Author Topic: Racing a VMX bike and a current bike in a current race meet  (Read 2405 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline crabman

  • B-Grade
  • ***
  • Posts: 275
    • View Profile
Racing a VMX bike and a current bike in a current race meet
« on: February 17, 2008, 09:53:20 pm »
I tried to race a 490 Maico at motocross yesterday. In order to make an appropriate comparison I rode a 2006 RMZ 450 in 1 heat and the 1981 490 Maico in practice and one heat. You cannot believe how much harder it was to ride the older bike. When I got on the RMZ 450 it was easy to ride and stop at my leisure.
Unless you have ridden both bikes on the same track concurrently you cannot believe the progress in suspension and how much difference there is between a two and fourstroke on the track. Notwithstanding I managed to finish the days racing. A lot of time must mnow be spent on the rear suspension, it was bad real bad.
Old and slow - and happy

Rosco400

  • Guest
Re: Racing a VMX bike and a current bike in a current race meet
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2008, 09:55:30 pm »
Out of curiosity, where did you finish on both bikes

Maico31

  • Guest
Re: Racing a VMX bike and a current bike in a current race meet
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2008, 10:06:31 pm »
Crabster i've done it several times jumping from a modern 4 stroke to an evo bike and if you ride both bikes often enough i didn't find it a problem. The evo bike was so easy to ride, it felt like it had no brakes and no throttle response  and everything happened in slow motion compared to the modern.

090

  • Guest
Re: Racing a VMX bike and a current bike in a current race meet
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2008, 10:11:12 pm »
I do the same at my local club. Yes , big difference. Good fun though. We have a class for the old girls. I will be bridging the gap a bit by fitting some better rear shocks(as we speak er type). Those corte cosso's are crap! The 490 is still respectable.

Offline crabman

  • B-Grade
  • ***
  • Posts: 275
    • View Profile
Re: Racing a VMX bike and a current bike in a current race meet
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2008, 10:35:10 pm »
Out of curiosity, where did you finish on both bikes

In the first heat on the Suzuki 450 I finished around 9 out of 13. In the second heat I finished last of the riders that did not DNF. this was an open class where the vast majority of entrants were born after the Maico was built in 1981. Interesting to see that if you added the age of the competitors to that of their bikes age, it would have been unlikely that in aggregate the ages would have been in excess of 23 years. My age and that of the Maico would have been 70. When last did you hear of a 70 year old racing a nubile young Yamaha with a youngster twisting the throttle ?

 I did not experience any problems cross racing. Yesterday was an attempt to sort out the bike in advance of our  planned equivalent of your Classic Dirt in South Africa in June 2008. The Maico is a lot diffrent to my YZ 490, KTM 500 and Honda 480 CR which I also race from time to time, these bikes are less tiring and may be  a consequence that the Maico is a twin shock. This was the first time I have raced a twin shock in such a race.
 
Notwithstanding the Maico made for an interesting day. The suspension was problematic, the barking bumps in the run up to sweeping corners played havoc.

This week it will be back to the suspension drawing board. I think that the motor was fine, may need to add a cup washer or two in the clutch. I ran an electronic ignition and  a 38 mm flat side carb- net result worked well..
Old and slow - and happy

Offline jimg1au

  • Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 3489
    • View Profile
Re: Racing a VMX bike and a current bike in a current race meet
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2008, 10:40:24 pm »
i had a TM300 2003 and riding it was pure luxury compaired to 1979 yz400 and 1981 it465.yes the older bike are fun but riding a TM300 big bore 2t with ohlins front and back fully floating front disc was just magic
cheers

Offline holeshot buddy

  • Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 2008
  • sunshine coast qld
    • View Profile
Re: Racing a VMX bike and a current bike in a current race meet
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2008, 11:16:14 pm »
work this out we had transponders on our bikes and lap time on my yz465 in evo class was only
3 seconds slower than the honda cr 250 07 i was riding in vets
but the honda felt heaps faster, very deceptive 8)







it ran last time i started it  ;D
follow me to first turn