Racing, on the cheap...?

Well...not really...nothing inexpensive about racing, or bigger street bikes...but a fella can dream. My racing will be on the dirt...flat tracking and eventually I'd like to do some Vintage Trials. As much as I'd like to try my hand at some Vintage road racing...for the foreseeable future it's not happening.

a Yamaha 650 motor I picked up at a swap meet recently...It would be nice in a classic flattracker...or, settled into a spare unit construction Triumph chassis I have...which would rile up the purists...

Some goodies from the last local swap meet...some good Unit Triumph parts, the fork shrouds for a BSA...been looking for those...the Yamaha 650 parts on the right were an absolute bargain at $25.00, not everyone is out to gouge you these days...

One of the "Hooligan" Sportsters at Dirtquake US from this year...

A street Sportster motor I have that could be a good candidate for a Hooligan racer...

This motor has all the perfomance upgrades, just needs the handling upgrades...alloy rims, good  shocks, dirt track tires, fork mods, flat track tank and seat...oh...two grand should cover it (if I do the work...) As I reread this...more like 3,000-3,500, and I do the work.

I have a 250 Bultaco that would make a nice flat tracker...it too will need flat track wheels and tires...

When I say racing here, I'm talking about "run whatcha brung" events at first...later getting into local sanctioned AMA stuff. Speaking of "run whatcha brung", went to this event....

The main attraction is the local Speedway race bikes......and they did a "Hooligan" oriented race.

Some of the Speedway Bikes

As it turned out four bikes showed up for the Hooligan race....the winner was a guy I know, Pete Demas, who raced his fathers old Sportster that he had quickly converted into a racer...( it's a work in progress...)

Pete used to roadrace...he last raced an XR 1200 on the pavement. He beat out a Ducatti Scrambler, another Sportster, and a guy on a Harley Chopper....and collected a trophy and $200.00

It's a rough and tumble kind of a bike...like I said a work in progress...cobbled together quickly to get into the race.

Pete looking good for the fans...

Detail of Pete's Pops old Sportster 883...

I  first met Ken Heuser in the 70's when I was wrenching at a motorcycle shop in Folsom. The old "Small World" thing going on... He and my old boss at the shop I worked at in Folsom were in the Air Force together.  Ken was stationed in Japan in the fifties at the same time my Air Force father and his family were...about 1959...My father and Ken probably crossed paths out on the flight line a time or two... Ken's been racing for 70 years.

Think I will go out with this pic of the track....being primarily a Speedway track it's smaller than a quarter mile track....guessing maybe a fifth of a mile...?

Been having a hard time blogging with the way my present computer is set up...that and the slow connections I'm using...was going to post some videos, maybe add some later... Scattered as this post seems to me...gonna hit the button, and send it on it's way.....