Brian Kirby , I see you

lurking! Saw you in some notorious web site on a white KTM 400 like 1977 model.
Youse better call and say hi!

I got a new metal knee and my buddy Sean is threatening to drag me out in the woods on a KDX200...Save me!

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Damnit man! I only signed up like 20 minutes ago and you already outed me!

Yes, I have 30+ vintage bikes now. I've won several national championships in vintage racing, its pretty much all I race now but I do have a couple of modern bikes to practice on so I dont trash my vintage bikes. I still have my street XR, and while I am not remotely even thinking about building or buying a rally car, I never lost interest in it.

Sorry if this is too far off topic, but I thought I'd link some random pics of my vintage bikes.

'72 Penton 100:







'72 Penton/KTM 175



'73 Penton/KTM 250



'77 Penton/KTM 400





'79 Maico 450





'82 Husqvarna 175







'92 Honda CR500

That's awesome! Fits the spirit of rally! So keep the pics coming.

To give some background on myself, I was building an XR4Ti for rally with JVL's help in the '03-'04 time frame but it got damaged in Hurricane Ivan so I dropped that project and went back to motorcycles. I started riding at 5 and racing at 6 so I have been riding/racing bikes for 40 years.

Here is the first bike I had, this is from '73.



Some of the vintage races I do are closed course, AKA motocross or hare scrambles, but some of them are exactly like a rally. They are two day long races, there is a Parc Ferme, you start 3 or 4 bikes on a minute and you trail ride to the special test secitions and your score is the total seconds it takes you to complete the weekend's test sections, just like a car stage rally. It is patterned after the real ISDE which stands for International Six Day Enduro.

Here is a picture of a Parc Ferme:



Here is one of me and my cousin's at a start control out of Parc Ferme.



The one difference to car rally is you can not work on your bike at any time while it is in Parc Ferme and at the start of each day you can not start your bike until your minute comes up. If you work on the bike or start it too soon, you get a time penalty and if you can not start the bike and travel 60 feet under its own power in 60 seconds you get a time penalty.

I was very very interested in RallyMoto until they banned two strokes. I guess they were afraid a guy like me would bring out a 30 year old Husqvarna 500 and kick the crap out of the guys on their bloated BMW and KTM "adventure" bikes.

Welcome Brian! I have raced the Idaho ISDE Qualifier a few times, and have an A class Enduro championship or 2. Timekeeping Enduros are where my 2 wheel heart is, but no feeling like finishing both 130+ mile days in Idaho. 90 degrees one year, snow the next

Quote
Brian Kirby
I was very very interested in RallyMoto until they banned two strokes. I guess they were afraid a guy like me would bring out a 30 year old Husqvarna 500 and kick the crap out of the guys on their bloated BMW and KTM "adventure" bikes.

I don't think two strokes are out - I think you must be a vhicle that was manufactured for the street.

---

"Talk about drugs. Driving a car like that, going that fast, it’s like all the drugs at once." - Tommy Byrne

"Now, Pinky, if by any chance you are captured during this mission, remember you are Gunther Heindriksen from Appenzell. You moved to Grindelwald to drive the cog train to Murren. Can you repeat that?" - The Brain

Quote
frumby
That's awesome! Fits the spirit of rally! So keep the pics coming.

Hey Jason, It was hilarious when Brian signed up on SS.com (You ViILL BE PLEASANT!) and was asking about getting started and all the Dinosuars were all saying, "Just get any ol thang , and LEARN to DRIVE" as they always do, not a single one asking "Welll what sorta stuff have ya done before?"

'Cept me cause what a person has done and where and who of course sets what language we can speak in, right?

Me: so, kid whatddya have for background? You done any other car stuff or raced motorcycles or mountainbikes?

Brian: Well I raced some motorcycles...

Me: Like what? moto-cross, enduro, desert, roadracce?

Brian: well moto-cross and some desert

Me Oh really, where?

Brain: well allover, some (I think he said) District 37...(SoCal AMA district)

Me: uh really, what bikes?

Brain : Husky, KTM Euro stuff-n-stuff ( I rode Husqvarna from 1970 thru 1984 except '75 (injuries, bad year) '76, '77 with KTM and 1.5 events with Maico in '77)

Where you located?

Brain: Flar-duh

Me: well duh its a big state, where?

Brain: Kinda NW

me: like where?

Brian: outside of Pensacola

Me: Oh? Really? where? (I lived in Pensacola back 64-67, it was second time my Dad was based there, first time back in 1943 for Basic Flight Training--and where I began riding in the woods at 14)(everyday thru the woods to school)

Brian: Oh out west of town

Me: where?

Brian: Oh almost in Alabama....

Me: Do you live on Spanish Moss Drive?

Brian : uh yeah, how'd you know?

Me: my parents live on Spanish Moss Drive! (literally the last street in Florida before crossing the bridge over Perdido Bay

Turns out he lived about 4 doors down (and across Lilian HiWay) from my folks.. And now my brother lives there after my dad died about 8 years ago...

Brains Dad was a flying Gyrene about a generation after my Dad so he was in a lot of same places as we were.....


Hey Brian, last 4 years, I've had 6 serious operations all but one related to those vintage years: Upper spine disc No.? was smashed and pinching the nerves going to left arm badly., then Lumbar number? was crushing the nerves to the left leg (The 2 crushed discs is where the mysterious loss of 40mm height came from); then I got a all new shiny metal knee,
then got both side of my nose ported and polished from several broken noses and a broken cheek--lots of rocks in France---- then I died one night of appendicitis last spring, then had a tune-up on the new knee.
Right now it seems I may have a hairline fracture of the tibia since the first..
I'm vintage and getting progressively all rebuilt...

