What did you do to your Vmax today? Part 2

[CaptainKyle]

Working on another customer bike today.

 

[Fire-medic]

A not seen everyday asymmetrical paint pattern, the striping looks great as does the rest of the paint! Is it DiNoc or paint?

 

[CaptainKyle]

A not seen everyday asymmetrical paint pattern, the striping looks great as does the rest of the paint! Is it DiNoc or paint?

Paint the customer drew what he wanted in photoshop and sent it to me. This bike is from Indiana

 

[Fire-medic]

I'm old enough to recall when STP jackets had that asymmetrical stripe pattern vertically in white. That was a 1960's origin design. Speaking of which, Mario Andretti won the Indy 500 for Andy Granatelli in 1969 and Granatelli was so excited, he planted a big kiss on Mario's cheek. It's one of the most famous post-race pictures in motorsports.



Swede Savage was a young racer who started racing small-displacement open wheel cars, then motorcycles, sports cars, Trans-Am, Can-Am, and later made the jump to Indy cars. It was Dan Gurney who noticed the young driver's skill and who gave him a spot on his team. He competed capably in a few NASCAR races in 1967.



In 1968 he was a busy competitor, racing in NASCAR, USRRC (road racing) and Can Am. Above is his Riverside CA appearance for Dan Gurney's All-American Racers team, in the Can-Am series. In 1969, the year Mario Andretti won the Indy 500 for the first time both for himself and for Andy Granatelli of STP (that first picture), Savage took a top-5 Indy Car finish at Brainerd in MN. The same year he raced SCCA Trans-Am and finished second at Lime Rock.

1970 saw him hired again by Dan Gurney for the entire Trans-AM series, for Plymouth, but without any wins, though he did win three poles in-front of some legendary names like Mark Donohue, Parnelli Jones, and George Follmer. At the end of the year, he won the Indy Car race at Phoenix. Asked by a reporter if it was his best win, Savage answered honestly: "In USAC, it's my only win!" In 1971 he had a bad accident which took him off the track to heal, and he planned to return in 1972. He did return to race Indy cars (USAC) but had a string of DNF's, except in one race.

1973 seemed like it was going to be a better year. Swede finished top-5 in two races on the card at Trenton NJ as the Indy race was coming up. Swede's Indy 500 car, below. It was a two car effort by Andy Granatelli: Swede Savage and Gordon Johncock.



Sadly, veteran driver Art Pollard died during practice. He was well-liked, and the qualifying was stopped. In the next session Savage was the first driver to break the old qualifying lap record. However, three other drivers also did, placing them ahead of him, which put him in #4 position, first position on the second row.

The Monday race had been delayed because of rain, and postponed until two days later. Bobby Unser was the leader for much of the first part of the race, but he had a long pit stop, and Savage was now the leader. He pitted at about 142 miles, and when he returned to the track, he veered into the inside of the track retaining wall, reports said it was nearly head-on. An oily track, an equipment failure, were explanations for the accident. There was a huge fireball, as he had a full load of fuel. Rescue crews extricated him, he was conscious on the way to the hospital, but he died 33 days later due to lung damage. Gordon Johncock, who was Savage's teammate, was declared the winner when rain caused the race to be called complete early after 332 miles.

Here is one of his driving suits, promoting STP and with the famous off-center vertical stripes.

 

[BHZ]

Lookit that popped O-ring fellas!

Hello.. I read somewhere that after a certain year the O-ring situation has been rectified by yamaha? What year was that fix put in place?

 

[maleko89]

Hmm, not that I know of. Parts have same number for main oil gallery, o-rings, grommets, etc. To rectify, Morley's HD pump kit or finding the correct Kawasaki O-ring are the only ways I know about.

 

[CaptainKyle]

One of my older brothers from Texas has been in town for the last week. He had never been here so I was playing tour guide. He left this morning so I was able to get back to work. New full undercut transmission and new paint on the motor. I left all the outer covers loose. I have all stainless bolts to go in them and will take them off to install the engine just to make sure no scratches.

 

[99YAMAHAVMAX]

Hello.. I read somewhere that after a certain year the O-ring situation has been rectified by yamaha? What year was that fix put in place?

All year model o-rings in question were the same from 1985-2007.......part # 93210-14637-00--the kawasaki o-ring mentioned doesn't need a bracket to hold it in place.

 

[CaptainKyle]

Worked on cutting and buffing these today. I had a buddy come help me lift the motor I painted yesterday off the jack stands and somewhere in the process I wound up with a 2003 Vstar 1100 . It has new tires new seat new pipes. He just wants to give it to me for labor on future projects for what I think is a really good price.

