The making of an ice racer #3 riVerRaT

[riverrat]

The polish job is just basically polishing scratches, man those thing were beat up. If I don't make Elmira, I won't go to Jamestown, just a little too far for 8 laps, even though the whole thing is awesome. Wish it was Madison square Garden!

[Bryan Raffa]

ya really .. how many years did we take a ass whoopin from chris D ....LMFAO!

[riverrat]

Nothing personal at all...This goes for everyone who is decieving about their engine displacement...whether its a Honda, Yamaha. or Kawasaki.

Why be decieving about what your engine is? I mean, is it realy that fun to beat up on guys with smaller machines that THINK they are running against a bike of equal displacement?... you know, The guy that kicks everyones ass all day with his "310" just to find out its a 370 stroker...Why, where is the pleasure in that? I get a kick out of people accusing me of having a big bore kit in my trail bike, or a stroker crank in my big bore, just cause they're quick bikes. If they were, everyone would know. I would rather race a bike of same displacement, at least then I know how my motor stacks up against the competition. The only reason I can see for decieving people about your engine, is so IF a 250 or 310 hands you your ass, you don't have to hear your buddies tell ya that their 310 mopped up your 370... OR, your trying to sneak more motor into spec class. Just my opinion... and PLEASE Don't take it personal. The only reason I rant is because I just had this conversation with a buddy today, he wants me to build him a stroker ESR, "but don't tell anybody its got a stroker in it"

Again, just a rant.... But get that thing done so we can see how it stacks up against a TRUE 310cc Tri-Z!!

#1 I am not saying what it is, so I am not deceiving.
#2 I will tell you soon enough.
#3 I could swear you told me you had a 330
#4 I am building this to whoop the 450+ quads that I race against here, more than you guys.
#5 there is more to an engine than just displacement
#6 you still have to set your bike up and ride it. All things are not equal. So if I win, it's the engine, and if I lose its the rider?

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I'm just leaving mine alone because I'm looking forward to messing with unsuspecting 450 riders who wouldn't know a 2-stroke BB kit if it fell out of the sky, landed on their head and started to wiggle! For the most part I am a traditionalist of sorts and usually go against the grain of the "latest/greatest" crowd. Kind of the same reason I still own a 99 Mach-Z 800 triple instead of a 4-poke sled. I can smoke em on the lake, but I didn't spend 12 grand. It's all in good fun.

If I ever can get together for some ice racing with you fellas, (which I'm really itching to) I can assure you what I have will be disclosed.

[rjs89ia]

this is going to be a pretty sweet trike man, the color transitions will look bada$$ when its done hope to see some pics of the finished product soon.

[Mosh]

Haha...I had my Halls ported 250R accused of being a Bigbore when I put some smack downs on banshee's, 450's (even the trikes with 450's) and run neck and neck with 295 and 310cc trikes.
It says 250R on the seat and noone ever believes it. No spacer plates or nothin either..
Really dont matter what is on the seat ecxept a skilled pilots ASS...LOL

Nice build looking forward to seeing the finished product..
What kind of shrouds did you land for the ST kit?

[brapp]

hell my 250r still has a stock bore piston in it just some mild porting done hehehe

[riverrat]

You know, an Esr 310 kit is supposed to give you about 50-55 hp, but there are good builders who can get that same hp out of a 250. My 310 had no problem keeping up with Chris and John. It really wasn't that much faster than my 250 setup, pump gas vs pump gas.

I really just wanted a power valve to broaden the power band so if I fell out of the power band in a corner while racing it wouldn't be as bad. I also wanted a long rod for the obvious benefits.

If I had the money I would have built a 430 puma motor. Its the big bore class, get over it I say. There was a guy with a 500 last year nobody said nothing about that, why because he wasn't a threat last year, maybe his year he will be. If you want to compare apples to apples then race the 250 class. That will be my next bike, a 250 with stock cylinder.

[riverrat]

just to clarify, that 500 was a four stroke...a 1979 four stroke...and you pretty much need to double the diplacement of a 4 poke to equal the power of a 2 stroke... And i understand its the Open class, and that ANYTHING goes... That's why there is no need to hide it.

