Letters

LETTERS

THE NEW PRICE IS RIGHT

In April of this year I called you regarding the variance in price between your April ’74 issue and prices quoted here in the Seattle/Tacoma area for the Honda XL175. Your issue flatly states $740 as the retail list price. Here are the retail list prices that we have been quoted:

In addition, the two prices quoted by long distance from Los Angeles for the Honda were $885 and $949 for the XL 175 model. As near as we can tell, the Honda XL175 doesn’t sell for $740 anywhere in the United States. Without exception, every dealer to whom I talked said their retail list price was over $800.

As you can see, prices are even higher in your area than they are here. I wonder just how accurate the rest of your information is. Mrs. Donald J. Orton Puyallup, Wash.

In case you haven’t gotten wind of it yet up in Puyallup, there is, at the present time, a terrible disease plaguing this country. It has reached epidemic proportions throughout the land, and many specialists in the field feel that there is no cure in sight. It is called inflation, and to simplify it for you, it makes things cost more.

CYCLE WORLD magazine operates on a three-month lead time. What this means is that the comparison test you read in April, took place in January. In January, the Honda was selling for $740. Since then, it has gone up in price. And, by the time you read your letter in print, the prices you have quoted us will be a thing of the past. Let me give you an example.

The Kawasaki that finished third in our comparison test was selling for $729 at that time. This had been the price since the last price increase in Noveraäa^r 1973. On February 4, 1974, the pri^mf the Kawasaki was raised to $785 because of a rise in production costs and a devaluation of the dollar (some of the many germs that make up the disease). On April 1, the price was again raised to $820. It is holding at that price currently, but you won’t be reading this until late July, and who knows what the price will be by then.

So, if you’re waiting for the price of the Honda XL175 to come back down to $740, forget it. If you don’t hurry, you may be paying more than $1000 for the 1 75 of your choice, Honda or otherwise. —Ed.

COUNTERS TWO LETTERS

I feel a compelling necessity to comment on the letter written by Michael P. Redgrave, as contained in your April ’74 issue.

Mr. Redgrave would have us beli^rc that an engine that takes one gallon of hydrocarbon fuel, mixes it with air at approximately a 14:1 ratio, and discharges it into the atmosphere in an 8-10 mile area produces fewer pollutants than another engine that takes that same gallon of hydrocarbon fuel, mixes it at an approximate 14:1 ratio and discharges it over a 45-55 mile area.

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I challenge Mr. Redgrave to either substantiate that outrageous statement with laboratory proof, or to admit that this sort of fuzzy thinking should be confined to the same legislative halls that gave us the 1970 Clean Air/Energy Crisis Act.

I would also like to comment on the “Feedback” item by Homer J. Wood; particularly that portion that deals with his buddy who took to the air on an Indian Four. In his opinion, crankshaft acceleration caused the Indian Four to barrel roll under the stated conditions, but Mr. Wood completely overlooks another rule: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

The only way that Mr. Wood can positively say that it was crankshaft precision would be if the motorcycle’s wheels hit the lip of the pothole squarely so that no rotating force was transmitted to the chassis at lift off. Obviously impossible.

No motorcycle chassis makes a stable airborne vehicle, except perhaps the land speed record streamliners. Anytime Mr. Wood strikes a pothole with a motorcycle with sufficient violence to become airborne, and is not called upon to donate skin, it is because “Someone Up There” had another purpose for it; and his thanks should be tendered in that direction, not to some obscure engineering paper in the back room of a design shop. Donald Rink Gastonia, N.C.

ACCEPTING CYCLISTS

I have just finished reading the editorial by Bruce Cummings in May’s “Up Front.” Since I will have my motorcycle license shortly, I will soon be on the road with the ever-do minant automobiles.

I know that with a small bike (a Honda CEI 00), I will have my problems with cars forcing me off of the road and not seeing me, but this happens to be my only mode of transportation at the present time. I plan to risk my life to get back and forth to work so that I can buy a bigger bike.

This summer I plan to rent a BMW in Europe and do a little touring. I hope that Bruce Cummings is right about the fact that the Europeans do accept motorcycles on the road. Let’s just hope that the increasingly abundant cars begin to accept all of us motorcyclists. Michael Albert Washington, Mich.

