Man I miss the printed magazines where there was this wealth of information and you could go back to it anytime you needed. Thank you for this podcasts.
Another masterclass much appreciated by this 74 yo racer from Australia whose prime racing was in the 1970s in Long Track. We could always tell which team was very serious in the paddock, because they had a guy in a white lab coat, goggles and gloves mixing up the fuel in glass lab beakers in the van. We also experimented in 1973 by putting a Maico 501 in a Long Track frame and seeing this thing overtake the best that a speedway engine could manage in the day. But power slides were a life threatening experiment.
I saw Freddy at Road America when he came back at the end of his career for the AMA. Just a natural talent. It’s like any athletic sport. Some people are just born with a natural talent, and Freddy was one of them.
My '86 NS400R was a great little mad dog of a bike - So much fun to ride! I replaced it with an RG500, that didn't handle as well but was way faster on the straights. I also tried out the Yamaha 500, but didn't like it at all. Having started racing 2 strokes in the 60's, to this day, I'm in love with 2 strokes. When I'm out for a ride, and smell the 2 stroke smoke, I get real nostalgic for those younger, carefree days. Carefree until the engine seizes, that is. Luckily, I never seized a bike on the street. Every once in a while, I put 2 oz. of a Castor based oil in my gas tank, just to smell history!
For those unable to make the trip to Japan and visit Honda's 'Collection Hall' in Motegi, a virtual on-line tour can also be done on Honda's website. However visiting the museum in person will leave a lasting impression...... In addition to all the race bikes and F1 cars, cutaway engines and incredible visuals, behind the Collection Hall is the restoration shop where former race-team engineers/mechanics restore the race bikes (such as the NSR500 and Hailwood's Six), to running condition. There's also a schedule showing on which day of the year these famous machines will be run on the Motegi circuit.
That black line photo of spencer might have saved my life. I had a 1998 Superhawk with the original Dunlops. A salesman in a store told me when I told him I had that bike, he said, "do you have the original tires on it?" I said, "yes." He said, if you see blue on those tires, change them. I lost it with those." I didn't pay attention because I thought he might have been telling me that just to sell me something. One day I was at the Rock Store in Malibu and I looked at my tires and they had a blue tinge. I thought back to the salesman and dismissed it. I went up riding with some friends and we were cornering pretty hard. I came around this one corner and the front end started washing out, right towards this really craggy rock wall. I was heading straight into it. My mind remembered a picture from a magazine, and was Freddy Spencer with a black streak coming off his front tire. Was it Cycle World? And the question was something like "did he save it, turn the page to find out." I turned the page and it said how he would gas it to take a load off the front time. This came into my mind in a split second and without delay I whacked the throttle, then it was like WHAM! I could feel the front and the bike stick... it was like I just went ZING(!) through the corner. I realized that 1) I'm not a racer, and 2) my riding had a little bit of a going too fast problem on the street. I backed out of being a long term motorcyclist because of the pushy throttle hand and... looking at crash stats (you might avoid looking at those if you want to keep riding....).
Strange question, but it's really bugging me. A long time ago, back when I waited impatiently each month for the latest Cycle or Cycle World issue, I remember reading a column by Kevin in which he used the line, “I abandoned my heresy just as it became dogma.” I think he was wrenching the 750 Kawasaki for number 9, Gary Nikon at the time. I cannot remember what the heresy was. When I google the line, I get stuff about Catholicism and Protestantism, and I know it was about something more important than that-perhaps piston ring end gap or torque specs on a wach-a-ma-call-it. This line has haunted me over the years as I ponder the wisdom of my own heresies, so I would love to know its original usage. Perhaps the answer is a whole podcast!
As someone who has 3 of the 90's vtwin smoker 250's. I could listen to this type of 2 stroke history all day. Bikes like the nsr history tz etc. The kawasaki x-09 250 was interesting with it's upside down v-twin engine placement.
This will be awesome to take a deep-dive into such a cool and technically-complicated topic. Could you guys take a deep dive into key players in the development of two-strokes and racing, esp. given their geographical and political situations e.g. MZ, CZ, Maico and Suzuki? That would be really cool to get that story and keep it documented forever through your great work. Thanks!
