Is their any parts or bikes you own Firko that are "normal, standard or just plain original"?.
John, I've been involved with vintage motocross in one way or the other since 1986 and in that time I've restored a heap of "normal, standard or just plain original" bikes, many of which are still out there racing today. After I cried blood to get my DT1 resto "absolutely perfect" I vowed I'd never put myself through that again. As much as I'm reasonably happy with the final result, I hated nearly every minute of the build and in the end it's just another shiny DT1.
I have a background in drag racing and modified cars so it's only natural that my interests swayed towards modifying my bikes. It started innocently by modifying my 350 Maico, making alloy airbox, fitting Wheelsmith goodies and tailoring the bike to look different to all of the other Maicos out there. Then I built the now legendary "DT1 from Hell" and I realised what fun it is to build 'hot rod' vintage racers. Today, I love building bikes that are different to the norm that are quirky and allow me to throw a bit of "artistic" flair at the bike while keeping it within a particular class legality. I like being able to build a bike using the best parts from a particular era rather than being tied to what a particular manufacturer wanted. The Cheney for instance is to be a serious pre '70 racer using the best pre '70 major components I can find.
My mate Alan Jones shares my weird fetish with hot rod bikes and we inspire each other with each new project. While I became bored with building bikes "right" I admire you guys who strive for factory perfection. Preserving bikes in their original form is essential to the future of our sport. What I'm doing is a bit of fun, showing what 'could' have been built if we'd had the money back then.
If the ACK head is designed for a piston-port RT1 motor, then please think of me when you remove it from your motor
Nathan, the head's designed for an RT1, whether it was available for the black tanker is going to take some research. I bought it from the guy who used to collect YZs (Attard??) but sold up in a huff, now collects skateboards. I paid stupid money for it (
I think $300) because I'd never heard of one before. Since then I've bought one for a DT1 on eBay but haven't seen too many more. I found one ad for one in a 1971 Popular Cycle and that's it. If you want to pay me what it owes me, it's yours. Or..find me a RT2MX head and $200 and it's yours. I don't like it because I don't think it fits the pre '70 'look'. A Webco fits the look but I can't fit an up pipe on this bike with its unique pipe routing problem.
The beauty of the old days, heaps of trick parts. Aftermarket parts these days consist of anodised parts...woopie!]
That's right Brad. Back in the pre '75 era the manufacturers were still experimenting on the 'hot setup' and many, many aftermarket manufacturers came onto the scene with their product that was going to improve on the bikes performance. That most of them were crap doesn't detract from their place in history. Just wait until you see some of the cools shit on this bike at CD7. Even the barrels special, and nobodys mentioned the inlet manifold yet.
sorry 'bout the thread hijack DJ...funny how these things evolve eh?
