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COPYRIGHT 2004 Ehlert Publishing Group
We wanted to do something different this year. We wanted to build our own race bike, test it, race it and report on it. Too often we come across a race quad someone else has assembled and we ride it and evaluate it. That works fine, but it was time for a different approach.
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We wanted to build the quad. We wanted to test and adjust the components. We wanted to call the aftermarket companies and arrange for parts. We wanted to race it.
Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into. The late nights in the garage assembling and adjusting the components. The long phone calls trying to track down essential parts. The dyno runs. The first race and following adjustments. The late nights cleaning everything readying it for the next race weekend. The miles of driving going from track to home to track to home to--you get the picture. The hours spent at the track waiting for our motos. The money. The food. The track. The dirt bikers.
In the end, we are glad we did it. Now we know the struggles each and everyone of you have had building and racing a high-performance race quad.
This all started with a simple idea: Call various aftermarket companies and arrange for a test of its product on our Honda 450R. Some companies approached us; some we approached.
Rath Racing
www.rathracing.com
(320) 234-7223
The man behind Rath Racing is a racer himself. Daryl Rath has been racing his whole adult life and is currently the factory pilot for Polaris. Years ago, he decided if he was to go fast, he'd need to make his own parts. The reputation of his product soon forced him to start selling parts and Rath Racing was born.
Rath supplied a number of parts for this project. For starters, we added a Rath Racing steering stem. Because we are more than 6 feet tall, we went with a +1 stem and a set of high bars. While this may feel like chopper bars to some, for us it is a perfect fit. We'd rather stand and let the quad work beneath us and this tall bar height allows us to do that comfortably. The stem features an anti-vibe setup. We were involved in a little R & D for Rath with the stem and he improved it much from the first generation stem to the final stem we put in the quad.
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Rath also supplied nerf bars and heel guards. Nerfs are a necessity for racing and heel guards give a rider peace of mind. The nerfs are big and burly and bolt nicely to the quad with the supplied brackets. They will do the trick for anyone hitting the track.
Speaking of footpegs, it may look like we have Pro Pegs, but they are stock. Huh? Rath makes a cool addition for stock footpegs. A serrated strip of metal bolts onto the footpeg giving the...
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