Sidewinder 15 Setup for the ASR National Championship

[bmitch1]

It is unbelievably complicated to assemble a racing motor. From creating a design, identifying suppliers, sourcing parts with demanding tolerances and specifications, testing and finally to subjecting the assembled product to many weekends (and years) of use. Unfortunately, as historically significant manufacturers have moved away from outboard racing we have been fortunate to see people who love this sport step up to create solutions, take unrelenting criticism for decisions, and yet they still work on creating opportunities and solutions from every challenge. We need to continue supporting these efforts because they are literally the driving force behind our boats each race day. In the interest of transparency and recognizing the many criticisms that these manufacturers often face, I wanted to provide a positive note about our success at Moses Lake with the ASR National Championship:

Our SW15 is a bone-stock SW15 raced as-received from the factory.

We did NOT:
- Play with or change the timing;
- Tinker with the carburetor or change jets/needles;
- Have the gearfoot profiled;
- Send the head (or any other parts) out to be bored, profiled or ported.

We did:
- Read and follow the provided instructions,
- Break-in the motor;
- Talk with Ed when we had questions;
- Use good quality non-ethanol gasoline, good racing oil, and fuel filters;
- Perform regular maintenance including checking for any loose parts due to rigorous racing use;
- Change the gear oil regularly;
- Test propellers and setups to maximize the motor to our driver, boat and conditions.

With those efforts we won our ASR elimination race and both heats of the finals. And the motor has about a season and a half of racing on it... Prior to our teardown at Moses Lake I had not even had the powerhead apart.

The point of my post is our racing community must continue to support the efforts of engaged/active manufacturers for our sport. We can all talk behind race trailers and on Internet forums to dish out criticism and complaints, but it is good to take a moment and reflect on what is working too. As we look to grow the sport we will be asked where new drivers can get competitive equipment without struggling with dark tuning magic... this is one really solid example.

Thank you Ed and Ron for your continued work where Merc, OMC, Champion/American and others have folded or stepped away!!

ASR-nc.jpg

[Matt Dagostino]

It is unbelievably complicated to assemble a racing motor. From creating a design, identifying suppliers, sourcing parts with demanding tolerances and specifications, testing and finally to subjecting the assembled product to many weekends (and years) of use. Unfortunately, as historically significant manufacturers have moved away from outboard racing we have been fortunate to see people who love this sport step up to create solutions, take unrelenting criticism for decisions, and yet they still work on creating opportunities and solutions from every challenge. We need to continue supporting these efforts because they are literally the driving force behind our boats each race day. In the interest of transparency and recognizing the many criticisms that these manufacturers often face, I wanted to provide a positive note about our success at Moses Lake with the ASR National Championship:

Our SW15 is a bone-stock SW15 raced as-received from the factory.

We did NOT:
- Play with or change the timing;
- Tinker with the carburetor or change jets/needles;
- Have the gearfoot profiled;
- Send the head (or any other parts) out to be bored, profiled or ported.

We did:
- Read and follow the provided instructions,
- Break-in the motor;
- Talk with Ed when we had questions;
- Use good quality non-ethanol gasoline, good racing oil, and fuel filters;
- Perform regular maintenance including checking for any loose parts due to rigorous racing use;
- Change the gear oil regularly;
- Test propellers and setups to maximize the motor to our driver, boat and conditions.

With those efforts we won our ASR elimination race and both heats of the finals. And the motor has about a season and a half of racing on it... Prior to our teardown at Moses Lake I had not even had the powerhead apart.

The point of my post is our racing community must continue to support the efforts of engaged/active manufacturers for our sport. We can all talk behind race trailers and on Internet forums to dish out criticism and complaints, but it is good to take a moment and reflect on what is working too. As we look to grow the sport we will be asked where new drivers can get competitive equipment without struggling with dark tuning magic... this is one really solid example.

Thank you Ed and Ron for your continued work where Merc, OMC, Champion/American and others have folded or stepped away!!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n465278[/ATTACH]

When i won ASH in 2012 at Grass Lake our Sidewinder was raced as purchased from the manufacturer also! Our team actually had two A Sidewinders and they were both within half a mph of each other and ran fine......

[mercsami]

I agree 100%.Our Sidewinder 15 motor is into its second season,have not had any problems,have not replaced any parts,the compression is still at 150lbs. on each cylinder.Our driver in ASH is 3rd. in the nation in High Points,a testament to how reliable the motor is.Ed and Ron have devoted many hours to the development and manufacture of these motors.Yes, there are motors on back order,caused by parts vendors not living up to their promise to supply these parts.Ed will solve this, as he has solved previous manufacture problems.We as stock outboard racers need to embrace these motor suppliers and encourage them to continue their commitment to stock outboard racing.

[Smiley]

My 15S is about 6 years old, still uses stock size pistons. In 2014 Moses lake nationals I dumped in the ASR finals, got dirt in the ignition, when pulling the flywheel we unfortunately split the top of the crankshaft. Our fault. Ed quickly repaired it and the new crank assy was only .0005 out of true. The motor has dependably ran and this April broke the ASH kilo record. It starts on the first pull after the enhanced prime pops every time. I have been very happy with it and it is a pleasure to work on the motor.

[ryan_4z]

Well said, Brian. And congratulations to you and Nate for your achievements.