AMA/MId-Ohio Vintage Days countdown

[NQ1965]

Well it's time...................WHO'S IN?

My tentative plans are the usual:
Friday....... Post Vintage CC Race.....on my KDX175
Saturday....Vintage MX, 2 class's ........Yam MX250
Sunday......Evo MX, 2 class's...............82 YZ250

My Newlywed'd Son plans to be there as well for Sunday Evo class racing on his RM.

Hoping for an Action Sports Racing starting gate again this year as well as a finely prepped track from the Log Road Crew.
Should be a blast!

Several Ohioans holding class points leads in the series.

http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Libraries/Racing_Documents/MX_Points_Standings.sflb.ashx

Interesting that the class that has had the highest number of racers is: Evo1,2,3 Super Senior 50+ B, with 14 enties.
Second highest being Non-Current B/C with 13.

 

[smitty]

I'm in
friday;expert 50+ spectator/beer drinker
sat: expert 50+ breakfast cook,spectator/beer drinker,grillmaster
sun: expert 50+ breakfast maker,packer,driver

 

[KRH]

I'm in, too.
I'll be the 50+ fat man on the ratty Suzuki 75 with the green tank but will have my MX360 and KX250 there for my boy to race. Sorry, Dave, looks like Ben is going to race the KX this year (if we can get it done in time). Upgraded the generator to a 6.5 kw and added another air conditioner to the camper this year. I'll be there from Thursday on. Both boys and I have been looking forward to this since we pulled out of VMD last year.

By the way, NQ, Race Tech does make emulators and springs for your MX250 (I was just reading the Smith Road AHRMA thread). I have them in my MX and they work well. I have a set of new (repopped, I believe) hammerhead shocks and they do a great job of holding up the rear end of the bike and look good doing it. I would say they're on par with Progressives at best. Save your money and buy a good set of shocks, if you're thinking about it.

Anyway, we'll be set up in the same spot, right inside the main gate of the camp ground, (it's very entertaining) as last year so stop by and say hi on your way past.

Kevin

 

[NQ1965]

By the way, NQ, Race Tech does make emulators and springs for your MX250 (I was just reading the Smith Road AHRMA thread). I have them in my MX and they work well. I have a set of new (repopped, I believe) hammerhead shocks and they do a great job of holding up the rear end of the bike and look good doing it. I would say they're on par with Progressives at best. Save your money and buy a good set of shocks, if you're thinking about it.

Did you install the emulators yourself and what did you go with on springs?
I'll be on line today shopping for shocks and parts. After the beating the bike took at Smith Rd., I'll have to go with what's really more suitable for hard racing and hard jump landings. Thanks for the info.

Really looking forward to Vintage Days as well and 3 full days of racing this year. Funny thing is as much as I love the modern and EVO/PV bikes, I'm having an absolute blast racing Poor Tom. I've watched our camcorder videos of the Smith Rd races about 10 times already. Racing the vintage bike and against other vintage bikes is a refreshing change and just as axhilarating and theres no shortage of speed, laid down cornering or air time. These bikes will Go!

 

[halffast]

The emulator valves are pretty easy to install ( at least they were on my Husky Mag and a buddy's Maico ) . The instructions had me disassemble the forks ,drill the holes in the damper rods a bit bigger and drill another set of holes altogether . I think this allows the emulators to control the oil flow/damping instead of the damper rods . The emulators themselves simply are slid in the fork tubes before you install the springs . I already had a set of aftermarket springs and ended up cutting them shorter ( high speed cutter wheel , grind cut smooth , heat & bend cut end slightly to make a flat surface for fork cap ) to achieve the preload/sag I wanted . It takes some playing around with the emulator adjustment , fork oil viscosity , and level to get the best performance but it is worth it . You can achieve a front suspension that will absorb the big hits , tracks better , and go over braking/stutter bumps without blurring your vision and numbing your hands . A handy thing to have when tuning is one of those pick-up tools with the little springy finger thingies (got mine from Harbor Freight ) . This allows you leave the forks on the bike , remove the fork caps & springs , and use the pick-up tool to pull the emulators out to adjust them . Emulator valves - well worth the money for probably the best front suspension a vintage bike can have.

 

[mooch]

I've put gold valves in the forks of 2 bikes and as halffast mentioned, I had to mess with the fork oil by going heavier and heavier.

