Random 1980s racing pictures

[onformula1]

Yeah before kelvin passed away he was just building triple clamps, bar clips and swing arms for street/road race bikes.

And he changed to CNC too

Sent from my SM-G386T1 using Tapatalk

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

couple more pics for xrider



shot of the new kick start lever on the bike, clears the frame just like i had hoped it would

[Mickey Dunlap]

couple more pics for xrider



shot of the new kick start lever on the bike, clears the frame just like i had hoped it would

You guys had so many cool bikes, your Dad spent soooooo much money, maybe as much as Honda did on our team! lol Just think what that would have cost these days. money.

[barnett468]

@barnett468 - The race was in LA but not at the football stadium, i think it was at one of the old hockey or basketball arenas. We have a good video from the race but i still gotta buy a VHS to DVD converter to switch over our old race tapes so i can upload some of the good ones. I really wanna get my 84 San Jose 250 pro main converted from VHS, was my best and last ride on the Franks Rotax.

That would be fun to see a Franks in action and with you at the helm to boot . . I checked out you tube and the only San Jose National race was they had was in 85 . . I also found the 83 Santa Cruz National race, were you in either of those?

1985 San Jose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5hpqAcm6es


1983 Santa Cruz . . this is the pre race video with a few interviews . . it lost sound after a couple minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grhCXQkdXkA


This is the full race with sound . . Both Mike Coe and Dean Sundahl pass Jimmy White....on the inside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ0PuvGfSws

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

I have video from San Jose 1984 where i got 2nd in the open class on the Franks 495 and fourth in the 250 on the Rotax that ill get around to posting one of these days, i was at Santa Cruz in 1983 but did not do very well. George was up front in both the 250 and open class (i forget his finishes).

San Jose 1985 i got 2nd in the 200 class behind Mendenhall after having to pass both Stevie and Marty on their 200x/2 stroke hybrids and i won the pro quad race but the 250 class was ruined for me when i hooked tires with another rider at the start of our heat race and crashed very hard and complete ruined a brand new 250R that Allen at CT had built for me just for that race...i don't think Allen ever got over seeing his newest full blown race bike get destroyed without completing a single lap.

I have the full 1985 San Jose event on video including the crash on the 250 class that ill also post when i get around to it (watching those old videos makes me depressed so i honest have avoided them for the last 25 years).

[barnett468]

I have video from San Jose 1984 where i got 2nd in the open class on the Franks 495 and fourth in the 250 on the Rotax that ill get around to posting one of these days, i was at Santa Cruz in 1983 but did not do very well. George was up front in both the 250 and open class (i forget his finishes).

San Jose 1985 i got 2nd in the 200 class behind Mendenhall after having to pass both Stevie and Marty on their 200x/2 stroke hybrids and i won the pro quad race but the 250 class was ruined for me when i hooked tires with another rider at the start of our heat race and crashed very hard and complete ruined a brand new 250R that Allen at CT had built for me just for that race...i don't think Allen ever got over seeing his newest full blown race bike get destroyed without completing a single lap.

I have the full 1985 San Jose event on video including the crash on the 250 class that ill also post when i get around to it (watching those old videos makes me depressed so i honest have avoided them for the last 25 years).

Thanks for the reply . . what bike did you race in the 200 class?

Bummer about that guy taking you out and causing you to wad up a new bike but fortunately it didn't land you in the hospital . . That's another reason why I was so p'd off at Putman and the guy that took me out at the LA Coliseum race . . Not only can they wreck your bike, but they can also easily hurt or even kill you . . Both Chris White and Donnie Chandler got paralyzed when they crashed and I knew Chris a little bit and even loaned him ny bike once before so I was really bummed about that, especially since both he and his dad were so nice.

I also saw Jim West crash at Saddleback and he later died in a nearby hospital . . Both my friends son and another friend of mine died as a result of crashing . . Even though these people don't mean to do it, you can still get just as injured, and them saying sorry isn't going to give anyone their health back . . As you well know, the race is never won during practice or in the first turn, but unfortunately, some of these other riders didn't get the memo.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

I was on the best 200 class bike ever, a Rob Selvy ATC200R

[onformula1]

I was on the best 200 class bike ever, a Rob Selvy ATC200R

I didn't know you had one of those, very cool trike

[barnett468]

I was on the best 200 class bike ever, a Rob Selvy ATC200R

Xlnt . . I wasn't involved with the tecate 200's . . Harry klemm did most, if not all of those but I read mike coes thread on the site which was really cool and he said something like the factory Honda 200's were like full on works bikes . . do know anything about that?

