PART THE FIRST Totally TOO Much
In which Odgie disregards both conventional wisdom and common sense. What could possibly go wrong…?
The Real Reader will recall that a while back I’d built a nice little lightweight Can-Am flat tracker, using an ex-military Bombardier as the start of the project; the frame and cycle parts are virtually a direct copy of the 1974 MX/Enduro bike, while the disc-valve motor is just a detuned version of the same thing. You’ll find the series starting in RC191.
As I’d mentioned in the last part, I was getting the throttle wide open against the stop at times on the straights. That didn’t really suit me. For one thing, part of the fun of riding flat track, or indeed anywhere off road, is playing with the throttle, searching for the grip and traction. It’s that symbiotic relationship with the bike, the total engagement, the attraction, the challenge. And for another, if you’ve got the throttle wide open, you’re waiting for the bike to catch up with you, so in theory you could be going faster. Those two things bothered me.
My mate Paul had an old Armstrong with a350 engine. It was a non-runner sat for years, but I could use it if it was suitable. I picked the bike up, and soon had it running. The motor had a couple of issues – the biggest one being its ancient
