'Making Motorcycle History' in the press

There's a really good article about CMR Racing Products Inc. by Veronica Leonard in the Summer issue of County and Quinte Living magazine, which is available in our region, the Bay of Quinte area, in Ontario, Canada.


If you're not able to pick up a copy, you can get the story online. You'll find 'Motorcycle History in the Making' on page 14. Photographer Daniel Vaughan did some great shots - makes us look pretty cool.


If you see something that interests you, visit us on the CMR Facebook, read further in this blog, or have a look at the website.

 You can access the FB and the blog from the main page of our website.

Visit CMR on Facebook

We just put up a number of albums of 2013/14 projects at CMR.

Go have a look,

Please contact CMR Racing Products (cmrracingproducts@gmail.com) if you wish further information about anything you see.

1970's Curtis Racing Frames Dirt-tracker found and rebuilt

Back in April 2012 CMR heard from David Spicer of Vancouver, B.C. Canada, who asked if we could identify a dirt track racing frame that he was about to purchase, which dated from the early 1970's. David was able to provide a serial number and photographs; the photos showed an original Curtis Racing Frames decal still on the swing-arm. Denis checked the serial number and photographs and discovered that this was a Kawasaki 'Big Horn' flat-tracker from 1974/5. It had been built for one of Denis' partners at Curtis Racing Frames of Richmond, B.C. The fellow's name was Billy Hilland.

Curtis Racing Frames Flat-track Racing Team:
Centre: Billy Hilland and his bike #60 (1974/5)

Why was this bike so special? This was the only Kawasaki two-stroke dirt-tracker that Curtis Racing Frames ever made. Mr. Hilland loved that engine and wanted to go flat-track racing with it. He had formerly been a moto-cross racer and had lots of spare parts for the Kawasaki 'Big Horn' engine. Billy was a very fast and competitive flat-track racer.

The bike in its original form

The bike was used on one-eighth and quarter-mile short tracks and half-mile dirt tracks and during the winter months was used for ice-racing in B.C. and Alberta, Canada and Washington state, USA. It had a very successful career. At one time it even had a set of Curtis mag wheels fitted as you will see from some of these photographs.

David was pleased to hear the bike's history and to learn that Denis could still supply him with new original Curtis Racing Frame decals for the swing-arm. While Billy Hilland's racing number was #60, David elected to use the number 55 which was the number on the bike when he purchased it.

We understand that Billy Hilland sold the bike at some point but we don't know the intervening history.

#60 at the 1975 Vancouver Motorcycle Show

 The bike is shown here fitted with Curtis Mag Wheels

This is how the bike was found by David Spicer -
 remarkably complete but the Curtis Mag Wheels were missing

Taking the Treasure home

The Curtis Mag Wheel decal can be
seen here on the rear fender

David Spicer refurbished the bike to look exactly like it was under Billy Hilland's ownership, and what a great job he made. We look forward to receiving further photos of David's racing exploits in historic flat-track racing in B.C., Alberta and Washington state in the coming seasons. We will keep you posted.

 

A beautifully refinished frame

David Spicer with his pride and joy
an original Curtis Racing Frames Kawasaki 'Big Horn' Flat-tracker

CMR Racing Products Inc. has received a number of inquiries about frames from the Curtis Racing Frames past and Denis really enjoys researching and providing the information to this new generation of owners/riders. Let us know if we can help you.

'The two Dirks' - Dirk DeWinter and Dirk Walschaerts- updates from Belgium

Back in June 2013 we reported on the successes
of two of  CMR's  European customers, Dirk DeWinter and Dirk Walschaerts. Dirk DeWinter has been faithful at keeping us updated with stats and photos. Follow the link if you want to revisit this story from last summer. Here are a few photographs which Dirk D. provided of his summer exploits. Both Dirks ride CMR-framed Drixton Yamaha XS650/750 Twins.

Here are the 2013 season results for the Belgian Championship for Classic Bikes in Class 5: Dirk Walschaerts finished 4th with 32 points, and Dirk DeWinter finished 9th with 22 points.


