Oval Offices

OVAL OFFICES

Flat Track racing is no longer a one-brand affair, so CW's resident Pro rides a Mile in everybody's (steel) shoes

MARK CERNICKY

THIS YAVAPAI DOWNS MILE IS MY FIRST, AND FEELS LIKE IT could be my last. It's super-slippery off-line, and the blue groove is like pavement. Bad pavement. I mean, I've raced shorter dirt ovals but on The Mile, things are...different.

With the taller gearing choice on my trusty Honda CRF450R trainer-a tooth bigger front and a few teeth off the back-she's wide-gulpin'-open in top gear, and from there you don't brake; just roll off throttle into the corner then roll it back wide-open again. If you get it right, you'll feel a nice drift midcorner that gets the bike partially turned fbr the run down the straight. The big difference is that straight is ioooooong. You can't see the turn-in point fir a good while md you R. tucked in looking tor pced It also doesn't help that you're in a Petri dish of other hyper

motile misfits most of the time. In the Pro Singles Main, I finished 13th, with a fastest lap of4l.098 seconds-----a little more than 2 seconds off winner Michael LaBelle's 38.961 fast lap. But riding the Pro Singles class is not (exactly) why we're here. I brought the Honda along to get a fi~el for the track and to have a frame of reference before what would be for me, the day after the races were over, the real Main Event: test riding all the GNC Expert Twins bikes. You really wouldn't want to just show up and hop on these things cold.

For years, GNC racing was a strictly Harley-Davidson affair. Lately, things have changed. Bikes powered by KTM, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Ducati and Triumph Twins now want a piece of the pie—a $42,800-purse delicacy at Yavapai Downs.

A sign of the times, the powerhouse Harley-Davidson "Wrecking Crew" was down to one orange-and-black factory entry for 2010, ridden by Kenny Coolbeth. His Harley-Davidson XR750 is a racing relic, a spindly lash-up of tubes made from 4130 aircraft-grade steel since 1972, when Harley-Davison produced the first XR-750 factory race machines. In the early Eighties, the design got a monoshock rear end. Today, you're lucky to find a used XR for $25,000. Harley dealers still sell engine kits to freshen up the old air-cooled, two-valve, pushrod dry-sumper, and when all is well, the 750cc Twin will turn 9200 rpm and make in the neighborhood of 85 horsepower with 55 footpounds of torque.

Tucked in toward Turn 3, listening to yodeling flat-slides, trying to remember what Kenny Coolbeth had told me about making the Holy Grail rail around corners, I sat up, rolled off the throttle and suddenly remembered: The Harley's heavy flywheel means that if you were expecting engine braking, you're about to be sorely disappointed. Glad the rear brake has good pedal feel to bleed off a little entry speed and ease the XR's 19inch Goodyears down into the groove again. Back on the gas, engine torque on the drive chain winds up the entire chassis like a spring: Taut throttle cables help make the bike much more stable.

As the rear wheel starts to slide, instead of doing the natural thing and pulling yourself forward, you need to straighten your arms and ease weight back onto the already rear-biased chassis. As your view of the horizon planes out at the exits, the spring gently unloads and pushes the tire into the ground. This is a bad time to get out of the gas! It makes the bike really upset if you break the promise of a good drive— a thing that's true of all the bikes I got to ride this day, but some more dramatically than others.

The XR-750 excels here because power comes on so smoothly that it's possible to get the throttle open early and keep it open for the run past start/ finish, past nervous bike owners and AMA hall-of-famer/flat-track operations manager Steve Morehead. I get five laps per bike. Relax, everybody, I haven't crashed a dirt-tracker since, ah, well that's not important right now.

