About Us
Ron Wood Racing has been involved in motorsports since 1982. Originating as a way to supplement the Norton dirt track racing project, the original product was Dell’Orto carburetors, as well as replacement parts, jets, gaskets and seals to help with the rent. Soon after, Ron was contacted about becoming a distributor for Rotax four stroke engines for use in AMA flat track or dirt track competition. That’s when things started to pick up. With no regular source for specialized dirt track racing frames, staff was hired to build them in house. The engines were homologated as Wood-Rotax for AMA mile, half mile, short track and TT competition. Soon complete motorcycles were available in kit form, everything but tires, tubes and chains. Even genuine Bates footpeg rubbers were available after the purchase of the molds. K&N Filters, Mikuni Carburetors and CP Pistons became part of the program as original equipment on Wood-Rotax motorcycles. Engines were available in 500, 560, 600, 660 and 676cc displacement, also known as 504 and 605. The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association, AHRMA, featured a class for four stroke single cylinder road racers, and soon the SJ676 motorcycle was developed, setting records across the country.
With a reputation for Rotax power, performance and reliability, BMW owners asked Ron Wood Racing for more power in the F650, a Rotax-powered dual sport motorcycle. A high performance exhaust system was developed, along with CP Pistons, K&N Filters, camshafts, oversize valves, dual valve springs with titanium retainers, high performance dual carburetors and more.
Soon Bombardier DS650 ATV owners were calling, asking for performance parts for the big Can-Am quad. Again, a performance racing exhaust, bigger Mikuni carb, CP Pistons and K&N intake kits were developed, along with camshafts, oversive valves and springs, cylinder head porting, as well as a replacement ignition taking the already impressive 40 HP machine to over 60 horsepower, plus increases in torque and maximum RPM. Big bore pistons also joined the already long list of performance parts for BRP’s big sport quad.
Dirt track racers began asking for frames for the new Japanese 450 motors, and frames for Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki were now made, featuring Ron Wood Racing’s innovative single shock design, with the shock mounted low under the engine.
Working with the 450 engines led to big bores and stroker crankshafts to increase displacement to the allowable 505cc. Wood Racing’s big bore oversize pistons and cylinder sleeves featured longer skirts, adding many hours of reliability to the impressive Yamaha YZ450 motor, which was put under much more stress with the sustained high rpm of dirt track racing. Race exhaust systems were also built to use with the stock frame Yamaha and Honda 450s.
Involvement with the Yamaha and Honda 450 engines in our dirt track frames led directly to performance parts for the Yamaha YFZ450 and Honda CRF450 ATVs. Dirt track race developed exhaust systems were adapted to fit the YFZ450 and TRX450 quads, making superior horsepower and torque needed by the heavier four wheelers. FreeFlow intake systems featuring K&N filters offered an additional 4 horsepower over stock and other intakes. CP Pistons added to reliability and power, along with cams and valve springs. Heavy clutch springs were also developed to handle the extra power.
Seeing that we were making parts for the 450 quads, friends wanted pipes for other brands and models too. Soon an exhaust was developed for the Yamaha Raptor 600 ATV, plus parts to go along like high compression and big bore CP pistons, clutch springs, fuel controls and more.
Similarities to the Raptor 700 led Rhino 660 and 700 UTV owners to us for parts. The Rhino 660 was the first of the true off road side by side vehicles, but was choked off. Our Stage One kit, including Ron Wood Racing’s exhaust, Mikuni carburetor, intake kit with K&N filter and ignition more than doubled the power of the little car, from 19 to 38.6 horsepower at the rear wheels! An exhaust was also developed for the Rhino 700, but the new engine controls for fuel injection made it difficult to get the doubling of the power as with the carburetor fitted 660. Still, our pipes make better power than most! Our Grizzly 700 exhaust and intake for the Yamaha utility quad also helped boost the power of the popular four by four.
Kawasaki and Suzuki sport quads have been associated with two specific performance shops, but we have made performance exhausts and intakes that are equal on the bottom, but make significantly more power on top. The Kawasaki KFX450 and Suzuki LTR450 both benefitted from our megaphone exhaust and FreeFlow intake, with a 38% increase in power for the Suzuki LTR450 and 15% more power with the Kawasaki KFX450. In all fairness, our dyno showed the stock Kawasaki making more power to begin with! Kawasaki’s Brute Force 750 also benefitted from the years of race expertise with a stainless steel two-into-one exhaust, also getting high compression pistons and big bore pistons and sleeves.
