Thursday, November 27, 2014



It’s no secret that finding the right gearing combination is critical to on-track success.  Unfortunately, a busy night of racing provides little time for guess work.  The tachometer has become a ‘must have’ piece of equipment for anyone competing in any class of motorcycle powered racing car.  Today there are many options when it comes to selecting a tachometer for your racing car ranging from old school mechanical needle gauges through very sophisticated systems that are capable of monitoring every function on a race car from RPMs through the slightest movement of the throttle pedal.  Finding the right system for your needs becomes not only a question of what you can afford, but also what you really need.  For many racers the Acewell digital tachometer offers the perfect combination of functionality and economy.

What does it do?  The answer is quite a lot for its modest price of $139.95.  At the core the unit is a versatile tachometer capable of registering up to 20,000 RPMs.  This is important since many of today’s race engines are being turned at higher and higher RPM levels – often in the range of 14,000-16,000 RPMs.  The tachometer also displays both a numerical and graphical bar display – best of all the display is backlit orange for the best readability in low light conditions that we have found so far.  The tachometer is also capable of displaying the highest RPM reached for the session.  Another nice feature is the tachometers programmable shift light allowing a light to display when the tachometer reaches a user defined RPM.

The Acewell is more than just a tachometer with several additional features.  One of the most beneficial is its ability to display water temperature.  The water temperature is displayed numerically and can be set by the user to display in either Farenheit or Celcius.  The unit also features a programmable water temperature warning light that can be set to light at a user defined temperature.  Another feature of interest to racers is the unit’s battery monitor.  Since many mini sprints, lightning sprints, modified midgets and other motorcycle powered racing cars eliminate the charging system it is important to make sure that your battery is adequately charged at all times since a drop in battery voltage can affect performance.  The unit does feature other functionality that may or may not be of value such as a fuel level display.

How is it used?  We’ve been using Acewell tachometers ourselves for nearly five years and have sold several hundred units.  We believe that one of the reasons the unit is so popular is because of its ease-of-use.  The tachometer can be hooked up in minutes using our quick start guide.  Once installed the tachometer can be easily customized to your specific application which includes selecting the appropriate pulse setting for your engine and choosing at what RPMs you want the shift light to come on and the temperature you want the water temperature warning light to come on.
Once on track the easy-to-read display shows RPMs numerically and graphically.  Personally I rely on the graphical display most often while I am on the track.  The bar increases as RPMs climb.  After just a few sessions you will find you become use to where the bar graph is allowing you to determine your approximate RPMs with just a quick glance—since things tend to get a little busy on the track.  If I want a little better information, I’ll extend my glance and look at the numerical display.  The orange backlit display is one of the best I’ve seen.  It really does make reading the gauge very easy, even on the most poorly lit racing tracks.  One of my favorite features is the programmable shift light.  I set the light to come on at the RPMs I would like to hit at the end of the straight away.  This way I really don’t even have to glance down at all since the light is easy to see from your peripheral vision.  This makes it easy to determine where I am on the track when I am hitting the desired RPMs so I can adjust my gearing accordingly.  I also like the tachometers high RPM recall.  Once I get back in the pits after my session I can review the highest RPM I hit during the session.

The water temperature display is also very helpful.  A water temperature gauge is a must have in a motorcycle powered racing car and the fact that this temperature gauge is combined with your tachometer not only saves you money, but is also more convenient.   I set the temperature gauge warning light to the appropriate temperature for my engine.  When it lights, I know it’s time to pull off the track or risk injury to the motor.  FOZ Products water temperature adapter makes it much easier to connect the water temperature functionality of the tachometer.  You just cut your radiator hose in half and the adapter goes inline.

Finally, I do make use of the tachometers battery monitor.  I like to know exactly where my battery is during the evening and this makes it much easier to keep an eye on.

The tachometer is available for $139.95 through www.viperpipes.com.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014



Just Released - 600cc Modified Midget - Open Class - Big Bore Headers


Now we have something just for your open class 600cc modified midget headers. Our larger diameter tubed headers deliver the perfect balance of horsepower and torque for your built 600cc motor. Be sure to check them out at www.viperpipes.com/header_modmidgetindex.htm
Just saw this has been posted.  Looks like the MMSA should have another great season of racing!  Can't wait for the warm weather




MMSA 2014 >

May 3 Brownstown winged

May 10 Western Kentucky Speedway winged...


May 17 Brownstown non winged

May 25 Charlestown winged

May 31 Brownstown POWRI winged

June 7 Western Kentucky Speedway winged

June 14 North Vernon winged

June 21 Montpelier winged

July 4 Columbus Fair non winged

July 19 Clay County Flora,IL
National Race with MALS

July 24 Brownstown fair non wing

July 26 North Vernon winged

August 2 Western Kentucky winged

August 30 Brownstown with sprint cars*

Sept 6 Charlestown winged

Sept 19 Brownstown Friday night

Sept. 20th $1000 to win $100 to start
Montgomery Motorsports Park, National Event with MALS

October 11 Tri State Haubstadt National Event with MALS