Round Up

ROUND UP

JOE PARKHURST

THERE AREN'T MANY firsts left in the motorcycling world that are not overly dangerous or financially impractical, but three Italian enthusiasts, Massimo Bertuzzi, Renalto Calo, and Filippo Falzoni, have come up with one. They are currently touring from the tip of South America to Alaska.

One of the biggest problems when traveling that far by bike is luggage space. In fact, the equipment required for a trip of this magnitude would have made the 750-cc Laverdas difficult to handle on the numerous unpaved sections of the Pan American highway. So, in the interests of practicality, Renalto Calo is driving a Fiat—this time.

This time, though, the car was a necessity. Touring in South America requires a machine that is able to run on low octane fuel. Laverda, like most motorcycle manufacturers, makes some models that meet this requirement, but such were not the models chosen. Instead, Bertuzzi and Falzoni chose high performance sport Laverdas, because they wanted to ride the most sophisticated model in the line.

Obviously, fuel was a resulting problem—a problem only an accompanying car could alleviate. Calo's Fiat was fitted with a roof rack and carried several cans of high octane aviation fuel. Whenever inadequate gas was encountered, some aviation fuel was added to raise the octane to an acceptable level for the bikes.

At the time I interviewed the trio in Los Angeles, they had traveled some 15,000 miles, including the drive from their embarking point in Buenos Aires, down to Tierra del Fuego, where their journey officially began. Outside of worn out suspension systems caused by the bad roads, and some engine problems on one Laverda, accelerated by the use of low-grade oil, their trip, to date, has been relatively trouble-free.

Endless miles of changing scenery and plenty of time to enjoy it—none of us could ask for more..

BERT GREEVES, COMPETITOR

Recently I ran across an old photograph of Bert Greeves, taken in 1928 during the Madresfield speed trials. Bert, Norton-mounted in those days, had just become second fastest amateur. His CS1 was a forerunner of the famous "Cammy" Nortons which dominated many race meetings.

WHITES KILLED IN CRASH

Ron and Eve White, for 20 years the backbone of the Canadian Motorcycle Association, were killed recently in a light plane crash near Toronto, Canada.

As publishers of Canadian Motorcycling Magazine, both were well-known journalists. But beyond this, they were deeply involved in both the sport of motorcycling and in its politics. Both Ron and Eve were instrumental in FIM negotiations that allowed international stars to compete at Daytona using Canadian licenses. They also fought untiringly for government grants that enabled Mike Duff and other Canadian roadracing stars to compete in Europe.

Motorcycle sport will greatly feel their loss.

HONDA OFF-ROAD MAPS

American Honda has just completed an off-road riding map that will greatly benefit all cyclists. The map, incidentally, is the final product of one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted on Southern California's offroad riding areas.

As indicated, there is still a great deal of land open for riding, in spite of rapid land closure.

Use of this land, however, is a privilege, not a right. Until all off-road vehicles are fitted with a quiet muffling system, and/or spark arresting, there is little chance of convincing non-motorcyclists that our riding in these areas is a good thing. Quite obviously, until we convince them it is a good thing, land closure will continue to plague us.

Honda off-road riding maps are available free of charge at all authorized Honda dealers in Southern California. These dealers will also have available, at 50 cents apiece, 13 different Honda Trail Guides covering sections of the Angeles, San Bernardino, and Cleveland National Forests.

Less Sound, More Ground! [Ö]