50cc French moped racing 2012, TGO Chatillon sur Indre
Here are some photos I stole from moped racer Julien Dore’, MIR35 racing team and moped parts store owner (leaning on the peugeot 103 race moped photo above). The first race of the 2012 South of France organization (TGO) took place in March at Chatillon sur Indre race track.
Check out those amazing vintage motobecane and peugeot race mopeds 50cc single variator with launch lever:
Air cooled 50cc peugeot 103, Gr1 19mm class (left) and Motobecane Av10 50cc, stock-ish 15mm carb class (right):
Liquid cooled 50cc Motobecane Av10 with standard pivot engine mount, Open carb class:
Liquid cooled 50cc Motobecane Bidalot RS prototype frame with parallelogram engine mount, Open carb class:
Slideshow:
2012 French moped racing 2nd race
Just one week after the 1rst race April 8th, the second race of the 2012 season northern France championship took place in Douvrin race track Sunday April 14th.
Team Remi Cusso finished 1st overall dominating the event with the #48 motobecane Bidalot RS 50cc single variated with parallelogram ridden by Antoine his new pilot. You can witness the slight edge in power when listening to Remi’s engine in the straight away. I remember easily recognizing that specific sound among the other bikes on the track watching a race live in 2011. The magic touch…
Antoine did really good for his second race with a 50cc variated moped and first time on a new track. His amazing riding skills allowed him to place 1st in each 3 rounds and get the fastest lap time. He placed 3rd in the final 4th round due to a belt problem. It’s very early in the season but it looks like he has a good chance to win the 2012 championship in the 50cc variated moped prototype class.
Well done guys! Keep it up.
VIDEOS:
Posted by Phillipe 45 years old who started moped racing in 2010 to fulfill a childhood dream (kinda like me). He contacted in Remi 2010 who helped him build a motobecane av10 race moped. That’s his second season and he’s starting to progress as a rider and tuner. Unfortunately he just broke his clavicle bone in that last race and will be down for 6 weeks but he’ll be back. Here’s his #67 race bike with new 50cc engine setup scootracing89 cases for powerful Derbi h20 kits bridge exhaust + lightened Mykitech clutch pulley:
The energy in the pit early morning. Remi shares a guru’s trick showing how to use the roof steel frame to tighten a Bidalot variator when you don’t have a vice on the track. This is high level skills, don’t try this at home he’s a professional… lol
Antoine #48 won 1st, 2nd and 3rd round:
In the final 4th round Antoine’s belt slipped or broke at the 8 min mark. It happens sometimes with powerful 50cc variated engine even when you use a very precise and linear parallelogram. He learned his first lesson as a new variated moped rider, replaced the belt and got back on the track to finish 3rd.
Moped racing is back in California!
In 2013 we should organize one big rally/race event in Sacramento area with all the West Coast moped racers from San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, etc… and from other states for those who want to make the drive.
Tomahawk race moped peugeot 103 RCX 50cc single variator photographed by Hilary Andrew (The Gaskettes moped gang).
Woolly Bullies moped gang represented!
First I want thank Neil the organizer, the motorized bicycles racers, all the moped riders and spectators (locals or from LA) who came to support the race event April 7th 2012 at Grange’ tack in Victorville. Thanks to Melvin and Edison for cooking those delicious hotdogs and burgers. It was a good turn out and everybody had a blast, on and off the track.
Lots of people are already talking about bringing their fast or stock moped for the next race or just hang out on the track June 2nd. Tommy Erst fast moped racer retired after the polini cup might even come next time to race one of my bikes, stoked if his schedule allows it! Brian Warrington moped racer (Latebirds gang) wants to bring his fast peugeot 103. Some moped riders from Orange County are pumped and already working on their kitted mopeds to be ready in 2 months. We might also see more female moped racers.
STOCK TOMOS CLASS WHY NOT?
Also, I was talking to people in the pit and it’d be nice one day to have a stock parts only tomos class, no performance parts, to compete not with your bank account but your riding skills and maybe just a little bit of porting allowed and stock pipe modification to please the tuners. I guess every model would allowed even with A35 engine with reed may have a slight advantage. A55 racers could prove them wrong 
Maybe it could already happen in June if enough people show up and get it the mix with the slow class or mid range class (to be determined in the morning practice session). We could make a special prize for the Tomos sub category winner. It would be so much fun elbow to elbow with at least 10 Tomos on the track. I’ve heard the Tomos chassis handles pretty good too. The problem is most Tomos on the streets already swapped their stock pipe for a performance pipe right away. Because of that my buddy Melvin recuperated lots of stock pipe brand new, so we could try to provide some missing pipes for the race. So Tomos onwers and racers, get your bike ready and come play with us next June 2nd at the same track!