Absolutely fantastic to hear your analysis Keven. I’ve been trying to understand your writings for decades. You’re a better talker than you are a writer. Keep this stuff up.
I know guys like this here in district 23. There’s still alive. I got photographs of them from back in the 70s at the armory in Minneapolis. We’re still riding together.
Please consider a podcast on inline 4, like the Ace, Indian, Militaire. They look beautiful. Decent performance. Also podcast on speedway, which is huuuuge in Europe, and still run here. Mike Bast, Gresham
Lead in fuel was by a chemist called Midgeley, he also worked on refrigiration and discovered CFCs so single handedly he got the lower and upper atmosphere.
So did I 30 plus years ago, I'm afraid now I'd break myself and a perfectly fine motorcycle in half doing it, I know myself and I'd get just a little too throttle happy for my age a millisecond before disaster would strike. I sure would like to have one sitting in my living room though.
I read a comment from someone that raced against Freddie, he said "I was following Freddie into a corner, there was smoke coming off his front tyre, his rear tyre, and his knee slider"
This is the first time I've heard anyone talk about tractability on-road. I read a technical article on off-road tractive force and it was more like putting a blender on chop instead of purée. A magazine shootout on off-road racers versus on-road tried to determine which could ride faster on the others track. It's probably old now as I think a lot of people x-ride. I think off-road more easily adapted to on-road, but out-and-out speed may not be there.
Great podcast! One correction, though; when discussing the 'big bang' era, KC used the term 'firing order', when the actual description is 'firing interval'. We'll let him slide this time. 🤫😄
It was said that you could tell an RD 350 rider by the scratches on the chin bar of his helmet from being hit by the steering stem nut. I had one with pipes and whatnot, so I can confirm it's true.
Anti-knock qualities of the fuel/engine compression(or forced induction compression) ratios......water/methanol spraying solved the the octane problem for the The Luftwaffe....85 vs 97 vs 105 vs 140 vs 150 octane rated Allies fuel....and it's just limiting combustion temperatures to preclude "auto ignition" aka a diesel realms...
Why not HYDRAULIC piston rings? Maybe the solution to oval pistons? With so much clearance only a single con rod needed? Massive combustion area high revving while only being a twin or even single? VERY thick (vertically) rings that expand hydraulically transmitting heat into cylinder walls like nobodies business! At the same time achieving ideal seal woth minimum possible friction? Hydraulic via simplistic tiny wanklish type compressors located in wristpin space?
Don't forget Eddie Lawson before Wayne. Plus Mick Doohan wasn't so good in 93 because of his horrendous Assen crash 91. Which he leading championship in until nearly the end. Mick was dominant in 91 until crash. And Wayne probably wouldn't of won 91,92 championships. Plus Wayne Gardner always said honda engineers di8seem to listen just did what they want.
Piston aircraft legacy engines, AKA, Continental and Lycoming still have to use 100 low lead fuel. There are companies trying to make alternatives. A couple approved but there showing valve wear in flying school planes. They have until 2035 by the Federal government to find something else. 2030 in Governor Newson's state.
Here in Brazil, Embraer has developed and certified mods to run their 300 HP Lycoming IO-540 powered crop dusting airplanes on ethanol fuel. I have personally crop-dusted with one of those planes and was amazed at how well the engine ran on ethanol, as compared to avgas. The engine oil would still be looking like new after 50 hours. Spark plugs would look squeaky clean and the engine was slightly more powerful than the avgas-powered original version. Cylinder head temperatures were also lower vs the avgas-fed engine. Fuel consumption was higher on ethanol, obviously. But, ethanol costs less than half of what avgas costs down here. Pretty much the entire piston-powered crop-duster fleet here in Brazil has switched over to ethanol.
Great bikes but they reached end of development in the mid nineties, they simply couldn’t get anymore power from them! I believe Rossi’s bike that won the last 500cc gp championship only had 168hp, that’s less than a wsbk had of the same era!
