Karl, I too have a soft spot for those great works bikes and believe that they are the true art pieces of our sport.
I also believe that it's totally OK to replicate a works swingarm for vintage racing, just as you believe. Where we differ is in our interpretation of what constitutes a replica. My Oxford dictionary defines the word
replica as:
n, a duplicate of a work of an artist, copy, facsimile of an original piece. To me that means that if one were to make a 'replica' swingarm it should be, within reason, an exact duplicate of the original works item, not "inspired by" or "sorta, kinda like" the original. If you were to produce an exact copy of that Brad Lackey RC Honda swingarm you refer to, that would be OK by our rules and by my understanding of the replica concept.
I have a strong belief in the concept of vintage racing being about reviving and celebrating particular eras of motocross history by restoring and racing the bikes of that era
using the basic technology of that era. I believe that the bikes should be as aesthetically close to being representitive that of the era as possible. I have no problem with modern ignitions, porting, suspension internals (
Gold valves, gas shocks etc)or any other modern addition that can't be seen but find it hard to accept 'modern' adornments to old bikes like non 'works based' billet triple clamps, ugly non era graphics like those 'Brand X' graphics for '81 Maicos, and swingarms without a historic precedent. I believe that if we allowed non period major parts we run the high risk of vintage motocross losing its period integrity amongst a sea of hot rod bikes that look nothing like the bikes of the era. Our post classic vintage road racing division has been decimated because the rulemakers turned a blind eye to a lot of blatant fudging of the rules a few years ago. I also refer you to the atrocities of Dutch twin shock racing which have twisted the concept to the point that they now merely fit twin shock swingarms to much later model single shock bikes. Of course this is a worse case scenario but as the old saying goes, 'from little things, big things grow" and if we don't protect the period integrity of the various eras of vintage racing, in the future we may be in the same boat.
As I earlier wrote, I really am in admiration of your workmanship and dedication to the vintage cause. My objections are purely philosophical and not intended to be in the least personal. I encourage your concept of recreating those LOP and other period aftermarket swingarms and encourage you to build aesthetic replicas of the works bike swingarms of the day. My only objection in this whole debate is that I feel 'some' of your swingarms have no historic precedent and therefore aren't representative of the era we are trying to celebrate. Which brings us the full circle back to my original "sucks" posting in July