What a fun day! I haven’t felt that kind of energy on a track since the moped 2010 polini cup (Northern California). I think it’s important to keep moped racing alive for our community and the moped culture in general. If it’s in good spirit, it brings people together, creates some excitement, helps develop better moped parts, and attracts new people.
PHOTO SLIDESHOW:
It felt good meeting new moped people and catching up with old friends I haven’t seen for while, being too busy building bikes and no time to go on moped rides anymore. Special thanks to Honest Mike from “Scoot TV Show” (youtube channel) who drove from Los Angeles 1h30 with his Honda 250cc h20 scooter (75mph) to get some coverage. Check out his 2nd episode on youtube soon, wait the end of his videos for the moped division.
Mike just posted a video on his other “2Digit Riderz” channel. Looks awesome man… Thx!
Special thanks to my buddy Shaw a moped guru with 20 years of experience and legend in the community. I hope he comes back in June with a racer riding one of his fast bikes. He showed up to watch the races with his stock Mbk BMX av10 50cc engine 45mph, the only one in the US. Motobecane only made less than 30 in the 80′s, organized one race with a couple of those bikes in the US and that bike stayed in the country as a prize for the American kid who won the race at the time. Shaw got it years later trading a bike with the kid’s dad. Cool story uhh! That bike is for sale by the way but only for collectors ready to spend $3000, with Shaw’s signature for free
The lesson I’ve learned from this weekend is that racing is not just about winning or building the fastest moped with the biggest crazy monster engine that’s going to beat every bikes, discouraging people, and probably blow up before the end of the race. Plus riding up front alone is not fun at all.
The most important is to have fun with your friends on the track elbow to elbow with somehow mopeds equal in power and chassis equipment, but also fun in the pit sharing your passion for mopeds. The key is to build a fast but safe bike with a reliable engine to compete all day and the rest of the season with your friends. Stockish bikes were doing fine too compensating with really good riding skills. Practice on the track is the key to become a better racer. If you have a monster engine but spend most of your time repairing in the pit, you never progress and end up quitting not enjoying racing.
More photos, videos and details coming soon… but here are the first videos:
VIDEO 1
This is a morning heat race in the mid range class. I’m riding my peugeot 103 RCX (fast class) just to have fun with my moped buddies and bring some on board footage. Chris Hernandez from Woolly Bullies is riding my moby av10 50cc, Tyler is riding a Honda Hobbit, rider from Riverside with a Puch maxi, local riders Ryan on a Honda Urban Express and Curtis on a Garelli. I got off the track early to save my engine for the fast class heat and afternoon races. I’m taking off the start lane slow due to clutch shoes that need to be serviced or a spark plug ignition problem at low rpm.
VIDEO 2
I won the morning heat race motorized bicycle/moped fast class. The fastest e-bikes in the straight weren’t there yet. I knew my bike was fast so I didn’t give 100%. I wanted to check out my competition first, other bikes strengths and weaknesses. That’s usually more what you do in the practice sessions. Some high level moped racers even skip practice to save their engine’s full power for the race. Some even turn off their engine soon after the race and push the bike back to the pit. The heat races are actually important and determine your position on the start lane for the official race in the afternoon. You can also put a little bit a psychological pressure on the other racers and make them doubt in the afternoon. In racing, every little thing counts 
I’m competing here with my peugeot 103 rcx 50cc h20 moped single variator + launch lever against motorized bicycles Harbor Freight 200cc 4t dual variated and e-bikes. No Morini 50cc h20 12 hp engines this time.
55 degrees Celsius = 130 degrees Fahrenheit ideal water temperature reading at full power.
