This is all very interesting stuff. I for one try my best to keep my pre75 within the rules as I'm sure most of us do. But is there anything wrong with adding performance accessories (as opposed to bling) to our period race bikes?
Take my 250 Elsinore for example. Profab swingarm and pipe. Works performance shocks. GEM reed block. YZF yamaha footpegs. Akront rims. GP seat. Renthal bars.
The alloy swingarm was available for the Elsinores in 1974 to get the things to turn without having to be sideways everywhere. DG also made Alloy swingarms for the Honda's. This being the case, why is it not kosher to have an alloy swingarm on another brand of bike, taking aside that it is obviously made after December 1974? In the case of Tony's Husky, is it any different to someone lengthening the stock swingarm which was a popular mod in the day?
Pipes have always been tinkered with, from day one. Every Tom, Dick and Harry had a better way to do things than the factories.
The GEM reedblock was made in 1974 in an effort to make the Elsinore more rideable and stop the power from being like a light switch. To get the reeds to work as they should, Ive had to drill my own pilot jets as any standard pilot jet was not big enough to do the job.
The footpegs are there for my own safety, nothing else. My knee still gives me grief from a stock footpeg snapping off my B50!
The Works Performance shocks are there because the stockers aren't worth a pile of poo, nor where they in the day. After my trip to Connondale and WA and seeing a few bikes with external rebound and compression clickers, I questioned one of the commisioners about the eligibility of them as I spent some decent coin on staying true to 1974 but getting what I thought was the best the rules allowed. Once I explained to him the pro's of having adjustable shocks, he thought about it and got back to me with a "yes, they will be allowed in the interest of being kinder to our bikes and bodies, considering some of the bigger than Ben Hur braking bumps we have to ride through at times like the Titles. So, as far as I am told by a commisioner, adjustable shocks are allowed and will be incorporated into the rule book.
Same deal with triple clamps. The same commisioner said that as long as the new clamps has the same offset as the original, there is absolutely no reason why we can't use billet clamps.
In my opinion, running alloy handlebars is a must do mod to a race bike. The standard type steel bars bend far too easily for someone like myself who drops the bike every so often. However, I was lucky enough to find a set of solid alloy bars with the vintage bend for my B50. Fatbars look ridiculous on an old bike and I wouldn't use them for that reason alone. It could also be argued that the Fatbar does offer a performance gain simply by way of the flex they provide, thus reducing fatigue. And they definitely were not around in 1974.
None of this makes me any faster by the way, but I do feel much better on my bike and it has passed scrutineering with help from Firko. Seems not too many scrutineers know of the GEM reedblock. I have all the standard parts to put back on the Elsinore when I have finished racing it but if it were to be the case that I had to race it as it came off the showroom floor, well, it would become another bike that wouldn't see the race track again.
By the way, I am going to sell the Elsi so if anyone wants a real fast CR that is %100 race legal, send me a message. The british bikes have me by the gonnads so Im letting the Elsinore go to fund my B44 project. Seems I can't have 1 of everything...
