The Scene
THE SCENE
IVAN J. WAGAR
A new level of honesty and accuracy was achieved when CYCLE WORLD started road testing motorcycles. Previously, the majority of motorcycle publications in the world relied on the manufacturers’ news releases for information, and printed pretty much what the manufacturer wanted written. Throughout CYCLE WORLD’s existence every member of the staff has regarded the integrity of the road test as his second religion, particularly the performance figures of a given machine. CYCLE WORLD was not too popular with the manufacturers, or even with other publications, both here and abroad, when all of a sudden those incredibly quick advertising claims went down the proverbial tube, because wild horsepower claims frequently did not match actual performance.
When possible CYCLE WORLD has made every effort to incorporate more valuable information for the reader in order that he may better assess test machines. This month CYCLE WORLD is proud to announce use of a weather station along with other test equipment. This backs the CYCLE WORLD belief that Southern California’s climate is sufficiently consistent to make road testing information valid.
The weather station supplies wet and dry bulb temperature readings, from which relative humidity is calculated. Also, wind direction and velocity meters show whether wind helped or hindered a given test machine, and by how much. A barometer is included for barometric pressure readings, and all of this information, including the altitude of the test site, may be found in a new section of the data panel, under Test Conditions.
Other new informàtion in the data panel includes fuel consumption, calculated on 50 percent highway, 50 percent city driving, and type of fuel recommended by the manufacturer; piston speed in ft./min.; engine revolutions per mile in top gear; weight distribution front and rear; and handlebar width. All of these things contribute to the performance, and some of them to the reliability and longevity of the machine under test.
Brake tests will be included for all street motorcycles. The figures will be the average of three stops each from 30 and 60 mph. These two points were chosen as representative speeds for city and highway driving. To obtain ultimate accuracy in the brake test, a shot marker is used. This instrument, at the instant the brakes are applied, fires a .22 caliber blank cartridge, which causes a chalk pellet to burst on the road. Brake tests will not be conducted on high traction surfaces such as are used by some dragstrips, or on concrete, but will be carried out on clean, dry, normal highway compounds.
Many readers continue to ask whether they should buy brand X in preference to brand A, and, as in the past, CYCLE WORLD will not recommend what a reader should buy. A motorcycle is too much a matter of personal taste. The magazine staff, the best road test staff on any motorcycle publication in the world, will endeavor to point out the good and bad-and let the chips fall where they may.
MY good friend Sammy Tanner, who is always quick to pass on a little philosophy about just about anything, called to clear up a point in his interview which appeared in CYCLE WORLD last month that might be misunderstood. It was in regard to the protective qualities of helmets, and Sammy, being interviewed during practice at Ascot, said a helmet with a cement liner would be a good idea. Even Sam knows the most important part of a good helmet is the energy absorbing liner, but his statement was part of a dissertation on an enormous design which would give ultimate protection. Unfortunately, just as humorous Sam started to unveil this monstrosity, which would break the wearer’s neck, but leave his head in good shape, the qualifying time was posted for the latest Ascot ace, Mel Lacher-And the way Mel has been going this year is enough to make any Ascot competitor clam up in the middle of a thought.
MOTORCYCLISTS and legislators right now are like the English and the Irish—no love lost. But, a substantial number of concerned motorcyclists and a like proportion of state legislators agree on at least one subject. That’s motorcycle rider education. The shared view is more and deeper motorcycle rider education is a desirable activity. Okay, who’s going to teach kids to ride bikes? How about teachers?
Arizona State University at Tempe has just completed a motorcycle driver education instructor course, the first (as far as is known) ever conducted in the U.S. The summer students were 30 high school teachers from Arizona, California, and Oklahoma.
Professorial duties were carried out by J.M. Smith, a former fighter pilot, now a high school teacher in Mesa, Ariz., and president of the Arizona Driver and Safety Education Association. Another thing Smith has going for him is that he’s a long-time motorcycle enthusiast. With enthusiasm and 30 students ready to learn, all Smith needed was motorcycles. Sears, Roebuck and Co. supplied four each in 106-cc/9-bhp, 175-cc/10-bhp,
50-cc/5-bhp, 50-cc/3.2-bhp, and scooter categories. The bikes were delivered to the university-and promptly locked up in a warehouse.
Smith herded his 30 teacher/students into a classroom and initiated a series of lectures that was to cover skids, legislation, blowouts, riding fundamentals, safety, traffic laws, controls and motorcycle operation.
Groups of teacher/students, working with sample machines, stationary on center stands, learned to start and stop the various engines, and practiced clutch and gear change mechanism operation.
Finally, the 30 were ushered into a parking lot adjacent the classroom. A few expressions of dismay at the prospect of the first time on two wheels, then a wobble or two and an occasional stall on the simulated streets were all the troubles the group experienced as the 30 non-riders soloed and became, for evermore, motorcyclists.
These 30 teachers will return to their classrooms and impart to their rider education students the things that make motorcycling safe. These 30 teachers also will learn, if they haven’t already, that motorcycling can be a helluva lot of fun.
