On Ice

ON ICE

Speed and Spikes For Frigid Fury

IN THE colder parts of Europe, a tough breed of motorcyclist spends his racing time cornering 500-cc machines at such incredible angles that his left knee scrapes the track.

His sport is ice racing, in which riders use Czechoslovakian Eso or English JAP engines, in specially built frames, and tires carrying as many as 200 steel spikes. Ice racing also is popular in Canada, where versatile Yvon du Hamel is a consistent winner on his Eso. It is in Europe, however, that the world championships are always contested. Russian rider Gaptrahman Kadyrow has won the title for the past two years.

Eso and JAP engines are widely used in all forms of European track racing. Both are single-cylinder four-strokes. The Eso is a short stroke engine-88 by 82 mm bore and stroke-and produces about 50 bhp at 8000 rpm, running on alcohol. A compression ratio of 14.0:1 generally is used. The JAP is a much older design, but remains highly competitive.

The ice rider’s technique is to lean his machine so far into a corner that his knee scrapes the ground all the way around. That way, every one of the 200 spikes on each tire earns its keep.