AATV Racing

[Mike]

I am clueless when it comes to racing so someone jump in here and explain the different ways to race. ie. obstacle courses, timed courses, one person at a time or several, etc.

I spoke with Don some earlier tonight and he shared a little with me. Then after watching hydromikes and his videos, I am ready to learn more. Fill us noobs in

[jpswift1]

Here is a picture of my Attex racer being built. I will find the link about all the NATVA racing rules and classes soon and post it up, or talk to Don or Mike.....those guys know all about it.

[Mike]

Awesome man. What kind of motor? And what kind of speeds do you expect to see?

[jpswift1]

Thanks! Its a JLO Rockwell 440 twin which will be bored .010 over along with a 36mm Mikuni carb. Im guessing between 42-45HP and speeds of around 45 mph. And it is super light, about 300-400lbs.

[hydromike]

I'm no expert, but Don raced in NATVA. He'll have more interesting stories. He hasn't really boasted about it yet, but his "old McKay" racer is just about as evil as they come. I like to build and ride the racers, but it's rare (OK, never) that two people are able to get out on a track and tear it up. As hard as we try, it's difficult to impossible to get a lot of people interested in it. Everything is quads these days, which is really too bad.

Track racing would be the way to go. IMHO, obstacle courses are really sorta boring. You don't really get a whole lot of action racing against a clock. Obstacle courses are something cross between Trials racing and a Hare-Scrambles. Track racing is flat out Formula 1, or a Watkins Glen-ish event .

Racers are a unique breed, because they're truely built for one purpose: Go fast. I think they do everything better (except go slow, which has its downfalls). Typically, the center of gravity is lowered up to 12", and everything is engineered to be safer, lighter, stronger and faster. They're not machines you go take for a ride on a bumpy logging trail. They "corner" better (you don't "turn" in a racer, you "corner"), and once you're strapped in and go for a ride, you'll need one. Here's a short clip to show you how well they can handle, even before putting in a bucket seat and lowering the c-g. This is the might ST/503R Stage II, before the seat, expansion chamber, smaller tires, different cage, etc. It's running a 503 Rotax, roughly 52hp @ 6500RPM. It's a stock engine, very reliable, and plenty powerful for the Attex...




I have an e-copy of the 1975 NATVA manual that I can send to anyone if they want it. I have it in .jpg and .pdf. Unfortunately, I can't post it to the site due to file restriction size. They become unreadable as I reduce file size in either format... 11 pages total. If there's a "FILES" Section anywhere, perhaps I could load them up there? I vote we adopt the rules as they stand and propose minor amendments as we see fit...

[Mike]

Mike, that video was great and thank you so much for taking the time to explain the racing a little better for me. If you will just email me that manual, I would be happy to host it somewhere for now so we can all see it. Soon I will put up a downloads section without the same size restrictions.

As far as the racing goes, I guess I didn't realize how modified these really are. No wonder it is hard to get a few together to race. I find it hard enough to get together with other normal 6 wheelers let alone someone who has invested that much time / money / etc into one.

[hydromike]

<<snip let alone someone who has invested that much time / money / etc into one.
<<unsnip

(Laughing) Money? Not really... I guess it depends on what you think a lot of money is. Racers are not expensive to build. You're actually using a lot less stuff than a trail machine. As you redo things and make changes, you can get quite a bit invested, but quite honestly, the 503R has about $1500 invested in the whole thing, and the D/Stock Superchief is roughly the same. It's not chump change, but when you compare it to what a 1990s MaxII goes for on ebay... Crikey!

You're right about time, though.... hundreds and hundreds of hours to get everything even close to right, fix everything that breaks, etc. On other boards, there's perennial discussion on the usefulness of race-bred machines. Some administrators have even gone as far to say that they're "Great for racing but totally useless for trail ridding" (sic).

Once I bought my 295, I found the joy of going really, really slow over obstacles and up/over things, etc. I went for a ride with Jeff and his Camo MaxII and I was really impressed with what it handled. Jeff took my machine down and across a ravine that I wouldn't have walked across.... a racer could probably do it, but there would be a lot more noise, dust, cursing, broken parts, etc....

[Mike]

perhaps I overestimated the cost of them just a little Of course, the way that you guys buy so many of them, I'm sure that supply / demand has to kick in sometime.

As far as their usefulness, that was the other thing that came to mind when you initially posted this. If you don't have any/many places to go and race with others then its usefulness is limited. It's like building a car made only for the dragstrip. Sure it's fun there but what else are you going to do with it. Of course, there are a lot more dragstrips around than AATV races But for that kind of investment I am sure I would get my moneys worth of fun.

It's funny that you mention going slow over obstacles. Before I had a Max, I pictured full throttle runs over jumps, etc. Then when I went to pick one up I quickly realized that wasn't their main purpose. Fortunately I had gotten into rockcrawling with Jeeps not too long before that and understood the joys of going slow and conquering terrain.

Now I find that more enjoyable than anything else. I think that's why I like these things so much.

Love the tires off of the ground by the way.

[Don]

I dug up some pics of the old McKay D-stock to post if anyone wants to see it. The transmission is an ATV manufacturing 6000, similar to the one Jeff made from a reversible unit. The engine is a "stock" G50B 484 cc Xenaoah. The pictures were taken shortly after the rebuild and it's not as shiny now.
Don

[Mike]

SInce I am from the south, "That thang sure is purdy" Really though, it looks great. How long ago were these taken?

[Don]

Thanks for the kind words, Mike. These were taken two or three years ago when I finally got the thing completed. I bought it as a "basket case" and put it together like a big puzzle. It was worth the effort, though: the thing's a blast to ride.

Don

[jpswift1]

Don, that McKay racer is sooooo cool! I cant wait until you, Mike C, and I are buzzing around at 40mph in our machines! Now, how "stock" is that Chap engine you have in that thing? The rumor is that your machine really flies!

[Don]

Thanks, Jeff;

As far as I know, this is the engine that ran as "D-stock" in the NATVA, so I imagine it's fairly close to original, but I'm not sure. I've never had the heads off it, and the only mod I did was to change the ignition over to CDI. The carb's a little oversize, too.

Don

[hydromike]

Thanks, Jeff;

The carb's a little oversize, too.

Don

A little The VM32 on my Chap fits inside the float bowl of the toilet hanging off the back end of that '50B. It may be near stock, but it's the healthiest near-stock there can be. I piloted it once for a very short stint. It's silly to try to put the experience into words.

I'll post a video of the "R" in the video section to give an idea of what it "looks" like to pilot something similar.

~M

[mud dog]

Hydromike,could you email me a copy of natva manual
my email is tiatia@isp.com
this is mud dog