2015 Barber Vintage Festival - R65 Racing

[DanMay]

There were 3 R65's racing this year at the Barber Vintage Festival.  I took first place on Sunday out of about 18 entries in the Vintage Superbike Lightweight class.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU1ZCrN9-LM

[montmil]

Congrats, Dan!  Believe this to be the first time I've ever heard the words "Superbike" and "R65" used together. Bet ya had fun romping down the Carolina Coaster.

[DanMay]

Thanks, it was a hoot racing.  I know the R65 was never designed for racing, but it really does hold its own.  Here are the lightweight class specs:

VINTAGE SUPERBIKE CLASS ENGINE TYPE EXAMPLES
LIGHTWEIGHT

Single-cylinder 2v Yamaha SR/TT/XT500 590cc max

Single-cylinder 4v Honda FT500 510cc max

Pushrod twin BMW/Guzzi 650cc max

Multi-cylinder Honda CB350-4, CB400-4, 417cc max

OHC twin Yamaha XS400; Suzuki GS400/450;
Kawasaki KZ400;
Honda CB450T Hawk, 470cc max

 

[Oconner]

That was awesome! Great racing! Good to see the much maligned r65 kick some butt. Sounded like my transmission grinding on the down shifts. Love it.

[montmil]

Me and the other inmates would enjoy seeing some photos of your class-winning R65. How about posting a few? Pleez.

[DanMay]

Here you go, these are the best ones I have for now.

[suecanada]

Inspiring!! Thanks! The bike looks fantastic.

[ShutterPilot]

Awesome - Love it! Thanks for sharing...

[Tony Smith]

Wow!

And well done too.

Your video camera does a much better job than the iPhone, but I must admit i miss the speed and lean data.


I was interested in the shot of the exhaust pipe - Avgas?

One other question, what are you using as rev limit? My ear says 8,200 to 8,500, but my ears are getting old.

[DanMay]

I switched to the GoPro for better video, but I am able to overlay the lean angle data.  I just did not have the R65 set up for this race to collect the telemetry data.  I will have it ready for next season.  I also raced a R75 this year, and here is a sample of the video data I put together with the GoPro and the IPhone 6 collecting data.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqJalV-R5vQ

I have the R65 running at about 11.5:1 compression, so I am running 110 leaded Sunoco race gasoline.  The Exhaust is custom made by my engine builder, using parts from here: http://www.coneeng.com/

For this race, I did not have a rev limiter installed.  We just got the bike together at the last minute for the Barber festival, and I did not have time to put one on.  I have since installed the Dyna DRL-300 (http://dynaonline.com/products/drag-racing/rev-limiters.aspx). This works fine with the Dyna coil and the stock R65LS 1982 bean can ignition.

You have a good ear, I was keeping it right at 8-8.5k RPM. The Titanium valves let me go as high a 9k, but I like to keep it in the "safe" zone.

[MR.E]

Now then

Good video, bike looked like it went well on track.

What work has the engine had?

All the best

[Hammer65]

Holy crap that looks like a blast!