Help at the August event

[jim reed]

At age 72 it looks like I am finally going to get to Bonneville in Aug.. Has been a dream for years. Will be running my Yamaha R-5/TZ-350 hybrid. I will run in the Classic M & MPS and M & MPS gas classes. I'm looking for someone to help me drive out and help at the event. I live in the North Carolina mountains outside of Bakersville (pop. 257). I will pay for lodging, provide food at the course and dinner in the evening. Mapquest claims it takes 32 hours to get Wendover. So I figure we will be gone for 10 days. If you wish to talk call me a 828-537-2008 or email reedspeed1@aol.com

[Doc B.]

350 M-CG will be an interesting class to watch this year. Looks like there might be three Yamaha R-5s running. Moving my Honda to 250 M-CF is going to save me some humiliation.

[jim reed]

Great! The more the merrier.

[Koncretekid]

You describe your M class bike as R5/TZ-350.  I believe the R5 was an air-cooled motor, so be careful about what the TZ connection is, as BMST in the description of an M class bike says: 

"This class does not include factory produced road racing or any other specialized racing models unless available to the public. "

Also, in Classic class, date of bike is limited to 1980, so unless the motor can be described as an LC350 from 1980, it may not be allowed.  In any case, you can request confirmation from BMST.

Of course, if you have kept it air-cooled, it may qualify as just a modified R5 motor.

I run a Bridgestone 350 at Loring, Maine with a top speed of 113 mph in M class, but I am afraid to run it at Bonneville with WFO throttle for 2 miles! Parts (crankshaft for example) are just too hard to find.

Tom

[Chris V]

As Koncretekid said I was thinking the some when I saw this post yesterday about year and liqued cooling of engine. He would be my competiter as I plan on going after MPS-CG on my 72 R5 350 Yamaha

[jim reed]

Koncretekid,
According to AMA Chapter 5 rules for modified frames, off road, limited production and road racing motorcycles with a production of less than 500 available to the public are legal. Road racing motorcycle not available to the public are not legal. Also it is stated that frame and engine must be from the same manufacturer. No mention made about model. The R-5, D-7, RD-350, RD-250 and RD-400 and TZ-250/350 all shared frames of the same design with the exception of brackets and tubing thickness. The crankcases were almost all the same. The RDs had a 3 screw sheet metal bracket located on the cases behind the clutch. The TZs had rubberized front motor mounts.

Neat to hear of someone racing the Bridgestone 350. I have 2 engines and a rear wheel for sale.

[Doc B.]

I'd guess that part of the reason for the cutoff of 1980 for classic motors might be this very situation of the numerous Yahama 250/350 variants and the amount of parts interchangeability. Definitely worth getting some clarity from officials via email before heading out there. No one looks more perturbed than someone going thru tech who has been told they can't run their bike the way they set it up. tech@bonnevillespeedtrials.com

[jim reed]

Thanks for all the input. I have taken your advice and contacted the tech guys for their input. All questions could have been avoided if I just use the TZ frame and cases instead of the R-5 items. The reason I did not use the genuine TZ items is due to their rarity and value from a historical and collectable standpoint. Also I have raked the R-5 frame. Something I did not want to do to the TZ frame as the value of the frame would be trashed as a result. Will let everyone know what I hear from tech.