We oughtta turn this thread into the dirt bike roots thread!

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Yup, that is exactly how it went. John was the only one to ask what I had done before, which is very important. I already knew a lot of the things John preaches from racing motorcycles, like good suspension is as, or more, important than HP and usable HP is more important than some random peak number you may have.


Hey Wilson, I dont know if you will remember, but I worked the '02 Tarmac Express as a Parc Ferme marshal with you. I'm good friends with Randy Bailey, we race vintage bikes against each other now. I'm kicking around the idea of buying his Isuzu. He said he would sell it, but only to someone who would use it.

As for two strokes, the RallyMoto FAQ says they are not allowed, but I know I read the rules when it first came out and they were allowed with a displacement advantage for the diesels (four strokes). I have several older two strokes that are legally tagged, and they were built before there was such a thing as "manufactured for the street". Even then, I dont see why "grey market" cars are allowed and convereted off road bikes are not. Sure, the grey market cars were built for the road originally, but they are no more legal as far as the DOT is concerned than a converted dirt bike. The only reason can be to protect the four strokes, and I understand why they did it, my tagged '83 Husqvarna 500 makes 55+hp, weighs 235lbs and with its 6 speed transmission will go 100+ mph all day long. With a decent rider on that 29 year old bike that I have a total of about $1800 in will completely and totally humiliate a '13 BMW or KTM Adventure couch. I do have a tagged Husqvarna 610 four stroke, so I may still show up at a RallyMoto event some day.

Quote
wvonkessler

Quote
Brian Kirby
I was very very interested in RallyMoto until they banned two strokes. I guess they were afraid a guy like me would bring out a 30 year old Husqvarna 500 and kick the crap out of the guys on their bloated BMW and KTM "adventure" bikes.

I don't think two strokes are out - I think you must be a vhicle that was manufactured for the street.

I think Anders effectively wrote out ring-dingers (and probably for the very reasons Brian said!!!) I suggested to him that guys like brian are the exact type of people whio we should be actively chasing cuase they're (obviously) the toughest and looniest guys in motorsports....
Go wallow in mud for 8-9 hours in a day and laugh about it, then sitting on your butt in a nice comfy slow car is a breeze--and just fun...

And compared to even 30 year old bikes, cars are slow (and clunky and baulky, and unreliable POS)

I strongly suggested that he should allow any bike that is licenced and insured regardless.

THIS:


should be allowed because:




That is a licence plate on it...

And that could be a hilarious bike at Sand Blast..

Just imagine wheeling out of 3rd gear corners and holding it for a straight...



Cars couldn't do that...and that was 1974, and cars still can't do that.

Good ol Gennadi Moiseev ex 250 and 500 World Champion, now head of Russian Motorcycle federation

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2013 04:22PM by john vanlandingham.

I have one of those too, a '77 400GS, actually its a converted MC5.







This bike has a Florida title and a current Florida tag, with insurance. This bike will also pull 100+mph gearing all day long. Hell, even my '92 Honda CR500 has a legit title and a tag, but I would be more interested in riding one of my older air cooled bikes. Maybe RallyMoto could add a Vintage class and allow two strokes in it? It would be REALLY simple to define the class too, just allow any bike that originally came with drum brakes. That allows up to around '84 or so depending the on the manufacturer. Of course they would have to conform to all the other RallyMoto rules.

Speaking of brakes, Brian I am wracking my head to remember just what I copied off of works KTMs such that I could run a (gasp!) Japanese front brake cable, and guides, (and lever, bah!) all in FRONT of the fork...

I made an anchor point, and the brake stay--longer, flipped the lever around so it faced forward and had really really excellent brakes...Basically copied works KTM stuff which was copy or works Japanese things, which all had Swedish ex-Husky riders wrenching on the bikes and Swedes working in R&D.
Did the same thing on my later Huskys and miracle! their drums were good too. Cable not twisting or wrapping around back was the answer and the Japanese front cables were as hefty as car e-brake cables...

Stoppies anybody?

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

I have a Yamaha front wheel and brake on one of my Maicos set up just like you described, but most of these bikes even with the stock brakes work a lot better with the modern shoes you can get now. I also take the time to arch my shoes so the entire surface contacts the drum and they are one or two finger brakes. But, I am a 125 rider at heart, so I am easy on brakes.

Quote
Brian Kirby
I have a Yamaha front wheel and brake on one of my Maicos set up just like you described, but most of these bikes even with the stock brakes work a lot better with the modern shoes you can get now. I also take the time to arch my shoes so the entire surface contacts the drum and they are one or two finger brakes. But, I am a 125 rider at heart, so I am easy on brakes.

Oh yeah I can imagine---but we did have alternate matierals then, too.
Maybe not here.
And yeah the whole 125thing "Born paralyzed on the right, but epilepsy
ont the lest side: thottle pegged wide open 100% or shut 100% while the left foot and hand are twitchin' and jerking around non-stop

Then imagine me, a dyed in the wool 500 (well 360-430) guy.. Maniacal obsession on BRAKES!!!!! feverish nightmares, sweat pouring off as nervous giggles drift outta the garage.......heh--- heh hehh b-b-brakes! FRONT BRAKES!! IT LIVES!!!!!
Aside from hair color this could have been a stright shott of me back in those days while working on making the brakes seriously WORK



And the hair is too short...
Saw this




while finding that, on the way to my first professional International March 1977, 404 diesel and '77 400 Maico....a weird model, not like 76 or 78--which was same as '76--I knew the Maisch family then

Kinda funny that that bike is "vintage when in the piccie its not even 1 month new

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.