VIDEO 3
This is it! Afternoon official race mid range class. Neil let me participate with my Peugeot 103 rcx (fast class) to play with the other mopeds and get some good on boar footage. I think Chris Hernandez (LA) finished 3rd with my white motobecane av10 50cc #191 behind the winner an old green “piston bike” and 2nd e-bike I think. Tyler (Orange County) yellow hobbit #199 was doing good but had some carburetor float problem in the straight and couldn’t finish the race. Ryan Mayer a local moped and dirt bike rider with the Honda Urban Express #167 showed amazing riding skills sliding with his skinny tires. Rider from Riverside rocked a white puch maxi with license plate and even lights on sometimes! Jake Martinez (Orange County) had some mechanical problem all day with his awesome blue Puch magnum top tank, bike a little heavy and with bad weight distribution for the race track, he’ll be back with a better moped next time. I gotta say, there’s something special about moped/bicycle racing in America, the bikes, the racers, the outfits, the riding style. It looks like a fun video game. Enjoy the race!
VIDEO 4 (Short video because my camera went out of battery)
I won the fast class moped/motorized bicycle official race. I’m racing with peugeot 103 RCX 50cc h20 single variator against the fastest bicycles 200cc 4T dual variated (they didn’t seem as fast as last race in Nov 2011), and the electric bikes even faster than the last time. The orange e-bike rider with 2 cameras on the helmet was the fastest top speed bike of the day and blasted me easy in the straight. I was getting 55 mph top speed vs the e-bike 65+ mhp. But I would catch up at the end of the straight with less weight, better brakes and engine braking power. I was also a little faster in the twisty, e-bikes seem to be very heavy and need to adjust the power with electronic controllers for smoother acceleration off the turns. They seem to brake slower due to their weight and no braking engine forces.
No excuse but it was my second race in a roll coming off the mid range class and I was getting a little tired and my engine too. At mid race, I was starting to feel the pressure. The fast orange e-bike was getting better in the twisty and slowly catching up on me 4 turns behind but his super boosted electric motor heated up and burnt. Once they become reliable with a better cooling system and adjust the crazy torque in the turns those e-bikes are going to be hard to beat and fun to compete against for any fast moped.
BONUS ARTICLE:
The same weekend across the Atlantic the 1st moped race of the 2012 season was taking place in northern France. My friend Remi master tuner brought 2 race bikes. One of his pilote 50 years old Chi King broke his leg last year. He recruted a new young pilote Antoine who comes from the 50cc motorcycle racing world. That was more a test race and his first time on a moped 50cc single variator + launch lever. Thanks to his good riding experience and the power of Remi’s bike he was able to win a round and placed 3rd overall. Well done guys! He’s shooting for the 2012 season title, good luck to him and Remi’s team. This is the highest level of moped racing and it’s become tougher every year with people coming with big guns. Believe or not Remi’s has the smallest budget and recuperates old vintage parts here and there that he brings back to life. Other racers kinda make fun of him cause his bikes don’t use modern high tech parts or don’t look shiny but he wins races with his skills and experience, haha…
He’s riding a Bidalot RS prototype moped with 50cc G3 Bidalot engine 28mm carb 18hp restricted on purpose at 14,500 rpm for reliability. 14,500 rpm (some reach 15 to 16,000 rpm). Those “fast class” bikes don’t look much like mopeds anymore because they evolved over 30 years of racing. Most of them use Bidalot custom aluminum frames, real adjustable 32mm hydraulic forks, wide magnesium wheels, front and rear brakes, and full motorcycle fairing. But they use motobecane 50cc moped engine technology with single variator + launch lever, with huge intake cases like Bidalot G3 or custom made, some use small stock motobecane Av10 cases + 50cc h20 kits + 19 carb and still get 15hp out of it.
Here are some pics of Remi the mechanic and his 2 race bikes, left Relica tubular light steel frame, right Bidalot RS aluminum frame:
The vintage 20 years old Bidalot 50cc G3 engine he rebuilt for the Bidalot RS bike just before the race:
Here’s Antoine the new pilote in the middle with 3rd place trophy and his RS bike #48.
VIDEOS :
Bidalot RS on board footage of the 4th round, it’s fast. Notice at the end of the video Antoine following Remi’s instruction to turn off the engine soon after he exists the track to push the bike back to the pit and save the engine parts. The less the engine runs the better the performance, his bikes only run on the track and for the races, I don’t think they even do the practice sessions. His rebuilt engines after each race start for the first time only once they get to the race event.
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From outside the track:
2012 French moped racing, the pressure is on!
50cc single variated moped racing was big in France in the 80′s and 90′s but slowly died early 2000 because of the scooters and 6 speed bikes becoming quickly popular among the new generation more interested in drag racing with 80+cc set-ups.
