All things youth moto…

After spending some time at the races this spring, we saw a few common mistakes in the pits that reminded us that there are a lot of new folks in the sport, and passing some advise on to our customers will hopefully help you avoid some frustration and possibly even lessen your out-of-pocket racing costs…So here it goes: Five tips for this week:

1) Careful with those brakes! Be very careful how you adjust the rear brake on the 2004 King. Whenever you change the pedal height, you must also adjust the master cylinder plunger height. We’ve seen a lot of folks lower the pedal height and not change the plunger depth. This results in a dragging rear brake which will definitely reduce pad life and possibly reduce clutch life as well. Make sure that the rear brake also has some free play just in case your little racer has his or her foot on the brake pedal while riding.

2) No Stomping Allowed. It’s okay to ‘clean out’ and warm up the engine at the starting line, however, it’s not a good idea to rev the engine to 14,000 RPM and then stomp on the rear brake. Believe it or not, this creates a lot of stress on the internal engine, transmission, and clutch components. Stop the rear wheel slowly, and your engine (and pocket book) will be a lot better off…

3) The blippers are back! Believe it or not, blipping the throttle on and off through the pits is actually harder on the bike than running it hard on the race track. Blipping never allows the clutch to fully hook up…it just sits there slipping and creating heat. That extra heat is not good for your engine seals, bearings, or electronics. Keep blipping to a minimum, and your engine will last a lot longer.

4) Leave the race gas for the family dragster. The vast majority of race gas blends actually reduce the performance of a 50cc race engine. High octane, by design, slows down the burn rate of the fuel. This is important in slow turning large bore engines where the end gasses have a lot of ‘bake time’ and detonation occurs easily. In a small bore 50cc engine that makes peak power around 12,000 RPM, a slower burning mixture is neither needed nor does it increase power. Save a few bucks and go with 93 Octane pump gas (Mixed with Cobra Venom 50cc blend, of course).

5) And, speaking of oil….There is absolutely no reason not to run a 32:1 mixture. There is no discernable performance or jetting advantage by going cheap on oil. In fact having a little extra oil on metal surfaces can actually increase performance by reducing friction. With as hard as these little high-revvers work, the added oil is good insurance against catastrophic engine failure as well.

See you at the races!