Scandinavian Classic Racing Cup is on the way

[rolf j]

Two weeks ago a fantastic classic racing weekend took place at legendary Anderstorp Raceway in Sweden, hot weather, great track and a looong straight of 1,1 km. Sundays race saw a great Guzzi win by Eskil Tin(13 in the pic below) in the very fast and competitive Formula80-87 class. His bike - especially the frame - is a piece of art in homespun engineering and a well thought-of design. Probably lacking more than 50 Hp to the competition he lead by a fraction from the start to the finishing line. Great racing!

I cooked my 1082 engine at Anderstorp and had to borrow a Polizia 844 standard street engine for the Våler Raceway competition in Norway the following weekend (78 in the pic below), no time for spannering beyond swapping an engine... I'm racing in the class Forgotten Era72-79

Out of 14 on the grid in the Forgotten Era class, seven were Guzzis. We've grown to become quite a bunch of us at the races here! Knut Holte (14 in the pic below) came third on a 959 bike that had hardly been tested before the race, great effort!

Myself?...can't complain about an eighth place and my best lap time at this track, but I've got a long way up to reach the faster riders. I want my race engine back into the frame and perhaps chop-off a couple of seconds with help from the grunt in the ol'mill!

Next is two races in Sweden and one in Denmark, all in August. Time to spanner in July! Forza!

rolf j

 

[guzzigray]

Great stuff. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[rolf j]

Thanks, more will come.
Coming weekend is the so called "46-years race" (increments of 1 per year since the first race) at Sviestad near the town of Linkoping, Sweden. Great venue, includes road racing, oval gravel track and moto-cross, all for classic bikes!

I've managed to put together a 949 engine in a hurry out of the spoils of the Anderstorp disaster and whatever parts that were found in the garage. Megacycle 620x8 cam has gone in, ports are not wonderful but fits the PHM40s well enough, valves (midvalve) are sunk in the heads to accommodate the overlap so the comp ended up at a low 9,6 in the smaller bore, but you'll just have to grab what you have! At best it probably has the grunt of an average lm4 stock, and that'll have to do the job!

 

[rolf j]

Sviestad "46-years race" in Sweden was a great weekend that proved the 948cc engine can do the job quite well despite a low comp of 9,6:1. It really went like stink and giving zero problems. Dropped my laptime by 4 seconds since my last year visit there so something must have worked out ok. Didn't touch the engine after the race and neither while waiting for the next race in Denmark......

Last weekend was the fantastic Ring Djursland International Classic-TT in Denmark. An incredible racetrack that can take your breath in up&down steep hills in and before corners. You really have to work hard on keeping the wheels on the deck in several places even with the relatively modest power of a Guzzi mill! Quite hairy to end the straight by being half airborne only to land up in the middle of the breaking zone for a 180 degree left waiting in a hill going the opposite way. :shock:
An unbelievable track you should visit if you ever get the chance!

This was my first attempt at Ring Djursland, the entire weekend in great sunny weather, highly professional organisers and a good size crowd, talks about 2-3000. The ol'Guzzi mill seems to run like clockwork now!! About 20 in the class, and I got an 8th and an 11th place, actually way beyond what I had dared to hope for as there was strong visitors from the UK on the grid in addition to the Scandinavian riders. Hope to get back there to race some other time!



Karlskoga, Sweden, coming up this weekend, last race for the season!! FORZA!

rolf j

 

[rolf j]

Some of the racing at Ring Djursland, Denmark, the "Roadracing rollercoaster!" this summer. As usual I had my 1973 Guzzi V7-Sport on the track, this time with the trusty 948cc engine that actualle did a great job despite a touring-like comp of 9,6:1. The Megacycle 620x8 camshaft, but with a modest midvalve size and not very great channels, seemed to give surprisingly good punch. Perhaps a very good valve-seat job carried out by a friend of mine here in Norway was part of the ticket...? The rest of the bike is pretty straight forward, Carillos and crank balancing done, sunk-in valves to accommodate the 620x8 cam, set the squish and valve/piston clearances quite concervatively, braced the front of the engine to the frame and braced the swingarm (overweight rider! ). The gearbox is de-dogged and shimmed up, but standard 5'type, original and crazily over-tall V7-Sport rear drive 8:35 !! :roll:

rolf j

 

[Supaflee]

Excellent pics to drool over , thanks :mrgreen: .
Ive only just started getting into my Guzzi. Its my first one . Ive had heaps of other bikes but never a Guzzi ......Looks like I may have left the best till last too I think .
Somewhere there will be a bit of video, do you have a link for me ?
Regards Supaflee

 

[OldJock]

Rolf

Fantastic pictures and enjoyed the commentary. Many thanks for posting up.

Keep em coming, looks like the Scandinavian Guzzi guys can sure ride quick.

John

 

[ChopSauce]

Great pictures! I love your V7Sport. Did you calculate the length of the exhaust or was it determined by the size of the silencer available at the moment ?

 

[Supaflee]

Be careful there yo chopsauce . That 750 of rolf j's , has a 1000 engine . Be aware .
Supaflee

 

[rolf j]

Great pictures! I love your V7Sport. Did you calculate the length of the exhaust or was it determined by the size of the silencer available at the moment ?

