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| Viewing Page 1 of 1 (Total Posts: 12) |
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LEO STINNETT
Nov 27, 06 - 7:16 AM |
ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
WELL THIS RACE WAS GREAT. I RAN MY SUPER COMBAT WITH AN 03 WOMBAT CYLINDER AND HEAD, HARRY TAYLOR PIPE, 250 FORKS, AND A SET OF PROGRESSIVE SHOCKS FROM STRICTLY HODAKA. THE CLOSE RATIO TRANS. WORKED FINE. NOW ABOUT THE RACE FROM MY POINT OF VIEW. FRIDAY WAS MISERABLE, RAIN AND LOTS OF IT. JUST GETTING REGISTERED AND IMPOUNDED WAS A TRIAL, BUT SATURDAY WAS DRY AND CLEAR. NOT THE TRAILS THEY WERE MUDDY AND SLICK, YOU KNOW PERFECT FOR WHAT WE WERE DOING. I CANT REMEMBER WHEN IVE HAD SO MUCH FUN. THE BIKE WAS FAST , HANDELED LIKE IT WAS ON RAILS. PULLED THE HILLS INCLUDING THE MUD COVERED ONES LIKE A TRACTOR. I CANT SAY ENOUGH ABOUT HAVING NEW SET OF MICHELIN S12 TIRES,. WHAT WAS FUN WAS GETTING TO THE CHECKS EARLY ENOUGH TO TALK TO THE OTHER RIDERS CHECK THE BIKE OUT AND HANG OUT WITH THE OTHER HODAKA TEAM MEMBERS. THESE PEOPLE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH, THEY DONT COME ANY BETTER. AND WHEN YOUR MINUTE COMES UP YOU GET TO GO FOR ANOTHER SPIRITED TRAIL RIDE ON A HODAKA, WOW IT JUST DOESNT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS. WELL MY ADVENTURE CAME TO AN END TO SOON. AT THE END OF THE FIRST DAY NOT 500 YARDS FROM THE FINAL CK. MY CLUTCH LET GO, ALL SEVEN OF MY CLUTCH SCREWS SHEARED AND LET THE CLUTCH COME APART INSIDE THE MOTOR. ALL FOWARD PROGRESS WAS OVER IT JUST STOPPED PULLING. WELL I LAID IT ON ITS SIDE THINKING THE CLUTCH NUT HAD COME LOOSE, WELL WHEN I PULLED THE PRIMARY COVER OFF THE PLATES AND SPRINGS FELL INTO THE SAND. PIECES OF GROUND UP SCREWS AND BEND METAL CLUTCH PLATES WERE LAYING INSIDE. MY RACE WAS OVER. I WAS DISAPOINTED , BUT I WANT YOU GUYS TO KNOW, I STILL HAD ONE OF THE GREATEST RIDES OF MY LIFE AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN. AT 57 YEARS YOUNG YOU DONT EXPECT TO FIND FRIENDS LIKE THESE OR A SPORT THAT MAKES YOU FEEL SO GOOD, BUT I HAVE. I WANT TO THANK PAUL STANNARD FOR THE HELP IN PUTTING MY BIKE TOGETHER BOTH WITH GOOD PARTS AND WITH INFORMATION. WERE LUCKY TO HAVE PEOPLE LIKE HIM IN THE SPORT. ALSO JOHNNY FRIEDLY WHOM IVE JUST MET BUT FEEL LIKE IVE KNOWN HIM FOR YEARS. HE OFFERED ME A COMPLETE CLUTCH PACK (HIS SPARE) SO I COULD RACE THE NEXT DAY. I FELT THE MOTOR SHOULD BE CLEANED OUT , THERE WAS TO MUCH GROUND METAL IN THE MOTOR TO RISK DESTROYING IT SO I DIDNT ACCEPT IT BUT THATS THE KIND OF GUY HE IS. WELL BY TUESDAY OF THE NEXT WEEK I HAD THE MOTOR CLEANED OUT AND THE CLUTCH PARTS ORDERED FROM STRICTLY HODAKA, PAUL GOT THEM TO ME BY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY IT WAS RUNNING AGAIN. SAT. MORNING I WAS ON MY WAY TH BREMEN M.X. FOR THE LAST AHRMA S.E. RACE OF THE YEAR. TOOK 2nd IN THE OVER 50 INT. CLASS WHICH GOT ME THIRD FOR THE SEASON OVER ALL. THAT SAYS SOMETHING FOR THE VERSITILITY OF A HODAKA. RIDE A TWO DAY THIS WEEK AND AN M.X THE NEXT . IT JUST DOESNT GET ANY BETTER. I HOPE SOME OF YOU GUYS ENJOYED MY RAMBLINGS. P.S IN THE OVER 50 M.X. CLASS I WAS ON THE SMALLEST BIKE AND IM NOT A SMALL MAN @ 240 LBS I JUST LIKE MAKING A SMALL BIKE SING, ITS JUST PLAIN FUN. HOPE TO SEE YOU ON THE TRAILS NEXT YEAR. DUST OFF THOSE BIKES AND LETS GO RIDING |
