100cc Tech Inspection

[firstturn]

As far as getting the head off without taking the pipe off that is a yes no answer.  I have had bikes that I had to loosen the pipe to get the head off and others I could get the head off without touching the pipe(litterally).  In other words all of these bikes are different.  If you want to be able to take the head off without moving the pipe just shave some of the head fins and it should come off.
  I agree with Paul on removing the pipe.  The 180 degree twist works, but you have to just not get upset.  I also made some changes on my old 100 so that I didn't use springs on the front header so the pipe came off fast.....I know I will hear from Master Doug on this one.  You know it is a Texas thing.  We work on tractors and trucks...and a few Pentons.  


Ron Carbaugh

[joe novak]

Hello,  In the spirit of vintage racing, it would be a good thing to proudly represent the Penton Berkshire as it was sold, that is in it's red color scheme.  I have ALWAYS run legal with my Penton Berkshires, and have been repeatedly protested (by the same person).  It would be unfair to race a Penton Berkshire (or any other motorcycle) in it's red color scheme with a 125 displacement or larger.  So let's all have FUN and play fair.   If you do not want to paint your green Six-Days tank red, you might consider purchasing a second tank and painting it red.  I wonder how good a green tank could look if you just applied red adhesive side panels to your tank?   At least it would not look green!   joe

[Bill Ryburn]

Another point that folks are missing is, they DO NOT check that your bike is legal for the class you are going to enter at Tech. They only check rear suspension travel and basic safety items, and sometimes they dont even do all of that as Larry Perkins has noted. The Tech inspectors WILL NOT look at your bike for legality of some specific item or part until one of your competitors protests you.
Brian.

Brian, while I have the greatest respect for your knowledgee of the various rules,I think you were a little off base here. The Tech Inspectors do in fact check suspension travel and safety items, but they aso look at other components also. While it is not applicable in the Sportsman 100 class, I would advise you to not show up with a reed cage on a classic class bike, or to show up with a hydulic assisted clutch on any vintage bike. They WILL catch these items. The tech inspectors, all volunteers, do miss a few items. They also depend on all of us to have a bit of honesty and integrity in preparing out bikes. As for measuring displacement,I have only seen it done once, but I don't hang around tech inspection too much.
Bill Ryburn

[Dale Fisher]

I've experienced that I received a fairly complete initial inspection.  The following races the (same) inspectors know the machine and typically have just checked to make sure the front end was nice and tight.  I wouldn't expect any further scrutiny unless my results drastically changed...100cc class and first tech inspection 2010 here I come!! [^]

[brian kirby]

Bill,

I phrased that poorly. The tech inspectors do indeed note problems with class legality when doing tech inspection, but they have no power within the rules to stop you from racing the class you have entered. Even if you have a bike with a reed cage in Classic, the competitors of that class must file an official protest in writing with the protest fee before you would be prevented from getting points in the class. The tech inspectors can not make any official ruling until a protest has been filed. A perfect illustration of this is when people race XR200s in PV Open. It is expressly forbidden to ride an under 250cc bike in PV Open by the rule book, but it happened 3-4 times last year. No competitor filed a protest so the scores were allowed to stand.

I'm not criticizing the tech inspectors, just commenting on the fact that as the rulebook is written it is not their responsibility to rule on class legality during tech inspection.

Brian

'72 Berkshire

[joe novak]

Dale,  Great looking Berkshire, and great example of what a 1974 Penton Berkshire should look like racing in the 100 class.  Is this a new bike which you have built recently?   Looking forward to seeing you and your bikes at the races.  joe

[Dale Fisher]

Let's say the Berkshire project is now a mostly "personalized" work in progress.  Those eagle eyes out there probably know it's origin.  The 100cc stickers to go back onto tank yet.  If I might chime in on the standard exhaust.  I tried for about an hour to figure out how to mount the standard exhaust.  The head and pipe was not on when I picked it up.  Did a fine job of scratching up the newly painted frame until I discovered the exhaust flange needed to come off first and perfecting the corkscrew technique.  A quick call and check to Kevin at Circle F resulted!  With luck will see some of you at the POG meeting this weekend.  Debut race is slated to be Diamond Don's.

[G Ellis]

Dale I have some 100cc tank stickers. Are you going to the meeting Saturday? Email me [email protected]  Later Gary

[xracer]

hey gary if he not going i am and he lives in brighton and i am in belleville only 30 minutes away if this helps  dave  when in doubt gas it

[joe novak]

One of my most favorite Pentons was a 1972 Penton.  I will describe the condition which it was in when I purchased it used (in about 1975).  Broken rear hub, broken main engine mount, not running, green tank, Sachs 6A 100cc engine, and general really whipped out condition.  Since I already had a really nice 1974 Penton Berkshire set up for MX, I decided to set this one up for Hare Scrambles.   Cut handle bars to 30", modified rear suspention to layed down position with KONI shocks, new rod, replaced rear hub, replaced MOTOPLAT, and fixed everything else which was broken.  The point is, I raced this old GREEN-tanked penton in the 100 class with no objections "back in the day".   But then, it was GREEN and 100cc when I bought it!