Vintage Views

[Randy Kirkbride]

Check out the latest Vintage Views cover shot of Lew Mayer and his Jackpiner in action at the Gatorback CC.
Great job Lew.

[Larry Perkins]

I still can not see good but I did notice the ribbed "Illegal According to AHRMA" forks on the Jackpiner.  Good Tech Inspection, eh?

[imported_n/a]

Larry,

The forks must have been modified to pass, right?

Glenn

[tlanders]

Larry,

It's good to hear from you again. I hope you are recovering fast.

Randy,

Did you have a good time in Texas? I didn't see much of you after the initial hellos.

Teddy

[Randy Kirkbride]

Teddy,
I had a super time in TX. I had to leave after the great barbeque put on by Diamond Don. Weather was awesome, and was perfect for CC. That was my first race in 25 years. I still have sore muscles from doing all those tank slappers.

[Dennis Jones]

Randy did you ride your poster bike?

Dennis Jones

[lobo6y]

Larry,
I knew as soon as I saw the cover shot that some of our sharp-eyed members would catch the forks on Lew's bike.
Yea, we missed them!

AHRMA does tech for two primary reasons.  

First, Safety.  the newest vintage bike out there is 30 years old.  Most would be very surprised to hear some of our horror stories of what we've found in tech (missing swingarm, axle, steering stem, etc bolts, fo an example).

Second is compliance with the rules,  intended to help keep the spirit of the racing era of each particular class.  Do we catch everything? - heck no.  There are over 40 different brands of vintage bikes that we see in tech (routinely around 25-30) and each had changes from year to year.  James Smith and I are continually seeking info and learning about all these bikes and year changes, and we try to train our helpers on these, as well.
 
As in almost all racing, there is always the option for competitor to protest a bike in his/her class that may have made it thru tech.

The bottom line for us is safe and fun racing, and trying to keep the bar level for as many bikes as we can in each era represented in the class structure.  For those that have in-depth knowledge of a particular brand, we are always seeking info to better do our job.  

Hope to see you at the track (Diamond's was a blast),
Dave Janiec
AHRMA West MX Tech Chief/Trustee

[Randy Kirkbride]

Hi Dennis,
Yeah, I broke down and deceided to go ahead & ride it not hide it. I did replace a lot of the NOS parts with older replacements, though.
Dr. Doug's magic made it perform outstanding. Just needed a rider, I guess. I just don't care for the internal flywheel motoplat for woods riding. Maybe I'll have to work out a trade with somebody out there. I may take the one off my Berkshire & try it in Marion.

[Dennis Jones]

Randy thats great. I hope to ride mine next season, I've been gathering parts. I got a  watermelon tank off ebay like the one in the poster. Did you run the shocks upright or laydown? See you at Marion, it's right in my back yard, an hour away.

Dennis Jones

[firstturn]

Larry,
  It is great to have your contribution and to point out the fun things that a lot of people don't see.  You are in our prayers and keep us up to date on your eye sight and when the doctors allows you to start driving again.
Dave Janiec,
  You guys in Tech do a great job.  Just look at your good record for safety and trying to keep up with 40+ brands which exponentially multiplies by so many years involved.  I know being a tech for both motorcycles and for boat racing I sometimes couldn't see the forest for the trees especially, when I knew someone was enhancing their opportunity to win;).

Lew,
  Congratulations on the cover shot.

Ron Carbaugh

[wildman]

May I ask what part of having a ribbed fork is illegal? Having spent much time converting my 75 250 to the 7&4 inch rule of AHRMA, can I  use this bike in the Vintage , not post Vintage class? BTW, I saw Lew at Gatorback and he was flying! Nice picture and on the cover as well! Thank you.

1975 250GS in Mich.

[tlanders]

I agree with Ron, Dave Janiec and James Smith and Corky Root and the other tech guys do a fantastic job helping us make our bikes safe. Dave has found things wrong with my bikes during tech inspection that I had overlooked and I have really appreciated his help. Thanks Dave and the other tech guys.

Teddy

[firstturn]

Teddy,
  Where is that frame number[)].

Ron Carbaugh

[metalkfab]

Randy,Put the ignition on with the heavier flywheel,you'll enjoy the motor much,much more.If not,be careful with the internal rotor Motoplat,you could overrev and blow it up,just like I did.

[Lew Mayer]

Since I seem to be a topic of discussion, I thought I should jump in. First, thanks for the congrats, guys. They must have been hard up for photo-ops that day. Second, like Wildman, I need to know why those forks are illegal. I put them on 25 years? ago after I centerpunched a 4 inch tree in an enduro and bent the 32's. They were a set someone took off their bike so they could run Marzocchis. I'm not even sure what they came off. I just thought they were a set of 35 mm's. What's the problem with them.

Lew Mayer