 

[gentsvmax]

Worked on cutting and buffing these today. I had a buddy come help me lift the motor I painted yesterday off the jack stands and somewhere in the process I wound up with a 2003 Vstar 1100 . It has new tires new seat new pipes. He just wants to give it to me for labor on future projects for what I think is a really good price.

Aw Man! Now see what I mean, Kyle being the example.
Good begits good! Good begat you Kyle for all the good you
put out.
LOL Its how the universe works, or SHOULD work!

 

[VMAXXIMUM]

I got hit by a pickup on may 23. My Vmax is not pretty but fixable. I sent all the bodywork to Kyle. In fact he should be receiving it today. I can’t wait to get the Capt. Kyle paintwork
Treatment. He posted some bodywork he painted a few years ago in candy brandywine. That’s going to be my color. I still have a ways to go before I can ride again but I can’t wait to strap a leg over and ride loud and proud. Paint by Kyle and a whole bunch of parts and performance upgrades by Sean. It would be a travesty not to mention Steve-o whose mechanical skills have made my bike what it is and will bring it back from near destruction to better than ever.

 

[Fire-medic]

Four of a kind

 

[CaptainKyle]

Another that has been sitting dropped off today. It's going to be a while before I can get to it though. I have a lot of jobs in front of it. I also got my Bultaco motor back from my friend today. It's all totally rebuilt now.

 

[VMAXXIMUM]

That motor is beautiful. I’m looking forward to hearing about your first ride.

 

[gentsvmax]

Another that has been sitting dropped off today. It's going to be a while before I can get to it though. I have a lot of jobs in front of it. I also got my Bultaco motor back from my friend today. It's all totally rebuilt now.

Sounds weird I know it LOL! but I wish I could hear and smell
that new 2 stroke mill when ya fire it up.

 

[Woody]

Nothing like the smell of Blenzal. In the morning.love them old 2 smokes.
Kyle what bike is this? I found it in your shop.

 

[Fire-medic]

Looks like a 1960's scrambler of some-sort, due to the covered shock absorber and the large rear sprocket. The chain size doesn't look that big, so I'm thinking something of smaller displacement.

Seeing more of the engine would probably reveal its origin, w/o having to see any insignia/name on the engine side cover. Hondas used a clevis design for the lower shock mounts, so I don't think it's one of those. I just cannot quite place it. Maybe CaptainKyle would give us a bit larger pic w/o any insignia showing, to help in the I.D. without telling us what it is?

 

[CaptainKyle]

Sounds weird I know it LOL! but I wish I could hear and smell
that new 2 stroke mill when ya fire it up.

Not weird at all ! I love the sound and smell of them .

 

[CaptainKyle]

Nothing like the smell of Blenzal. In the morning.love them old 2 smokes.
Kyle what bike is this? I found it in your shop.

It is a 72 or 73 Suzuki RV 90 another little 2 stroke bike I need to do something with one day. I also have an old 68 Suzuki TC 200 Stingray in the back. I don't know if I will ever do anything with it at this point.

 

[Fire-medic]

Nothing like the smell of Blenzal. In the morning.love them old 2 smokes.
Kyle what bike is this? I found it in your shop.

Not weird at all ! I love the sound and smell of them .

If you're an older guy, you're probably familiar with Castrol R, Benol. It was what the two-stroke guys used to fuel their bikes, using pre-mix. The aroma of Benol was a constant source of pleasure for motorsports enthusiasts of all types.

Something people may not know, is that Benol was used in Formula 1 cars before synthetics were common. In the 1960's when 500cc Grand Prix World Champion John Surtees (still the only racer ever to win both the Grand Prix World Championship on both two and four wheels) was racing F1, Benol was commonly-used in the F1 cars. When the cars went out, they would fill the crankcase or the dry-sump system with Benol, and when they were off the track, they would immediately drain the Benol. The Benol would leave a gummy residue if it wasn't drained immediately, which would raise havoc with the engine internals.

I tried running my two-stroke weed-wacker with Benol, but it quickly coated the exhaust spark-arrestor screen with a gummy residue, affecting the engine performance. It smelled good before the screen was plugged though, and it reminded me of watching Jim Clark, Graham Hill, John Surtees, Jack Brabham, Lorenzo Bandini, Phil Hill, Richie Ginther and Ronnie Bucknum (the last two, driving for the newest F1 team of the early/mid 1960's Honda) with the fall colors of Watkins Glen NY in the background.

F1 Honda RA272 driven by Ginther and Bucknum during the 1.5 liter rule. Fourteen years later, motorcyclists would be able to buy the CBX 1 liter transverse mounted inline six cyl. motorcycle. Both the F1 car's engine and the CBX motorcycle engine were designed by the same man.