MotoMan

The Craziest Thing I Ever Did ...
(at a racetrack)

The World's First:

Update:

After the event you're about to read about took place, this engine was re-assembled exactly as is it was (it was not freshened up, nor were any parts replaced). The motorcycle was then sold to a new (2nd) owner, who raced it for about 1 year. Then the next season it was sold to yet another (3rd) owner. The same engine was used all the while, and it had not been rebuilt or taken apart since the teardown shown in these photos. Here are 2 e-mails I received from the 3rd owner, well after this article was originally published:

Dear MotoMan,

My name is Brad Hochhalter. Just last week I purchased Gordon Good's '98 ZX-6R w/ that wonderful Mototune engine in it. I used it to great success and with much envy from the other riders in my OMRRA novice class at PIR last weekend. I am still amazed at the number of comments I got from other riders about how hard this engine pulls past them at the end of the straights. This thing is better than the Duracel bunny on the straights...It just keeps going and going and going right past everyone.

WOW! You guys really did an amazing job building that thing. 

Thank You,
Brad Hochhalter
OMRRA # 744


Then About 1 Month Later:



Moto Man, I thought I might share another Mototune victory with you. I took 1st overall in the afternoon OMRRA novice race at PIR on June 11th. I've included a pic of me passing an R1 and a ??? moving into the lead at the end of lap 3 (of 7) thru turn 9 at PIR. Wet race but loads of fun. Love the power.

- Brad Hochhalter
  OMRRA # 744
.
.

Here's The Story Behind This Remarkable Machine ...

It All Started While ...

I was tuning for Dave Cook at Portland raceway in the spring of 1998 when a Canadian racer came up and asked:

" If I hire you to build my Zed-X-6 motor, will you do as good a job on it as you did on Cook's ? "

I said "Yes"

After the motor was built, lots of people were noticing 
Alan Schmidt's sudden rise to the top...

... and some started wondering if maybe the motor had some major illegal work done to it to make it so fast. 

Alan Schmidt
"Schmidtastic"

The last race of '99 was a big win for the 
popular Canadian !!

After winning "the last OMMRA 600 supersport race of 
the millennium", Alan began taking the bodywork off 
his bike, while I went up to the 
announcer's booth. 

I asked them to announce over the P A system that we'd be voluntarily taking Alan's engine apart for FREE** down by the beer counter and everyone should come over and get a beer and watch! 

We thought it would be a cool way to end the season. Everyone would soon find out that Mototune is the real deal... plus Schmidtastic could be proud of what he worked so hard for !

"What the heck are they doing ?? "

n

 MotoMan sets 107 Horses onto the 
beer counter !!

n

Head's off...

n

Everyone got to answer the questions ...

Big Pistons ???... 

Illegal Metal Removal  ???
 
Was The Head Milled More 
Than The Rules Allow ??? 


The tuners measured the parts, and found everything to be 100% legal !!

n

...check the crank for extra stroke or perhaps lightening...

Nothing here.

... look at those at the ports...

They're stock.

Here's one of MotoMan's secrets ...
(It was noticed by an observant reader of this page !!)



The pistons are very scuffed, and apparently not sealing very well. 
(Check out the combustion leakage past the rings.)

How could this bike have been fast when it looks like it's leaking .... what has happened here ??


The First of The Secrets Can Now Be Revealed ...
.
Some of the very early 1998 ZX6R models had too tight piston to cylinder clearance, and no amount of running-in would correct this problem. I first worked on this engine after it had been raced for several weekends, and the damage was already done. Since this was at the beginning of the racing season, Schmidtastic would have missed races waiting for new pistons.

Friction was clearly robbing this engine of power, so my solution was to hone the cylinders to correct the clearance and to remove the cylinder scoring which was causing the leakage. In retrospect, I think I honed the cylinders a bit too large, but it worked really well. The pistons are heavily scored, but with new rings, and a freshly honed cylinder surface, the cylinder seal was restored to near perfect. For the rest of '98 and all of '99 the same ugly scuffed up pistons stayed in the motor 
for thousands of racing miles, and lots of race wins !!
.

Look at those cams !!

(Rumor had it that the cams 
were illegal)

But, they're stock too.

At 9:30 p.m. we put the head back on. Tuners Dan "DANCO" Batterby and 
NW Cycle's Josh Bryan checked the cam duration and lift. 

After thoroughly looking this mysterious motor over ...

The professional tuners all agreed:  
" A - O.K. " 

In the middle of it all this guy came up to me and said:

"Wow, the Mototune team really puts on a  
cool show for the Fans! "

     

MotoMan

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