show me your flat trackers and desert racers

[Ratso]

I suppose I could have looked more closely at the swingarm on the bike above: it has a big WOOD ROTAX logo on it. Anyway, found more information if anybody cares.

https://www.cycleworld.com/2007/11/2...er-first-look/

The photos are furry, the text is technically uninformative. Beggars can't be choosers.

[Graham]

Jeffrey Carver rode the Wood BMW a little bit. He talks about riding for Ron in an interview with Sideburn magazine a few issues ago about his Wood Rotax "Big Red". Jeffrey says the BMW had two ignitions because it would always burn one up during the main. I hadn't seen any closeup photos of the BMW, that's a pretty bike!

[Ratso]

It certainly is; characteristically so. I bet it's a smart little fucker to ride, too.

Might the bike in your ... uh ... the small picture right under your name ... be yours, Graham? Or is it more aspirational than documentary?

[Subtextal questions: Do you race flat track, and if so, whereabouts?)

I never took the opportunity to say Welcome or even Howdy when you put up your intro. Please accept a badly belated howdy and my apology for having shit for good manners.

[wadeschields]

Here is a vintage flat track video I shot a few year back... Got accepted in the Brooklyn Motorcycle Film Festival that year so I was pleased .


Not quite flat tracking but racing on the beach might be of interest to you.. Wall of Death , Cars and bikes if you are into that sort of thing.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Ratso

It certainly is; characteristically so. I bet it's a smart little fucker to ride, too.

Might the bike in your ... uh ... the small picture right under your name ... be yours, Graham? Or is it more aspirational than documentary?

[Subtextal questions: Do you race flat track, and if so, whereabouts?)

I never took the opportunity to say Welcome or even Howdy when you put up your intro. Please accept a badly belated howdy and my apology for having shit for good manners.

The avatar bike is purely aspirational. I took the photo at the Congregation Show a couple years ago. I have a 1970 Ironhead in boxes that I hope one day will have a similar look. I have a serious thing for KR's and XLR's.

I don't race flat track, but have friends that do. One owns a bike that runs a partial American Flat Tack singles schedule. Another races vintage bikes regionally here in the southeast and ventures up to the midwest. I could picture myself having a TT500 or similar race bike sometime in the future...not sure I would ride it myself, though.

Thank you for the belated "howdy" and no need for any apologies...

[Ratso]

This may be a pretty but empty design exercise; I don't know if it'll ever see a racetrack. But, like I say, pretty ... Duc 750 Monster power, built in Milan.

[Ratso]

Didn't know Sprints were still racing in '71; I mean, not as seriously as this one is set up to be. How little I know. Oh the ignorance of me!

[Ratso]

The OP of these swiped pics knows nothing about this bike; he was looking for information. All that I can even arguably tell is that the aftermarket frame isn't any of the common brands (Trackmaster, Champion, et al.) and if I squint I think I can make out a post-'67 breather exiting the primary. Kinda cool thing, whatever it is.

Oh, uh, the OP figures it to be > mid-'70s because laydown shocks.

[JOHN HANSON]

Here my Champion framed dirt tracker with a 750 Weslake 4 valve kit.
It was raced around Oklahoma In the 60s by John Rourke, then converted to street in the late 70s. It's really a blast to ride.

[Ratso]

Really nice.

I don't recall ever hearing anybody's personal experience with the 8-valve head. Can you dredge up anything to say about a Weslake (performance improvement/characteristics, easy or hard to live with on a street bike, does it influence or constrain the kind of riding you do, would you see one as money well spent if you were building an engine from scratch, et cetera)? Thanks, if you can.

[JOHN HANSON]

Information on Rickman kits is a bit sparse. There was a thread on this forum a few years ago that has some history on the kit. I have a 62 Bonneville also and there's no comparison in performance and speed.

Check out this thread: Default Need info on this Triumph/Rickman engine

https://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/...ad.php?t=68125

[Ratso]

Coo', thanks.

[Ratso]

I never saw such a low-dangling offside footpeg. Was it common practice to run them that low, c. 70 years ago? -- This is Nick Nicolaides' '49 500.

[Ratso]

(Footpeg question refers to the old B/W shot.)

[Ducbsa]

Well, they only leaned left! Speedway bikes are about the same.