Next up: the Kawasaki Monster Energy Werner/Springsteen Racing Ninja 650. Bill Werner's tuning skills have won him 13 Grand National Championships, more than twice as many as second best. Lucky for us, instead of putting himself out to pasture when H-D began draining the financial pool, Werner teamed up (once again) with Jay Springsteen to build this bike for the now de-funked Basic Expert Twins class in 2007. The class was supposed to provide 450 Pro Singles riders an easier transition into GNC Twins, and it did. But it didn't prove popular because the bikes were heavily restricted and sort of redundant, too, while being slower than top-class GNC Expert Twins. So, Basic Ex was killed, but the bikes live on: Unrestricted Twins smaller than 750cc run alongside XR-750s with 32mm intake restrictors, while engines larger than 750cc wear 38mm restrictors (AMA says the restrictor size differential chokes them down a similar amount). Are the "new" bikes competitive? Werner's cost-effective Ninja—built for under $10 grand—won the Indy Mile last August, then won again at Springfield Mile II.

The earliest iteration of the converted Kawi started life as a $2000 eBay Ninja 650. Werner and Jon Kite of Missile Engineering in Des Moines, Iowa, collaborated on converting the chassis into a dirt-tracker by repositioning/replacing chrome-moly upper frame rails and welding them together with an adjustable steering-head tube. Weiss adjustable triple-clamps hold 41mm Showa fork tubes in place, and the axle is carried in eccentric adjusters fabricated by Recluse; tuning with these adjustments helps provide more front-wheel feel.

The motor was lowered in the frame by an inch-and-half to make up for the swap from 17to 19-inch wheels, and Werner's experience didn't hurt when it came to laying out pivot points for the chrome-moly swingarm and choosing the right rates for the Penske shock (the dirt-track damper of choice).

Next, Werner slid 86mm pistons into Millennium Technologies re-Nikasiled cylinders, with rods and pistons by Wossner and a crankshaft polished and balanced by Falicon. Werner went through a half-dozen different Web Cam lifts and durations before the Ninja could breathe properly through its stock injection system, all the while employing a Dynojet controller to refine the mixture for the now-700cc parallel Twin. Finally, a oneoff exhaust system from SuperTrapp completes the engine package. An old XR fuel tank, modified to fit, adds a sort of insult to its modified injury.

All that work produced a bike that's easy to ride hard: Weight bias is balanced like something I'm used to, and even the shifter's on the right side: the left. Dirt Ninja wouldn't get upset when I'd scoot my weight forward like I do on the CW CRF450R DT'R. Werner suggested riding it in fourth gear, but by lap two I was running into the rev limiter and went to fifth, making it easier to get the throttle open. Corner speed felt fantastic, and the chassis remained stable until I really started to push hard. Luckily for all concerned, my five laps were done just about the time disaster began to flirt with me. For what it's worth, Werner said the bike is geared for 128 mph and was clocked at 126 with team rider Bryan Smith in the saddle.

In any case, the green machine works. Werner's efforts got Kawasaki named AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National "Manufacturer of the Year," and Smith's two Twins-class wins at the Indy and Springfield Miles earned him the AMA's Outstanding Achievement award.

The Lloyd Brothers were strangely nervous to let me ride their beautiful Ducati. Seems they happened to witness my performance at an AMA Supermoto national in Long Beach, California, a few years back, where I and a hastily prepared Aprilia SXV 550 had an unceremonious parting of the ways from which both parties emerged scathed. Say, is that a Lemon-Crested Desert Warbler? Changing the subject, I asked about their Pegram Racing-built, 90-hp, Hypermoto-powered, 320-pound dirt Due, the very one Joe Kopp rode to victory at this same venue on May 2, 2010, to give Ducati its first-ever AMA dirt-track win.

Although a 90-degree Twin may not be as ideal for dirt as a 45-degree one (it's bigger and more difficult to place in the chassis for optimal weight distribution), the Ducati is at least way more affordable than the H-D and able to run a couple of seasons without much maintenance.

To build their machine, David Lloyd shot a picture of the Hypermotard engine, imported it into Corel Draw, set it to scale, punched in dimensions, engine placement, swingarm pivot, steeringhead angle, shock mounts, wheelbase— all to achieve the right weight bias, appropriate frame flex, chain pull. Then he gave it enough adjustability to make it work on loose half-miles as well as hard, slippery whole ones. The file then went to Lyle Pizzino at VMC Racing Frames, who turned pixels into real steel with remarkable workmanship.

