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robertaccio

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Everything posted by robertaccio

  1. BTW the afore mentioned Thomas Gustaffson was not only an engineer at Husqvarna Sweden but he was also on the crew team that designed and tested the Husqvarna 510 4T engine from the early 1980s and rode in the ISDE with the factory prototypes in the big bore 4T classes. In 85 Spain ISDE he was even on a liquid cooled TE510 single shock prototype while all others were still on air cooled engines in the new single shock chassis (others like class winner Andrienni (ITA) and our very own Larry Roeseler (USA). Retail did not see the liquid cooled 510 until 87, pro racers mid 86 . Gustaffson is a Swede legend of 4T design and implementation. PS I owned rode and raced locally a US model 1986 510TX air/oil cooled single shock machine. Note until the Italians re-engineered the 510-610 they did not even have oil pumps, to me another brilliant Swede engineering design for lube and oil bath cooling. explanation if anyone want to hear it. My Huasberg although she has an oil pump still retains the RAL system as well..
  2. At the 2008 EICMA I met and had great discussion with the Swede engineers that cut and welded engines to form the 70 deg engines as well as world enduro pilot Joakim Ljunggren of the 70 deg machine. those welded up prototypes were super proto.
  3. Local famous journalista gets in the viddy! Jean gets her moment. And now that my wheels are on the way from UK my Swede! HBG FC501 project will be going into final assembly phase. 1994 FC501 chassis with a 1997 (oil pumper) FC501 6 speed engine. This thing should freaking rip some serious thunder will be heard on the Cahuilla Vet track. BTW the 70 deg engine bikes do ride like magic....they just have silly heavy feel on the stand from all the mass centralization.
  4. robertaccio

    Favorite Piston?

    Pistons (et al) FYI most OEMS source items like pistons and contract with specific specialty manufacturers accordingly. With EU brands it is usually easy,even on the OEM packaging to see and find out which contracted manufacturer the OEM uses or used in regard to powerplant components as well as chassis and controls components. They seem to advert and promote the specialty brands they use, even chassis houses like when Verlicchi was a major player with Ducati and others. Asso Werke (big one, that most have never heard of), Athena and Woessner are examples of 3 of many manufacturers used by various EU OEMs at various times. The Japanese OEMs tend to be quieter about their labeled OEM parts as far as outside contracted mfgrs go. But you do see them open about many items like electronic stuff, FI, wheels, suspension, carbs etc.
  5. robertaccio

    Need Help Picking Up Your Piggy Bike? - Try MotoWinch

    ADV guys gonna need to tow a Snap-On trailer tool case for all the tools "needed".
  6. robertaccio

    2007 Aprilia Scarabeo 200

    APRILIA Scarabeo 200 Specs & Photos - 2008, 2009 - autoevolution
  7. robertaccio

    Sleeping bag or blanket?

    FPG ThermaShield , this thing is stupid good. In cold It feels like in 1 second you wrap up in it , instant warmth. On the flip side, For heat reflectivity amazing as well. Adapter Shade Panel 2.0 Learn More | forceprotectorgear Field Blanket MultiCam w/ Pouch (forceprotector.com)
  8. robertaccio

    Adventure Bike Truth: Marketing vs Reality

    marketing will never use an average consumer as their test/video/model, they use paid pros like Pol Tarres (Yam) types to showcase their beasts. I remember BMW used the big Fin Simo Kirssi to showcase their HP2 model, he rode it like 125 MX bike......he would show up at EU rounds of enduros on the HP2 beast with cameras in tow for some epic HP2 videos. Just like Pol does now with his very modified T7, it's great entertainment and publicity.
  9. robertaccio

    Isle of Man TT - Time Magazine

    Sir John Surtees still remains the only man to ever win the F1 World Championship and the 2 wheeled "MotoGP" World Championship. A local guy at the Coronado cars on main street event. has an MV Agusta 750 America with Sir John's signature on the tank. very cool
  10. robertaccio

