Posts
504
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
Edited Date/Time
3/11/2015 7:02pm
The jumbo ribeye I belted back 8 hours ago is still keeping me awake, so I'm bored, tired and irritated...a bad combo.
So why are 2-strokes (apparently) still the weapon of choice in Endurocross, but so (apparently) useless in Supercross? Seems weird to me. Maybe the KTM300 really is the perfect dirt scooter, but illegal in SX due to that extra 50cc. I actually miss the satisfaction you feel as you drop a 2-stroke cylinder down over a fresh and oily $62 piston & rings. That initial apprehension when it feels like it may not go...maybe in your 2-fingered-ring-squeeze, one of the rings rotated over the locating pin? But then the relief as the rings tuck in and smoothly ride the bevel up into the bore and the cylinder glides down an lands with a muffled thump on the new base gasket. Only one feeling in the world is better than that, and sliding a feeler gauge between a cam and bucket doesn't even come close. God dammit I'm getting a KTM300 this year!
And in closing...nobody (even McGrath) has improved on the original Nac-Nac in all these years. I wince when I see it attempted today...the bike is always too nose-high and the attemptee is the only part that moves. You older guys know the feeling...don't lie. When MC first started throwing them in 94' and 95', he would pitch the bike out almost perpendicular to the direction of the track while keeping the bike fairly "level" with respect to pitch. It was an athletic and physics thing of beauty. The ones you see the retro hipster kids (like Chad Reed) pulling off today just look lazy...the moto equivalent of saggy pants and flip-flops. Even MC hasn't thrown them the same since those days. It's a damn shame.
So why are 2-strokes (apparently) still the weapon of choice in Endurocross, but so (apparently) useless in Supercross? Seems weird to me. Maybe the KTM300 really is the perfect dirt scooter, but illegal in SX due to that extra 50cc. I actually miss the satisfaction you feel as you drop a 2-stroke cylinder down over a fresh and oily $62 piston & rings. That initial apprehension when it feels like it may not go...maybe in your 2-fingered-ring-squeeze, one of the rings rotated over the locating pin? But then the relief as the rings tuck in and smoothly ride the bevel up into the bore and the cylinder glides down an lands with a muffled thump on the new base gasket. Only one feeling in the world is better than that, and sliding a feeler gauge between a cam and bucket doesn't even come close. God dammit I'm getting a KTM300 this year!
And in closing...nobody (even McGrath) has improved on the original Nac-Nac in all these years. I wince when I see it attempted today...the bike is always too nose-high and the attemptee is the only part that moves. You older guys know the feeling...don't lie. When MC first started throwing them in 94' and 95', he would pitch the bike out almost perpendicular to the direction of the track while keeping the bike fairly "level" with respect to pitch. It was an athletic and physics thing of beauty. The ones you see the retro hipster kids (like Chad Reed) pulling off today just look lazy...the moto equivalent of saggy pants and flip-flops. Even MC hasn't thrown them the same since those days. It's a damn shame.
The Shop
And, there's people who have learned to do them on the outside of their whip.
my cousin has one that is pushing 56 HP. Its superrrr nasty.
always trying to achieve the perfect balanced burn
Interesting note, I ready a few years ago that Taddy couldn't run a titanium rear axel because he would bend them so bad, and he even bent a stock one every race!
Pit Row
You will love the 300,I can't think of anyone that has said anything negative about the bike.
Also, always thought TP199 was one of the best nac nac-ers out there. Even has full extension during flips:
Post a reply to: 2-strokes in EX, and the dilution of the Nac-Nac