Congratulations to our Belgian friends! We look forward to following your 2014 season and hearing your results.

From Cadwell Park to The Plains of Ontario

Denis' past is catching up to him again.

photo courtesy of Geoff Preece

Recently CMR was contacted by Philippe Guyony who was writing an article about Vincents and Vincent engined specials on the website 'Egli-Vincent.net'. Philippe had visited the Curtis Racing Frames and CMR Racing Products websites and learned about the early history of Denis Curtis'  racing projects, both while he was still in the U.K. and later when he ran Curtis Racing Frames in Richmond B.C. Canada.

the very first Curtis Vincent Twin

The article was very well researched and written.  Denis was pleased to have been able to provide some additional information to help with the research, and excited to make another contact in the Vincent community. Here's a link to the article 'The Curtis Vincent from Cadwell Park to the Plains of Ontario'.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Stuart Howe at Silverstone on his Curtis Vincent

The late Jim Brokensha with the first Canadian Curtis Vincent

Classic Bike February 1995 centrefold

CMR was also honoured to be listed in Philippe Guyony's article 'The Best Names Behind the Vincent' in another post on the Egli-Vincent.net website.

Buyers' Market at CMR Racing Products Inc. - Canadian currency fluctuations

Challenges bring opportunities, they say. Global currency fluctuations have created a situation where the Canadian Dollar is currently valued well below parity with the U.S. Dollar, and the same situation exists with other world currencies. We are told this is a six-year low for our Dollar, but no explanation seems to be forthcoming!
We are a small but proud Canadian Company and export most of our product abroad. This current low value of the Canadian Dollar creates a very advantageous situation for our Australian and New Zealand, UK and Europe, and US customers (in short, anyone not living in Canada!).

While our currency value is so low, and until the value rebounds, this represents an approximate 11% saving on any orders placed with CMR Racing Products Inc.

So, just a thought. If you have been considering the purchase of one of CMR Racing Products' racing frame and swing-arm kits, aluminum fuel tank kits, or any of the other products we supply, now is the time. It's a real cost saving of approximately 11%! And who can refuse that? Still plenty of time to get ready for the Northern hemisphere racing season, and for folks down under - time for future winter racing projects!

We always keep stock of our more popular frame, swing-arm and aluminum fuel tank kits like the CMR Yamaha TZ750, the CMR Suzuki TR/GT750, the CMR Drixton Yamaha XS750 twin , the CMR Drixton Honda 350 and 450 twins and some others.

We at CMR always strive to provide the fastest turnaround time possible to our valued customers.

Watch out for some exciting new additions to our frame kit and tank line up happening soon, including Suzuki XR69 replicas in twin shock and mono-shock, Honda RS1000 twin shock replicas, and Rickman Kawasaki four and Rickman Triumph triple kits.

Buy now and $ave!

Honda CB160/CR93 project. Over to you, Oedell in Oregon!

 In late 2013, Mr. Oedell of Oregon contacted CMR interested in a replica Honda CR93 aluminum fuel tank and seat for his Honda CB160 motorcycle.

We supply quite a few CR93 replica aluminum fuel tanks and seats to fit various Honda period motorcycles. CMR carries an inventory of original frames, fuel tanks, engines, etc. to enable us to accurately produce correctly fitting replica parts to order. We have an original CB160 frame supplied to us by Mr. Bert Lilley of Canada, one of the leading CR93 replica specialists in the world.





In this case, Mr. Oedell had an early Honda CB160 frame and wanted us to make the tank and seat feat onto his frame. W

Mr. Oedell was particular in requiring the shape of the tank and seat to be exactly the same as the original works Honda racing CR93. These pictures show how close we were able to meet his desires.

The front of the tank has a recess for the main frame rail and the radius at the front of the tank has to blend with the recess. Here you see the finished opening and how well the tank fits.