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MOTORCYCLES ON TV

I am writing because I have just seen a terrible show on television. It was "Chopper One," which used to be a good show until now. The show started with a good, clean MX race, but then, right in the middle, three guys (the leader was on a CZ-an obvious preju dice against commies) cut out of the race, hauled down the highway, robbed a general store, then hauled back up and finished the race.

The policeman said, "I wonder why everybody who owns a bike hates us cops." This is one of the most preju diced and unsupported comments that I have ever heard. To paint an image like that is inexcusable. I wonder why peo ple don't face up to the fact that there are many good, respectable people ride motorcycles.

By the way, I can't wait until Satur day, when "Emergency" is on. It's featuring a motorcycle gang war, com plete with bottles and chains. Henry Wessells Paoli, Pa.

MOTORCYCLING A LA FRANCE

I am a French motorcyclist currently living in Maine. I usually live in Mar seilles, and am only here until October to learn English.

reinaps you wouiu De inierestea in hearing a little about the motorcycle life in France. My first machine was a 125 Yamaha that I bought in early 1971. It was really a little rocket. You know that we do not have any speed limit in France (in any case not before the Arabs began their business) and I to ride the Yamaha at the maxi speed all the time (about 80 mph). Finally, after 15,000 miles, I sold it in November of `72. I can tell you, I never had trouble with this bike.

In France-and I think it is about the same in America-we sometimes have a lot of trouble finding Japanese parts. The dealers do not care about that and they sell the bikes without even having one screw in stock. I know guys like that in Marseilles. If you want to buy a Yamaha, for instance, they are very nice and pleasant, but when it comes to parts and checkups they almost kick you out. Now the factories are beginning to fire these crooked guys and are trying to organize a decent pattern of garages in France.

I have been reading your magazine since October of `73 and the thing that surprises me is the business of warranties on the different bikes you test. It seems that all of the Japanese bikes have a 1200-mile/12month warranty. It is very strange because we do not have that in France. I remember that for my Yamaha the warranty was only six months and the guy who sold it to me made me pay for all of the checkups—even the first one at 300 miles! This is practiced almost everywhere.

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One thing that surprises me here in America is the number of people who drive with big handlebars. In France they would look ridiculous because almost everybody rides with clip ons or small handlebars. Maybe it is because we do not have any speed limit. Just try to drive a 900 Kawasaki at 100 mph with large handlebars for 200 miles! Those handlebars are very uncomfortable at high speeds, so we cannot afford to them.

We have in France a lot of guys you call dudes. These men generally drive 750 Hondas or 900 Kawasakis with large handlebars, and wear suits, ties, luxurious shoes, etc. These guys do not even know what a highway looks like. They just drive in the cities.

I know some riders in France and when I came to America, I flew with two of them. They were Christian Bourgeois and Thierry Tchernine. Christian Bourgeois writes articles in “Moto Revue,” which is the equivalent of CYCLE WORLD in France.

Christian is France’s champion in the 500 and 250cc classes. He went to Daytona last year, but he could not finish the 500-mile race. The other rider, Thierry Tchernine, twice won the famous “Golden Bowl” in LeMans with a Japauto (a 750 Honda bored oi^^o 900cc by Honda France). I think^pit both of these riders are very good.

In the October ’73 CW you talked about Michel Rougerie. Well this fellow is good, but he is too proud of himself, and I am sure he thinks that he is one of the best drivers in the world. This is not true because men like Gene Romero, Ken Roberts or Dick Mann would make him look ridiculous.

We have some good tracks in France, too. The best one in Europe, as far as safety goes, is located near Marseilles. It is the Paul Ricard track. I’ve seen many good races there and such people as Renzo Pasolini who died in Monza because of poor safety measures. I have also seen DuHamel and Agostini race. And Mike Hailwood was at the Marseilles track about eight months ago.

If anybody would care to write to me concerning the motorcycling s^ae in France, my address is listed belovs^P

Long life to motorcycles and motorcyclists (American or French), and long life to CYCLE WORLD, too. Patrick Braud c/o M’Reid Indian Point Georgetown, ME 04548

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VENTS HIS OPINION

In the “Round Up” section in the May issue of CYCLE WORLD, Joe Parkhurst states that, “Rebreathing of crankcase air is one of the basic steps in cutting down pollutants in an engine. Attempting to recirculate crankcase air in a two-stroke would create a loss of crankcase pressure, one of the essential functions in a two-stroke.”

The first sentence is correct in that the basic emissions control for a fourstroke engine is to route the crankcase fumes, which are combustion gas^^f blown past the piston and rings into the intake system to be routed back into the combustion chamber.