Did you ever ride a Honda built one?

Also, how would you compare the selvy to those?

Lastly, do you know if any of the 250 or 200 Hondas had the counterbalanced removed?

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

I never got to ride one of the factory Honda bikes, when i got the tour of the race shop from Chuck Miller in 1987 there was no bikes anywhere to be seen other than the two stock FourTrax in crates they where giving to me as part of my support ride.

When you see the video of San Jose 85 you will see the factory 200s where no match for the Selvy built bike, i rode past both Marty and Stevie with relative ease. Some of this was due to my 16 inch RA tires being superior to their Ohtsu tires on a blue groove track and the 250 chassis was a better race platform then the first gen 200x but i was 50 pounds heavier than both Honda riders and i still pulled them hard on the straights.

Couple shots from 3wheeling of my Selvy 200, i am #26



The issue they are from



I never tried a 250R with no counter balancer, after all the three wheelers i raced like our CR480 Nicholson and my 85 CR500 powered 250R that shook your teeth out i was thankful to have a counter balanced and would not of given one up by choice.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

little Rotax update

getting the front end sorted out



had to go with the Sundahl bars, just felt wrong putting new ones on it



rear shock parts finally showed up, had to get the spring directly from Ohlins in Sweden so it was three weeks in shipping



sorry the pics are kinda small sized, loaned my camera to a friend and he somehow reduced the photo size down to 640x480 so gotta figure what he did and undo it

[Mickey Dunlap]

I never got to ride one of the factory Honda bikes, when i got the tour of the race shop from Chuck Miller in 1987 there was no bikes anywhere to be seen other than the two stock FourTrax in crates they where giving to me as part of my support ride.

When you see the video of San Jose 85 you will see the factory 200s where no match for the Selvy built bike, i rode past both Marty and Stevie with relative ease. Some of this was due to my 16 inch RA tires being superior to their Ohtsu tires on a blue groove track and the 250 chassis was a better race platform then the first gen 200x but i was 50 pounds heavier than both Honda riders and i still pulled them hard on the straights.

Couple shots from 3wheeling of my Selvy 200, i am #26



The issue they are from



I never tried a 250R with no counter balancer, after all the three wheelers i raced like our CR480 Nicholson and my 85 CR500 powered 250R that shook your teeth out i was thankful to have a counter balanced and would not of given one up by choice.

It says I won the 4 stroke 200 heat race? I thought I crashed in practice on the 250 Tiger and split my sternum and didn't get to race at all! Man it's hard to remember all this stuff from 30 years ago.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

@Mickey - Yeah i remember you crashing hard in practice in those three kicker bumps after the sweeper turn at San Jose 85.

[hawaiirider]

can i please get more infor on that reverse cylinder rotax! is it a tiger? where can i find one if any are left on the market.

[3WW Star-John_Neary]

@hawaiirider - It is a bit of a mixed bag really, the lower engine was sourced from Rotax's two wheel Road Racing program while the cylinder and head came from their Go Kart division. It has a very short stroke and a large 74.5mm piston so the powerband is best described as "abrupt".

The transmission is a close ratio six speed, it has no flywheel and it uses an internal rotor Motoplat ignition and of course the carb mounts so it is very close to the rotary valve instead of having the long intake track like the Can Am style engines had.

The coolant system uses pressure from the heat to move the fluid instead of a proper water pump but it worked just fine and had less parts to go wrong. The cylinder can be turned either direction and while the pipe coming out the back like it does is cool looking i am not sure it was ideal for pipe dimensions.

If you google "Rotax 244" it will bring up an engine like mine that is or was for sale in England but i do not think the "type 244" is the correct name for this engine as the parts diagram from Rotax of the type 244 looks nothing like what is in my bike.

Tony Murphy supplied the parts and Kelvin Franks built the engines himself at his shop, one of the trick parts he added was a intact manifold made out of aluminum that is a work of art. The cylinder, head and lower end all have serial numbers and i have considered contacting Rotax and asking them for more information but they are not much for customer service to the general public as they do not normally sell direct.

I know of two other Franks Rotax trikes like mine but there might of been more made.