Twisting the throttle before taking my leave, Desmo sound waves barked off the empty grandstands like rifle shots.

I cocked my head for some last-minute Lloyd advice: "Riding this on The Mile the way it has to be ridden to work properly exponentially increases the chances of injury."

With that "encouragement," I tried to take it easy on their bike, which wasn't so easy: This thing is fast. Unlike the evenly weighted Kawasaki I'd just ridden, the Ducati has a rear-biased chassis that wants to be loaded with chain-stretching torque to hook it to the track. Yes, "framer" purpose-built dirt-trackers often work best when ridden hard. When backed off, they get scary like a wild animal that senses fear. Stay in it and the bias-ply Goodyear tire will heat up, stop spinning and drive you down the straight. Get out of it and off the Blue Groove, and this bike gives the impression things could go south to Naples in a hurry. Heeding the Lloyd Bros, advice, I tried to ride it just hard enough.

KTM, anyone? Waters Auto Body Racing's Dave Waters has been involved in flat-track his entire life as rider, mechanic and now builder of this 319-pound, 90-plus-horsepower GNC flat-tracking KTM that began life as an '07 950cc Super Enduro. Back about aught-4, Waters noticed KTM LC8 V-Twins racing in Dakar. Research revealed a bottom-end designed to handle 200 horses, so he got to work. J&M Frame's Mike Owen hand-fabbed the chassis for the liquid-cooled, 942cc motor, maintenance of which consists of a set of rings every two years of racing.

Strong like bull, the KTM motor's broad spread of torque means wheelspin is always just a teensy twist away. I could start to open the throttle early, but I kept running through a big hole in the track (gee, from the grandstand it looks so

smooth...). The stock, cutdown KTM fork, revalved by Durelle Racing, would manage to moto through, but the Penske shock would g out, then spring up in undamped rebound limbo just as I'd spy a good drive around the guardrail. Welcome to Wobbletown! Sadly, this one was never even close to stable enough to allow me to grab the left fork leg for aerodynamic style points, but it did salvage the Sunday morning religious experience.

Bill Gately of Bonneville Performance has been involved with flat-track racing since the early 1970s. His passion to bring Triumph back into the sport had him poised to begin the quest with the purchase of one of the first Hinckley Bonnevilles in early 2001. Duplicating proven geometry, Gately fabbed up a tubular chromemoly steel frame designed to place the parallel-Twin just so, while allowing chassis adjustment to suit both Mile and Half-Mile tracks. Gately says the Triumph's air/oil-cooled dohc 995cc engine is worth twice the torque and horsepower it had stock, with not so many modifications: Compression ratio is bumped to 13.5:1, two 44mm Mikuni flat-slides spritz the fuel, bigger cams are adjustable via slotted gears for fine tuning and a Dynojet S ignition allows more tuning. Again with the Penske shock—also Performance Machine wheels, a single 10.5-inch A&A Racing disc—and a 43mm Yamaha YZF-R6 fork in Baer Racing Products adjustable triple-clamps. Let's roll! Or not. What's that? Test ride DENIED! Something to do with insurance. Bill did graciously offer to build us a Triumph just like his for $16,500. Oh, well, better to back away from the table hungry and still able to chew...

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At least there was another bike on hand ready to eat: the Waters Auto Body Racing Suzuki SV650. Why restrict yourself to one brand? The factory Suzuki grease may have ceased, but Waters keeps the marque alive on the dirt anyway. The team got a deal on a wrecked '03 and sent its liquid-cooled, 90-degree, 645cc V-Twin straight off to Dave Burkes Motorsports. Here we go again: J&M Racing frame, Penske shock, Baer Racing adjustable tripleclamps, etc. Instead of the popular 41mm Showa fork, the Suzuki's stock Kayaba item was lowered and revalved by Durelle Racing—which also makes the slick rims and reversible dirt-track hubs that allow you to use both sides of the tire without busting the bead. Waters says he put the Suzuki together for around $13,000.

