Pee Wee racing

[Tonkaman]

The first trip out didn't go so well. The snappy throttle, screaming pipes, and tall seat had her shriveled up into a steamy pile of fear. She was able to ride after lots of bullheaded arguing between us but never enjoyed it.

I removed the rear spring and pushed the forks up as high as I could. This dropped the bike WAY down low providing a little confidence booster.

This weekend was our second attempt and the results were much better! She was pretty hesitant at first, but luckily she's too competitive to let anyone show her up. Within an hour she was pinning down the throttle and bouncing off the rev limiter!

I quickly found out the little bike can do 40 MPH!!!

 

[Gravy]

40? Loony Toons.

 

[jeeper]

We were riding in a long train, and I tried to pass her.. She wasn't going to have that! She pinned the bike and off she went! it was very funny.

 

[Tonkaman]

A year and a half later and she finally had her first race! Needless to say, this chick is hooked!

She did really well, never wrecked or even needed help. She wasn’t very competitive since she kept stopping to help all the kids that were tipped over or scared. Leimomi tells me it’s time to step it up to the big kids races now! Ha ha

I’m also entering her in the motocross circuit at RMR this year. That gives her races about every other week so she will have one hell of a fun year.

 

[ricsrx]

GIRLS have no speed filter.....Its crazy

 

[anderson750]

Bring her to Sage Riders this weekend.

 

[rholbrook]

There is a race at the Weber Co Fair Grounds too I believe. I can find out for and let you know if you want

 

[Tonkaman]

Bring her to Sage Riders this weekend.

We will both be there this weekend. She’s already planning to hit the rest of the season

There is a race at the Weber Co Fair Grounds too I believe. I can find out for and let you know if you want

That would be cool. Let me know

 

[Gravy]

She did so awesome! Nice job little L!

 

[Tonkaman]

The spring season at RMR is over and the kiddo did great! She took 7th place out of 26 in beginner and 3rd in powder puff.

 

[rholbrook]

Nice

 

[Gravy]

Tiny Tech 7's!? She's so cool!

 

[Tonkaman]

Tiny Tech 7's!? She's so cool!

Yeah they are rad! It’s pretty cool to have gear that is the real deal instead of made to look like its real.

 

[Tonkaman]

I think the racing bug has sunk its teeth deep into our family! Leimomi just finished her summer season of RMR and she improved dramatically! Unfortunately we had a mechanical failure Saturday and she couldn’t finish the final rounds of the season. It was so hard to see her disappointment after riding the best races to date just the night before.

I’m strongly considering switching to a Cobra Factory Works Edition. Those bikes are fast and smooth! At this point I’ll keep her KTM as a back up bike until eventually I can afford to buy a pair of matching bikes.

https://cobramoto.com/features/cx50fwe/

Does anyone have any experience with these? I know the downsides are mostly part availability, but I honestly haven’t walked into a dealership for parts in years. Edge is a Cobra dealer now so at least there is an option.

 

[anderson750]

What model KTM was she riding?

Parts is still a concern. Last I talked to Bryan when he took on the Cobra line he said that they were going to be carrying a basic parts inventory unless demand dictated different.......which I dont think it has. In all honesty, i think the 50 sx will be a much more dependable bike. Everyone I know who has owned a cobra is constantly rebuilding the clutch on them.

I may ruffle a few feathers here but dont buy into the whole "more power will make you faster" BS. Very few riders use all the power of a bike to begin with and too much power will actually slow them down since they may struggle to manage the power. You are better off paying for training and instruction than the latest and greatest equipment.

Moto mentality = you can't win without the best equipment.

Reality = racing is 80% rider 20% equipment

Rider= 40% skill 60% mental

 

[jeeper]

The only thing I know about cobra is that there is some poor kid racing desert who has a cobra that over heats during every race.
Buy another KTM, then you have your pair of matching bikes.

 

[Tonkaman]

What model KTM was she riding?

Parts is still a concern. Last I talked to Bryan when he took on the Cobra line he said that they were going to be carrying a basic parts inventory unless demand dictated different.......which I dont think it has. In all honesty, i think the 50 sx will be a much more dependable bike. Everyone I know who has owned a cobra is constantly rebuilding the clutch on them.

I may ruffle a few feathers here but dont buy into the whole "more power will make you faster" BS. Very few riders use all the power of a bike to begin with and too much power will actually slow them down since they may struggle to manage the power. You are better off paying for training and instruction than the latest and greatest equipment.

Moto mentality = you can't win without the best equipment.

Reality = racing is 80% rider 20% equipment

Rider= 40% skill 60% mental

I’m glad you shared your opinion here. I doubt anyone else on here has the experience you do.

Right now she’s on a 2016 KTM 50SX. If I keep it I should do a good service overhaul (top end, check bottom end, bearings, suspension, etc) to keep it race ready. The bike is hard on stators and clutches but otherwise has been great.

One big reason I looked at Cobra is their suspension. The cobras on the track are noticeably smoother due to a fully adjustable fork and shock. KTM didn’t really step it up with suspension until 2017 with WP AER forks and shock. I could always tune her suspension, but at a bigger cost.

