Don’t Ask!
Go ahead, but if your question is stupid, you’ve been warned…
If you choose to email a question to this forum, then you must conduct yourself accordingly. Therefore, the following rules are in order:
1. Do not write your email to me IN CAPS. If you do so, I will print out your question and do terrible things to it.
2. Do not request a personal e-mail response. Since I get thousands of questions each month, trying to answer them all would cut deeply into my leisure time, which I value more than your current state of confusion.
3. Try to spell at least in a semi-correct fashion. If you choose to mangle the English language, expect no mercy from this quarter. You might be mocked severely.
4. Do not ask for me to send you copies of my many manuals and literature. I am not in the library business, nor do I want to spend the bulk of my day at the copy machine just because you’re too lazy to ask your dealer, or look around a bit.
5. Don’t bother me with truly stupid questions, like how to get 50 more horsepower for a buck and a half
6. Now that you know the rules, think carefully and have at it!
Send your questions to editor@dirtbikes.com, Attn: Don’t Ask, or leave your questions in the comment section below.
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SUBJECT: 1971 SACHS MX CHROME PAINTING
Hi, I will keep this quick. I am restoring a ’71 Sachs motor cross. Do you know anyone that could help me with how the factory made the paint stick so well to the chrome tank? I am a collision repair painter, but we don’t normally paint on chrome. Any help or contact is appreciated.
Charlie
Here’s how I put paint on a chrome piece. First, take the lightest sandpaper you can find and very gently go over the tank. When you get done, you should not be able see any marks from the sandpaper in the tank. Then clean that surface with carb and intake cleaner. My favorite brand is Super Tech. Once that is dry, you can spray paint the chrome. I’ve had great success using this technique.
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SUBJECT: OLD DIRT BIKE STAFFERS?
I’ve often wondered what became of some of those guys– George W, Zeal Anderson, Chet Heyberger, Jim Connolly…..
Brian Ddettling
George went to work for Honda for number of years. Chet moved up to Oregon. Jim still has a machine shop in Redondo Beach and does secret work for Honda on the side. I still keep in touch with Jim at this point.
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SUBJECT: SUCH A DEAL!
Good Morning, Rick.
Here’s an old ad from the classifieds of an August 1968 CYCLE MAGAZINE:
“2-1961 G-50 MATCHLESS Road Racers with fairings, gearing, and spares, both for $2595.00. Also a B.S.A. Gold Star Dirt Tracker for $595.00. Spotless. Krause M/C Sales, 17-31 Main Street, Emmaus, Pa. 965-2135.”
Now, would that happen to be your old friend, “Vic Krause”?
If so, could you do me a big, big favor, Rick? Could you call him and see if he just so happens to have that “B.S.A. Gold Star Dirt Tracker…Spotless” for sale? If he does, tell him I’ll give him $1595! He can’t lose, Rick!
Thanks, Rick!
Easy,
David “TT500” Fruhling
Krause no longer operates his businesses and is semi retired. He spends most of his time flying one of his several airplanes around the country. Let me know if you do happen to run across one of those cool bikes for sale.
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SUBJECT: KDX200 PIPE CHOICE
Super Hunky,
Came across a Krause Kannon pipe supposedly for a 1984 KDX200. Since Vic was a cellmate of yours from back in the big house, I’m hoping you might point me in the right direction. The ad I saw for these pipes mentions that they could come in three options (I don’t mean colors): low-end, top-end or mid-range. How can I tell which flavor of pipe I am looking at? Haven’t taken delivery yet to know if there are any secret codes stamped in it.
Thanks in advance.
Mike Husted
Tulsa, OK
I had a KDX 200 for years and thought it was one of the greatest bikes ever made. It has great low-end, real good midrange and is fairly good on top. I can recall racing my Kawasaki KDX 200 in the Adelanto Grand Prix and passing open-class Honda four-strokes on the pavement sections of the race course. My bike had the stock pipe on it, but I replaced the standard muffler with a high-performance one. I would go for the mid-range of the three options. One thing I would absolutely do is put one or two teeth bigger on the counter shaft sprocket. Believe it or not, the bike will pull it comfortably. It’s truly an amazing motor.
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SUBJECT: THAT POOR YZ 490
Why do you rank on the poor Yamaha YZ 490 so much? I rode one about a week ago and, man, it was very very fast. So what’s the deal?
Andy Jeffers
The first time I got on a YZ 490 I was very impressed with the bike. It was, indeed, fast. However, when I got on a motocross track after about 10 minutes of riding, my forearms started to cramp up and my hands went asleep. That weekend, I rode the bike in two 40-minute motos at Saddleback Park and had calluses ripped off both hands halfway through the second moto. No thank you.
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SUBJECT: I STILL HATE YOU
I used to read off-road.com just for the dirtbike stuff. I didn’t like what you had to say about many of the bikes, and in fact hated most of the stuff that you wrote. Then I read where you are going to dirtbikes.com and figured you would change your habits, but no such luck. You’re still a p**** and will probably always be one. So take that.
Marty
(no address given)
Well, Marty, at least you followed us over.
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SUBJECT: WHICH VINTAGE BIKE?
I want to start racing vintage bikes, but I don’t like 125s or 250s. I really prefer the open-class bikes but there’s no way I can afford one of those expensive Maicos, which I understand are the real way to go. So, failing that, what big bike is still a reasonable choice for vintage racing?
Andy
Los Angeles, CA
A very often overlooked bike in the vintage class is the Yamaha YZ360. It doesn’t handle like a Maico, but it’s still plenty fast, and with a bit of work you can get the suspension at both ends to work in a reasonable fashion.
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SUBJECT: 450 OR 490 MAICO?
I’ve been looking around at vintage Maicos, and I’m having trouble choosing between a 450 and a 490. I’ve taken test rides on both bikes, but as you well know a test ride is usually up and down the block, and that’s it. So which bike is the deal?
No name given
There is no question at all in that the 490 Maico is definitely the fastest vintage bike that you can buy. In fact, they’re even faster than most of the brand-new four-stroke open class bikes. I just sold my 1983 490 Maico, and it was equipped with a 44mm Mikuni carburetor on it. That particular bike would absolutely smoke any modern bike.
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SUBJECT: FIRMER FORKS
I’ve got an old bike with Ceriani forks on it, and it’s just a little bit too soft for me. A buddy of mine told me that if I cut a few coils off the springs it would make the forks stiffer. I don’t want to screw up my forks real bad, but I don’t want to spend the real money to make my forks firmer.
No name given
You can take a few coils off the springs and it will make them definitely stiffer. But you must replace the area that you cut off with a solid piece of metal to take up the space of the cutoff coils.
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SHAMELESS PLUG
My new book, The Last Ride, is at now out. It’s fiction and starts in 1969, when an 18-year-old kid just out of high school gets a chance to ride his Yamaha 250 DT1 from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles … all off-road. His adventures are truly amazing. The book then jumps 40+ years where the same person, now in his 60s, wants to get that old Yamaha back in his possession and return it home by riding it all off-road across the country again. The book is $15 plus $2.75 for mail anywhere in the US and for more information, the email is:
superhunky@gmail.com
Paypal address: superhunky@gmail.com
Website: www.superhunky@gmail.com
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