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Ron
Nov 27th, 2006 - 8:52 AM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
Great to here your story Leo I am a bit way over 50. I have a fleet of hodaka racers of my own but fortunately I also have a couple of over 40 X factory Husky riders doing the riding.I get my satisfaction out of being the tuner and the pit man. Glad to here that you had a great summer with your hodakas as I did. Unfortunately in our local area of Spokane washington we have been told that next summer no vintage races will be scheduled. So we will be driving longer distances. I have had the best luck in the non reed classes with a Combat Wombat and a 93 rat. The combat wombat has been a super competitor. The motor is stock with a perfect tune. The forks are from the o3, the rear swing arm is a one off aluminum from Novation Racing. The rear shocks are precision for the Honda Cr 125. Both my riders have virtually walked away from the competition in two events where the over fourty class was bunched together with 125 through open bikes. in both events the clutch retaining nut backed off but the rider just shifted with no clutch to finish the day. I believe I have that problem fixed but will still check it after every weekend of riding. I double the belvill washer and loc-tite the nut which I use a small air driven impact to tighten the nut. OH! I have installed the Hodaka internal rotor CDI to the motor also and made shure it was timed as Hodaka stated for the Combat Wombat. This motor has been through lots of hours and I will be doing a bearing and seal job on it this winter. My 93 rat motor has been through lots but still runs perfectly. We placed 83rd out of over 300 entries at a "IRON MON" 3 hour this summer. It was the only vintage bike to finish the event. Hey and that's my daughters rider. I have one which is my favorite, I have kinda built it as an ISDT bike. It is based on a 94 wombat lower end and a toad center frame. I have also used the 03 cylinder but retained the wombat gear set. I chenged the primary gear set to the 97-98 primaries which worked out great, as well as the clutch assembly is also 97-98. The rear sprocket is the 97-98 OEM gearing with a .400 rear tire. This for my money has worked out almost perfectly. There are many other changes to this bike and it is what I call a "Frankinstein" of various hodaka stuff as well as a couple Yamaha items. You are right! Haven't met a hodaka person I didn't like. RL 
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Paul Stannard
Nov 27th, 2006 - 5:56 PM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
Leo you are a class act ! Thank you for the nice words. It was a pleasure to ride with you down in Missouri and I would not hesitate ever to have the chance to ride with someone of your caliber again.It is guys like you that keep this still fun for me. Don't ever change. See you next year in Arkansas along with Ed Chesnut back on our teams I have been told  Your pal. Paul |
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LEO STINNETT
Nov 27th, 2006 - 8:17 PM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
RON IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE SOME NICE HODAKAS. THE ONE WITH THE WIDE RATIO GEARS AND THE DIFFERENT PRIMARIE GEARS INTRIGES ME . DOES THE CHANGE IN PRIMARIES MAKE THAT MUCH DIFFERENCE i.e. MAKE IT PULL HARD AND STILL GIVE IT LONG ENOUGH LEGS FOR SOME FAST TOP SPEED? THAT IS WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE, CLOSE RATIO FOR THE LOWER THREE GEARS AND A REASONABLE STEP IN FOURTH AND A FIFTH THAT WOULD GIVE IT SOME RESPECTABLE TOP END. ANY SUGGESTIONS ARE APPRECIATED. SAY HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE FRAME MOD THAT NOVATION IS DOING ON THE SUPER COMBAT FRAME? JOHNNY FRIEDLY TOLD ME ABOUT IT BUT I HAVNT SEEN ONE YET. ALSO DO YOU HAVE THE WEB ADDRESS FOR NOVATION I HAVNT FOUND THEM YET AND WANT TO GET SOME MORE INFO . THANKS LEO |
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Ron
Nov 28th, 2006 - 8:33 AM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC (Leo)
Leo If you look at the available primaries for the wombat case I have found about four different gear combinations. Yes the 97-98 gear set does provide plenty of extra pulling power. The top speed is great but could not give you exact MPH. If you look at your parts books and compare ratios and gear teeth you will see that even the Combat Wombat has a differen't ratio from the wombat as well as strait cut gears. It is not a major project to experiment with differen't gear sets? If you are using the five plate clutch as i am. Some of the small primary gears will not accomodate the larger clutch. But you will see that when you have the gears in your hand. I suggest that some of the trials guys instead of adding weight to their flywheels, they should explore the primary gear option first. OK the Novation fram mod? I do not have one of my own, but have seen them and actually participated in the thoughts envolved as development proceeded.It is a very well thought out and class item. I believe Paul has one of his own. I can give you Karl's phone number. I believe they have a web site also. Novationracing.com Karl's number is ( Karl Landrus 509 869-2254) Novation actually is a plant which does plating of all types as well as powder coating. The racing section is a side fabrication section which Karl works out of. Fred is the owner and they both are vintage MX bike nuts. "Great People Also" Have fun RL
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LEO STINNETT
Nov 29th, 2006 - 8:37 PM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
HEY RON. THANKS FOR THE INFO. ON NOVATION. I FOUND THEIR WEB SITE . I HAVNT CALLED THEM YET BUT I WILL THIS WEEK OR NEXT . I READ ALMOST ALL OF THE FORUM POSTINGS AND I SEE YOU TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE, AND THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE IS VAST. WOULD YOU MIND IF I CALLED YOU AT YOUR CONVENIENCE TO ASK FOR SOME CLARIFICATIONS i.e. primary gears, the double washer thing you do on your clutches etc. THANKS LEO STINNETT. JEFFERSON Ga. P.S. THANKS FOR THE EMAIL THE OTHER DAY, AND I SAVED YOUR PHONE #. LET ME KNOW......
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Ed
Dec 1st, 2006 - 12:45 PM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
Leo, I really enjoyed reading your RR report. That's a bummer about the clutch screws coming apart! Mayhaps I'll see you next year at the RR!(?) Ed PS: for Ron. Ron did you see that AHRMA approved a rule change to disallow aluminum swing arms in Classic and Sportsman(?)? If you are planning on any AHRMA races this next year . . . better plan for that. |
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Paul Stannard
Dec 1st, 2006 - 5:12 PM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
Ed I think the rules change not to allow Aluminum swingarms was only for Classic not Sportsman. I could be wrong but have not seen where the sportsman class was a part of this change. I hope that I am not mistaken as I have a lot invested in aluminum swingarms for sportsman Hodaka's. Ohh boy. Paul 
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Ed
Dec 1st, 2006 - 9:03 PM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
OK, I just went to check the rules changes. I knew the disallowal of aluminum swing arms affected two classes . . . but the change applies to Premier and Classic class. Sorry about causing a moment of hyper-ventilation! Ed |
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Ron
Dec 4th, 2006 - 9:17 AM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
ED! You put the scare into me also concerning the aloy swing arms. I too have time and frame mods to my own bikes as well as alloy swing arms. I may paint them black and use round tube. There is always a way around these things,"it's called racing" and any minor advantage which can be reached through creative engineering is fair. I have acquaintances here amoung our vintage group that are very sharp and what you see is not exactly what you see? It's all fun and what we all live for. A quick oold story from the old days way back. In the area where I gained most of my racing experience in my youth. A team of three of us tunners were campaigning three Kawasaki G31M's which were a pretty hot 100 right out of the box. Our best bike was just about the fastest flat track and TT 100 at every place we traveled. Our local track South Bay Speedway in Chula Vista California was a place that some of the hot shoes would come from outside of our district 38. A young man by the name of Gary Scott would show up once and a while. He also was riding a Kaw G31M Green Streak which was very fast. He though heavier than our rider Jimmy Brockman would over run him down the straightaway. This was a combination flat track and TT course with an infeild jump and a couple switch backs. Scott would make up all he had lost on the straight away section. We went through many little sricks trying to beat that KAW of Gary Scott. This went on for about three weekends and we were second every time. Finally in the final heat of the fourth try Fey who owned a kawasaki shop and had quite an envolvment in the engine and porting decided to dump the fuel and fill the tank with a mix of aircraft fuel.The timing was advanced to take advantage of the octane boost. Well that was all it took Jimmy won that race and outpulled Gary down the straightaway. Needless to say we were protested by the Scott Pit. We pulled our top end for inspection and were found to be satisfactory. A counter protest revealed a 125 bore for the Scott bike. Like I said "You Never Know" |
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Ed
Dec 8th, 2006 - 8:35 AM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
I would have to disagree with you regarding the following quote: "There is always a way around these things,"it's called racing" and any minor advantage which can be reached through creative engineering is fair." Vintage Racing is fundamentally different than racing either modern machines OR our beloved Hodakas "back in the day". The difference is that there are now "rules" which have been set up for good reasons (IMHO) for vintage racing. Those rules attempt to keep vintage racing at about the same machinery/technology level as it was 30 years ago . . . and to help control the effects of "cubic dollars" on the competitiveness of the machines which are allowed to race. Since the rules now state that an aluminum swing arm is "illegal" on a Classic Class machine, a "tuner"/rider has several options (in no particular order): 1. Don't enter AHRMA Classic Class races with a machine having an aluminum swing arm. 2. Remove the aluminum swing arm and install a steel swing arm and run in the Classic Class. 3. Cheat. I (personally) have a real problem with #3. I just don't "get" how anyone can take any personal satisfaction from winning while cheating. There is FAR more satisfaction to be realized by winning while competing wholly within the rules. Of course, that is just the way I feel. Opinions may vary. Ed Keep the rubber side down! |
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Ron
Dec 15th, 2006 - 10:19 AM |
Re: ISDT R.R. AND OTHER RAMBLINGSV5XC
ED! It is called racing for a reason. Like fishing is not called catching. Anything not rejected by the tek during inspection is fair. Any internal modifications which are not noticed from the outside are fair. Other than fuels. This is pretty much the way of the racing world and what makes the total experience. Racing is and always will be R & D. Besides the riding, the little package of minor tricks are what makes a winner not A winer. What do you think that all the bikes should be disassembled and inspected to see that all are the same? "What Fun Would That BE"? Now if a group of guys agreed to make all their equipment the same and specified that no changes were to be made from stock. I will bet that even still little tricks would be incorporated which would give an advantage by most of the guys. "That's again why it's called racing" You would have to issue each rider a bike he had never seen before to play your way. "It's the AMERICAN WAY" If A fella thinks he cannot compete by pushing himself a bit to make his mark then he has to step up with his own little tricks. OR? he can protest! If the TEK does not find what is called an unfair advantage,then too bad. RACING!
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