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Woodland 3-8-2008
Another story from the race was that of Gary Osborne and his CZ Sidepiper
Gary getting a good burm blast with the mighty Sidepiper
From Gary:
I raced the CZ a long time ago...Not even sure how long it has been...I took it to Chehalis last year, but it would not stay running, and was really difficult to start.
I replaced the condensor, and it worked for about 2 weeks inbetween races. Took it to the next race, and dang if it wouldn't start, would sputter and fire, but just would not fully fire.
So I parked in the shop and worked on other bikes. Since I have a variety to ride, I just worked on those and raced those too. Mainly my 1973 CZ250, My 79 Maico Magnum 250 and my Suzuki TS125r.
With the inter-am class we have, I had a good reason to get the ole Sidepiper back running again. So I took the plunge and bought an electronic ignition. After pulling out the old, stock points, I realized it was pretty warn out, wires loose, exposed and just looked worn out.
The next challenge was getting the flywheel off that had been on for 29 years.
Standard pulling techniques did not work. I did not have access to a stock CZ puller.
We tried to the 3 prong approach, but pulled hard with an air impact wrench and broke the puller two times. We ended up drilling out three of the magnet holes and moved to a larger 3 prong puller. It broke too. Dave brought home an industrial strength, made in the USA, puller that was much beefier. With the air-driven impact wrench, the flywheel flew off and went flying almost five feet into the air. 29 years of spinning and she was on tight... Just needed some coaxing off with the big stuff.
The electronic ignition goes on easy.
Put everything back together, dump some fuel in the tank, and she starts in 3 kicks.
It was a heavenly moment.
I loaded her up, and brought her south to Woodland.
The sidepiper is a blast to ride. My leg gets a bit hot, but that comes with Sidepiper territory. It is fast and has loads of power, but it is a 1969 and is a bit heavy and beefy only meaning it just gives me more of a workout.
I will live with that problem.
The sidepiper is just cool, and we had 4 of them on the line on Saturday.
That is way cool.
Gary
Gary really liking the Sidepiper
I think Gary was glad he did the work on the Sidepiper and got back up to race form.
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