    Isle of Man TT - Time Magazine

    Let those who ride decide.
  11. I will stick to "short" closed course (or semi closed) racing. NHHA sometimes and any sort of enduro or XC event within my hard/challenge but comfort safety zone. When tired from sleep deprivation my balance is the first thing that goes to hell.....not a good combo for overnight races. Also since getting old my night vision is compromised bigtime from my days of youth in BSA and USMC. Hacking is a well known entity in rally and long course offroad events, top tier bloke.
  12. 1999 Bartolini YAM won the MXGP World championship but Smets KTM came right back to win again in 2000, then came the Everts YAM steamroller....... Somehow this quote will not go away!!!! I needed to say Doug Henry is and was an amazing guy!!!
  13. 1999 Bartolini YAM won the MXGP World championship but Smets KTM came right back to win again in 2000, then came the Everts YAM steamroller.......
  14. Remember that 400 YAM was not mine....so I can't account for owner maintenance and tuning. I love this stuff, because the TE450 (mine was 06 carbby model) took me alot of my dial in stuff and ended to be a good runner. But then came my 2008 TXC450 FCR carb bike too which was far superior but with the continuing thing you mentioned VIBES big time !! When I rebuilt we installed the 08 SM CB shaft assy. game changer. BTW the original TE world champ 400 engine in 03 as well as early TE models all had CB shafts. For some stupid reason ($$?) they lost them in the TC,TXC and TE models only the SM models kept the balancer shaft. My ex TXC450 is still alive and smooth as silk, the way the entire line up should have remained. BTWx2 All the SWMs have the CB shaft in them as designed originally under the Husky banner. Yes the FI on those injected Huskys was a bit of a nightmare for some reason (Mikuni FI) that was used on some Japanese machines with no issues...?? always odd to me,
  15. PS that YZ400 was a terrible machine for me......I rode a first year model more than a few times in the off road environments , that thing was first hard to start cold, pop stalled and virtually impossible to start hot.........a very frustrating horrible offroad bike for me. I could start a Husky 610 easily hot or cold 1 or 2 kicks. That Yamaha was a shitshow in that regard and really scarred me. If I was racing enduro I would smoke myself in times on the TE610 over that blue trashcan. Glad they sorted the things out as years passed, but then in typical Japanocentric logic made them concentrated heavy weighted tanks in the offroad models......yes they worked.. but hell they weighed a ton.
  16. Early 80s Husqvarna prototyping the 510, by the mid 80s they had the TE510 in world enduro comp and ISDE comp. The Husky factory guys like engineer/racer Thomas Gustafsson were a year or 2 ahead of production bikes. For example top American LR at the 1985 ISDE Spain and Italian 1st in 4T class Andreini were on Aircooled single shock TE510s , which for US were 86 models. (Note I had the US model 1986 510TX cross country model single shock chassis with air/oil cooled engine) In 1985 the Husky factory guys were on liquid cooled TE510s in that ISDE which turned to be 87/88 models for the production machines. MX? I would need to look that up I think the focus was on Enduro at that early time. These Husqvarna engineered 4T bikes are the root of the family tree of all the single cam OHV 4 valve bikes that followed this path from the early 80s Husqvarna Sweden, Husaberg (same engineers) Sweden after Husky was sold to the Italians, Husqvarna Italy (with constant improvements), Vertemati, Italy based from Husaberg but gone wild with re-engineering and design. PS because of my interest in the initial design of the 510 series Air/ oil cooled, no oil pump, 2T engine block based design. I have studied this tree for years Swede simplicity and functional engineering, very impressive thought process.
  17. I have a problem with our US centric logic. But this guy does give props to the brand guys who got the big 540SX going. 1993 Italian Husqvarna won the MXGP Championship with Husabergs and KTMs following the 4 stroke trend. I still maintain that Husqvarna (Varese Italian Husky brand) opened the door of the return of 4 strokes in MX. Everyone picks their own timeline for ground zero. So the last 4 stroke MXGP champ was the BSA B50 with Jeff Smith on board until Husky won in 93. Note MXGP had 400 YZ going as well. To this day SX... as exciting as it is......to me is nothing compared to the grand courses of MX throughout the world.
  18. The real winner for KTM is the steel blood of Stefan Pierer. He is the driving force of the entire corporation. Determined to show Euro (re)ability for motorsports dominance.
  19. Shite I know you are retired but hell an 1886 KDX200 ............
  20. KTM first had Rotax 604 series 4 strokes , then their in house LC4 series. With the purchase of Husaberg they tapped into the DNA tree of the generation of Husqvarna 4T engines from the 1980s of which the Husabergs had evolved from.
  21. KTM bought the rights/etc of Husaberg, promptly used their designs as an engineering base, a little flip a little flop here and there and bang out come the RFS models. Circa 1999/Y2K my friend bought one of the first (1999 400cc world enduro champion based machine) to arrive here in SD. I was on my 1998 KTM250EXC 2T at that time. I test rode the 400 up in corral canyon , I was faster on my 250, but the time game changer was the estart on the RFS machine. Also of course the easy 400 power and low energy ease of use...and when you did stall it....a quick button press without even stopping and you were rolling. KTMs and other Euro racing enduro machines have traditionally been engineered for field expedient maintenance (ISDE fast work) which for me has always been a draw for me. Its regional in the North East as well , it was always Husqvarna and KTM, mostly Husqvarna (Swede Huskys) back in the day.
  22. robertaccio