![The Complete Story of Destiny! From origins to Shadowkeep [Timeline and Lore explained]](/img/n.gif)
22:35 : “we could have done a WEEK LONG podcast on this engine alone ! “
I believe the audience would be fine with that! 🎉
Man I miss the printed magazines where there was this wealth of information and you could go back to it anytime you needed. Thank you for this podcasts.
These talks by Kevin are an international treasure.
Another masterclass much appreciated by this 74 yo racer from Australia whose prime racing was in the 1970s in Long Track. We could always tell which team was very serious in the paddock, because they had a guy in a white lab coat, goggles and gloves mixing up the fuel in glass lab beakers in the van. We also experimented in 1973 by putting a Maico 501 in a Long Track frame and seeing this thing overtake the best that a speedway engine could manage in the day. But power slides were a life threatening experiment.
I saw Freddy at Road America when he came back at the end of his career for the AMA. Just a natural talent. It’s like any athletic sport. Some people are just born with a natural talent, and Freddy was one of them.
My '86 NS400R was a great little mad dog of a bike - So much fun to ride! I replaced it with an RG500, that didn't handle as well but was way faster on the straights. I also tried out the Yamaha 500, but didn't like it at all. Having started racing 2 strokes in the 60's, to this day, I'm in love with 2 strokes. When I'm out for a ride, and smell the 2 stroke smoke, I get real nostalgic for those younger, carefree days. Carefree until the engine seizes, that is. Luckily, I never seized a bike on the street. Every once in a while, I put 2 oz. of a Castor based oil in my gas tank, just to smell history!
What chya got these days? Castor gums up my power valves real bad.
For those unable to make the trip to Japan and visit Honda's 'Collection Hall' in Motegi, a virtual on-line tour can also be done on Honda's website. However visiting the museum in person will leave a lasting impression...... In addition to all the race bikes and F1 cars, cutaway engines and incredible visuals, behind the Collection Hall is the restoration shop where former race-team engineers/mechanics restore the race bikes (such as the NSR500 and Hailwood's Six), to running condition. There's also a schedule showing on which day of the year these famous machines will be run on the Motegi circuit.
Oh thanks for that information, I will be checking that out.
Count me as one vote for 'NSR-Week'
NSR-week is deserved ! The machine is INCREDIBLE !!
I would actually LOVE to hear Kevin talk about what he wrote in those 17 pages. KEVIN UNCENSORED please?
Another wonderful episode. Thanks guys.
Thank you for yet another great episode.
Great insight. Love the content.
Yet another lesson on the mastery of practical engineering and the trial and error to achieve success👍
That black line photo of spencer might have saved my life. I had a 1998 Superhawk with the original Dunlops. A salesman in a store told me when I told him I had that bike, he said, "do you have the original tires on it?" I said, "yes." He said, if you see blue on those tires, change them. I lost it with those." I didn't pay attention because I thought he might have been telling me that just to sell me something. One day I was at the Rock Store in Malibu and I looked at my tires and they had a blue tinge. I thought back to the salesman and dismissed it.
I went up riding with some friends and we were cornering pretty hard. I came around this one corner and the front end started washing out, right towards this really craggy rock wall. I was heading straight into it.
My mind remembered a picture from a magazine, and was Freddy Spencer with a black streak coming off his front tire. Was it Cycle World? And the question was something like "did he save it, turn the page to find out." I turned the page and it said how he would gas it to take a load off the front time. This came into my mind in a split second and without delay I whacked the throttle, then it was like WHAM! I could feel the front and the bike stick... it was like I just went ZING(!) through the corner.
I realized that 1) I'm not a racer, and 2) my riding had a little bit of a going too fast problem on the street. I backed out of being a long term motorcyclist because of the pushy throttle hand and... looking at crash stats (you might avoid looking at those if you want to keep riding....).
Love Malibu !!!
