Date: Tue, 24 Sep 96 16:11:54 -0500
From: Raymond Patrick Farrell
Steamboat was another great weekend although I did not get there until Saturday morning. I got to meet Gary Slabaugh, the first Brit Iron person that I have ever met, and watch him race his Norton around the streets. He finished third out of a whole bunch and was pleased with his results. This was my 6th(?) time to Steamboat, and Gary was the first person to race that I knew. I almost had too much fun watching him. Hopefully I'll have a Norton ready for next year. I also saw a Norton F1 for the first time. Gee, I wish I were rich.
In last Thursdays digest Ben English wrote
>Rode 100 miles at midnight to USNOA rally in Maine in 1982 by
>using highbeam flasher. My thumb got sore, so on straights I
>would release it and ride by the pilot lamp for a few
>seconds. Exciting.
Reading this, I laughed so much, I had tears in my eyes. Somehow I thought I was the only person who ever had to do this.
On a different thread, about two months ago, I replaced all the bearings in my '75 Norton Commando gearbox for maintenance, and while I had it all apart, I replaced the stock 20 tooth countersprocket with a 21 tooth. I had read on Brit-Iron that this was a good thing to do, ie, lower stress on the engine at highway speeds etc. Anyway, I did not like it at all. Note that the altitude here is a little under 7000 feet, so the horsepower is reduced approx. 20 percent. Anyway, the bikes acceleration was even slower than what I was expecting, and I 'always' had to down shift to third to pass a car. (bummer) It felt like I was riding a dog. So about a month ago, I replaced (again) the countersprocket with a new 19 tooth, and this fits my riding style MUCH better. There are some drawbacks to the 19 tooth but I can easily live with them. So my recommendation is not to jump on the 21 tooth countersprocket bandwagon if you live at some altitude or your riding style is a bit on the aggressive side.
Thanks Chuck and Ralph for making all this possible.
Ray Farrell
850 Commando