AMA Rule of the Week

[JohnN]

Found this one in Racerhead....

"Remember all those shiny frames you saw the last few years on the factory race bikes? Well, those days are over. The AMA implemented a new rule that says you may not polish your frame, you may only clean it with Scotch Bright pads. The reason? Well, it turns out that some of these teams were REALLY polishing their frames. As in removing a significant amount of material in the process to reduce weight and increase flex. Rules state that you may add material to the frame and swing arm but you may not remove it. The polishing was a way of doing that on the sneak. Anyway, no more shiny frames for James, Chad or anyone else."

So who's to say that you can't remove material and then Scotch bright the frame?? Gee Whizz!

[miedosoracing]

Funny you say that. I was doing the DUH thought in my head reading that.  LOL

[Out of Order]

We should have a poll for the next stupid AMA rule of the week.

[JohnN]

We should have a poll for the next stupid AMA rule of the week.

Should the poll be for when the next dumb rule is announced?? Or that another one will be announced?? 

[Out of Order]

Since we know it's going to be next week, we should do the next stupid rule. I'm calling a ban on concrete pads or some rule to benefit Honda or the pro rider.(see how anti-honda I am ) Maybe they will make fork and shock travel less than 5 inches, like the old days.

[Cable Stretcher]

So who's to say that you can't remove material and then Scotch bright the frame?? Gee Whizz!

Funny you mention it I actually just finished scotch brighting a frame I had polished at the begining of last year.

[JETZcorp]

Well, while his isn't strictly an AMA rule, there is a rule in AHRMA that restricts shock length.  If you're riding in the "vintage" class (which is 1974 and older) you can't have more than X inches of travel front and rear.  As it turns out, there's only ONE bike that this applies to, and that's Maico's big bad forward-mounted-shock thing that started the long-travel revolution.  In the name of keeping things fair you have to put shims on your Maico's shocks.  Running a stock Maico against a stock anything else is, officially, cheating.

[JohnN]

Well, while his isn't strictly an AMA rule, there is a rule in AHRMA that restricts shock length.  If you're riding in the "vintage" class (which is 1974 and older) you can't have more than X inches of travel front and rear.  As it turns out, there's only ONE bike that this applies to, and that's Maico's big bad forward-mounted-shock thing that started the long-travel revolution.  In the name of keeping things fair you have to put shims on your Maico's shocks.  Running a stock Maico against a stock anything else is, officially, cheating.

Without getting into too much detail, AHRMA has a laundry list of strange rules for vintage machines. For quite a few years they were AMA sanctioned, then broke away... don't know or care about the details to be honest. There are so many wonderful vintage series that run all across the country that are fun for all involved.

As to the shiny frames, I kind of like the looks of them. Although personally I would never take the time to polish a frame. I'd rather spend that time riding or improving the suspension on my bike...

[Cable Stretcher]

It's not the time spent polishing it the first time that bothered me it was every time after you rode ,even for just 30min, that sucked.