Cameron has always been the voice of reason. ❤
Another great podcast !! Thanks
Strange question, but it's really bugging me. A long time ago, back when I waited impatiently each month for the latest Cycle or Cycle World issue, I remember reading a column by Kevin in which he used the line, “I abandoned my heresy just as it became dogma.” I think he was wrenching the 750 Kawasaki for number 9, Gary Nikon at the time. I cannot remember what the heresy was. When I google the line, I get stuff about Catholicism and Protestantism, and I know it was about something more important than that-perhaps piston ring end gap or torque specs on a wach-a-ma-call-it. This line has haunted me over the years as I ponder the wisdom of my own heresies, so I would love to know its original usage. Perhaps the answer is a whole podcast!
Some athletes are magic.
Mr Spencer.
You should digitally enhance that mustache until it's in all the way.
With great mustache comes great responsibility.
Enjoying all the topics of this episode
The historical perspective that you’re giving is spot on!
I'd love an NSR500.... on good days I'd like to think I'd even survive to the end of the first corner on it, too...
As someone who has 3 of the 90's vtwin smoker 250's. I could listen to this type of 2 stroke history all day. Bikes like the nsr history tz etc. The kawasaki x-09 250 was interesting with it's upside down v-twin engine placement.
This will be awesome to take a deep-dive into such a cool and technically-complicated topic. Could you guys take a deep dive into key players in the development of two-strokes and racing, esp. given their geographical and political situations e.g. MZ, CZ, Maico and Suzuki? That would be really cool to get that story and keep it documented forever through your great work. Thanks!
Absolutely fantastic to hear your analysis Keven. I’ve been trying to understand your writings for decades. You’re a better talker than you are a writer. Keep this stuff up.
I know guys like this here in district 23. There’s still alive. I got photographs of them from back in the 70s at the armory in Minneapolis. We’re still riding together.
Did I miss the part where you mentioned that in 1997 Mick Doohan went back to the screamer NSR500 engine?
Awesome video!
Thank you very much.
Please consider a podcast on inline 4, like the Ace, Indian, Militaire. They look beautiful. Decent performance. Also podcast on speedway, which is huuuuge in Europe, and still run here. Mike Bast, Gresham
Lead in fuel was by a chemist called Midgeley, he also worked on refrigiration and discovered CFCs so single handedly he got the lower and upper atmosphere.
Always wanted to ride a 500 2-stroke GP bike
I own an RZ500 with pipes and flat slides and it is fun. I am looking at reed valve on all cylinders and firing order change with the twin cranks.
So did I 30 plus years ago, I'm afraid now I'd break myself and a perfectly fine motorcycle in half doing it, I know myself and I'd get just a little too throttle happy for my age a millisecond before disaster would strike.
I sure would like to have one sitting in my living room though.
I read a comment from someone that raced against Freddie, he said "I was following Freddie into a corner, there was smoke coming off his front tyre, his rear tyre, and his knee slider"
Can't wait to watch this
Kevin is amazing how can make complex seem understandable
This is the first time I've heard anyone talk about tractability on-road. I read a technical article on off-road tractive force and it was more like putting a blender on chop instead of purée.
A magazine shootout on off-road racers versus on-road tried to determine which could ride faster on the others track. It's probably old now as I think a lot of people x-ride. I think off-road more easily adapted to on-road, but out-and-out speed may not be there.
Great podcast!
One correction, though; when discussing the 'big bang' era, KC used the term 'firing order', when the actual description is 'firing interval'.
We'll let him slide this time. 🤫😄
It was said that you could tell an RD 350 rider by the scratches on the chin bar of his helmet from being hit by the steering stem nut. I had one with pipes and whatnot, so I can confirm it's true.
Your best yet!
What does it look like.. Kevin is awesome
Would love to see the lap times of a 500 t2 with technology in the new tires!
Love the show, not so much the stash 🤣. But seriously keep up the great work.
😂"Hurled forward in a satisfying manner"😂
Another Classic Kevin quote adding to the soon to be released book....
Hint Hint.....
Basically....the baddest motorcycle on the planet. If we had to race the alians in a motorcycle race, we would choose this bike
How bout a story focusing on MV Agusta and the creation of the F4 750...?
KRJ was actually ridding Swanz's bike.