Ron developed the SuperFlo spark arrestor to work with all of the ATV and UTV models to help conform to regulations regarding noise levels and spark arrestor requirements. Utilizing a perforated stainless steel cylinder, sound levels dropped by six decibels with no loss of power, and half the weight of the Supertrapp type system. The SuperFlo spark arrestor is available to fit our 4 inch and 5 inch diameter mufflers.
4x4 utility quads also became popular with the performance crowds. Bombardier, now resurrecting the Can-Am name, brought out the Outlander in 400, 650 and 800cc models. Soon we had an 800 in the shop, fitting a race exhaust, a cast intake doubling the diameter of the stock intake manifold, a K&N filter and Precharger on the left side and a Dynatek fuel control. Power was increased from 40 to 53, just with these bolt on parts. 2mm oversize valves were made to fit the stock seats, allowing bigger ports and more airflow, plus replacement bronze valve guides, camshafts with more lift and duration, and dual valve springs with titanium retainers to handle the bigger cams. Pistons with higher compression were soon on the shelf and 2mm oversize was also developed to fit in the stock cylinders with just a cylinder bore job.
Can-Am’s Renegade 4x4 bridged the gap between utility ATV and sport quads. Available in 500 and 800, all of the parts developed for the Outlander worked very well on the Renegade, with a few off road championships won using the Ron Wood Racing parts for the v-twin motors.
With the changes in power delivery, Dalton clutch kits were used to get even more performance out of the Can-Am CVT powertrain and transmission.
Can-Am also joined the UTV market with their Commander side-by-side and the new Maverick SxS. The new UTVs were fast, handled well and the Commander used all of the performance parts of the Outlander and Renegade ATVs. A bump in displacement to 1000cc didn’t hurt either. Dual exhaust kits, K&N filters and all of the Can-Am v-twin performance parts helped the Commander stay at or near the performance peak of the UTV market, at least until the Maverick was introduced. Many of the Commanders aftermarket performance mods were already incorporated into the Maverick, boastin about 100 horsepower from the new side-by-side. Our dual stainless exhaust and K&N filter, plus and Electronic Jet Kit boosted the power even more, with a weight savings of 22 lbs!.
Polaris was also in the utility and side-by-side market. The RZR800 needed more power, and our exhaust and intake provided a 7 ½ horsepower increase just by bolting it on. Dyno testing soon showed that a Dalton clutch kit increased power delivery by nearly 20 horsepower over stock and a top speed increase from 48 to 58 miles per hour. Higher compression and oversize CP pistons added to the performance.
Dual exhausts were also developed for the Ranger 800, RZR900 and RZR XP1000 SXS vehicles. CP Pistons, K&N Filters, intake kits, Carrillo connecting rods and more were soon available for the popular four wheelers, as well as performance parts for the Sportsman 850 Quad.
With fuel injection appearing on just about every gas vehicle these days, fuel control has become very important when installing performance parts. Fuel controls from Dobeck’s EJK, Dynojet and Dynatek Power Commanders are available for just about any fuel injected vehicle. These are not for highway use, but designed for off road and racing applications.
Yamaha redid the popular YFZ450 ATV, upgrading the motor, adding fuel injection and more. Again an exhaust was developed using our signature megaphone with reverse cone, providing more and better power delivery. The intake has also been improved, but a K&N filter offers better air flow and power. CP Pistons and Carrillo connecting rods, cams and heavy clutch springs also help to improve an already impressive package.
Arctic Cat’s cars, the Prowler XTZ1000 and the Wildcat also got the Ron Wood Racing treatment. Dual stainless steel exhausts are available for both side-by-sides, plus K&N filters, high compression CP Pistons, Carrillo Rods, dual valve springs with titanium retainers, and Power Commander PC-V fuel controls.
Ron Wood Racing is a distributor and retailer for K&N filters, CP Pistons, Carrillo Rods, Mikuni Carburetors and more. If you don't see it on the website, feel free to call or e-mail! We still stock all the parts for the Rotax air cooled single that started it all here. Pistons, cams, timing belts, valves clutch and transmission parts, cases, sprockets, pulleys, bearings, gaskets, seals and o-rings. This motor has gone from a 25 horsepower workhorse in the Can-Am and KTM 500s to a fire breathing 55-60 horsepower, (also used by America’s maker of iconic v-twins in a different color) to a 560cc version, then 660cc until being banned from AMA competition, reduced to a 600 used by just about every racer in the post-‘80s dirt track scene, to a 505cc, down to a 450 making much more than double the horsepower of the original 500, finally banned altogether from the dirt track competition it supported for nearly three decades when the AMA adopted the MX machines converted to “flat-o-crossers”.
Even National and World Champions, blessed with some of the most advanced competition motorcycles ever made, still longed for a Wood-Rotax dirt tracker.