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.

BSA 750 THREE

Last July I bought my Rocket III. In the past seven months I have put some 6000 miles on my Triple. There is no question in my mind that the BSA Rocket III is the finest, most reliable motorcycle on the market today. Performance, reliability, service and parts availability have all proven to be excellent. The handling has proven to be absolutely fantastic. The footpegs are very easy to drag going around a sharp corner and this is not because of poor location. The brakes are excellent and have shown little or no fade while pushing the bike through mountain roads. The gearbox is very smooth and has never shown a tendency to hit a false neutral between gears.

While I love this motorcycle, it does have some problems. The gas mileage has been very poor, somewhere between 25 and 30 mpg. With the small, 3-gal. gas tank, this limits my range to somewhere between 70 and 80 miles. I would prefer a black frame, but this is a matter of personal taste. The clutch is very stiff, but then it has never had any tendency to slip.

After riding a friend’s Honda Four I found it to be very unimpressive compared to my BSA. In every way it is an inferior motorcycle to the BSA Rocket III. The British Triples are the greatest motorcycles in the world.

Terry C. Cox Charlotte, N.C.

GOLD STAR ROADSTER

In regard to recent “Feedback” statements, I would like to say a word or two about my machine, a 1961 BSA Gold Star. My Gold Star is in fine shape, considering three years on the racetrack.

My cylinder head and cylinder were recently pulled for inspection and servicing. There wasn’t any scuffing, carbon build-up, or anything else to indicate poor wear or other problems. The connecting rod and lower-end were checked for wear—hardly any, and that goes for the transmission, too. And this was the first overhaul in three years of racing (and trail riding). All I have for my BSA 500cc Gold Star is praise for the engine/transmission.

The bike isn’t without faults, however. The Amal Monobloc carburetor has done everything but work right, and this is after several English motorcycle dealers attempted to tune it for me. Now I have a modified 450cc Honda constant velocity carb, and my problems are solved. So much for the Amal set-up.

Also, the forks and engine leak oil quite a bit, although the forks are leaking because of blown oil seals. The person that had it before me put more oil in them than he was supposed to, and then used them on some very rough ground. Abuse is not the forks’ fault.

As far as performance goes, well, its not a Mach III or a 750 Four, but will run up past 100 mph. This is fast enough for me, and has a lot more low-end torque than any modern “superbike” has. Some people say the Gold Star vibrates. Mine shakes only when at a stop, and it really isn’t a vibration, it’s a pulsing, caused by the large piston.

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Under way, it is quite smooth, with fine road handling. Mine is rock solid in all conditions, and has instilled maximum confidence in my limited ability, probably too much confidence.

Then, of course, you must recognize the nostalgic feeling connected with a big Single. The steady “thump, thump” of the engine, along with the fine handling, make this the type of motorcycle for me. Although the BSA 500cc Gold Star has more than one fault, the power, handling, and nostalgic value it has far outweighs the disadvantages. The BSA Gold Star isn’t perfect, but it is the machine for me.

Charlie Brown Roseburg, Ore.

FROM KAWA TO BSA

I have been motorcycling for several years now, having owned four bikes since the start. The first was a 1970 (new) Kawasaki A7SS (350cc, high pipes), and was highlighted by its easy starting and brisk (for a 350) performance. Unfortunately, the CDI electronic ignition system began to malfunction at 6200 miles, and after several “repair sessions” with the dealer, to which no improvement was noted, I traded it on a 1970 (new) HI, a 500cc, metallic red, and touchy (no surprise) in the throttle area. This bike never gave any trouble until 6800 miles when the CDI started to malfunction, so back to the dealer (several times).

Now the Kawasaki dealer I was doing business with seemed quite sincere in his attempts to fix both bikes (my old 350 and the 500), but the Mach III, like the Avenger SS, never worked well after the CDI once began to act up. Now being extremely gullible and still awed by electronic ignition as the answer to long(?) intervals between tune-ups, I bought another Mach III (vintage 1971). The first night I had it, it seized a piston (00018.6 miles), so I pushed my new “prize” four miles home. The blue bike and I got off to a bad start. The piston was replaced, but now when cold, there was a definite “banging” so as to make one concur piston slap was present. The slap never got worse in the 3750 miles that followed. At the aforementioned 3750 miles the bike quit on me, downtown in St. Paul as I was coming onto the freeway. The ignition was dead. The bike was trailered to the dealers, but ran when examined there, it ran great.

I took the bike home again, but several days later the same thing happened, the electrical system seemed to short out (a note here, swearing in English at a Japanese bike is useless). After 15 minutes the machine suddenly woke up, everything worked, so I started it, drove it straight to the nearest motorcycle dealer and dumped it.

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It was at the point when my third Kawasaki failed me I decided I would go to a bike with the conventional batterycoil-point set-up, and maybe a fourstroke.

I bought a 1971 (new) BSA 650 Lightning (Neal Sager, Feedback, March 1972, take note). It starts well, runs great, seems very reliable, gets terrific gas mileage (compared to my Mach Ills) and sounds (at least to me) better (personal satisfaction only).

I would also like to mention that the BSA dealer in St. Paul (Bill’s Cycles) is one hell of a dealer, the kind you people tell us readers to search out.