In 2007 moped racing made a slow come back with old school tuners/racers and few young racers. Since then, the sport has grown every year but still needs new blood to survive.
For the first time this year, companies like Bidalot (pioneer of moped racing and #1 brand for performance parts in the 80′sand 90′s) are stepping in wanting to help the sport grow, by submitting their ideas like introducing an open class up to 80cc the most popular displacement among young racers today (scooters/6 speed in drag racing and speed track racing). The idea is not really welcomed by the hard core an long time 50cc moped racers but could attract new racers to secure the future of the sport. Some argue that Bidalot has always been only about business and fear that they want to jump in just to tap into a new market to sell their modern racing parts, with a risk that they could start controlling the rules like they did back in the days.
The 2012 season is going to be the busiest since 2007 with about 30 bikes in the 50cc open class (no cases and carb size limit, open chassis) in the northern championship with top moped racers traveling for Belgium to challenge the french racers.
The southern championship is packed as well with new crazy bikes this year in each class, 50cc open, 50cc gr1, and the most popular 50cc stock-ish.
Reading all the french blog we can feel that everybody is excited and starting to feel the pressure, working hard to finish their bikes on time for the 1st race starting late march. Some of the teams are even getting a sponsorship this year, that’s a good sign.
Some random pics of current race bikes and new projects under progress, mainly from Northern France. Some of those guys are getting serious for the 2012 season, bringing out the big guns! I’ll try to plan another trip this year and go to one of their races, last year I went to one of the Southern France championship event, gained tons of experience and brought some cool moped parts.
Bonus Video: A look inside Polini Motori.
50cc french moped racing, “laissez les bons temps rouler”
Let the good times roll!
Here are some photos of the last 50cc variated french moped race in Ancenis Sep 18 2011 (2nd round). The pics were shot by Mikael “Lemim” and sent to me by my friend Ludo (above pic) who works for the M.C. Amorce 50cc racing club and co-organized the event for the TGO south of France championship. I met him during my last trip in France for the 1st round in April 2011, super nice guy who shares the same passion for peugeot mopeds and has been building street bikes for years. He’ll be attending the Peugeot 103 40 years anniversary celebration in October. I wish I could be there.
Ludo started moped racing this year and built a peugeot 103 spx to compete in the Production class, entry level “factory” class for sotck-ish peugeot and motobecane 50cc variated mopeds. Check out his race bike:
I’ve heard that it was a rainy afternoon with lots of crashes. My friend Remi Cusso and his team weren’t able to attend the race because of conflict with scheduling.
If you want to see more pics of the race check the photo galleries on the MC Amorce 50cc club website:
http://mcamorce50.jimdo.com/galerie/
The TGO championship includes many 50cc categories like scooters, pocket bikes, 6 speed bikes, solex, sidecar… but roughly, here are the 3 classes and rules for 50cc variated mopeds:
1- PRODUCTION: (Factory, stock-ish)
Chassis:
Step through moped frame, no racing frame, no reinforcement other than mandatory frame brace cross bar, 305 euros max. No parallelogram engine mounts.Fork open 30 mm max. Rear shocks open. Wheels 17″ max. Rear drum brake. Front disc brake 220 mm max. Seat and fairings open.
Engine:
Stock cases only, factory or after market. Crank open with stock stroke and 155 euros max. Stock cylinder type air cooled only, one exhaust port only (no bridge or auxiliary port), 2 rings piston. Cylinder head 46 euros max. Cylinder porting and cylinder base raiser allowed. After market reeds allowed 44 euros max but no petal reed block. Intake manifold 19 mm max. Carburetor 15 mm max. After market performance exhaust allowed 170 euros max. External cdi ignition only stock or 185 euros max. Stock variator only. No launch lever. Stock engine spring. The race will start with the engine running.
2- PROMOTION: (old Gr1 class)
Chassis:
Same as Production class + reinforcement allowed + fork open 32 mm max.
Engine:
Same as Production + crank 185 euros max, air cooled 50cc racing kit + head 260 euros max, carb 15 mm max but venturi allowed, manifold 19 mm max but custom made allowed, reeds after market allowed 40 euros max but no petal reed block, performance exhaust open, external cdi ignition 245 euros max, variator open 106 mm max no clutch function, launch lever allowed, engine spring open. Racers will push start the race.
