Is anybody vintage road racing their 2 strokes?

[FloridaSteve]

I just turned 49 and the thought of living out my days without ever have raced a vintage 2 stroke is starting to depress me. I'm not small (5-11 230 and getting lighter lately) so I'm thinking RD400 or maybe even converting my H1. The RZ is just too nice.

I know there used to be a formula RD class but vintage racing in general seems to be shrinking with the economy lately.

Anyone out there have any advice, stories, warning whatever? I need to motivate myself before I turn 60.

[east high]

I'll chime in here as a non-racer just for the sake of conversation. The last time I visited the pits during vintage racing I saw a handful of RDs and RZs... don't recall seeing an H1. If I were in your shoes, I'd look for a beater RZ and fix it up for racing. It's small, has better brakes and suspension, and is water cooled. A Kawi tripple sounds like it would be a handful from what I've read about them.

[craig641]

I've got a 1967 Bridgestone 200cc bike that I vintage road race. Since you live in Florida I'd start with the WERA rulebook. Especially the vintage section to see what classes are available. www.wera.com Or checkout AHRMA's rulebook, though there would be fewer races near you. www.ahrma.org

Or if you've got any specific questions I can try to help.

Craig

[Shocktower]

Get a 79-80 RD 400 they have better brakes and yeah read the WERA pages, I want to do it PIR has all kinds of racing and school, I want to go to school ( and no not for my writting skills road racing )

[FloridaSteve]

Originally Posted by Shocktower

Get a 79-80 RD 400 they have better brakes and yeah read the WERA pages, I want to do it PIR has all kinds of racing and school, I want to go to school ( and no not for my writting skills road racing )

I had a 79 Daytona for quite a few years till I traded it for the RZ. You must have had some really well tuned brakes because mine were so bad that I swapped them out for an FZR caliper (with adapter plate). I eventually ended up putting an RZ350 front and rear end on it.

I've been poking around the WERA pages. Looks like the way to go. I'm thinking I'll probably sell the H1 and track down a suitable RZ since it's got enough grunt to also do trackdays without being too much of an impediment to the faster more modern bikes.

[Low Budget]

Damn shame WERA dropped formula RD. It left alot of air coolers sitting, gathering dust.

Im not up to speed on this years WERA rules. Look into the class rules and figure whether it would be better to run a AC or a LC. Either way one of those two is the way to go. A well set up 75 - 78 RD 400 will turn lap times kinda close to a mediocre RZ........and far simpler to work with. R6 caliper and HH pucks will give you all the front binder you need.

If its track days your after and not a actual race class in a race organization, I would go for a Aprilla RS 250 or a NSR for that, light years better and easier to ride fast than any RZ or older air cooler.

Once you decide if its a actual race class or a track bike your after, put wanted ads in the WERA and AHRMA boards. Lots of them sitting around, but not advertized for sale.

Better get on the track now, before it's too late !

[PJay]

See 2-stroke Race Bikes (picture thread).

RDs and TZs for me, though my last couple of seasons has mainly been on a 1982 CB1100F Honda Superbike.

Just do it. You don't need a reason (or even reason...).

Oh, on the topic of air-cooled RDs - I've raced standard RD350s and 400s back in the day and more recently in vintage racing, and also a hotrodded RD400 that we used to use to go play with the TZ350s in vintage (NZ and Australia "Post-Classic"). The 400 doesn't have that much more top end speed than a 350, but its acceleration for a bigger rider is better.