You're very right! I got tired of the constant threats of having to pannic-state fill up the exhaust with pot scrubs and chickenwire to reach down to the noise limits, so I found the largest, used, Acropovic that eBay could provide. It's a mighty 60mm bore item with free flow, that seems to do the noise job well without any restrictions. It is also amazingly light! Pretty? - nope!!

The 2012 season has started off with nearly a week of racing at the most exotic track around here - the Arctic Circle Raceway (ACR) up in the northern part of Norway near a little town called Mo i Rana. One of the greatest and most modern race tracks to be found in Northern Europe, built in the most unlikely place where hardly a large population, or racers for that matter, live! Surrounded by beautiful snowy mountains and wilderness, located in a closed-down mine pit - no noise regulations and no time limit on when to stop at night. Light all night up north, we raced in the midnight sun! Also raced a 2-hour endurance finishing at 2200hrs. Could it get better? What a week!

The Guzzi for 2012? - I still run the spare engine in the V7-Sport frame for 2012, a mild'ishly tuned 948cc that actually runs very well, another attempt at a more hyped-up 1083cc will be postponed to a next year's project. Slipped in at Megacycle 620x8 acquired through Guzzitech, that works very well as long as you don't get bogged into revs below 5000, I have power well beyond 8000, quite hysterical from 7 to 8-9. Kibblewhite, USA, provided valve springs that I stacked to 115kg at max lift, revving safely to 9000. The heads are prepared for the 1083cc engine so the compression is accidentally like a tourer, around 9,6 for 2012, I'm very surprised it actually runs as well as it does! Got hold of an old Marzocchi fork from Guzzitech that has made the bike very stable and willing in corners. Fitted the legs in bored-up T3 tripple clamps to maintain a better geometry, works very well. Lifted the rear 35mm through a set of British Falcon shock that did the job well at ACR, and lowered the front 20mm compared to original. This means the differenece between front/rear is now 55mm compared to original and NO signs of instability! - should be done to all Tontis I reckon. Next race is in a week in Sweden, a set of better, safer, pushrods and a new set of ISR brake rotors will go in and I am ready!

rolf j

 

[ChopSauce]

Tusen tack! I love Norway. Went to the Lofoten years ago. Its landscapes - and the Trollfjord - will remain in my head forever. Never thought of a race track in that area.

Found that picture on a french forum

What a frame, as you wrote! Regarding chassis geometry, raising the rear is something I suspected very much by just looking at the pictures of race bikes ... and just what I am doing, though my road bike settings will be more conservative.

The detailled specs of your engine are very impressive, and wise -

 

[rolf j]

Tusen tack! I love Norway. Went to the Lofoten years ago. Its landscapes - and the Trollfjord - will remain in my head forever. Never thought of a race track in that area.

Found that picture on a french forum

What a frame, as you wrote! Regarding chassis geometry, raising the rear is something I suspected very much by just looking at the pictures of race bikes ... and just what I am doing, though my road bike settings will be more conservative.

The detailled specs of your engine are very impressive, and wise -

..you're right, nobody would have thought of a racetrack up there!
The picture you posted is Eskil's bike, a friend here in Norway, the one he used when winning at Anderstorp last year, 1100cc engine. He is a wizzard in design and craftmanship so everything you see there is heavily modified and designed by himself. The frame is shortened, new swingarm and tons of other beautiful and functional details. The weight is only 165 kg without the use of any fancy materials. Those who have tried it say it handles like a modern 600cc. The bike will not be raced this year as it was crached quite badly in practice earliy in the season, requiring major works to be ready again.

 

[Supaflee]

After looking at the frame of Eskil's bike , I think I can recognise one improvement which has been made to mine that appears to me to make it good handling . Although not racing , but definately riding with a , "well spirited attitude " I use the bike on the road only . We have a beautiful mountain range road crossing , only 20kms away and I regularly deal to that as hard as I dare . I always ride once over cautiously , looking to check for oil spils and debris then I give it hell on the way back. The twisties are about 15kms each way .
A PO has fitted 38mm Mazzocchi forks ( ex 900 Ducati ) and they protrude out the top of the top yoke 30mm. Im not sure if they are just longer forks to start with , or if they've been slipped through to sharpen up cornering .
The result is awsome however. Just looking at the bike , she has a slight down in the front appearance . She just carves up corners . My front tyre is not going to last long , having serious flats either side of centre already. ( It's the Standard 16" for this bike )
Having said all this , what am I comparing this too ? Well I dont really know , nothing really , because I've never ever ridden a Guzzi other than this one , or maybe Im comparing it to my last Sportbike , '99 Suzuki TL 1000.??
I bought this bike unseen , by auction , on the internet , at the other end of our beautiful country New Zealand and I just love it . Its old , but so am I .ha
Any vid links to Guzzi races would be cool .
Regards Supaflee

 

[rolf j]

Hi Supaflee, you're certainly lucky having a near-racetrack nearby! I wish to visit New Zealand some times!

