38 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com
-Team Trail Rider Magazine's Mike Sheetz from
Oregon recounts the triumphs & horrors:
"We had already tested and je ed the '68 Maico, but
the moment it came me to leave for sign-up, my
clutch cable broke, pulled straight out of the ferrell
at the lever. Fortunately, I brought three spares. The
clutch cable and front brake cable are iden cal, but
changing the clutch cable requires removing the skid
plate. A er checking in at sign-up, we changed the
cable, passed tech inspec on, and walked away from
the Parc Fermé confident the bike was good.
On Day 1 was the accelera on test. I had been prac-
cing launching and rowing gears on pavement. My
prac ce paid off, and the bike and I performed flaw-
lessly, but on a long, silty hill climb the carb popped
off mul ple mes.
Day 2, I stripped the splines on my brand-new shi er
in the middle of a special test. I finished the test and
stopped to change out the gearshi , which was
not in my pack! I sent a quick text to my wife,
Crystal, who rushed me a socket big enough to
remove the footrest that was glued on with red
Loc te. I borrowed a shi er from teammate
Pete Murray, who was having much bigger bike
issues. A er swapping shi ers, I did another
test and really ran the engine hard when I start-
ed to no ce a sound. It sounded like something
was occasionally clacking off my skid plate; it
happened more o en, and eventually the vibra-
on was jarring. I was able to complete the first
loop, but my engine was toast. Vic m of a li le
too much foreign material ingested through the
bo om end."
I'd like to thank my Wife Crystal, House of
Horsepower, Gray Area Racing, Bills Motorcycles
Plus, Arai, Sidi, Zowa Goggles, and True MX.
-Mike
Mike Sheetz Mike Sheetz
