Kind of a bitsa. . . Part 1

I race an early-80's Ducati TT2 with the US Classic Racing Association. For a lot of folks involved in vintage racing, a TT2 pushes the definition of what constitutes "vintage." Dr. Taglioni, the great Ducati designer, set out to design a race bike that would dominate Formula 2 racing, and he totally succeeded with a bike that was among the first to sport a monoshock rear, and, of course, used the then-new Pantah "rubber-band-head" Ducati motor. Instead of the iconic Ducati bevel-geared camshafts, the Pantah uses toothed belts. . . kind of like a Chevy Vega, sniffed a mechanic when I stopped by his shop with my brandy-new Alazzurra back in '86. I didn't care, I loved that bike, the motor, I loved the Dell'Orto PHF36 squirt-gun carburetors, and the BUB exhaust I put on. That bike never let me down, was amazing to ride, and I sold it with real regret.



Side note- about BUB exhausts: These days, BUB is just another aftermarket pipe bender turning out plumbing for cruisers. Back in the day, BUB was one wild-eyed dude working out of his garage building great performance systems for cool bikes like the Allie. A few months ago, I watched a NOS 2:1 system for the early straight-ahead Pantah motor (both carbs behind the cylinders) sell on eBay for about five times its original 1980's purchase price. It wasn't always easy to get a BUB system, as this dude was usually either at Bonneville with his streamliner, or working on his streamliner, or testing his streamliner, which was an astonishingly disreputable looking thing. . . and its nickname was Big Ugly Bastard, or usually just the initials.



Back to the TT2. For the real history, and more information than you could possibly ever want, go look at Rudi's TT site http://www.ducati-tt.de/index_en.htm . The little racebike was a complete success, dominant in F2 beyond belief. It was nearly impossible to beat. . . it's been described as a TZ250 with a Pantah shoehorned in, the lightness and agility of the two-stroke with the grunt of that lovely little desmo. Everybody wanted one, but Ducati, in their infinite wisdom, made a total of about 50 in the few years it was produced. Copies immediately appeared, by Verlicchi and Harris among others, as well as Werner Maltry, a Swiss framebuilder who was working in Italy building factory race bikes for (I believe) Motobi. Some of them have obvious differences from the original, some can only be differentiated by the true experts (Lou Saif being the man to ask).



Then, of course, Ducati finally quit floppin' around and expired. Cagiva took over. What to do with a couple of warehouses full of Pantah motors? Why, give them away as party favors! They designed a frame, used off-the-shelf suspension components from Marzocchi, truly eccentric electricals from around the globe (coils from Spain?!), more off-the-shelf Italian components from Oscam, Brembo, etc, and bodywork from who knows where, and hey presto, the Alazzurra and the Elefant, it's off-road sister, were born. $3599, out the door in 1985. Suddenly, racers- and race fans- could afford to build a TT2. Prominent and not-so-prominent framebuilders were already offering kits, and most of the Allie's parts (including the forks and wheels) would bolt right up. On quite a number of them, the VIN number magically appeared on the new frame. . . to be continued. . . actually, I'd continued well past this point already, but some of the electrons seem to have snuck away while I wasn't looking!

Goodbye, KXTRT

About a month ago, I sold a very nice 1978 Yamaha SR500 cafe racer to Randy Pobst, a race-car driver from down Georgia way. I bought the bike two summers ago from a Free-Stater who was about to relocate to New Hampshire from San Francisco and didn't want to transport the bike- so, of course, I paid Daily Direct to bring it here anyway! The bike was great fun, lithe and narrow, sounded great, and was loaded with a lot of cool parts, some of which are no longer available. As fun as the bike was, I wasn't commuting with it (well, only once), I wasn't racing it, and hadn't built it, so it was kind of the odd bike out, and when I started on my H-D Ironhead Sportster project, my workspace was feeling cramped. One Saturday morning over breakfast, I was feeling cranky about the amount of iron in the barn, and posted the following to craigslist:

1978 Yamaha SR500 SR 500 AHRMA USCRA

Up for sale, a 1978 Yamaha SR500, "Single Road." This is a kickstart-only machine that was only imported into the US for a couple of years. It's a cult bike worldwide, and is still being produced in Japan as a 400. This is a very nice example of a west-coast style SR, with a lot of modifications; ride it on the road, or go vintage racing.