Here is a front-on shot which shows the flat portion on the top of the tank just like the works tanks. We used on this one a two-inch Monza aluminum flip-top period fuel cap. We also use genuine Honda rubber front fuel tank mounts as they are still available.










The radius on the back of the racing seat is very hard to produce on an 'English wheel' or by hand, but we feel this seat is next to perfection. You will notice on the rear of the tank that we supply a pull-down strap while on the original CR93 tank it was just a rubber band. It is actually a Yamaha fuel tank pull-down strap and they work perfectly.

Here we show the kit of parts for mounting the tank. CMR customers regularly tell us how delighted they are with the detail parts we supply with our kits - everything for assembling the project!

Our stock CB160 frame could do with a coat of paint
 but we use it as a pattern as mentioned above

Mr. Oedell asked us to provide an inner rear fender/mudguard/splatter-shield similar to the CR93 unit for his CB160 project. As you can see it's a U-channel with side flaps and is bolted at the bottom and zip-tied at the top to the CB160 rear frame rails. When you compare it to the works CR93 it comes very close.

Here is the finished product packaged for its journey to Oregon
where another happy CMR customer is waiting.

We shipped the CMR tank and seat to Mr. Oedell in January. Prior to shipping, we sent him some photos. He responded (as our customers so often do) with "That looks awesome! Thank you for the pics, super excited. Ha-ha! Can't stop staring at it! Wow, you guys are good!"

Great working with  you Mr. Oedell!

Update from Philippe Ronne on the 2013 French Post Classic 900 Championship

CMR receives regular updates from our customers. This one is from Philippe Ronne in France who rides a CMR-framed Yahama TZ750.

Le Castelet April 7^th

The First Round took place on the beautiful track of Circuit Paul Ricard. It’s a very fast track in the South of France but very slippery when wet. At the beginning of April the weather was cold with many rain storms. It was my first race on my brand new CMR TZ-750 and I was not ready to crash it. I rode very carefully but scored 6th place overall on the grid and 2nd in Post Classic 900 category.

Race #1 started on a wet track and I was not ready to use full throttle with this bike yet. I finished 16th (5th PC900). Race #2 was much less stressful and I took 5th place overall and 2nd in my category. After the first round I stood at 4th in the French Championship. The bike is well born and I need to get more experience on it...

Crois-en-Ternois April 28th
The Second Round was in Croix-en-Ternois in the north of France. The weather was still cold and very wet there and I was still afraid of the bike's performance on a wet track. I placed 11th on the grid (9th in PC900) after the Qualification race. There were three races, but just two scoring for the French Championship. A spectacular rainstorm occurred just before Race#1 began, and I decided not to start.
Race#2 was much better and after a nice fight against a Suzuki RG500 I finished 9th (8th in PC900).
Race #3 was even better and I took the 7th place and 4th in my category.
I was rather happy about my weekend as the TZ was not the best choice for this short track. I now stood at 3rd in the French Championship.

Haute Saintonge May 19th
The third round was held on another rainy weekend with flooding in the paddock and on the track. I scored a disastrous 23rd place in the qualification race with tons of water on the track.
In Race#1 I tied my best to go through traffic quickly, but I suddenly lost my clutch at the mid-point of the race and finished 21st (7th in PC900). I tried to repair my clutch for Race#2 but the clutch basket was broken and I could not take my place on the grid. This was a very bad weekend as I slipped down to 5th Place in the French Championship.

Nogaro June 2nd
The Fourth Round was held at one of my favourite circuits! I was born 30 miles away and I love the beautiful sunny weather in the south of France. But this year the weather was very wet and we even got a rain storm.
12th place on the grid: I could have done better!
I had a disastrous start to Race#1 and was last into the first corner. I managed to finish 16th (4th PC900).
Race #2 started on a wet but drying track. I could not manage to keep in contact with the front runners and finished way down in 22nd place and 8th in PC900. I was still waiting for nice weather and a good race. I felt I was very lucky to remain 5th in the French Championship but my challengers were pushing very hard.

