Vintage Views

[jj]

Lew,

The 35mm ribbed forks come stock with 200mm of travel.

I was racing in your same class that day and even though I was riding incognito on a Can-Am I was not going to tell. Then I paid dearly for my choice of ride when the results were posted. I was left off. When I asked why, they said my bike was post vintage. Then I had to explain that the rule book specificaly allows a '76 TNT/OR and go through a discussion on swingarm length before they corrected it.

John J Slivka

[Lew Mayer]

JJ,
What's the max travel allowed by the class? And what's the travel on the non-ribbed 35's?

Lew Mayer

[metalkfab]

Check the rule book at //www.ahrma.org .Vintage is 7"/4",not sure if there is a limit on post-vintage.Some Ceriani's w/o ribs can be 200mm,check for "200" stamped at the bottom of the fork leg.

[lobo6y]

Lew,
John is correct on the travel on the forks, they are from a post 74 model, and the forks are considered a "major component".  Congrats on your "Cover Boy" status!

For John,
I couldn't get to Gatorback unitl  Friday  afternoon, and thus missed CC tech.  If you were not noted in tech, then someone spotted you or protested later in the day.  James Smith is obviously VERY familiar with tthe CanAms and probably helped in this case.

In that case, in the best scenario you should have been searched out in the pits (maybe they couldn't find you) and the bike or protest discussed, rather than have it posted with no score (that is our last resort to get the rider/bike involved).
I'm glad to hear it all worked out when you brought it up, and we try to ensure that  fairness prevails.  We want our members to feel at ease bringing a situation like this to the officials, in  a calm fashion.

See you all at Cahuilla Creek and/or Sandia (or for you eastern tyoes, I'm trying to work my schedule to be at Mid Ohio again this year), Dave

PS, My Pentons are coming together and I WILL race a D model this year (new year's resolution!).

[wildman]

I may be wrong, I often am, but my understanding is that some 1974s came with the ribbed fork, so the issue should be the length of travel, which when restricted to 7", would be legal. Is it because a 175 came with 32mm in earlier years? I guess I should contact AHRMA directly. Thanks for everyones input. Wildman

1975 250GS in Mich.

[wildman]

quote:Originally posted by wildman

I may be wrong, I often am, but my understanding is that some 1974s came with the ribbed fork, so the issue should be the length of travel, which when restricted to 7", would be legal. Is it because a 175 came with 32mm in earlier years? I guess I should contact AHRMA directly. After looking at the production year info, it looks like my banana shaped swingarm puts me in post vintage anyway even with travel at 4". Thanks for everyones input. Wildman

1975 250GS in Mich.

1975 250GS in Mich.

[imported_n/a]

AHRMA's rule is simple:  7"/4".  Because Pentons in '74 took a huge leap forward in suspension, the burden is on us to comply with the rules, no matter what our bikes came with or were fitted with over the years.

The '74 1/2 250 I bought on EvilBay last year had ribbed forks on it, and the Pogger I bought it from had competed in AHRMA events with it, so it must have passed tech inspection at some level at some time.  I have "retrofitted" this bike with the 7" travel 35mm Cerianis that do not have ribs and are not stamped "200."  I took the time and spent the money to find the older forks because I don't want to get to a National, for example, and be kicked into PV because of the forks.

The tech inspectors at AHRMA races have a huge task in keeping track of our Pentons' details, as well as all of the other marques that compete.  Let's do our part technically and in the spirit of vintage racing.

Glenn

PS.  If there is a modification that will bring the ribbed forks back to 7", it should be posted here so we can all get "legal" if we need to.

[Larry Perkins]

Dave you guys do a great job and have a tough task.  I am just a devil's advocate kind of guy and love to get discussion going.  In 1974 Pentons had a suspension advantage that is evened out by AHRMA rules today.  The fork thing is a hard one and it is just a very minor advantage that is employed purposely by some and unknowingly by others.  A solid spacer can be used to limit the travel of these forks and make them Vintage legal.

Lew-Great cover shot none the less and Congrats on a super ride.

Thanks Ron and to all that continue to wish me well in words and prayer.  I get a little better each day and hopefully soon will see good enough in the sunlight to drive and look at the computer screen for longer than 15 minutes.

[Lew Mayer]

OK, how can I address this to Ahrma's satisfaction? I could modify the forks to limit travel but how would the tech inspectors know if it's true? Any ideas? I know you guys have ideas.

Lew Mayer

[Lew Mayer]

Larry,
You can rest easy now. When you see those ribbed forks on my bike,you can be satisfied that they are AHRMA-legal with 7" travel. Modifications are complete and they should work like the original ribbed forks only with less travel.

Lew Mayer

[Dwight Rudder]

Can ribbed forks that were manufactured as 200mm travel be limited to the rules 7" rule ? I didn't think that would be allowed as they still appear to be 8" travel and have the ribbed fork which wasn't around till 1975 or 1976.
Just an observation, as I changed a set that were on my Six Day 125 because by the rules Ribbed forks are not allowed. The guy in Texas that I bought it from had changed them. I made him give me the originals too.
Cher'o,
Dwight

Dwight Rudder
7 time ISDT / E medalist
8 time National Enduro Class Champion.

[john durrill]

Lew ,
 could you go over how you did the limiting on the 200 mm forks,
 that would be something I would like to post in the library.
John D.

[Lew Mayer]

John,
It wasn't that hard. I bought a set of damper rods out of the older 35 mm forks. The holes in them are the same, they're just shorter rods. Then, you just use the newer damping and stop valves out of the ribbed forks. And just to meet the letter of the law, I put maybe a 3/16" spacer in the bottom of the forks out of plastic conduit. It would take a heck of a hit for me to bottom those forks hard enough to damage that small spacer. Just to insure that spacer didn't float up, I used a longer drain screw to fix the spacer to the bottom of the slider. We'll see how it works at Camelback. After working on those forks, I think whoever classified them as 8" travel was being very optimistic.
How's 10wt oil sound for for them?

Lew Mayer

[Larry Perkins]

Lew

You are right about the ribbed forks travel.  The most I could ever make them do on the bench was 7 5/8".  For motocross I like 15W fork oil but I have been known to look for the jump and not avoid it.  

Dwight
There were 1974 models with the ribbed forks later in production.

[firstturn]

Dwight & Larry,
  The 1974 Six Day I have with the rib forks has a frame that dates the manufacturing as Septmber 1974.  I agree with Larry on the travel because this was one of my debates back in the 70's.  Everybody make it a good day.

Ron Carbaugh