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MISC LINKS

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Link to ReStackor web site [link01]

Shim ReStackor: Software to tune
a shim stack

Found this old newspaper clipping in a box:

This picture is from January of 1981. We had a freezing rain that left the sidewalks and roads covered with ice, followed by snow. The snowmobile club decided to have a race on the 1/4 mile track at the fairgrounds. I was watching warm-up and noticed the dirt track was covered with ice. I had a 1980 Maico 490 with studded tires that we'd been riding on the river. It was hard work building the tires and I would never ride on dirt. But when I saw the 1/4 mile was iced over I went to the promoter and said I'd go get my bike if they would run an extra race. No problem.

By the time I got back the announcer had built up the race into a grudge match between motorcycles and snowmobiles. Everyone in the stands thought I'd be killed. But we had a lot of time on the tires and knew what the bikes were capable of. On clear ice you could brake hard and do nosewheelies (stoppies), and the bike turned like nobody's business. Snowmobiles are good at going straight, but they don't turn well.

We had the parade lap for a rolling start. As I came around the final corner, the flagman dropped the flag. The snowmobiles had been racing all day and the riders were expecting it. I was totally caught by surprise and got a dead last start. We had only four laps and the deep snow on the outside lines made passing difficult. I passed a rider and then about got run over on the first lap. I had slowed and braked a little to get the inside line. Zane was right behind me and didn't expect that. He goes into the corner wide open and throws it sideways. Said it was pretty close. It took all four laps to work through the crowd, but did manage to overtake the leader as we exited the last turn. Too bad I didn't win some money or have all the girls chasing me, but it was a blast!

As a side note, we would drag race the snowmobiles on the ice and get creamed. They would pull up to the start and embed their wide track with studs into the ice. We had studded trials tires with about a 5-inch wide profile. Not much of a match. But still great fun.

The 1/4 mile track had both ice and snow. But we loved riding on the frozen river before it snowed. Traction was surprisingly good. Third gear power slide, dial on the throttle and the front wheel would lift. When we raced I'd do 3d gear starts in the dirt. First time I tried it on the ice and the engine stalled. So much traction.