wow- are those Rekluse friction plates thin or what? I counted 12 friction plates in the clutch pack on their webpage. And the steels were like razor blades. impressive.
my photos suck these are the real deal.... smart phone, dumb user- pro vs ammie fotos. And they did not even key on all the trickery, so look carefully for cool stuff, First up is the HRC bike of Eugene Russian Bobby sure ain't your local pros CRF450. http://www.vitalmx.com/photos/featu...evs-2017-HRC-Honda-CRF450RW,95078/ML512,13480
wow. those gp bikes on Vital are insanely trick. I've been out of touch. ...and it looks like I'll have to start modifying my opinions on 2 different mundane subjects: about half the bikes had vent spinners on 'em (actually I'm guessing 2-way valves)- and all of the bikes with flush fuel caps had 'em (carbon fiber and Ti tanks)... which means they're not for spinning since those vents are on the tank. I can't figure out why some teams are running them. However, I always thought it'd be cool to charge a tank with co2 to a regulated 45psi and run without fuel pumps/electronics. I doubt anyone is doing that tho. The other thing I'm gonna have to start qualifying my statements about is hydro-clutches. I've always said that (except for the bikes that come from the factory with hydraulic clutches) nobody runs 'em. But there were quite a few bikes with them (about half the euro bikes). I do take a little satisfaction that Villipoto tried one in Europe and went back to cable. I just about hate the feel of a hydro-clutch (well, the lack of feel). I remember (in '71 or '72) seeing the YZ's of Gary & Dewayne Jones. Those were the trickest things I had ever seen (including Joel's, Sylvan's and Roger's Suzukis). I was just blown away by how every part (EVERY PART) was machined and gone over or thought about. It completely changed my opinion on race prep... even to this day. I don't race much tho (old man, virginia city gp type-stuff occasionally). I think Don Jones was a genius. I say that because as works bikes got tricker & tricker in the '70s, it was very slow to trickle down to the showroom floor (okay, the YZs were pretty much better than the same-year MXs; and by the mid-70s the RMs were good machines). Sometime in the early '80s, Yamaha started racing (reasonably) stock bikes. A little while later, the AMA rule made everyone start racing mostly stock or stock-based bikes. And the quality of bikes on the showroom floor skyrocketed. So while I absolutely drool over the engineering of those euro bikes, I'm glad for the current situation in the US. sidenote: Shit! Dewayne Jones died this past June! wow, I did not know that. RIP, dude. (I don't read MXA, Vital, Transworld much anymore)
Good post Trench, Yes 100% with you on the Jones family and yes RIP DeWayne. They were the R&D for Yamaha- they kinda were the US based skunkworks for MX Yamaha at the time. Its always great to still see Gary out and about (always at GH), still tinkering with dirtbikes. For those that don't know read some US moto (again especially Yamaha, but other brands as well) history about the Jones crew , Dad and Sons were "works" pioneers especially for Yamaha as they came into the moto scene. Basically race it (at the top tier) break it, improve it, rebuild it, race it and so on.
As for Hydro clutches I've been a fan from day one, other than the teething pain for leaks, weak seals, wear etc. You can see that the HRC works 450s have the slave integrated right into the engine case (along with the estart), but on the satellite teams like RedMoto Honda (my hosts) they use the Magura Jack type system which is bolt on hydro clutch, in which the engine cases are OEM type and slave is mounted externally with the pull rod acting on the oem clutch arm.
I actually like the kinda Roberto is talking about better than most KTM hydro units until the most current.... the GG clutch is smooth and has more feel than a cable....
I go back and forth with the Magura system. It is so smooth and easy, but the slave weeps all the time, so I have to top off the fluid every now and then. Not that much of a pain, except when I forget to do it then lose the clutch lever halfway through a ride. The first time it happened was coming in to a check point in an enduro. Thankfully it was the last of the day. Unfortunately they ran us through the first test section to get back to the parking. That was not enjoyable as it was pretty tight woods. I wish they had a rebuild kit for the slaves as $90 is a bit hard to swallow for a replacement.