    To bleed or not to bleed, that is the question ?

    I have no clue all my offroad bikes have mousses
  23. robertaccio

    To bleed or not to bleed, that is the question ?

    shock completely changes when warm/hot. All Pro teams crew chiefs have their set up adjusted accordingly. From my Italian (World Champ guys) very important to have that sag as a neutral place where the shock does not "work", otherwise it is constantly working both directions and heats up more. Remember the shock is separate air and oil by piston or bladder a little different than forks for the most part in that regard
  24. robertaccio

    To bleed or not to bleed, that is the question ?

    a little more heavy on the CO2 perhaps from your lungs than ambient "air" unless you use a compressed air bottle to fill the balloon........is that kind of where you were going?
  25. robertaccio

    To bleed or not to bleed, that is the question ?

    if you are going up or down in altitude, blow up a balloon and "record it's size, let it ride along with you on the seat or wherever. When you arrive observe the balloon. this is what is going on inside your closed/sealed forks in regard to static air. Add heat it will expand the air more, cool vice versa. The best you can do is neutralize to the current operating area (pressure altitude). Through experience you can do some self-feel/taught compensation methods on top of that. On my first AER48 fork set up in the year of riding and racing before my spring install mod. I had a fairly good system for maintaining my preload ("spring Rate"/Air pressure rate) , They were hard to tune for enduros......morning 45-50F by afternoon 75-80, large pressure increases throughout the day = stiffer forks by later in the day when stiff is compounded by physical fatigue. I found my best pressure ("spring rate") and would set it a little low in the cold morn, knowing they would heat up a bit from operation I found a good start pressure that would have me close or on at operating temp. By afternoon, at rest before tests, I would piss off some pressure and recheck for my happy setting and restart just a little low to compensate for operating heat pressure rise. When I was calculating all this stuff, I found that my spring rate (air pressure=spring rate) could change as much the equivalent of 5 spring rates. So, imagine I usually use a .46 spring (enduro) I was way up in the low to mid .5s (supercross)by the heat of the afternoon. Substantial and very noticeable. I know that AER48s are the extreme end of the spectrum when you are dealing with air chamber volume in spring forks, but it was a valuable lesson as to how much, that closed system air pressure can affect your forks feel and operation. I also always maintained that liked the AER48s because I knew how to manage them effectively, most folks don't/didn't. We (S101) even discussed a regulator valve that could be set to the optimum (your optimum pressure) and when the heat rise came it would (pop off) bleed off the unwanted excess pressure to maintain your best setting. Note: On site before the ride, especially if moving from one atmosphere to another bleed the air out/in as a habit. Or at the least be aware of the possible changes in feel and stance of your front end.
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