Right away, the SV felt light, with a quicker-revving motor than the others, and a riding position much better for my 5-foot-8 self. After just one corner, the Suzuki felt almost as easy to ride as the Werner Kawasaki, with suspension and weight bias that made it significantly more user-friendly for me than the KTM.

The SV exemplifies my biggest misconception about the Twins: I thought when I shut off at the end of the straight, engine braking would help me drift it in. Not true. You don't want to downshift, either; trying to match rpm and speed would have you on your ass in a second, drifting into corners from 120-whatever. All these bikes use up-weighted crankshafts to maintain momentum and to keep the riders' normal self-preservation instincts from gumming up the roll-in and the drive out. Why do these bikes not have front brakes, you ask? Because at race speed, the pressure of about a one-gnat impact on a front brake lever would have you instantly blue-grooving with your faceshield. The game here all boils down to simple conservation of momentum: He who slows least into those big lefts takes home the money. Therefore, the entry-speed margin of error gets sliced wafer thin. Throw in the phenomenon of group dynamics in a competitive setting, and by the time you're at the end of a 25-lap GNC main event, there's a level of desensitized commitment entering those lefts that I can best describe as Looney Tunes. In my five laps per Twin, I can only begin to imagine.

You're looking at a beautiful Bonneville Performance flat-track er; that's all we did, too-look. But Bill Gately will build anyone with $16,500 the same chrome-moly-framed racebike (with enough chassis adjustability to get you around both mile and halt-mile tracks) with a lightly modified 955cc engine.

On the lightweight Suzuki, the rear brake is super-sensitive—just a touch would upset the SV if the right-foot input was the least bit unsubtle. Once up to speed—heavy crank turning, big wheels rolling, suspension working— the SV carries awesome midcorner speed, which helps it drive, not slide, with the throttle open again. The Waters Suzuki was so stable down the straight that I had time to think about setup changes to try to make it go faster.

Sitting back with a chilled Red Bull in reflection, my first one is this: Dirt-track really, literally, is a game of inches. At speed, that's how wide that Blue Groove looks, and everybody stays on it according to his own race religion, tuning ability, riding style and greed. As for me, I rank the wobbly KTM last, but that didn't stop Jeremy Higgins from

finishing 10th on it the day before, with his fastest lap only 0.36-second slower than the best time posted by the winner.

I liked the fast and fun Suzuki SV better, but it's also on the sensitive-squirrel side, a trait I am certain would not lessen with more speed. Chad Cose finished

13th on it in the GNC Main anyway, with a fastest lap of 38.7 seconds.

The beautiful, classically engineered, rear-biased Ducati comes home third in my book, and under the great Joe Kopp, it came home fifth the day before, turning the fastest lap of the Main in the process: 37.623 seconds, average speed 95.686 mph. (In fact, with three wins on the season, if it hadn't been for a broken drive chain at the Canterbury Mile last September, Kopp and the Ducati might very well have emerged as 2010 GNC champions.)

Bill Werner's Monster Kawasaki, given my druthers, would be the easiest for me to race, with its familiar weight bias, riding position and predictable power. Bryan Smith finished sixth on it—0.878 seconds behind Kopp.

At the end of the day, though, it's impossible to say exactly why, but it's as easy to discern as black and white, or should I say black and orange? Riding the Harley XR-750 is for real a surreal experience: feet up, power-sliding away somewhere over 120 mph, antique frame oscillating in perfect syncopation to the offbeat arrhythmia of its 45-degree V-Twin cackling through a cushion of K&N air filters. Somehow, it all comes together to make perfect sense of complete chaos. How and why are interesting questions, but the only answer that matters comes to us courtesy of the Yavapai Downs Mile, in the form of the top four finishers in the GNC Twins Main: Johnson, Mees, Halbert, Coolbeth. XR-750, XR-750, XR-750, XR-750—all four covered by a time window, at the end of 25 miles, of 0.469 seconds. The others are gaining on the hoary old H-D. But for now, a miss, as they say, is as good as a mile. □

What I Did Last Summer: Read about Associate Editor Mark Cerrncky's Pro Singtes Honda CRF45OR dirt-tracker including the build, the mods, the ride and the results

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