Mc1, 2 And 3
MC1, 2 and 3
All it took was 20 years and 20 grand
MARK CERNICKY
MATT STOUTENBURG’S 20-YEAR ODYSSEY BEGAN WITH A clapped-out 1987 Yamaha YSR50 bought in the summer of ’89. His original plan was simple: Install a liquid-cooled 80cc two-stroke motor in the YSR frame, bolt on trendy aftermarket mods, pour in some premix and ride. Then he stumbled across a $50 Honda XL80 at a garage sale, sending the project in another direction. Soon thereafter, the Honda’s 80cc four-stroke motor was squeezed into the painted, plated and polished YSR, and Stoutenburg christened the bike “MC1,” for “Matt’s Concept 1.”
A decade then slipped through the hourglass before Stoutenburg (owner of Stout & Burg, an electrical contracting firm) stopped by his friend’s shop, Dave Miller Concepts (DMC) in Anaheim, California. Miller mentioned that he needed an XL80 motor to complete a customer’s custom-bike conversion, a statement he made while tapping a fin ger on the cylinder head of a Iate-1990s Kawasaki KX 100 two-stroke motor sit ting on the bench. A few minutes later, a deal was struck, and the project headed off in yet another direction.
DMC' and Stoutenburg found that a KX 100 swingarm just happened to slot into the space allotted in the YSR’s frame. So, with the Kawasaki powerplant in place and a stretched wheelbase achieved via the longer swingarm, Stoutenburg set out in search of a fork to restore chassis balance. What he found instead was a complete 1999 KX100 minus engine. So, he decided to put his KX100 motor in that frame, since the two literally were meant for each other, and sent the fork and shock to be reworked by RG3 Suspension in Anaheim. Mini mock-Rl Cheetah bodywork mated up nicely with custom fiberglass sidepanels, thanks to a little cutting, grinding and welding by Miller. Shrouded by the tailsection, a handmade DMC exhaust exits above a 17 x 3.00 Sun rim laced to the stock KX hub by A&A Racing; the front rim is a 2.5-incher. MC2 was thus born.
Three years into that phase, fabrication was nearly complete when project destabilization occurred. Stoutenburg figured (quite erroneously) that since all the parts were his, he would just stamp the YSR’s VIN neatly onto the KX frame...and he entered the “Twilight Zone,” an unimaginable dimension of crime and space. Who should walk in for a random inspection than the local sheriff, who was investigating the recent theft of motorcycles in the vicinity. There sat the sandblasted and primedfor-paint KX project with freshly transferred YSR vehicle identification numbers, elevated on the shipping counter above the old XR, YSR and KX frames scattered below it. Chop shop! surmised the sheriff.
Habeas cyclus proceedings began immediately. Stoutenburg brandished envelopes of evidence, undoubtable documentation and an untarnished record to prove his integrity. But in the end, he would need an attorney, two years and $4000 to rectify “tampering with a VIN”—a California misdemeanor.
MC3 begins! Stoutenburg ordered a brand-new KX100 frame and started where he left off. Unused frame tabs were removed, unnecessary threaded holes filled and ground smooth. Baja Designs in San Diego came up with enough juice to power the LED lumi nary accessories, and a sano little digital dash from Trail Tech displays speed, engine rpm and temperature, etc.
By now, our protagonist was determined to license his baby “legally” as a matter of principle. Stoutenburg wore trails to both the DMV and Highway Patrol while following guidelines to a T, and the constabulary finally gave in. MC3 was registered as a Special Construction vehicle in January of 2009. Meanwhile, in Santa Barbara, Chris Wood of AirTrix had been busily at work on paint based on former racer Bubba Shobert’s Bell helmet graphics.
“There’s nothing like seeing a vision come to reality after all that fabrication and frustration,” recalls the proud papa. “The final assembly was the fun part.”
Whatever. Cough up the key, Dad. Gas on, instrument-power toggle, key on, choke knob up, two kicks and we're off. The upside-down GP shift pattern is fit ting. Suddenly wide awake and with the throttle wide open, this 100 doesn't feel quite as fast as the Ninja or CBR25OR from CW's April issue, but also not nearly so big-which is to say, tiny. What neither of those bikes has, though, is the crisp crackle of two-stroke or the lovely dinosaur waft of premix.
Once this little gem is warm, you can really ride it for all it’s worth. And after 20 years of trying, MC3 is worth a lot.
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