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MISC LINKS

[1]

Link to ReStackor web site [link01]

Shim ReStackor: Software to tune
a shim stack

Found this old newspaper clipping in a box.

This was January 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 snowmobile race on the 1/4 mile race track at the fair grounds. I was watching warm ups and noticed the dirt track was covered with ice. I had already spent the last four year studding up my 1980 Maico 490 and riding on the river. It was hard work making the tires and would never ride it on the dirt. But when I saw the 1/4 mile track was cover in ice 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 would be killed, but I'd put a lot of time on those tires and knew what they were capable of. You could brake hard and do nosewheelies (stoppies), and the bike turned like nobody business on the ice. Snowmobiles are good at going straight, but they don't turn well.

We had the parade lap for the rolling start. As I came around the corner they dropped the flag. The snowmobiles had been racing all day and were expecting it. I was totally caught by surprise and got a dead last start. We had only four laps and the deep snow made passing difficult. But I did manage to overtake the leader as we exited the last turn. To bad I didn't win some money or have all the girls chasing me, but is 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 bounce to get their 78 studs imbedded in the ice. We studded up trials tires and had about a 5 inch wide profile. Not much of a matchup. But still great fun.

Riding on the frozen river with no snow was ideal. You could do 3th gear power slides, dial on the throttle and lift the front wheel.