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only one set -- the Golden
Rods. They're big, fat, alloy billet items, and
are simply the best going. No one has ever broken
a Golden rod. The only damaged ones we've seen
have been on race-only engines. One of them was on Teson's fueler, and then was simply slightly flattened.
The other came off the Triclops, Collins' three-engined,
seven-second terror bike. That was slightly bent.
But no one has ever broken
one.
This brings up another
point.
Some manufacturers sell
hot-rod parts and don't race themselves. It's
valid to question just how much these people know, and
how well their stuff works. Other manufacturers
sell and race - but what they're racing doesn't bear
much resemblance to what the average customer can buy.
R.C. Engineering sells,
flatly, what it races. We have seen someone pick
parts for either the triple Honda, or the Vance/Hines
Top Gas double, off the shelf.
So what you get is what the
racers are using. If you choose, and are a good
tuner and rider, there is nothing in the world that
keeps you from getting a world record with your R.C.
Cobra engine. There aren't any parts secrets in
the R.C. shop - this can be personally attested to by
the people here at the magazine, after several years of
photographing, doing tech stories, interviewing and
generally hanging around the R.C. shop.
These Golden Rods are lovely
monsters. Unfortunately, you'll never see them.
So maybe you should order a catalog, to be able to show
your friends what's churning around inside what just
nailed their hides to the door.
Normal rods get installed
and torqued to about 141/2 pounds. Golden rods go
down to a good, tight 30 pounds.
At this point, your
transmission gets attention. Everything gets checked out
very closely.
Then a very few pieces get
changed.
And one piece gets modified.
Honda has one bad gear in
the box. Fourth has a tendency to leap out, into
some sort of neutral or other. This can produce
dismay, loss of a trophy, and a serious over-revving of
the engine. |
