The Curse Of Adelanto

May. 01, 2006 By ORC STAFF
The Further Adventures of Matt - There's A Pattern Here
 

Editor's note: Every year the Adelanto Grand Prix happens (this year Feb. 25 - 26) and the racers come out in droves for this great race. And each year, some sort of calamity (or a variety of calamities) has struck our good friend, Matt Cuddy. He swears it's the curse of Adelanto, and who are we to argue? The chronicles of his various misfortunes have been immortalized in these pages over the years. And, sadly we must report, the curse seems to have struck again. The following missives have been received here at race central, and we dutifully report on them.


Rick,

One again things have gone straight to hell right before the dreaded Adelanto GP.

See, this year I vowed not to get passed on that long straight at the back of the course, so I got a hold of an old '71 DT1MX that was sitting in a Buddy's back yard, thinking the top end would fit. Wrongo. Due to the reed valve Yamaha put on the enduros in '72, the con rod is about a 1/4 inch shorter, vs. the piston port motor. The piston pin on the reed valve piston has been moved up accordingly, for the reed windows.

Before knowing this, I searched for about a month to find a GYT Kit single ring piston, and had Hollywood Yamaha bore the cylinder and fit the .40 over slug. But after putting the piston port MX top end on the enduro lower end, I realized something was amiss when I could start it with my hand. Hmmmmm...

No problem, right? Go to plan B. What the hell, why not put the MX top end back on the MX, take the wheels, shocks and forks off the enduro, put them on the MX (Noleen modified forks & Works shocks, Barum tires) and have a light good handling MX, instead of a portly enduro (240 lbs for the MX, 280 lbs. for the enduro).

So off comes the MX top end from the enduro, and back on the MX. After about 30 minutes of dicking around it runs real good. Maybe too good. Starts on the first kick and hauls ass. Are the gods smiling on me?

I'm admiring my good fortune and right before I'm about to transfer the shocks, forks and stuff I decide "what the hell, lets ride this thing one more time" and proceed to start it up. About halfway down the street the crank died. Clank.

Further investigation revealed the flywheel side bearing had roasted long ago. Maybe that's why it sat in my buddies back yard for 20 or so years. Rust was the only thing holding it together. Buyer beware.

So now I'm putting the enduro top end back on the enduro motor, and sticking the enduro motor, forks, shocks and wheels on the MX. I figure the stone-like enduro motor will benefit from being in a bike that weighs 40 pounds less.

But (and it's a big but) things are slightly different on the enduro frame vs. the mx. Tabs and brackets are kind of in the wrong place. Good thing I've got a welding rig.

On second thought I'm thinking of just canning the whole deal and entering the CL350. Bungee a 12 pack of Pacificos to the giant chrome luggage rack, and let the chips fall where they may. Since that would be high comedy, maybe rent a clown outfit too. Go the whole route. Balloon animals, hand buzzers..etc...

I'll let you know how it turns out, but it's not looking good at the moment. And I'm out of beer.

Later,
Matt


Yes, it's back. The Curse.

How many days to the dreaded Adelanto GP? A scant 26? Both my DT1's are completely apart, in big greasy boxes waiting assembly that should have started today. But now my hands look like hamburger (handburger?) and there's no way I can assemble anything for at least a couple of weeks, much less put on a helmet. Or take a shower without plastic cleaner bags taped everywhere. Even on my head.


Matt sports his new scarface look.

And why are my hand all messed up, and why can't I put on a helmet you ask? Because I got torpedoed by a toddler wielding the fiercest of weapons, a basketball.

See, I was tooling down to the local Ralph's on one of my motorized bicycles yesterday to pick up some barbecue fixins, just minding my own business, when all of a sudden out of a driveway shot a basketball headed right for me. I sat transfixed on the speeding bicycle thinking surely the large and rapidly approaching basketball would miss me, or bounce off harmlessly. But, as if guided by radar, the regulation sized and properly inflated basketball wedged itself under my rear wheel, and caused me to face-plant into the newly paved asphalt road surface at about 15 mph. And what do you do right before you face plant? Yes, you put out your hands. But things weren't over yet.


The motorized bike was no match for the basketball.

The bicycle then made one complete loop in the air (according to bystanders) and came down rear-fender first on my forehead, and cut a giant gash that would take a gallon of dermaglue and 15 stitches to close. I looked up from the carnage and saw some 6 year old kid run back up the driveway, screaming for mommy.

Hell, taken out by a child. A mere snippet of a human.

I was bleeding profusely and cursing even more and since I was only about half a block away from home, I drug the badly bent Huffy back home and called Amparo: "Please come home and take me to the ER". Nothing she hasn't heard before...

Not only abrasions and contusions, cuts and bruises, but front teeth out of line and a couple broken ribs. And my head doesn't fit in my helmet anymore. Swole up like Dick's hatband. This ruined any chances of getting a bike together for Adelanto in time. But I do have a plan.

The 1970 CL350! Yes, good thing the insurance is all paid up. Put some 50wt in the forks, jack up the preload and watch out vintage class!

Here's some pics to back it up. I was thinking of putting a 12 pack of Pacifico on the luggage rack for an impromptu pit stop or two.

Keep in touch.

Later,
MC


Rick

One buddy said I looked like Mussolini after the villagers got him.

Yes, thanks. I'll put that in the "things that won't happen" file.


The tentative mount for the GP.

Now back to racing the CL350. I called Works in Chatsworth, but they're backed up for 2 months on orders. What to do about the rear suspension? Maybe some Gabriel Hijackers with the air chucks.

I called Clark at Noleen. Seems there isn't much you can do to those street forks with the external springs. Graft on some MX forks? But the tech inspection people might go ape...

Maybe the curse has won again. I'm working from home now, by the way. Closer to the hospital ER room.

Matt

 


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