The last sentence misses the point. A two-stroke engine has NO EXTERNAL VENT for these blow-by fumes. This is why a two-stroke engine drops power so readily with worn rings. These combustion gases blown past the piston and rings contaminate the fresh intake charge drawn into the crankcase and considerably reduce the volume of the fresh intake charge that the engine is able to draw into the crankcase during the intake stroke, due to blow-by existing from just after the point of ignition, which is before top dead center.

In short, a two-stroke engine has no crankcase vent to pollute from! Pollution control on a two-stroke engine can only treat or correct the exhaust gas^j^ Bruce E. r!^P Fort Wayne, Ind.

You’d better go back and reread the column, Bruce. No one ever said that there are crankcase breathers or venting tubes on two-stroke engines. —Ed.

YOSHIMURA ADDRESS

I am the proud owner of a 1973 900 Kawasaki, and I am looking for a street-legal four-into-one exhaust. I was reading about the Yoshimura Z-l and I was wanting more information on their collector exhaust, but I can’t find their address anywhere. I would appreciate it if you could provide me with this information. Craig Gee Breckenridge, Mich.

Here is the address for you and the many other readers who have requested^ it: Yoshimura Products, 2190-B Shasta Way, Simi Valley, CA 93065. —Ed.

TO WEAR OR NOT TO WEAR?

In February of this year I was ticketed for riding without a helmet. I was •ng a friend of mine a ride home from k and had only one helmet, so I thought that the passenger should be protected first.

The officer told me that I could pay for the ticket out of court. Well, I thought about it and was thinking of fighting the ticket because I have always felt that the helmet law is ridiculous. I didn’t feel like taking a day off from work to go to court, so I went to pay the ticket. Mistake number one. The court clerk wouldn’t let me pay it and I believe that it was because of my long hair and beard.

So now I’m going to court and I’m going to be heard. I’m fed up with this infringement on my rights as a citizen. The only person you can hurt by not wearing a helmet is yourself.

About three-fourths of the year it is cold around here, but come summer-

tne, those helmets get to be a pain ound town. I’d still wear one frequently just from habit.

I know that there are a lot more people who feel the way I do, so I’m starting work on getting that ridiculous law changed the way the system does it. Kenneth Davis Overland, Mo.

I’d just like to ask all of your readers one question. Why don’t you want the safest, best friend a motorcyclist can have? I am, of course, talking about the helmet. It may feel great to ride around with the wind blowing in your face—at least until the day you go around with your face or head messed up because you didn’t have that helmet with you. I ride in the desert on tracks a lot

#d ink have of going a Yamaha out on 250 any MX. kind I wouldn’t of road without a helmet on my head. I have been in a lot of wrecks and believe that my helmet has saved me from serious injury. If more people wore helmets they might not get hurt at all.

I’ve read letters about how the AMA isn’t doing their job of trying to get rid of helmets. The AMA is doing their job; they’re trying to keep the image of motorcycling good. By wearing helmets riders can cut down on injuries and deaths and thus help convince people that motorcycles are safe and not bad. If nobody wore helmets, motorcycles would probably be banned because they were unsafe.

Helmets shouldn’t be worn just by dirt riders, or just by street riders, but by everybody, because there’s always someone out to get you. I’m only 16 ^^ars old, but I would like to see every ^Paer wearing a helmet, so that motorcycling can be made a safe sport for everyone. Someday that helmet (which I feel can be called man’s best friend), may save your life. Ray Davis, Jr. Alamogordo, N.M.

RECOGNIZES SIMPLEX

In your May “Letters” column you printed a letter and photo that were sent into you by a David H. Schneider. I hope this information will help him.

The bike is a Simplex Servi-Cycle, made by Simplex Manufacturing in New Orleans, La. During Wendell Wilkie’s presidential campaign of the ’40s, Life Magazine featured him on its cover riding a Simplex.

In 1943 I bought a used Servi-Cycle from the local Harley-Davidson dealer for $100. It was in fair condition, but was an earlier model than Schneider’s, and was without a clutch. It was strictly direct drive by belt to a large (rim size) pulley.

Every time I had to stop I’d pull the compression release and come to a sputtering halt. Getting started was even worse. I had to foot push it while still straddled, let out the compression release, and hope she’d start—which was about 40 percent of the time. Thomas Powel Southport, Conn.