Eskils fork is a jap item, R6 I believe. I've recently fitted a Mazocchi on my bike, but the 41,7mm version instead of the 38mm. I've ust tried it, but the first impression is that it surely is a fine fork. The bike is very willing in corners without any surprises or jerks. The Mazocchi forks come in various lengths of the tubes. I bought two 41,7mm forks on eBay and thought they would be identical - not so! - one has considerably longer tubes than the other. The longer tubes are simply made by fitting a longer tube and a longer tube "spacer" inside so it can reach the spring. The spring has the same length in both lengths of forks. The spring types are however different in the two forks, one being progressive and the other not. There are also slight a diffence in the fork mechanism, but this is only minor. As for the sliders it seems you will find a huge variety in order to suit the different bikes they were made for, e.g. different diametres of the brake rotors.

rolf j

 

[Strosek Ultra]

The Megacycle camshaft 620-X8 mentioned here is actually the famous Norris RR-3 camshaft which I helped Norris develop during the 70´s. Megacycle purchased the cam grinders and most of the master cams from Norris when he retired in 1990. Norris passed away on October 12, 2008 at 80 years of age.

Nowadays we are using the cam grind #751 made by WEB cams which is almost similar as the Norris RR-3. This is the cam used in the engine raced by Knut Holte and also in the new engine built for Anders Nyberg. The cam has a lobe separation of 108 dgs and is installed 4 degrees advanced. Maximum net valve lift is 11,6mm. Duration @.050 at the cam is 278 dgs as measured (WEB states a somewhat smaller figure). The RR-3 do have about the same duration at the intake profile but a slightly milder exhaust profile in order to enhance the mid range torque, however very minor difference.

With the large valves sizes used nowadays (intake up to 52mm) it would be of a great advantage to be able to increase the valve lift, which is limited by the small 22mm lifters, up to at least 14mm. A mushroom lifter of the size of 28mm would do the trick.

In order to be able to rev the engine safely to 9000rpm we are using a valve spring pressure of appr. 120kp. For the Nyberg engine we have used lightweight racing lifter, short anti-flex lightweight pushrods,light valve springs, titanium retainers, very light valves (50mm intake valve 83 grams) and lighter rocker arms and slightly more spring pressure of 123kp, which would enhance the redline to at least 9250rpm.

Rolf, I will be at Sviestad race track to see you racing next weekend. Good luck.

Åke Jonsson Engineering, Sweden

 

[Supaflee]

Wow , now thats gotta be good accurate info.
52mm , hell thats huge . Keep it coming , it makes real good reading .
My bike is a converted 1985 SP 11 V1000 , it is now a very raunchy , raw , cool sounding Cafe style Lemans with a pair of Mikuni TM 38-85 carbs and Hyperchargers . I've been trying to find what the lift is for a standard camshaft's lobes , when measured with a dial indicator at the top end of each pushrod . My engine seems to perform very well , for something from the mid 80's , and I suspect there are some "goodie bits " in there somewhere . It certainly doesnt sound like a stock engine either . For all I know , it may even be an 1100 . How would I find out , any barrel marks that identify one from another that I can look for ?
She's ticking a bit up the top of the engine , from the R/h side so I figured I'd check and adjust the valve clearances all round , whilst I'm in there I'll also measure the lift of each lobe at the pushrod end of each rocker arm .
So , any info for me ?
Thanks Supaflee

 

[guzzigray]

Hi. Great info. How is the durability of the Web cam. Do they use any special treatments.

 

[Strosek Ultra]

Just took the Knut Holte race engine apart. After four seasons of racing the WEB cams does not show any sign of wear. One lifter showed very minor pitting which a a well known issue on all older Guzzis. The CL77 rod bearings does not look good but nothing bad has happened. Much worse with the right hand piston and cylinder. The piston is totally melted down probably from detonations at top rpm. It happened at the very long straight at Anderstorp Raceway. Need a new piston and have to make and install a new liner. The RH exhaust valve (stock LeMans IV) is also bad as well as the valve guide from heat and melting aluminium. The cause of detonation is hard to judge, ignition timing to early, air fuel mixture too lean, exhaust valve lash not sufficient. The CR is 11,6:1 and racing fuel has been burnt so that should not be the problem.

Åke Jonsson Engineering, Sweden

 

[Strosek Ultra]

The cams from WEB are hardwelded. More information can be found on their web page http://www.webcamshafts.com/
Now I am on to the Sviestad Race Track to see Rolf Johansen and the other guys race.

Åke Jonsson Engineering, Sweden

 

[Strosek Ultra]

I just got home from the Scandinavian Classic Racing Cup at Sviestad, next to Linköping, here in Sweden. The guys from Norway did well on their Moto Guzzi bikes. Knut Holte (can be viewed here on a picture, red bike no. 14) finished as no. 5 in the Forgotten Era Class in spite of riding another bike having a less powerful engine. Erik Joner finished as no. 6 and Rolf Johansen (viewed here on many pictures, bike no. 78) finished as no. 8. There will be another race tomorrow Sunday but I am sorry unable to attend.

Åke Jonsson Engineering, Sweden