Hide what? Engine displacement? Like I said, there is way more to an engine than just displacement. I never complained about having a 250 racing against big bores and holding my own. I could spend another $1000 tuning this engine without changing displacement and get 10-20 more hp. No one is asking you EXACTLY what you did to your engine. Don't really care, still have to show up and ride it. Talk to me when you are 47 years old too.
My comment about "310 on the seat" wasn't even directed at you, since I thought you had a 330, but find it odd that you jumped in there and got so defensive. It's almost like you are looking for an excuse in case I beat you?
I love the way you ride John, and I love your trikes, they are awesome, but I've been wanting to do this build way before I ever met you, or raced a single day at icefest. My build is because I have always wanted too, and to beat the locals around here. There are several quads around here that would smoke all of us, 4 strokes under 500cc's. There is also a banshee with crazy hp that we race against, there are some really fast racers here where I live. On some days even with my 310, I would be one of the slowest riders here.

I almost wanted to keep it a 310, just so I wouldn't have to hear what you just wrote. But I am satisfied with how I performed with it last year, and I really think if my seals didn't completely blow that day, I might have won that race. That's good enough for me. I just want to stay in one peace at the end of the day.
Anyway, I love the fact the my build thread has sparked this type of conversation, the stuff legends are made of, but I would appreciate if we end this hijack and maybe pick it up in the icefest thread or something. We can talk about engine displacement and hp and all that good stuff. I waited a long time to do this build, and to start this thread, so I would like to stay on topic. Thank you.

Now back to our regular programming....

[riverrat]

Well I put about 18 hours into it this weekend. I never realized how addictive polishing is, and tiring. I didn't get as far as I like, but very happy with how it is turning out. Came close to my goal. Stupid lonestar swinger had the needle bearings in there, and they were a pia to get out. Put my xsystem bushings in. I was also surprised to find out that the SS bolt kit I bought is not just for the engine, but the whole dam trike! I am running a tap through every thread, and putting anti-sieze compound.

So today I,
Polished the bottom triple,
Re-polished the top triple and shocks
removed my old swinger
Installed the new swinger
Installed the triples and shocks w/ss hardware
soda blasted the seat hardware and painted it
soda blasted the stator cover and started the polishing process
Washed a bunch of parts

Take a look at the pictures, the soda blaster is from harbor freight and it works GREAT!!

[riverrat]

Haha...I had my Halls ported 250R accused of being a Bigbore when I put some smack downs on banshee's, 450's (even the trikes with 450's) and run neck and neck with 295 and 310cc trikes.
It says 250R on the seat and noone ever believes it. No spacer plates or nothin either..
Really dont matter what is on the seat ecxept a skilled pilots ASS...LOL

Nice build looking forward to seeing the finished product..
What kind of shrouds did you land for the ST kit?

I got the DC plastics shrouds. I have to figure out how to make the radiator brackets, I've never really got a close look at them before. The triple you can just grind the stop.

[riverrat]

looks like you have your work cut out for yourself. why the rush though? There wont be any ice until the end of december

you be quiet now, ice is coming....or I am going to ice.

[riverrat]

what color powder coat is that?? looks nice. i just did a swing arm and hubs in "wheel silver" looks pretty close to the same.

Don't know the actual name. It's supposed to look like polished aluminum. It's a two coat powder, silver with clear over it.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I can't wait to see this trike when you get it finished!

What length swinger are you going with? Just curious....

[riverrat]

Ya know, I am not even sure. The guy I bought it from said it was a +2, when I measured it against my stock swinger I got +1. I need to take a better measurement. Typically ice racing you don't even need an extended swinger, as a matter of fact ChrisD had a -1 to put more weight over the rear wheels, but those short swingers kill you on the start, and being that we are only running 4 laps at icefest, start is everything. Plus with the extra power I should be making now, I might need it as well. So there was two reasons to consider getting an extended swinger. Actually I just copy ChrisD, LOL, j/k I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I want to try. But seriously, I learned almost everything from ChrisD, and JohnR who helped me tremendously. All is useless without fresh studs anyway.