Mods include: Yamaha "spool" hubs laced to alloy rims- much lighter than the original cast wheels
Mikuni 38mm VM White Brothers carb (slide cutaway raised, needle jet hood lowered).
K&N air filter
White Brothers big-bore single wall header pipe
SuperTrapp muffler
Clubman bars, bar-end mirror
Low-profile "Lucas style" taillight
Bullet-style alloy turn signals
Upgraded Yamaha master cylinder
Single-pull quick-twist Gunnar Gasser throttle
Fork brace
Progressive suspension rear shocks
It’s not a showbike, but a solid, good-looking example with plenty of café-racer cred, and a total blast to ride. Shop manuals come with it- including a reprint of the original Yamaha manual. Tires have plenty of wear left. $1500 firm. If you like, I can give you a letter for the DMV so you can get the “KXTRT” plate that I currently hold.

About fifteen minutes after I posted the ad, the fun started. I got more email in the next few weeks than I'd gotten in my entire life. A spirited email dialogue began with Randy that continued until after the sketchy dudes he'd hired delivered it and he'd ridden it a couple of times. Last I heard from him, he was still getting the hang of starting the little darling. . . the SR500 can be a bit balky to start in any case, but with the oversize carb and open exhaust, she could be a real challenge, especially on a cold morning. These were the starting instructions I'd sent Randy while he was still waiting for the bike:

The Compleat Kickstarter

Being a treatise on the care, feeding, and starting sequence of the SR500

(It's snowing hard outside, by the way)

You may want to rent "Lawrence of Arabia" and watch the first scene a few times. . . oh, come on, he actually dies in the second scene. The first scene is the elaborate starting ritual for his Brough Superior SS100. This is nothing so complicated as that.

It must be said in the beginning that this motorcycle, like the Britbikes to whom it pays homage, truly prefers to be ridden every day. If one is not to ride it every day, there are certain compromises that must be made. First, keep the battery fully charged. This may be a function of my inability to locate non-resistor spark plugs, you may want to order some. Second, if the bike has been sitting for more than a day or two, drain the float bowl. Modern "motor fuel" seems to go bad in a matter of hours in the float bowls of carburetors. You'll get in the habit of leaving a small plastic dish and a 17mm wrench in a handy spot. Drain, replace the bowl plug, turn the fuel tap to "prime" (yes, it's a vacuum-operated tap) until the little bubbles stop swirling around in the fuel filter, then turn it to "on."

Are you wearing boots? Good. There are those who pride themselves in starting their SR500's in sandals. Fine for them. She will, occasionally, backfire. Snap! go the foot bones.

Most importantly: ignore the choke. It is only there to confuse you. The bike will not start if you attempt to use it. Likewise, leave the throttle completely closed. If it's open at all, you will hear a distinctly hollow sucking sound from the intake, giving you a clear idea of your chances that way.

Familiarize yourself with the decompression lever, a small lever mounted below the clutch lever. It is your friend. It lifts the exhaust valve. Stand the bike upright (off the side stand). Turn the key to "on", pull the lever in, and kick the engine over three or four times to "clear" it. This is of uncertain meaning, but it always sounds good, and seems to help when the bike is cold.

Let the lever out, and turn the engine slowly until you come up against compression. Pull the lever in once again, and ease the piston over top-dead-center. If you look at the little window on the right side of the head, the TDC indicator will just barely be coming into view. Let the lever out, bring the kickstart lever up as high as it will go (on whatever ratchet tooth is happens to be on), think good thoughts, and smoothly put your leg, your back, and your very soul into the downstroke. Did she start? No? Then repeat this paragraph until she does. Probably four or five times -or more- if she's cold. That's the price of that huge carb and open exhaust.

She started? Lovely. Especially if she kept running. Once she's run for ten or twenty seconds, you can ease the throttle open a bit. Once she's let you do that, you can put her on the sidestand, and don the jacket, gloves, and helmet you wisely waited to put on. If you put them on first, you could die of heatstroke before the sixth kick, and besides, everyone will think you a complete prat. Calmly get ready to ride while she chugs away, properly warming up. Once I'm astride the bike and ready to go, I'll often open the oil cap and check the oil return. I can't think of any other reason that the cap is right there in front of you.

Hot starting is usually less complex. The big VM roundslide carb lacks the "hot start button" of the wretched stock item, but she'll usually fire up with one or two attempts. Only twice has she ever stalled while I was out on a ride. Stay calm, really. Stick to your routine. Take the bike out of gear before you try and kick.

If you're bump starting and you have a long hill, pull in both the clutch and the decomp, get rolling (turn the key on!), let out the clutch, then the decomp. Magic. -g.

Let's go 2009!

New year, new team name, new blog! I'll be posting more information on us, our bikes, and our racing soon. In the meantime, this is me, Gail Catherine McNeill (aka Hammerwoman) in New Hampshire Motor Speedway's Turn 2 at a track day last August, tuning up for the US Classic Racing Association's race on September 1.