When you talk about the clutch are you saying the clutch frequently needs a whole rebuild or just adjustment? We are on our third clutch, with stiffer springs, harder pins, and upgraded hardware. The clutch is a big one for me. I can’t get her to keep it locked up. No matter how I tune it she chops the throttle in anything that makes her nervous, so they constantly get overheated. Once that clutch gets too hot it wipes out the stator with it. We are on stator 3 as well, no big deal just expensive.

Finally I COMPLETELY agree about how it’s mostly the rider, not the bike. No way my daughter pushes that bike near it’s limits. I actually would like to keep it as close to stock as possible which is another reason an update would be beneficial.

My daughter is tough as nails, once she gets out front she opens it up and runs away. The hard part is getting her to pass others instead of shy away from them.

 

[Tonkaman]

The only thing I know about cobra is that there is some poor kid racing desert who has a cobra that over heats during every race.
Buy another KTM, then you have your pair of matching bikes.

They all overheat if you can’t keep air moving over them at 10+ MPH. When we did mx training on a tight turn track I kept soaking the radiators with cold water every couple laps. I haven’t heard whether Cobra is better or worse on temps, but it’s a good question.

Buying a new KTM does make more sense for sharing parts on the back-up bike. Not a bad idea at all...

 

[Tonkaman]

I’m going to side track this conversation a bit... Saturday my daughters bike started right up, we got it warm and headed over to do a practice lap where it shut down. After about 20 kicks I got it to fire up again, but it shut down after trying to ride away. We never got the bike to fire again that day, costing us a full day of races.

I just got time to investigate the bike today. I ordered a compression tester so I could confirm my suspicions of a bad piston ring. My first reading stopped at 105, not as low as I expected, but not good either. I bled pressure and tried again, this time it wouldn’t raise pressure at all! That led me to believe it must be a piston ring issue so I proceeded to tear it down. My first impression is that it all looks good inside, my ring gap is at .023” which is the max allowable gap. The piston measures as an A tolerance still and the cylinder looks good. So what could be wrong??

I decided I better look at the reed valves considering the recent conversation about those recently and this is what I found.... a rock!!!! How the hell is that possible? The air filter has rim grease, the air boot doesn’t even have dust in it, even the carb is spotless!!

I can still see light through the pedals, is that normal? How do you know when they are worn out? I don’t want any trouble with this one, so I think I’ll just replace them. Should I replace just the reeds or should I upgrade to VForce for $200??

 

[anderson750]

I’m glad you shared your opinion here. I doubt anyone else on here has the experience you do.

Right now she’s on a 2016 KTM 50SX. If I keep it I should do a good service overhaul (top end, check bottom end, bearings, suspension, etc) to keep it race ready. The bike is hard on stators and clutches but otherwise has been great.

One big reason I looked at Cobra is their suspension. The cobras on the track are noticeably smoother due to a fully adjustable fork and shock. KTM didn’t really step it up with suspension until 2017 with WP AER forks and shock. I could always tune her suspension, but at a bigger cost.

When you talk about the clutch are you saying the clutch frequently needs a whole rebuild or just adjustment? We are on our third clutch, with stiffer springs, harder pins, and upgraded hardware. The clutch is a big one for me. I can’t get her to keep it locked up. No matter how I tune it she chops the throttle in anything that makes her nervous, so they constantly get overheated. Once that clutch gets too hot it wipes out the stator with it. We are on stator 3 as well, no big deal just expensive.

Finally I COMPLETELY agree about how it’s mostly the rider, not the bike. No way my daughter pushes that bike near it’s limits. I actually would like to keep it as close to stock as possible which is another reason an update would be beneficial.

My daughter is tough as nails, once she gets out front she opens it up and runs away. The hard part is getting her to pass others instead of shy away from them.

This is a prime example of where some training will pay off big dividends. It does not matter the bike you have, with the chopping of the throttle you are going to be smoking clutches. As far as suspension goes, I would point you toward my suspension guy. Many of the top PeeWee racers in California run his suspension. For around $500 probably, he can have that bike working like butter. Once she is comfortable with the suspension, she will probably get away from the chopping throttle.

I’m going to side track this conversation a bit... Saturday my daughters bike started right up, we got it warm and headed over to do a practice lap where it shut down. After about 20 kicks I got it to fire up again, but it shut down after trying to ride away. We never got the bike to fire again that day, costing us a full day of races.

I just got time to investigate the bike today. I ordered a compression tester so I could confirm my suspicions of a bad piston ring. My first reading stopped at 105, not as low as I expected, but not good either. I bled pressure and tried again, this time it wouldn’t raise pressure at all! That led me to believe it must be a piston ring issue so I proceeded to tear it down. My first impression is that it all looks good inside, my ring gap is at .023” which is the max allowable gap. The piston measures as an A tolerance still and the cylinder looks good. So what could be wrong??

I decided I better look at the reed valves considering the recent conversation about those recently and this is what I found.... a rock!!!! How the hell is that possible? The air filter has rim grease, the air boot doesn’t even have dust in it, even the carb is spotless!!

I can still see light through the pedals, is that normal? How do you know when they are worn out? I don’t want any trouble with this one, so I think I’ll just replace them. Should I replace just the reeds or should I upgrade to VForce for $200??

Stange thngs happen. It could have fallen in there when you removed the filter. There cannot be an open gap of any kind in the reeds as you look through them. I would just replace them.