Before I started racing I would pit for others , just help out. Pushed a lot of race bikes around , something feels different about a race bike , light but with a solid feel , the difference between butter knife and a meat cleaver.
Got to ride a few , almost got to ride a XR750 at Sacramento , just in the pits but it didn’t happen. So some will understand the diff and some won’t. A lot of my bikes just kiss fast and I’ve ridden some incredibly fast bikes. So what is fast. Is it doing 140 on a Road Glide , no ,is it holding a smaller bike wfo , no, is it breaking  the 2 ton mark now we are getting closer. I’m talking acceleration that forces your eye balls back into your head , tests each and everyone of your fingers for enough strength to hang on. I’m talking FAST , when the bike is accelerating so hard , trying to keep front end down and going in the general direction desired, front end just touching here & there , everything is on the rear wheel , h/p peaking , bike literally just dancing over the road wfo , what a ride ! Raw two stroke power is a rush , raw unadulterated horse power , no sissy as$ed rev limiters just raw horsepower. Macho , manly ,  there is no faking it here. Doesn’t take a man to hold it wfo but it does take balls and skill. Isle of Man is where they go to scratch that itch. I learned to ride within my limits a long time ago. I’m happy to just kiss the beginning of fast now and again. The sensation of that kind of power delivery is impressive almost nauseating , seams to distort your side vision from speed only leaving a smaller area to focus on straight in front , maybe other have opinions on this I’d like to hear. I still think the quickest bike I’ve ridden was a Maico 501. Out of the box motocross bike that  did over 100 mph. It only had a 3 speed trans , shift twice and break the ton. Just try to keep the front end down , so easy to do a 100 mph wheelie , big fun but hella scary. Should have bought it , they sell for big $$$$$. It was strictly a power to weight equation, think I only weighed 125lb back then.

Dude stopped by with his Suzuki GS 1100 and let me ride it. I didn't weigh more than 125, and his helmet fit like a trash can. There was a road that had quite the turn, drop right, bend left, look up from under the right elbow to see the light, drop right, hit it, and Daaayumm,, it put me just holding on. Couldn't dial the throttle down. The road took a little bit of a left crossing the road, only way I could do that was twist at the waist. Finally the acceleration slacked enough I could shut it down. Took the first right. Stopped, got off, hands on knees, making weird noises and shaking..

The road entering that intersection was unlike any other I've seen.
Kind of a Fish Hook shape,

Thank GAWD it didn't wheelie..

So I’m solid in the thumper camp since I was a kid. Here is where just kissing fast comes in as opposed to full blown sex  on a built H2. I think I need that scary ride from time to time to keep things real. However a ride on a bike like that , kinda gives me a target to shoot for while dreaming , building , tuning a single. We are real lucky to have the combined knowledge we have here , DBM s skills & ability to teach it is rare in a forum. My bike turned out well cause of the members. Built many fast singles in my time , actually had no intentions to build the tracker engine. It only had 809 miles on when I bought it , build tracker put stock engine back in. It wasn’t meant to be , pulled donor engine put it on the bench , days later oil leaked out everywhere , leaking from main case halves. The whole engine had to be torn down to reseal it. No way I was not gonna give it a hot build , stock ! Then people like Versy , Lancer , Dave  and that’s just the tip of that list , seems everyone has had a hand in this bike. Couldn’t leave me be to put my stocker back in , carbs n pipes , piston n cam , etc n etc and here we are. I could say I built it  but the truth is we built the bike. Got to go I’ll be back.

Well let that be your BIG word for the day , yeah I had to look it up , lol

ohiomoto wrote on 02/16/23 at 19:48:45:


I feel the same way with my Baja.   I have 13" of suspension and slightly north of 200 hp in a 2400 lb car.  A lot of friends are going bigger motors with more suspension.  My issue with that is the softer the ride the more comfortable you get - so you go faster.  That means you get in trouble quicker!  My car can outperform me.  I like it that way.  Not going to make it handle more because I would end up going faster into trouble!

I just can’t leave a bike without trying to tune that last bit of git out of it !
When I talk about a speed dance on the rear wheel , it’s not a giant wheelie it’s just barely touching the ground all weight transfer is over the rear wheel under max wfo throttle , even the 505 lb sportster when held in wfo will do the dance. This is tuned where I want , yeah all these newer bike come that way , well most. It’s not all about putin a whoopin on Dave or anyone else it just  how I build/tune. Gearing was ok before but at 65/70 the throttle response was so sensitive every tiny bump in the road cause a rpm change. So taller tires & gearing changes (longer legs ) will definitely affect power. So some more carb & exhaust tuning might happen. If she still wants to dance under wfo and throttle response mellows out at freeway speed I’ll be real happy. Never gonna happen. Before at 65/70 it just wanted to go , not cruise but go , passing slower traffic was easy. Snap the throttle and go , but no cruisability. New gearing should cure somethings up in that area.
I love that feeling when a bike does the speed dance. On the H2 the power was constant when on the pipe , on a single to tune the bike to do the dance  it only last a bit till H/P catches up to load and everything smoothes out , but it’s a good goal to have and/or reach when tuning. Our engine was design as a cruiser entry level bike. Not a great engine for performance builds in comparison to the SR/XT/TT 500. But it stands up well it just won’t ever become a bike to build for track applications. A Hobby bike , there I said it. So those of you that actually crave wfo and the dance of a H2 , just know a built n tuned Savage gives me a thrill when she Just Kisses Fast.

I think the Yamaha SR500 was built to be a track bike , it’s a great engine. I was always curious about the savage only cause it has a starter , I did like it was a 650. Over the years even in stock form I still think it’s a great bike just on a different level. I still have to finish up my SR when the Savage is tuned. Was up in the warehouse today lookin at a SR frame and part of a Savage frame and both have the same size chain on the same side , hmmm. An SR with a happy button , I’ve been kickin this idea around for years , the Yamazuki SR695. It would be horrible I would have to destroy 2 classic motorcycles to make it happen.The SR has good handling & so so brakes.