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73 Kawasaki 350 F 9 discussion forum:165MPH ´71 Kawi F-9 |
| 165MPH ´71 Kawi F-9 |
| Chas said 2004-07-24 00:58 |
| I am curious to know if anyone else has a "slightly" modified F-9 capable of 150+ miles per hour?? In the fall of ´70, after taking second in AMA´s District Nineteen 250cc Stock Production RoadRacing points, a Kawasaki Dealer in Sherman, Texas sponsored me by giving me a brand new ´71 F-9 350cc "crate motor" to build a competative GP Road Racer... and I did! I used the Kevin Cameron modifications on the engine, complete with a massive expansion chamber, then added a few modifications of my own.. I installed the F-81M Close-Ratio gears, an H-1 500cc triple Clutch Hub, fitted with the H-1 Barnett Clutch pack, and an H-2 750cc Triple Crankshaft gear, slightly raising the overall primary gear ratio. A 40mm Mikuni carb fed the "liquid power" to the engine. I fitted the engine into the frame from a ´66 Bridgestone 350 GTR(that I campaigned in the 500cc Stock Production class the year before), laced up a pair of 18" Borani Alloy rims fitted with Goodyear RoadRace tires. The front rim was fitted to a Honda CB750 hub so I could have disk brakes. GP RoadRace "Clip-On" handlebars, Fiberglas gas tank, seat and fairing were fitted, as well. Koni Shocks were installed on the rear. Every bit of "unusable" steel was cut off the frame, and all the "excess" aluminum was cut off the engine. The "wet" weight of the bike, sans rider, was a svelt 275 pounds. The real fun came on it´s maiden voyage at the (now gone) Dallas International Speedway.. We bump started the bike, allowed the engine to warm up then I headed down pit lane to enter the track. First gear was rather "tall", requiring the revs to be up over 3000rpm, slipping the clutch to get the bike going.. even at that, it reached peak RPM in short order, about a hundred feet at a speed of fifty-five miles per hour. I pulled in the clutch and snicked the foot-shift into second and screwed the throttle to "WFO"! The engine responded by delivering all 9000 RPM in seconds. I rolled off the throttle, stabbed third gear and "lit the wick", expecting acceleration, which I got. What I wasn´t expecting was the 45 degree wheelie at a speed around one hundred MPH!! This is not something you want to be doing on a partial streamlined bike, as the air hitting the underside if the bike can "blow" you over (very fatal!). Rolling off the throttle wasn´t an option either, as the bike could "end-o" at that speed (equally as fatal!). I "landed" the bike like a 747.. and made a mental note to use the clutch when shifting into third gear. Around 130 I stabbed fourth gear, the front end did get a "little light", but not enough to upset the chassis, or me. Shifting into fifth was uneventful, but watching the tach climb to near 9000 rpm was a thrill. I was running a 15/30 sprocket combination. Even more fun was passing the 650´s and 750´s down the straight and totally "blowing the doors" off the "hot" 250cc Twin Cylinder Yamaha Factory Roadracers as we peeled off the straight into a 45 degree left-hander.. The Yami´s had to down-shift two gears to stay within their 500rpm powerband (12,000 to 12,500), I stayed in top as I had a powerband that "came on the pipe" at 3000rpm. Below 4000-4500rpm this engine sounded like a big "lunger" four-stroke, beyond this range it sounded like a squadron of really angry bees ;-} Anyone else ever had this much fun from a "trail bike"? ;-} Chas. |
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