After drilling the damper rod as shown in the instructions, I needed to go with 20 weight fork oil in order to have the rebound side of things slow down to where it needed to be. With gold valves on old bike forks, you can adjust the compression with the gold valve but the rebound relies on the fork oil weight. I also agree with halffast on the "springy finger thingies" being a good tool have when dealing with gold valves, if not that, then at least some sort of custom bent coat hanger to get the valves in and out of the fork tubes.

 

[dmx153]

I'm in, too.
I'll be the 50+ fat man on the ratty Suzuki 75 with the green tank but will have my MX360 and KX250 there for my boy to race. Sorry, Dave, looks like Ben is going to race the KX this year (if we can get it done in time). Upgraded the generator to a 6.5 kw and added another air conditioner to the camper this year. I'll be there from Thursday on. Both boys and I have been looking forward to this since we pulled out of VMD last year.

By the way, NQ, Race Tech does make emulators and springs for your MX250 (I was just reading the Smith Road AHRMA thread). I have them in my MX and they work well. I have a set of new (repopped, I believe) hammerhead shocks and they do a great job of holding up the rear end of the bike and look good doing it. I would say they're on par with Progressives at best. Save your money and buy a good set of shocks, if you're thinking about it.

Anyway, we'll be set up in the same spot, right inside the main gate of the camp ground, (it's very entertaining) as last year so stop by and say hi on your way past.

Kevin

No problem Kevin! I have a non-current bike i'm trying to get done in time. I appreciate you letting me ring her out last year. At least I got one moto win for you! Ben will kick butt on that thing this year! I'll hunt you down to share some cold ones

 

[KRH]

Did you install the emulators yourself and what did you go with on springs?
I'll be on line today shopping for shocks and parts. After the beating the bike took at Smith Rd., I'll have to go with what's really more suitable for hard racing and hard jump landings. Thanks for the info.

Really looking forward to Vintage Days as well and 3 full days of racing this year. Funny thing is as much as I love the modern and EVO/PV bikes, I'm having an absolute blast racing Poor Tom. I've watched our camcorder videos of the Smith Rd races about 10 times already. Racing the vintage bike and against other vintage bikes is a refreshing change and just as axhilarating and theres no shortage of speed, laid down cornering or air time. These bikes will Go!

Yes, I installed them. The installation is a little different than the 36mm or bigger forks where they just drop in. These forks have a roll pin in the dampening rod that you have to cut into three pieces then reinstall two of the pieces leaving the center of the rod clear. Then you drop in a spacer (that comes in the kit) then the emulator then spring. Race Tech sells springs for the forks but I cut mine down and ground the ends flat leaving the recommended 10mm preload. You also have to drill the rods to allow full oil flow to the emulators just like any other emulator install. It's pretty fiddly but it's not hard. The emulators control the compression and the weight of the oil controls the rebound. They work pretty damn good and I think it's some of the best money you can spend on your bike. I'd get the springs from Race Tech, I was out of mad money when I finished the MX so I used the originals. They still work pretty good but it's still only 7 inches of travel, so they only are gonna get so good . I have both emulators and springs in my KX and they work fantastic. I have a Works shock on it as well and it really made a huge difference. I don't know if Works shocks would make as big a difference on the MX with only four inches of travel so I'm having a hard time talking myself into them. The Redwings work OK and I think they look cool as hell.

Kevin

Here's what our camp will look like, stop by and see us:

 

[KRH]

No problem Kevin! I have a non-current bike i'm trying to get done in time. I appreciate you letting me ring her out last year. At least I got one moto win for you! Ben will kick butt on that thing this year! I'll hunt you down to share some cold ones

No problem, Dave. You have to take the MX for a spin this year. It's a lot different, but let me warn you now, it's a boat load of addicting fun. It's stupid fast for the suspension and brakes it has, but holy s**t is it fun. I thought the wife was going to stroke out, Dustin and I totally destroyed the back yard with it while "tuning" it.

Anyway, new pipe on the KX this year. We were going to freshen it up cosmetically this past winter but didn't get to it. We'll put the right front fender back on it before VMD.

Kevin

 

[evomx244]

I luv that KX ! Nice pipe

 

[KRH]

I luv that KX ! Nice pipe

Thanks. I still have that damn tub of parts I got from you a couple years ago. It moved from your garage to mine I can't bring myself to get rid of it and we have used a couple pieces out of it.

 

[beenridin]

I want to get there early this year. Does anyone know of you can get in the west gate .... Mx entrance I call it on Thursday nite or is Friday morning it?

 

[evomx244]

Thanks. I still have that damn tub of parts I got from you a couple years ago. It moved from your garage to mine I can't bring myself to get rid of it and we have used a couple pieces out of it.

