Letters
LETTERS
IT’S A WASSELL FRAME
Re your Tyran 125 MX road test in the August ’73 issue of CYCLE WORLD, the frame is made by W.E. Wassell Ltd., not Sprite, as erroneously stated.
Tom Rowland General Manager, Marketing Mitsubishi international Corp.
U.S. SOLEX DISTRIBUTOR
Sol-U.S. Imports, Inc., are the distributors for the Solex motor-assisted bicycle which you featured in your July ’73 issue. The price quoted in the article was correct if purchased in France, but in the U.S. the Solex sells for $239 for the “American” model, which consists of stainless steel fenders, electric horn, white wall tires, stop light and license plate holder with light.
Sol-U.S. Imports, Inc. 5527 Dyer St. Dallas, TX 75206
CANADIAN SURPLUS TRIUMPH I was very interested in the article, “Olive Drab,” by Frederick L. Klaiss, in your July, 1973 issue, because I also owned a Triumph of this model, bought through a Canadian Surplus outlet, earlier this year. The bike was new in every way and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Like Mr. Klaiss, I was plagued by sidewalk sages who knew someone who had known someone who knew where brand-new war surplus Harleys could be bought for a pittance. Time and time again, T-shirted clods would ask if the machine were for sale and, after I’d told them a price more than $50, repeat the same old story. After the 50th or so time I’d endured this I decided to investigate. Besides being a motorcycle enthusiast I’m also a gun dealer and an importer, so I’m familiar with foreign and domestic surplus sources. Let me tell the world, for once and always, the tale is true! The bikes are still there!
The only catch is that they are left over from a government experiment carried out after the Korean War at Fort Benning, Ga. It seems that the French had such great success dropping motorbikes by parachute in Indochina in 1953 that some genius in the Pentagon decided it was worth trying with Harley 45s. It failed. If there are any of the bikes that were dropped with a parachute that opened they are not offered for sale.
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I was unable to get photographs of any of the bikes, but I did receive one of an Army private standing next to four M38 Jeeps, left over from the same folly, stacked one on top of the other. The four, stacked that way, are almost the original height of an un-airborne jeep.
Fred L. Rexer, Jr. Houston, Texas
FEMALE DISCRIMINATION
My brother and I have subscribed to your magazine for the past several months now and we find ourselves anticipating its arrival. I was very shocked to read the editorial from your June, 1973 issue...“To Parents Being Bugged By Their Son For A Motorcycle ...Should You Buy Him One?” What about “To Parents Being Bugged By Their Daughter For A Motorcycle... Should You Buy Her One?”
I found the article on a whole to be very important for a parent to read, especially one who has never ridden a motorcycle, and become aware of as well as understand fully. But now with women’s liberation and the gasoline situation being what it is I feel the same cautious advice you directed to the male rider should have been directed to the female rider as well. The question of whether “...your son has good judgment...” or “...is he blissfully unaware of his own morality...” or “...keeping his cool...good coordination” holds equally true for any female thinking of riding a motorcycle.
The point I am trying to make is that all these extremely important questions and facts posed to the “cautious parents of a son” who is interested in motorcycling should also be posed to the “cautious parents of a daughter” who is interested in riding, as well.
I would sincerely appreciate it if in any similar article that might follow, this matter of female discrimination be corrected...you do have female subscribers!
“The Pink Fink” alias Carolyn Houss Colts Neck, N.J. We fully agree with you, Carolyn. However, it was not CYCLE WORLD Magazine that ran the article you refer to, but Cycle Guide. You may want to send them a copy of your letter. —Ed.
SPANISH LADY AFFAIR
During a recent discussion of twowheeled insanity at the local home of the headache .1 found myself the brunt of unmerciful grief. It seems the trouble started when, during a lull in conversation, I slipped in that I once was the proud owner of a 250cc Sanglas Rovena. At the very mention of the name the entire bar exploded into a sea of laughter. One chap even fell from his stool, he was laughing so hard. To further imperil my honor, I reached into my wallet to produce my old registration form for the bike, but alas, like all beautiful dreams, it had disappeared without even a vapor trail between the crumpled pictures of the past. At this point my life seemed to slide into oblivion.
CYCLE WORLD, please help, tell them the lady existed. The only information I remember is that she was registered as a 1967 250cc Sanglas Rovena, spoke fluent Spanish from a twin-cylinder Villiers engine and was a peppy road bike that handled like a eunuch in a harem. I also remember seeing the Spanish Police riding similar mounts when they presented me with a speeding ticket a few years back. I called the young lad I had sold the bike to before joining forces with Uncle Sam and was sadly informed that the bike had met its maker when a tree ran in front of the owner one day while galavanting in the woods. Such a fate for so beautiful a lady.
If at all possible, please print this letter so that I may regain my credibility and use it as leverage to pry the beer wagered from the non-believers. Thanks for the help and keep up the good work; your publication has done much to enlighten the world of the exhilaration that exists between man and machine.
Jon Nelson Irvington, N.Y.
Yes, there was and is a 250cc Sanglas Rovena. They are not imported into this country, however.— Ed.
MEASURING NOISE
Your article on noise, June ’73, was extremely pertinent to the future of motorcycling. I applaud your concern. I would, however, like to comment on your description of the measurement of loudness.
An 80db noise is not 10 times as loud as a 70db noise. The power level (energy) of the noise increases 10 times. This is not perceived as a tenfold increase in the loudness sensation. A lOdb increase will sound roughly twice as loud.