3- PROTOTYPE:
Chassis:
Frame open. Wheels, tires, fork, shocks, brakes open. Steering damper allowed.
Engine:
Cooling system open, engine parts open, variator size open, carb size open, 2 stroke and 4 stroke engine allowed, exhaust open. The race will start with the engine running.
VIDEOS:
I couldn’t find any videos of the moped races but here’s some 50cc pocket bike and scooter action on the wet race track:
Team KRH2 sponsored by La Becanerie, Artek, Mvt, Yanusi.
Some of those 80′s vintage french moped fairings are available in the US, check out the full selection at http://www.treatland.tv
50cc variated french moped racing, the next level
Some updates about the 3 top french racing teams.
1- Team Remi Cusso:
http://karaokeman92.skyrock.com/
Remi the tuner and Mick the official pilot did some track testing with the new Bidalot Replica 50cc Gr3 race bike (28mm carb) outside Paris at “Carole” big motorcycle race track. The bike was faster than some of the Suzuki 125 RG, 250 RGV and vintage motorcycles. To give you an idea, that’s how fast a top level 50cc variated french bike is. The motorcycles were only able to catch up or pass in the long straight away because Remi’s bike is geared for moped tracks and not long motorcycle tracks.
After losing motivation in moped racing, reaching the chassis limits of his fast motobecane av10 frame 50cc Gr3 engine against the other high tech moped frames, Mick is now eager to get back in the competition with the better Bidalot Replica chassis version keeping the same old Gr3 engine. He can lean the bike so far in the turns that “he’s gonna have to get new knee sliders every 3 races”…Watch out!
Latest pics of St Genis 50cc moped race September 4th 2011.
Remi is also working on Chi King race bike the Bidalot RS 50cc Gr3 (currently 3rd in the championship), building a new stronger lower bracket for the parallelogram to prevent the belt from twisting and jumping because of the insane power of the Gr3 50cc engine. I saw it in action live on the french tracks and it sounds like an 80cc engine.
2- Team Mir 35:
Julien is finally releasing his new machined Gr2 cases for motobecane Bidalot h20 Gr2 50cc kits + 20mm crank + 21mm carb size limit. It looks like you could remove the Gr2 “standard” 2 petal reed block adapter and use a huge Gr2 “open” 4 petal reed block for no carb size limit. Nice!
3- Team Clycomania:
http://cyclomaniateam.skyrock.com/
Video of St Genis 50cc variated moped race May 15 – 2011 and Hugo’s 1rst place.
BONUS ARTICLE:
Check out the no gear racing blog that talks about David a french pastry chef who moved to California and started speed racing in 2002 at Bonneville, Utah with a motobecane av10 imported from France. The latest 50cc engine evolution seems to be using a Derbi 6 speed engine converted to a variated transmission with 77 mph top speed in August 2011. David is still trying to beat the current 50cc speed record at 85 mph established by Cathy on a ultra prepared Aprilia RS 50.
I found out about that cool story through http://www.treatland.tv who sent me that first link.
http://southsiders-mc.blogspot.com/2011/08/team-no-gear.html
http://www.nogearracing.com/the-machine/
Bonus speed & monster bike videos for fun and inspiration:
France, a motobecane av10 drag moped with kitted minarelli horizontal scooter engine, first start.
France, a MBK Nitro scooter minarelli horizontal engine (like the Yamaha Zuma 50cc) with a malossi 77cc h20 kit, Keihin 28mm carb and a 6 speed gear box adapted from an AM6 /Derbi engine.
France, BRD drag scooter dyno testing. The only moped part on that bike is the front motobecane grimeca 17″ mag wheel
I’m too busy but I have a similar scooter engine at my shop with a Honda motorcycle frame and I have been wanting for a while to build a similar but slightly higher bike with a cafe’ racer top tank. At least I know that it can be done and the lines would work fine even with a scooter engine and smaller rear wheel. I think it could be the future for small size street custom bikes, combining the look of a bad ass top tank cafe’ motorcycle with retro lines, the power of modern Euro 2 stroke scooter 70cc/80cc technology or even 150cc 4 stroke engines from Asia (more available and popular in the US scooter world), the practicality of a dual variated automatic transmission with no gears just like a moped “twist and go” but with more speed and reliability than kitted moped engines that were never really designed to hold extreme power.
