7 in ches. You can also adj ust t he foo tp egs for type or sty le of co m p e titio n riding. Un less yo u ar e skilled ' enough to know th at yo u ha ve honestly reached th e handling lim it s of yo ur stoc k m oto cro sser, yo u d on 't need a Boy d & Stelli ngs fra me. If yo u are serious abou t campaign ing as a mo ney -making ex pe rt, a se I f -sponsored privateer in the internatio nal scene. o r need the edge to win " for yo ur sponsor, you should ride one. Ge t it dialed in to your needs an d make th e investmen t. The b iggest virtues: you can adjus t it to different trac ks o r ty pes of racin g; th e fra me doesn't brake. If y ou already have an engi ne or take your sportsman racin g as serio usly as a big budget will p ermit, a B&S frame is a go o d inves tment. An exis ting engi n e pl us the fram e an d run ning gea r will co st abo ut as mu ch as a new stoc k mo to crosser. But it do esn 't make any sense for a Novic e to replace his stoc k fr ame unless h e' s alread y broken it a lot. T he kits b egin at $5 25. 0 0 for all th e goodies mentioned above. Th at ain' t the ch eapes t, but suc cess in racing never did co me from th e bargain basemen t. T he Bo yd & Stellings fr ame w orks. .......... Best ' features of the frame areadjustability to individ ual riders 'a nd the fact that it's never bent, cracked or broken.