Excellent.
Bring back the 2 strokes!
I hope Yamaha's MotoGP V4 works out.
Bennet's whole frame was sheet metal held together with pop rivets( TZ250)
Awesome machine
More Brain Blisters.
Thanks for the heat.
Doohan too asked for and used the 'old' non big bang engine later on. Not sure if this was mentioned.
Only one thing wrong with two strokes, whenever you get where you’re going you have to get off.If their is an afterlife we well all have triples.
love this
It's was best for max HP to grind a hole in the piston skirt that aligns with the port give a double shout of fuel air mix
The ‘stache ages you, Mark
How would they classify an opposed piston engine .
You two,every day's a school day. Brits with our low centre of gravity , true.
Not just the Brits, spend some time around BMW boxer owners......
Anti-knock qualities of the fuel/engine compression(or forced induction compression) ratios......water/methanol spraying solved the the octane problem for the The Luftwaffe....85 vs 97 vs 105 vs 140 vs 150 octane rated Allies fuel....and it's just limiting combustion temperatures to preclude "auto ignition" aka a diesel realms...
Bring back the magazine.
Hockenheim I have the cycle news with Itoh
Freddie was WIZARD.
I loved Honda, but wasn’t crazy about Doohan beating my American heroes..
Loved the way Rainey would just blow everyone away in the first lap or two.
Amazing, absolutely amazing to watch.
Honda should have been forced to race otto cycles.
ah, the approach of Movember...
Dittos!
Why not HYDRAULIC piston rings? Maybe the solution to oval pistons? With so much clearance only a single con rod needed? Massive combustion area high revving while only being a twin or even single? VERY thick (vertically) rings that expand hydraulically transmitting heat into cylinder walls like nobodies business! At the same time achieving ideal seal woth minimum possible friction? Hydraulic via simplistic tiny wanklish type compressors located in wristpin space?
The nsr. Honda two stroke gp bikes.
Honda is almost, too good.
Almost.
Like Campagnolo bicycle parts.
VP still sells leaded fuel
Don't forget Eddie Lawson before Wayne. Plus Mick Doohan wasn't so good in 93 because of his horrendous Assen crash 91. Which he leading championship in until nearly the end. Mick was dominant in 91 until crash. And Wayne probably wouldn't of won 91,92 championships. Plus Wayne Gardner always said honda engineers di8seem to listen just did what they want.
"Paper" engineers vs. Rider "engineers"..
In 1935 army air they were running 100 plus Octane BENZENE
Piston aircraft legacy engines, AKA, Continental and Lycoming still have to use 100 low lead fuel. There are companies trying to make alternatives. A couple approved but there showing valve wear in flying school planes. They have until 2035 by the Federal government to find something else. 2030 in Governor Newson's state.
Stainless valves by Farrara
Here in Brazil, Embraer has developed and certified mods to run their 300 HP Lycoming IO-540 powered crop dusting airplanes on ethanol fuel. I have personally crop-dusted with one of those planes and was amazed at how well the engine ran on ethanol, as compared to avgas. The engine oil would still be looking like new after 50 hours. Spark plugs would look squeaky clean and the engine was slightly more powerful than the avgas-powered original version. Cylinder head temperatures were also lower vs the avgas-fed engine. Fuel consumption was higher on ethanol, obviously. But, ethanol costs less than half of what avgas costs down here. Pretty much the entire piston-powered crop-duster fleet here in Brazil has switched over to ethanol.
@@sganzerlag that's sugar ethonal way better than corn ethonal . Corn ethonal is milky. Sugar ethonal is clear.
Great bikes but they reached end of development in the mid nineties, they simply couldn’t get anymore power from them!
I believe Rossi’s bike that won the last 500cc gp championship only had 168hp, that’s less than a wsbk had of the same era!
I can't concentrate on the topic. Mark's moustache is too distracting.
The mustache has already asked for its own podcast with Kevin’s beard.
Marvel Mystery Oil has lead
And it smells good too
@@GS-zv3qn be careful exposer to it will make you stupider like lead paint in your house