Last edited by Model Citizen; 07-10-2016 at 08:40 PM. Reason: fixed link - (just post the URL like you do for photobucket)
Last edited by Model Citizen; 07-10-2016 at 08:41 PM.
So in April 08, my uncle Dave (who ran Tru-Way RV , built 2 stroke quad racing motors w/ his sons, raced and built 6x6 racers in the 70s) passed away from cancer. That was almost a month before Annie and I were supposed to fly out to PA for a wedding/vacation.
(By the way, I hope uncle Dave was proud that we were able to restore a few of his old machines. I wish he would have been around for it though.)
My dad actually got the springer from Dave in 2001 and had been slowly restoring it whenever he had spare time/cash since then. When we flew back for vacation in May of 2008, my aunt had to clean out the machines they had left. We found the RIM to be the most preserved (a max and attex racer needed new frames/everything else - although dad has the max and a frame from Whipper is out here in Cali for it). We drug the RIM to my dad's ( it did roll after the chains were cut off - the front part of the frame had become a planter by nature and it housed a mouse nest that blew in my face on some of the first laps).
A few months after that, my dad bought a junk yard 1997 polaris 440 L/C. Over the winter, I researched and bought parts, tires, bearings, chain and some parts for the Polaris and the original Cuyuna 440 that was in the RIM in case the Polaris didn't work. During this time, Dad repaired the frame and roll cage, replaced bearings (except on 1 stubborn middle axle that didn't budge so, we left the bearings/sprocket on that one - no problem so far), installed the new chain.
When we arrived in Greensburg Pa (Thursday before Ashtabula) the machine didn't have any engine, wheels, needed a better chain guard up front. In 2.5 days we put everything in, mounted the exhaust , radiator, coolant and oil bottles, drilled new holes for the engine, made a throttle cable adapter (hardest part of the job), figured out quirks w/ the wiring harness, mount the kill switch. There were times where I was waiting for Dad to give in and just put the Cuyuna back in but, he really wanted to see that engine run - okay, me too. The machine's only test was driving it on to the uhaul. The fatal flaws that we knew were going to haunt us were: not so great clutch alignment and for some reason, the clutch plates on the driven clutch were very close together so, it seemed only the 20 year old belt from the cuyuna fit in there. If the clutches were adjusted properly, I bet it would have a few more revs when needed, not just at the end of the straight away.
In the end, blowing the belt on the last lap of the last race and having only 1 nut holding on a front wheel's 3/5 bolt wheel adapter weren't the worst things that could have happened. No matter what happened, I'm just happy that something I wanted to occur since I was 8 years old and I thought never would (22 years later) finally did. Dad feels the same way.
I can't wait to see what next year brings. Hopefully, we won't be as rushed and will get to spend more time to hang out a little longer with everyone.
Bridget, that was a great video of the Women of 6x6 World.
Mike, that was a great story. A little family history mixed in with some last minute rebuilds. I'm sure your uncle Dave would have been proud!
you got that right all thes beautiful ladys were racing . next year all will be in the mix . robbie
1999 max 2 18 b&s 22 tires custom . new max iv 23 k 26 i/n tires brown . ht cable promark winch . new toy 1972 attex st400 400ccjlo and she will be bad . ( the frog )if it don't float with out you getting wet . don't bring it !
R.I.P sage rogers 4 11 09 .
Here are the official NATVA sign-up sheets for all 7 classes that raced on Sunday. A lot of people signed up here didn't get to race due to mechanical failures, etc.
Powder Puff
4 Stroke Rookie
Over 50
2 Stroke Rookie
4 Stroke Stock
2 Stroke Stock
2 Stroke Modified
Here's my attempt at posting some video from my HD camera on youtube.
I've got some video of each race and practice to get to from that day still.
(Yeah, I choked pretty bad on the who start thing - was expecting like 10 more machines to show up then they waved the flag then there was that fear of getting close to/runing into other machines .)
Here's my last video of some of the highlights that I caught on camera:
Another great video, Mike. We want to go back and do it again- a year's too long to wait!
Stuck in the seventies- not in the swamp.
(6) Attex, a Hustler, a Super Swamp Fox, (2) Tricarts, (3) Tri-sports, a Sno-co trike, 3 Dunecycles, and a Starcraft! ...so far
That was great Mike, Thanks!!!
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