The decibel is used in sound measurement because the range of power levels (watts of energy) is a billion billion to one. To avoid * the supernumbers, a logarithmic unit was borrowed from the electrical communication industry. The decibel only represents a relative quantity of something.
The “A scale” is not a scale, but a weighting curve. The apparent loudness that we attribute to a noise is a function of the sound pressure and the frequency (among other phenomena). The A weighting curve is an attempt to compensate for this hearing characteristic. From this we can make a very rough approximation of an actual noise-rating number.
I suspect if the CHP does test your motorcycle, the test will be technically invalid. I also suspect you will still have to pay.
Guy W. Barker Spokane, Wash.
RARE JOURNALISM
While attending my fifth consecutive Loudon (Laconia) National I discovered a rare, for cyclists, display of journalism,
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The June 16 issue of the Manchester Union Leader had the Loudon event as its front page feature, with captioned photo, and a full page of photos in the second section. The coverage was not only extensive but also was very objective and free from the accustomed bias against cycles.
Motorcycling needs more fair and factual treatment like this to be properly presented to the misled public.
W. J. Koenecke Glen Rock, N.J.
STREET BIKE DIRT RIDER
I’m one of those people who love to ride the trails. Only I do it in the wrong way and with the wrong kind of bike.
I ride the trails on a 1971 Kawasaki 90, a street bike. The only reason 1 have a street bike to ride the trails is because I’m 14 and lack the financial status to purchase a better trail bike.
It may seem funny, but the trails around Hershey, Pa., are mostly hills and jumps, which means you’re off the ground quite a bit. But my Kawasaki can take all of them, even with the street sprocket on it.
Since I’ve been riding the trails 1 have only had to replace a few bolts, which cost next to nothing, and my motorcycle has gone through mud and rocks without failing to pull out of it.
I think if Kawasaki can make a street machine that can stand up with the Suzuki and Yamaha trail machines, they have to make solid bikes to ride the trails and also the street. Kawasaki, in my estimation, is a good motorcycle manufacturer.
One last thing—in the short time that I have read CYCLE WORLD (since April) I have learned many things from your road tests and enjoyed all of them.
Scott Ortenzio Hershey, Pa.
“WE DON'T SERVE...”
I just finished reading “Sorry, We Don’t Serve Motorcycles” (June, 1973) and felt tempted to write some sort of response. First of all, Jerry Mattson wrote a very good article. I hadn’t given the matter much thought since it seldom, if ever, happens in New Jersey. There is a lot of it at the shore, but sane cyclists stay away from Wildwood or Atlantic City or Asbury Park, thereby avoiding the situation.
I ran into it once at a drive-in in Asbury Park. A neat little sign reads: “No cyclists.” I parked on a side street and walked to the place and was served. I told the girl where I’d parked afterward and she said, “Oh, we’ll serve anybody but we don’t want any cycles in here ’cause the neighbors complain.” This sounded legitimate since the drive-in was surrounded on three sides by houses. This all happened last j'ear. This year the sign is gone...the owner’s son got a bike.
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As to the trouble Gil Engels had with McDonalds, I’d like to offer a little suggestion. Since their food is better left alone, anyhow, it would be nice to see cyclists all over the country avoid the place.
Ron Waite Trenton, N.J.
WANTS CALIFORNIAN PENPALS
Although I’m from South America, I’m a regular reader of CYCLE WORLD each time it appears. I find it very enjoyable because everybody can have his opinion printed in “Letters” and “Feedback,” so each of us can learn something from others experience.
I would like to know people, in California mainly, by means of letters because I’m planning a long, long trip from here to San Francisco in one year or two and I want to have somebody to meet when I get there.
I’m a fool—I’m forgetting to tell that I’m the happy owner of a 1970 BMW R50/5 on which I have covered 11,000 miles with little trouble. The ones I have had I’ve solved with the help of a fabulous manual that BMW of München shipped to me for free.
I have made various letters to different places in request for maps of American roads and at this time I have all the roads between Colombia and Western U.S. (Thanks to General Drafting Co. of Convent Station, N.J.) And as you see I’m taking very seriously the idea of getting to California and I will be very pleased if you can print my address as a way to know beautiful people of America. Thanks for everything you can do for me.
Carlos Morales Reyes I.B.M.de Chile S.A.C.Casilla 3630 Santiago, Chile
WHO COPIES WHO?
Not so long ago the Japanese motorcycle industry was accused (justly) of copying European products rather than developing original designs. It seems to me that a complete reversal has occurred in the last ten years. When the Laverda 750 was introduced, it was immediately apparent that the engine was virtually an enlarged Honda CB77 (Superhawk). Nevertheless some originality was displayed by Laverda.
Such is not the case with the recently unveiled Benelli 750 six-cylinder. I own and work on a Honda CB500, and it is obvious to me that Benelli simply added two cylinders to this design, made some minor relocations, and dubbed the machine “750 SET” If you doubt what I say, note that the following items are identical: rocker arms are carried in
valve cover, cam chain guide and tensioner design are the same, bore and stroke (56 by 50.6mm) are the same, clutch actuating mechanism and adjuster, tappet adjusters, oil filter, breather cover, piston design, cooling fin design, etc. are the same.
Perhaps there is nothing wrong with manufacturers copying each other’s designs, but I feel that such policy stifles true progress. Nor do half a dozen cylinders necessarily mean a better motorcycle. Now, if Benelli had fielded the first motorcycle with an anti-skid device on the front brakes, then I’d be impressed.
M. De Estrada IS Gaithersburg, Md.