In sum, I am sold on four-strokes, and a British bike at that, quite a switch from what you people usually hear.

Gene Ellingsen St. Paul, Minn.

Other Kawasaki owners who have experienced CDI problems would do well to observe the following. Due to the 30 kilovolt capability of these ignitions, they are much more critical than standard ignitions. Sealed CDI boxes, normally impervious to moisture, will accumulate water if subjected to the blast of a hot, soapy car wash gun. Certain models of the Kawasaki CDI ignition are also quite sensitive to low battery voltage. If the bike sits and the battery goes flat-from a normal 12V to only 9 or 10V-running the engine may not serve to charge the battery. This is because the battery is used to power an “exciter” in the AC generation system. When the exciter field is weak, there may not be enough current produced to recharge the battery. Put the battery on a trickle charge if the bike has been sitting for a long time. And keep the water level up!—Ed.

HONDA FOUR TIPS

A couple of notes on my Honda Four. (15,580 miles). Reverse direction of the sprockets every 5000 miles and double the life of both of them. Does not apply to a chain.

When removing the rocker arms, ensure the rocker shaft is centered so the bolt won’t strip when removed. When remounting the cam-chain sprocket on the cam, rotating the sprocket one link at a time through the chain will allow the holes to mate on the cam/sprocket. After having seen the engine parts torn down, would suggest Texaco Super Premium oil (10W40). It does a good job.

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When replacing the oil filter center bolt, just snug it down, it won’t leak, and you’ll be able to get it off the next time. NGK D8E plugs seem to be the best combination for all round use; the D8ES seems to foul pretty fast. If you are having more trouble than most with fouling, check the plastic plug terminals. We have found that the metal tip screws in there, vibration can loosen it, lessening the spark. Also make sure the paint is scraped away from the frame where the coils bolt on, this will help the grounding.

If the chain turns the cases into junk, heli-arcing the cases will save about $150. One of our aquaintances patched his cases on the road and drove off, sure cost him to replace all the parts that were scored from the pieces of the case floating around inside. Funny how some people think.

Since the Four runs lean on reserve, we have cut a half inch off the metal feed tube on the fuel strainer. This leaves ample reserve, and the engine does run better. We also found the 400-18 Avon to be a very satisfactory tire for the rear end, it corners like crazy, and gives good mileage. Not an exclusive discovery with us is that a standard 6012 sealed beam headlamp is a third the cost of a stock lamp, and gives more light.

Yes, we have rusty pipes, the engine sure runs cool, rather replace pipes than engines. Some of us have moisture collection under the glass lens of the instruments, a 100W lightbulb placed two or three inches above it for 20 min. or so will evaporate it, and dry out the instrument too, but you may have to re-lube the cable if it takes longer.

If you’ll turn loose of $5 and buy a parts manual, you can make a list of the parts you’ll need at home, and ask for them by number. This will save a lot of time hanging over a parts counter, getting home, changing clothes, getting greasy, and those points were for a 450....

Our club wishes all 750 Honda owners could have seen Gary Fisher at Daytona. He was really doing it, watta bike.

If all bikers would write to the Feedback column here, we would see the quality of work improve in the shops. The answer is rider education, not rider complaining. It’s your bike, if you don’t know what the trouble is, how is a man that never saw it before going to know?

Chuck Irwin, Pres. Virginia Fours Arlington, Va.

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KEEN FOR TRIUMPH

I recently put my 1970 Triumph Trident in the shop for a major overhaul. Soon after that the parts required to do the job were ordered and all of the parts came in except for one—a center exhaust rocker arm. To make a long story short, Triumph East in Baltimore and Triumph in England came up with nothing, and I still haven’t heard from Triumph West. 1 called close to 20 dealers in the Eastern United States and the story was always the same; they had sold no 750s at all or so few that they didn’t stock any parts for Tridents at all. However, a gentleman I talked to at Neil Keen Performance Accessories in St. Louis said he would check into it. It’s been less than two weeks since I talked to him and I’ve already received the part. From the amount of calling I did, I know how much trouble Keen’s must have gone to. I was starting to consider the junk heap until Neil Keen’s came through. It’s good to know there are people in the “sport” who really do care about others needs. A demerit for Triumph and a hat-tip to Neil Keen.

Robert M. Donnan Pittsburgh, Penn.

THE MISSING PART

Suzukis are beautiful machines. It is, therefore, a most depressing state of affairs when a major manufacturer, such as U.S. Suzuki, pulls a stunt like this owner has encountered.

I’m the owner of a T350 Twin. Recently, I ruined the left cylinder by a combination of accidents and my own stupidity. Consequently, I set off in search of a replacement part. After calling and going to dealers in three counties (Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside), I finally called Suzuki’s central warehouse in Santa Fe Springs for some answers.

Well, I got some answers all right! There isn’t one of the above-mentioned parts in all of Southern California! I received a lot of B.S. about the dock strike (however, very big airplanes are built for times like these) and assorted other excuses. The plain fact remains that Suzuki has abandoned its responsibility in this area of replacement parts.

Dennis G. Armstrong Corona, Calif.

Maybe Suzuki was in error, maybe not. But one of our staffers who tried to buy a replacement hubcap for his 1971 Firebird, made in U.S.A., was given a similar answer when GM was striking. -Ed. ©