My first sketching with a GY6 150cc 4 stroke engine and my current 23 hp Minarelli 77cc 2 stroke engine project on hold.
French 50cc moped racing, Vendeuvre
Remi Cusso’s new race bike Bidalot Replica 50cc variated should hit the track at the next race June 26. It’s going to be the only Replica tubular frame back in competition since the 90′s. Remi is working his magic to make it competitive right away for its first race. The pressure is on with a lot of expectations from 50cc moped racing fans and the other teams. They’ll deal with the paint later.
Here are some exclusive photos of Remi’s Bidalot Replica h20 50cc Gr3 (28mm carb) variated race bike in France, 48h before its very first race this Sunday June 26. Remi (top race moped tuner) just finished his custom built racing exhaust. Nice work man! He also just received his Bidalot cylinder back from Spain with a special slow 24h thin layers process Nikasil replating. Another 50cc 15,000 rpms screamer on the track… good luck with the race!
Back from the race in Vendeuvre, France:
“Old school” Jeff broke the pipe on his motobecane av10 (mbk 51 cf) so he had the chance to try Remi’s new race bike in the third round. The video shows how excited he was in the pit when Remi fired it up and blew up everybody’s ears with screaming 14,500 rpms (even though the engine is driving the belt and the rear wheel). The carburetor wasn’t tuned yet but not bad for a very first time. Not even knowing the bike Jeff was already 2 second faster per lap than when he was racing with his motobecane. With the final tuning over the next weeks and the official pilot Mik, this bike should be super competitive.
Bidalot Replica very first start… a new variated 50cc ripper is born.
BONUS PICS:
I got my new moped race fairings from http://www.treatland.tv, thanks Treats!
They look pretty cool with the peugeot 103 vogue frame. It makes me want to build a 50cc race bike with my vintage Bidalot air cooled kit ceramic coated.
peugeot 103 vogue motobecane av10
There’s hope that I might be able to race against other mopeds in the Gr1 50cc air cooled class in August 20th at Buttonwillow race track for the NoCal/SoCal mini gp event. Rufus from Treats (2008magnum.wordpress.com) and John Quintos from San Fransisco are building peugeot 103 G1 race bikes. Thanks for your dedication and I hope to see you on the track soon.
Pics of vintage french 50cc peugeot 103 Groupe 1 race bikes:
50cc french moped racing, Salbris
May 29 – 2011, 3rd round of the TGO 50cc racing organization in Salbris, south of France.
The 50cc variated Mbk/Bidalot mopeds competed and dominated the race against the 50cc 6 speed motorcycles. Well done guys!
The results after 3 rounds:
1- Julien Dore’, Team Mir 35, Bidalot RS 50cc variated
2- Hugo Nouzille, Team Cyclomania, Bidalot RS 50cc variated
3- Chi King, Team Cusso, Bidalot RS 50cc variated
The black and orange moped racer coming back on the powerful 50cc Gr3 variated mopeds and 50cc motorcycles is only a 50cc Gr1 air cooled bike! Man, he’s fast.
If you watch the race closely you’ll recognize 16 year old Cathy with long hair racing in the middle of the pack with the blue mbk 51 CF yellow wheels built by her dad.
MBK 51 CF fairings for sale at http://www.treatland.tv
http://www.treatland.tv/1987-MBK-CF-51-fiberglass-front-race-fairing-p/fairing-front-mbk-1987.htm
http://www.treatland.tv/1987-MBK-CF-51-fiberglass-racing-seat-p/fairing-seat-mbk-1987.htm
50cc French moped racing, Saint Genis
Quick update on the french 50cc variated moped cup. Some of those bikes don’t even look like mopeds anymore but we see some mbk av10 frames competing, it’s just harder to win against the Bidalot RS frame.
Remi’s Team drove to Saint Genis (west of France) for the 2nd race of the TGO organization (Trophee Grand Ouest). Their pilot Chi King the Samourai took 2nd overall with the Bidalot 50cc Gr3 RS orange windshield (3rd in 1st round, 1st in 2nd round, 3rd in3rd round).
Hugo from cyclomania took 1st overall with his Bidalot RS and Julien from MIR35 with his yellow Bidalot RS took 3rd. I ‘ve heard that a really good young racer with a supposedly slower 50cc Gr1 bike was staying in the pack battling with those fast 50cc Gr3 up front. Awesome!