Oh yeah I forgot those parts! Glad you found some use of a couple pieces

 

[cutty22]

We get up there around 9:00 am thursday morning. does anyone know the latest year bike that you can ride the non current class?

 

[NQ1965]

I don't know if Works shocks would make as big a difference on the MX with only four inches of travel so I'm having a hard time talking myself into them. The Redwings work OK and I think they look cool as hell.

I went online yesterday afternoon on this. Swallowing hard when I saw the prices on competition gas shocks, it amazes me that they have to be so damned expensive. I was on the phone with Works Performance and was reluctantly going to give up my credit card number and spend $600 for a set. Not what I wanted to do, but If I have to! Then he tells me 5 weeks delivery.......NOT! Said can't do! Got Vintage Days in 3 weeks, need'em now!

Works units were the only high end units that I was willing to consider due to prices, so I back tracked, scaled down and looked for alternatives. Checked Progressive's but they don't list shocks for the MX250, only the 360? Kind of odd me thinks?

Discouraged, dismayed and feeling poor ( ) placed an order for Redwing Hammerhead oil units on ebay. And will haved in time for the races. It's only 4" of travel and a 39 year old motorcycle. We'll just have to see how they do, hopefully no worse than the originals.

Have to work on the front end parts tonight if I can get a few minutes free.

 

[evomx244]

We get up there around 9:00 am thursday morning. does anyone know the latest year bike that you can ride the non current class?

1996 is the cut off for non-current but like design rules apply. (so I'm guessing 97-98 KX's, 97-98 YZ/RM's ) Not sure

 

[mooch]

1996 is the cut off for non-current but like design rules apply. (so I'm guessing 97-98 KX's, 97-98 YZ/RM's ) Not sure

With all bikes around that 96 time frame having discs front-rear / watercooling / powervalves... what else comes into play with the "like design" rule for non-current? The two things that come to mind is 4 strokes vs 2 strokes and aluminum frames.

 

[KRH]

I went online yesterday afternoon on this. Swallowing hard when I saw the prices on competition gas shocks, it amazes me that they have to be so damned expensive. I was on the phone with Works Performance and was reluctantly going to give up my credit card number and spend $600 for a set. Not what I wanted to do, but If I have to! Then he tells me 5 weeks delivery.......NOT! Said can't do! Got Vintage Days in 3 weeks, need'em now!

Works units were the only high end units that I was willing to consider due to prices, so I back tracked, scaled down and looked for alternatives. Checked Progressive's but they don't list shocks for the MX250, only the 360? Kind of odd me thinks?

Discouraged, dismayed and feeling poor ( ) placed an order for Redwing Hammerhead oil units on ebay. And will haved in time for the races. It's only 4" of travel and a 39 year old motorcycle. We'll just have to see how they do, hopefully no worse than the originals.

Have to work on the front end parts tonight if I can get a few minutes free.

I was hoping you went with the Works shocks if you were going to buy so you could tell me if they were worth it or not. The shocks on my bike were a rusty mess so I can't compare them to the Redwings. They're going to be much better than blown stockers, for sure. I'm pretty sure the frames and swingarms are identical between the 250's and 360's. I'll research it a bit and see what I can find. I know the shocks are the same lengths.

Kevin

 

[KRH]

Ok, this is from the Yamaha parts fliche. The shock part number is 363-22210-75-00 and is called out for all 73-74 MX250/360 and SC500. I use boats.net to search/research parts, once you get to the diagrams and find the part you're looking for a click on the part number will show all the models the part is used on. Comes in handy at times crossing over parts.

We got the Works shock for the KX one week before vintage days and got one practice on it, as in taking it from the UPS guy's hands, bolting it on and heading for Smith Road. They were good guys to work with and they shipped when they said they would, but I still stressed about it. Cut it too close.

 

[mooch]

I want to get there early this year. Does anyone know of you can get in the west gate .... Mx entrance I call it on Thursday nite or is Friday morning it?

The west gate should be open by Friday morning, not sure about Thursday.

Also....Mike, just wondering about some seat stuff on your new RM250 seat you were sportin at Casey. Is that a Hi-flite seat? Did you also get a new base in addition to the foam and cover...could you maybe pm me what the cost was?

Did they have to custom make it? If so, does that mean it took awhile to get after ordering it? I'd like to have another one made that is bit taller in the front but don't know if that's something that can be done at the place where you bought yours.

The foam in my tall seat is beginning to break down and get too soft in the middle.