Carole July 8th
The Fifth Round and it was our first sunny weekend of the season. I tested my new Continental tires and they seemed to be quite efficient. I achieved 2nd row on the grid and first place in PC900 in the Qualification race.
In Race #1 my start was poor but I finished 5th overall and 1st in my category. Race #2 was very good and I won first place in PC900 again. Two wins and the fastest race lap: a nice weekend and I moved up in the French Chamionship to 3rd place.

Le Mans July 22nd
The Sixth Round at the Bugatti Circuit held great promise for the CMR TZ-750 and the weather forecast was favourable.
In the Qualification Race I took 9th place overall and 1st place in PC900.
In Race #2 I finished 7th overall and 1st place again in PC900. I was very happy as this was a very good weekend with two wins in PC900 and the bonus for the fastest lap of the race.
I was now leading the French Chamionship and very confident for the future.

Magny-Cours August 4th
In the Seventh Round the rain returned and I qualified down in 31st place. I was disappointed. In Race #1 from the 11th row on the grid I gained 6th place overall and 1st place in my category.
In Race #2 I took 7th overall and 2nd place in PC900. I also took the bonus for the fastest lap again. That wasn't too bad at all considering the qualification position!

Pau September 15th
The Eighth round and I was really looking forward to this track which has a very interesting elevation changes similar to Spa-Francorchamps. I felt rather confident being in a comfortable first position in the French Chamionship with only two races to go!
After only three laps in the Qualification race the red flag appeared and we had to restart after a 15 minute stop. As I restarted with cold tires, I lost grip and fell down. There was no major damage but a heavy rainstorm erupted and we had to repair the bike in bad conditions during the night. In the morning I had no time to try the bike out and had to start the race with my brakes a little spongy. After ten laps and just as I got to second place I lost my brakes and had to lay the bike down. It was a very serious crash but I wasn't injured, however the TZ was heavily damaged and I could not start for Race #2.

Le Vigeant October 20
Final Round of the 2013 French Championship.
This race weekend was a succession of my mistakes and my bad luck!
The weather was again very cold and rainy and I chose the wrong tires in the Qualification and Race #1. I took 22nd on the grid and could not control the TZ on the track. The tires were slipping in every curve and I finished Race #1 way down the field in 26th place (5th in PC900). I changed tires before Race #2 but it started raining heavily again and even with the new tires I could not follow the racers ahead of me. I finished 22nd overall and 6th in my category.

I lost my first place in the French Championship with a score of 261 points to my challenger's 264!
I now have a good reason to come back in 2014 with my CMR TZ-750.

Many thanks to Denis and Byron, and the CMR Racing Products Team, for the very nice work they did on my CMR Yamaha TZ-750 Frame, and Swing-arm kit and fuel tank kit and accessories.

For more photos of Philip Ronne's CMR Yamaha TZ750 project follow this link to our CMR Facebook page.

Another CMR Report from Down Under

We've just had word from Phil Harris, a new CMR customer in Melbourne Australia, who has been working on putting together his CMR Suzuki TR/XR/GT750 frame and tank kit (plus accessories) in readiness for the Philip Island International Classic 2014.


Phil sent us some photos on January 19 of his completed project, and it's a beauty.

Phil's words: "Here is our lovely TR750 with rider Clive Carter. We're not allowed allowed to tell you how many horsepower the bike produced on the dyno."











Clive looks at home on his new mount. He's ready to go!

Phil is on the left, utilizing his rider's strength to put the motor in the CMR frame.

The photo above shows the right side of the bike, square-on. Isn't it beautiful?

These two shots show the bike in its mocked-up form without fairing before painting and testing.

Here is the fully mocked-up bike with full fairing and screen in place.

Phil and Clive hoping that this will be the view that most riders will see of the bike, disappearing into the distance at Phillip Island.

Phil has promised to send us complete results and a video of the bike performing at Phillip Island. We'll post it as soon as we get it. Stay tuned!