Remi made some changes on his bike and the engine didn’t detonate this time. In the video of the 1rst round Chi King fell apparently due to a wrong check of tire pressure. He came back from the 9th to 3rd place behind Hugo and Julien. More videos of the 2nd round with rear on board camera (led by Chi King) should be coming soon, we see more of the other bikes chasing him.
Yannick a friend, Remi the tuner and pilot Chi King
Chi King, Hugo Nouzille , Julien Dore’
On board video of the 1st round. The race doesn’t start until the 5 1/2 min mark and Chi King falls at the 6 1/2 min mark. Look for the Devil’s horns around the 8 min mark.
Meeting the big boys and the legend Didier Thomas
A dream come true… I had the chance to meet all the top teams of 50cc french variated bikes.
1- My buddy Remi Cusso introduced me to the legend and master tuner Didier Thomas who was one of the first to develop moped racing tuning technology with Bidalot parts back in the 70′s and 80′s. He also wrote the famous 2 stroke tuning french book “Gonflage des cyclomoteurs” that was banned a long time ago by the french government. We talked about the actual moped scene in France and the US. There’s no doubt that moped racing is making a come back and it seems like the old timers are eager to make a come back. Even Didier is talking about finishing is personal collector Doppler race bike with his amazing tuning skills. As we were watching the Gr3 race, he shared with me that even though the actual level of competition is high, it’s not yet matching the speed of the old 50cc bikes in the late 80′s at the peak of the competition. That’s scary!
Didier who now works for Doppler development just announced that he’s working on fabricating new h20 50cc kits for motobecane av10 race bikes not using old new stock but developing new cylinders adapted to the modern specifications, so it’s going to take a couple months. The actual Doppler replica kits we buy are designed for street bikes based on racing kits but with way less power. It is to expensive to build a real racing kit like they used to make back in the days, so Didier is going to design a new kit with racing specs for the track but it will be an hybrid model between a low performance street kit and top quality racing kit, to keep it affordable for the racers.
I asked Didier about making better Doppler racing kit air cooled for our Gr1 bikes but he wants to stay away from air cooled engines. The problem at this level of competition when you start porting a 50cc kit for extreme power is that you reach the mechanical limits. At very high rpms an air cooled cylinder heats up, loses power and often seize. It’s very hard to regulate the temperature especially on hot day. Racers end up spending to much time and money replacing their cylinders and pistons after each race. Even though it is more challenging for a new kid who starts moped racing to build a liquid cooled engine with a radiator and a pump, it should be cheaper in the long run with less seizing problems and better performance to win races.
2- I met Hugo Nouzille a young racer from Cyclomania Team owned by his dad Eric Nouzille an ex moped racer and tuner. They won the race this weekend with their crazy high tech Bidalot RS 50cc Gr3 vairated. Well done guys! They were super cool with me. They let me seat on their bike and it felt really tight with motorcycle gp quality. I feel bad for my friend Remi’s Team who dominated the first round but lost the second round because of a broken belt. That’s the nature of the game.
http://cyclomaniateam.skyrock.com
3- I met Julien Dore’ moped racer and owner of MIR 35 moped racing part store online. Some of you might recognize his famous yellow bike. He’s a super cool dude. He had some engine problems last weekend but compensated with his amazing riding skills to finish 5th overall. He gave me some cool racing parts for my future builds in the US, including a copy of the Bidalot engine spring that he manufactures. Thanks man!
Photos:
Didier Thomas french master tuner vintage book:
Hugo Nouzille, Dider Thomas the legend and Me:
Hugo, his dad Eric and a young scooter racer:
Julien Dore’ “MIR 35″
Race Results:
1- Hugo Nouzille - 34pts
2- Rodolphe Sellam – 33pts
3- Axel Brenon - 28pts
4- Chi King Hong – 28pts
5- Julien Doré – 26pts
Here are the 2 videos of the 1st round taped by Remi from Team Cusso outside the track and on board camera mounted on his Bidalot RS 50cc Gr3 with his pilot Chi King who won that round easy even after missing a turn due to overheating front break. He placed 4th overall but would have probably won the event if he didn’t have problems with a twisted new engine belt in the 2nd round. Not bad for a 50 year old veteran moped racer. Well done Chi King! Remi’s engine rips and sounds a notch better than the other bikes. He’s got the magic touch.
Videos:
