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Messages - Paul P

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31
General Two Stroke Talk / Re: Favorite Bike
« on: August 12, 2010, 05:49:03 PM »
The new day dyno reports are to help bolster the the 'Big' power of the 4-strokes. The same KX500 that dynoed at 48.8 was dynoed again a few years back and put out over 62HP. It's all hype. My 99 CR250 is no faster anywhere than my 89 CR, but it's supposed to have about 7 HP more than the 89, so the magazine tests say.
    It's all hype to help sell the 4strokes to the public who will argue on end about HP figures, all the while being passed by a ten year old kid riding a KX85.
     I wouldn't judge any of the older bikes with 30 year old write-ups from magazines known to bow to the almighty dollar, either. This has been going on with magazine tests since the early 70's when the big 'dirt bike boom' hit the US.
    I am constantly riding new and old MX bikes and some great bikes never won over the public because of a stupid magazine test.
     

32
General Two Stroke Talk / Re: WANTED: Web site contributors
« on: June 25, 2010, 01:54:09 PM »
I may be able to write a few things here and there. I have over 40 years of racing memories to dig into.
            Paul

33
I doubt that will happen. The 81 is the most copied of any bike. Honda bought a lot of factory inventories in the early to mid 80's, I heard from a reliable source that some of Maico's inventory went, along with Bultaco and Montesa, to one or more of the big 4. Ever wonder why Honda's started handling more like Maico's in the early 80's? I had 84 and 89 CR 250's, measuring all points like footpeg, axle, crank center, ect, all measuring points were very close to my 81 Maico.
   Also, they no longer name any motorcycles after the rider as a replica, like AW, Pomeroy, VR, Mikkola, ect. There was a certain 'class' with owning one of those. My 400 AW is still so much fun to ride, and that nice smooth power! Aside from jumping, they still handle as well as anything. I know, most of the tracks now are just one jump after another, and that's why most tracks nowadays just plain suck.
   My answer would be No, I doubt there is a bike made in the last 25 years that will be reffered to as a classic. The new 4T's especially, most of those will be just melted down for future beer cans.
           Paul

34
General Two Stroke Talk / Stolen CR's found
« on: June 08, 2010, 06:55:41 PM »
Just got word late afternoon that the stolen CR's have been recovered. There has been a rash of stolen bikes and quads in my area. I am going to the police station to get a look at the theives tomorrow, then going to pick up the bikes. I am told they had a big operation going, with 4-5 of them grabbing bikes, hoarding them, then selling them to customers across the US and Canada. The detectives that I talked to says they have been trying to get these guys for a while now.
   I can't beleive how lucky/fortunate I am that the bikes are not gone forever like the last time this happened to me in 1989.
   Thanks to everyone that gave me advice, and my local police, it really helped.
                               Paul

35
General Two Stroke Talk / Re: 2st race event
« on: June 08, 2010, 06:43:23 PM »
90% rider-10% bike actually, and Maico's have the 10% covered in spades. Hawkstone park is one track I would love to ride. I have old footage from about 1978, and it looks like the kind of track you dream about.
  I noticed the #38 Maico has some of the Reiger shocks with externally adjustable dampening. The Reiger shock on my brothers 94 500 Maico was as good as an Ohlin's. Nice and plush on the square edge bumps and firm on the G-out landings.
  Good photos, but we need to see more of the track. Thanks for putting them on.
                          Paul

36
Two strokes will run up-side down, and can actually make more power in that position. My friend set up his Ski-Doo/Rotax powered pro-hillclimb with the motor up-side down and everyone noticed an improvement as he started being more consistently in the top 5.

37
A freind of mine broke his femur twice. I definitly recomend getting healed up real good before you start riding. He had infection problems after he started to ride again too early. He couldn't walk very well for a long time after that.
   I broke my heal about 10 years ago, and I will tell you, that was a long and painful recovery. All the ligaments/tendons are attatched to the heal, so the sprain seemed like it would never heal. It was over two years before I walked without a limp.

38
WOw, you're gettin out there now. I've heard from actual riders talking about trail riding in the 40's and 50's, but they never mentioned Hodaka's on the trail, just Triumph, BSA, Royal Enfield, AJS, Villers, ect.  From my memories of Hodaka's, their motors were not a strong point.
  Again, they were cheap to buy and repair, thus the 'McDonalds' way of thinking for the masses of people trying to get into dirt bikes. I'd much rather have a Zundapp or Sachs, similar trannys to Hodaka, but at least they had powerful, very reliable motors.
   I bought a Maico 400 in 1977, uncrated it/serviced it, and a half hour later I was ripping around a track with it. After the break-in, check bolts and torque,nothing fell off, not even loosen in the first two months of racing. I raced the entire year, 35 races, two nights a week useing 3-4 gallons of gas, without any motor servicing needed; parts or repairs. I did inspect the primary chain and piston/ring, but I do that with any race bike. I spent Zero dollars to keep that bike running all season! I'm not counting tires or chain/ sprockets, grips or oil and spare filters.
  The Suzuki RM I bought the year before cost me as much in repairs and worn out engine and chassis parts as I initially paid for the bike. Sounds a lot like the way the big 4 are trying to get us with the 4 strokes today. 

39
Yes, that is only speculation. Your post sounds like one of the older magazines that were getting a lot of revenue from one of the 'big four'. Having been around and riding all different bikes back then, I've had first hand experience racing both Euro and Asian. The bikes from Japan were not of high quality until the works bikes were shelved in the US. The Euro bikes held together much better than they were made out to be. The biggest reason the Euro bikes were passed over was that they were more expensive than the bikes from Japan. The exchange rate was very much in favor of the Japanese brands. A Suzuki TM 250 cost approx. $800 while a Maico or Husqvarna was about $1200. With the TM you still had to buy good shocks, flywheel weights to help the motor put power to the ground, fork kits or forks, good tires, decent grips, frame mods, good motor mount bolts that wouldn't snap when you tighten them, handlebars, ect. Most of the items to change came as standard equipment on the Euro bikes.
   A freind of mine was an avid racer throughout the 70's and when the Suzuki TM125 came out he had the first one I had ever seen. He made good money and previously rode a Husky 400. He was more of a 125 rider, so the Husky was a handful in the power. He wore the TM out in three months, frame, motor, forks, shocks, wheels were all trashed. His results were not very good, either. He bought 5 of them, one every three months before he came to his senses and bought a Bultaco 250. With the Bul, his results were immediately improved. He only spent money on normal wear items.
  I ride a variety of Euro bikes still, and they just keep running, they all have been very reliable and I would take any of them riding anywhere with no worries of a breakdown or worry that I had to work on one of them for two days before I went riding like you were led to believe by the magazines of the day or by the Motocross Action statements about the old bikes.
                                           Paul
                     
   

40
General Two Stroke Talk / Stolen CR 125 and 250
« on: June 04, 2010, 11:40:26 AM »
I'm not sure where to post something like this on this site, but two Honda CR's were stolen out of my barn last night. A 1993 CR125 and a 1999 CR250. I am trying to get all the info together like frame/motor numbers and trying to get the word out. The 125 is my sons, we've had them both since new. I'm in Ludlow Mass., not far from Southwick. As soon as I can upload photos, I will have more info.
           Any help is very much appreciated,
                                     Paul Pinsonnault

41
The older model Maico engines he's talking about were not more than a couple pounds different from each other, used the same frame, wheels, suspension.  Most tracks started getting slower after the 60's, so an Open bikes lap times were not as fast as the 250's. Jim Ellis had the Southwick track record with a 125 for quite a while, but at the time the track was set up with shorter straights and suited smaller bikes better.
                              Paul

42
General Two Stroke Talk / Re: tried out an rmz 250
« on: May 28, 2010, 06:03:44 AM »
I've ridden both, worked on both, but have never owned a modern 4S, only modern XR 4 strokes.  I've tried the CRF, YZF,WRF's 250's and 450's. The 2504S to me need to be reved out like a 125. The 250 and 450F's feel heavy to me. The CRF's headshake was a little scary, no wonder they put dampers on the new ones. And being a tuner I can't stand listening to all that 4S engine clatter. I tried a modified YZF250 and had to come in after two laps because my ears were ringing from the exhaust noise.
  Some of the 4S repairs I've done includes complete rebuilds. I don't have to get into it too much to say, after rebuilding a modern 4S engine I will never own one. There is not a better Motocross engine cc for cc than a two stroke.
   Also, I don't get why everyone keeps talking about this updated R+D in these new bikes. They don't seem to handle any better than some of the 90's bikes I've owned or ridden.                        Paul

43
Photos & Videos / Re: H2 Triple KX
« on: May 23, 2010, 04:49:43 PM »
Ted Wilkins is the Canadian that had the snowmobile engined hillclimb bike. He's a good friend of mine from racing the AMA pro hillclimb series in the 1990's.
  My dad started the triple in the MX frame thing back in 69 with a H1 in a 238 green streak chassis.
   Lots of crazy bikes in hillclimbing.
                  Paul

44
General Two Stroke Talk / Re: Interesting Stuff On Vital MX
« on: May 21, 2010, 06:13:31 AM »
There is a formula that you can use to determine the limit factor on the RPM a motor will turn.  Engineers use it when designing engines. Short stroke engines will outrev long stroke engines with similar porting layouts. Remember the Can-Am's? They had a 57mm stroke when most 250's had 64mm stroke and Maico's 250 had 70mm stroke. Now, most 250 2S have 70+mm strokes. The old Can-Am Rotax motor can be designed to out rev any of the new design motors, but it will only be an advantage in certain types of riding, like road racing.
  Long stroke engines are generally more tractable and user friendly for MX. The later model 4S 50mm stroke ( + or -) allows them to get the RPM's needed to compete with a 2 stroke, and with only firing every other stroke, the motor gets that long stroke feel.
  I patterned my nitro/methanol pro hillclimber after the model airplane motors. 20,000RPM is only part of the story. The HP these little motors make per cc is incredible.
    Keep your mufflers packed and like new or face what we have faced up here in my area: tracks shut down from too much noise after this 4 stroke revolution.

45
General Two Stroke Talk / Re: Local races
« on: May 20, 2010, 04:47:20 AM »
I'm with Turquine on the new dyno test thing. Most 500's tested in the 80's were lucky to be in the upper 40's for HP, now when they test them they are in the lower 60's for horsepower. The 84 CR500 has the most aggresive porting, the 85-88 are the pooches as far as porting goes. I know first hand on that statement after years of work with them.
   I have a 99 CR250 that is supposed to have 8HP more than the 89 I have, but riding them there is no difference of 8 HP, the 99 has a bit more bottom, but hardly noticable. And, my old 81 'M' bike has a fresh top end (only 8 seasons on it) and still pulls the newer 4S 450 bikes. It was supposed to have about 47HP back then.
   I bought a 1980 465 Yamaha new in January 1980 and was not too happy with it. The motor's power was OK, but I broke the tranny twice in two months, and could not get the thing to handle rough ground at all. I sold it in May of the same year.                                                 Paul

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