"Feedback"

FEEDBACK

Readers are invited to have their say about motorcycles they own or have owned. Anything is fair game: performance, handling, reliability, service, parts availability, funkiness, lovability, you name it. Suggestions: be objective, be fair, no wildly emotional but illfounded invectives; include useful facts like miles on odometer, time owned, model year, special equipment and accessories bought, etc.

HONDA 500 SHIFT KIT

Re: your article about the CB500 Honda which appeared in the October issue . . .

For those who presently own CB500s and have encountered shifting problems, or those contemplating buying a 500 and worried about shifting problems, be thou jointly advised that Honda has a fixit kit employing clutch and friction plates, shift return spring, shift drum detent spring, and various and sundry other replacement parts available for those machines affected. (This problem has been remedied on later machines, and should not affect anyone purchasing a later model.)

This kit is available, more or less (what with dock strikes and such), from your friendly neighborhood Honda dealer. Unfortunately, however, not under warranty. Dealer cost for the kit is $20.45 and, should anyone get this kit, scream until they give it to you at cost.

Also, service should be performed by a Honda mechanic, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

Russ Hamilton (no address given)

THE PARTS MAN SPEAKS

I’ll remain anonymous because I like my job and need the money.

I have been a parts manager for a large motorcycle dealership for the past three years. The 15 years before that were spent managing auto dealerships. I mention this so you won’t think Fm a newcomer to parts problems.

There has been much talk lately about lousy dealers, poor inventories, poor service and lack of cooperation by dealers. In one issue of CYCLE WORLD a Susan Kasinger implyed her dealer failed to adequately take care of her problem, and a phone call to the distributor got results, indicating the dealer was lacking in service.

Let me tell it like it is, at least for me. Honda alone has about 23 new models of bikes. Add to this three or four different colors available per model, and you have around 70 various new models. I emphasize “new” because this happens every six months or so. In the past two years I’ve seen over 200 models of just Hondas.

So Honda, like most other makes, mostly Japanese, is on the “Model of the Month” kick. So much so that they sacrifice good parts service. How the hell can a dealer keep up with all these model changes? I currently have five models of Honda on the showroom floor, for which I have no parts information. I’m not picking on Honda; they’re all just as bad.

Triumph, for example, has parts books for the ’7 1 models, but no prices. When I called the distributor to ask about prices, they said, “Fake it.”

Kawasaki advertised Hatta forks for over a year before they were available to the dealers.

To the motoring public, “the phone call to the distributor gets it done.” “If your dealer won’t help you, the factory will” is a common statement, and you know that it’s true!

Case in point: a customer with a CB350K2 fried his top end, something that seemed to be happening quite often on this model. The cams and rockers were a new part number that we did not have in stock, which was at the time the bike had just been released.

I sent a warranty parts order to American Honda; this type of order is of the highest priority. Two weeks later, the normal time for processing an order, the order came in. No cam, no rockers, and “temporarily out of stock” was stamped on our IBM cards. I phoned Honda (standard procedure when a part is in dire need) and begged for a cam. My customer was a big guy who was making strange sounds like a gorrilla, and I wanted to convey the idea that if his bike wasn’t running soon, he would wrap it around my neck. (I have a small neck.) Honda said they would try to get me the parts needed. Two more weeks went by, still no parts. My gorrilla friend said he would call Honda. I suggested he do that, and then I unwrapped the 350 from around my neck.

Lo and behold, three days later I got a cam and rockers.

Now he thinks I wasn’t trying and that his phone call got the needed parts. The fact is that if Honda is in critical supply of a certain part, they won’t send it to a dealer, no matter how much he begs. All you hear is “temporarily out of stock.” They are holding back the last few of that part for the customer who is mad enough to call.

(Continued on page 24)

Continued from page 22

So: CALL, PEOPLE, CALL! But remember, just because you get the part when the dealer couldn’t doesn’t mean he wasn’t trying. ’Cause, by God, he was.

A Frustrated Parts Man (no address given)

A WARRANTY PROBLEM

“Mr. Ken Clark Yankee Motor Co.

Gardena, Calif.

“As owner of Ossa Enduro number 301423, which I purchased on April 21, 1971, I wish to bring to your attention that the enclosed speedometer which came with my Ossa quit working at 736 miles.

“According to my manual, the Ossa is covered with a 2000-mile or twomonth warranty. I believe that the warranty also covers the speedometer.

“To verify the non-function of the speedometer, please check with D. Evans and B. Nickleson, as I brought this to their attention about 40 min. after the speedometer quit working.

“Waiting for your reply, Bill A. Zaremba Covina, Calif.”

“Bill A. Zaremba Covina, Calif.

“Dear Sir:

“You are correct about the speedometer not working. You are also correct about the warranty period. It appears that the speedometer failure was perhaps not entirely due to a malfunction on the part of the speedometer. Until we can positively identify the cause of failure we will be unable to honor your claim.

“Yours truly, Kenneth D. Clark Vice-President Yankee Motor Co.”

(Continued on page 26)

Continued from page 24

BMW R75 BARS

This letter is written in reference to the article which appeared in “Feedback” in the September 1971 issue, in which there was a group test of six machines-including a BMW R75/5.

The chief vice found with the BMW Was steering instability at speeds in excess of 75 mph. The source of this problem is the handlebars supplied on the U.S. versions. With or without a windshield, the upright position of the rider results in significant “lift” on the front end. The application of the European version of handlebars (available at some BMW dealers in this country) eliminates the problem. On my own European version I have noted no instability, though I usually travel considerably in excess of 75 mph in Europe— usually about 100 mph on the autobahn. On one run between The Hague and Rotterdam, the motorcycle has done approximately 125 mph (with a competition fairing), again, without instability.

I recall discussing the matter of U.S. handlebars with Krauser, 8034 Germering bei München, West Germany. This organization is responsible for the preparation of much BMW competition machinery. Mr. Krauser expressed the opinion that the handlebars resulted not only in high-speed instability but were quite dangerous when accelerating through a bend—especially S-bends— because of the lift that the rider imparted. For this reason the bars are not permitted in several European countries (including Scandinavia).

In addition, the lower bars also result in less fatigue and back trauma to the vertebral discs; the slight body weight which is born on the arms from the forward position while standing still is nicely balanced by the wind resistance when moving—such that the rider actually “floats” and need not grasp the handles to maintain his position. The forward position permits gravity to assist in the maintenance of proper back posture (and thus intervertebral disc compression force absorption), rather than a hunched-over posture which results with the higher bars from the wind pressure on abdomen and chest.

The gear ratios are quite appropriate for the intended speed range of the R75/5, giving maximum hp at 90 mph in top gear. Otherwise one should get the R60/5 for slower driving.

I am enjoying my stay in this country, including the numerous avid motor-sport aficionados.

Dr. Torsten Jacobsen San Francisco, Calif.

DIRT BIKE SILENCERS

Our club bought the “Less Sound, More Ground” idea and made silencers a requirement for all bikes ridden in our races or on our property. But, such a requirement is “breaking” our riders, as the silencers are not standing up under the rigors of motocross. And I mean name-brand silencers from various manufacturers!

In some, the guts are blowing out; on others, the metal is cracking and breaking off from, apparently, vibration (not from wipe-outs).

Are we by ourselves, or are others having the same problem?

J.H. Harper Moto-Masters Club Box 1271

m Richardson, TX 75080