Thursday, June 19, 2008

Part Three: Unleash The Beast, Moped Performance Tuning



[Slow Connection? Click to view the YouTube version.]

No matter how big, or how small a bike may be, if it's got two wheels and a motor, it can be raced. There are many categories for motor racing, the smallest being 50cc. 50cc racing is popular in Britain, and if the price of gas continues its gravity-defying ascent, this type of racing may grow in popularity here. Motorcycle racers only dream of getting 70 mpg on the track.

Enter the moped: A 50cc motor boasting 1.5 hp that's ready to be uncorked like a bottle of fortified wine. The availability of go-fast parts and the collective experience of tuners like Ryan Weibusch and Michael Mike Nazarof can help get your grocery runner up to speed. The price of entry is cheap, and these pint-sized motors sip fuel like a duchess at tea.

In part three, the final segment of moped video podcast series, I speak with Ryan Weibusch and Michael Mike Nazarof about performance tuning for closed-course racing. We'll learn about carb jetting, port tuning, how an expansion chamber works, and we'll solve the mystery of the variator.