DEALER FOCUS
we got some gains on our test bike. We took
it for a ride on the road to check, and it went
fantastically. We were all stunned with the end
result. The test bike was my shop loan bike
CD250U, so I lent it to some customers and they
all came back wondering what had been done
to it – the thing was a ripper! At this point I knew
we were onto something.
Next to get some treatment was Shane’s
Quarter Midget one Saturday morning. We put it
on the dyno and spent a couple of hours doing
the jetting and ignition timing, which found
around 3hp and really cleaned up the top end.
This was great, but we really didn’t know what
that would mean on the track – they were
making around 21hp the way we built them.
The boys went racing... and Cheese phoned me
from Western Springs that night. We had won
all three races and the feature race from half a
lap back. The next week we ran up another four
Quarter Midgets, and many more since. After a
few years, we were getting bikes from all over
NZ, some driven up, some trailered and some
freighted. They were great times.
LEARNING CURVE
By the time I got the dyno I had been an A
Grade motorcycle mechanic for over 15 years,
but now I was learning so much more – it was so
interesting to see how and why things worked.
There were all the myths about “fit this, it will
go faster”... yeah right! We could now modify a
guy’s engine, and then prove that it was better.
No seat of the pants subjective stuff, it was now
clear to see with the before and after graphs.
This dyno tool meant we could tailor the power
a bike made with how the owner would ride it. It
was about the overall package and rideability;
there was no use having it pulling your arms off
at the top end if you ride around town all day. I’d
say my knowledge of the working of carbs really
improved over that time.
Upgrades to the dyno came along and I had a
big one in 2005. I had paid $19,000 for the dyno,
and the upgrade to Windows operating system,
Eddy Current and air/fuel monitoring was
another $22,000. It was a bit easier to swallow
this time around because we knew there was
business to be had.
KIWI RIDER 25