Feed Back

FEED BACK

Readers, as well as those involved in the motorcycle industry, are invited to have their say about motorcycles they own or have owned. Anything is fair game: performance, handling, reliability, service, parts availability, lovability, you name it. Suggestions: be objective, be fair, no wildly emotional but ill-founded invectives; include useful facts like mileage on odometer, time owned, model year, special equipment and accessories bought, etc.

SPIRIT OF AMERICA

I’m a bachelor father who digs his kids. As a motorcyclist this can become a problem since there are two, a boy of five and a girl of seven years. Trying to carry both of them on a bike is not just illegal, it’s not safe. In the past the only answer was to ditch one with a sitter and ride two-up or forget the bike and take the van.

Last August, after an interminably long four-month wait, I got a Spirit of America sidecar and solved my problem. Now the three of us can motorcycle to the beach or wherever and even carry a full-size lunch, if not the folding chairs.

The Spirit sidecar cost almost exactly $750, only $50 less than I paid for its motive power in 1971, a 350 Honda. Air freight ate up $130, crating $20, accessories $100. I just can’t say enough for the quality of design and the workmanship; in a word, they are superb. The only flaws were found in a missing eyebolt, absolutely unobtainable locally, a frame mounting strut fully three inches too long, a tire mounted onequarter inch out of round, and some undersize windshield mounting holes.

Being a machinist with access to a well-equipped shop, I whipped out a new eyebolt and shortened and spliced the strut. I was very much impressed with the heft of the strut tubing material and overall quality of all mounting hardware. Windshield mounting holes were enlarged and the tire was remounted properly. In mounting and aligning the frame I found it ever so easy after removing the body, otherwise it was just in the way. The frame could then be supported at the body mounting holes and leveled and aligned without tripping over or crawling under the body.

I also found it easier for mounting purposes to pre-stress the rear fork springs to get the normal riding stance of the bike. The frame mounting struts, almost miraculously, fell into place with absolutely no interference. The engine can even be kickstarted with only slight inconvenience. Once mounted, the combined units become one rigid machine; not the slightest flexing is noted on severe bumps or rough surfaces. Alignment is quite important. I failed the first time around and what I got was a shimmying St. Vitus nightmare.

Back to the workshop. Moving things around a bit, I got the recommended dimensions to fall into place. With that, handling did too. A slight shimmy of low frequency is noted at slow speeds, but it is corrected by leaning forward, applying pressure to the handlebars, as recommended in the instructions. Otherwise it is absolutely stable to 65 mph, which is as fast as I’ve had it.

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Overall performance is quite good, although hills that two-up could be overcome in fifth gear, now require fourth. Mileage appears to be 40-45 mpg vs. 50-55 mpg. Normally. The combined weight of my children is a bit more than 100 pounds so I’m really not carrying a lot of weight. The children can ride in tandem in the sidecar, but generally prefer to ride one in the car and one behind me.

While performance is acceptable, I think a 500 or 750 would be a more viable choice for extended touring. I might add that it does disconnect in about 10 minutes by removing four bolts and unclipping five wire connections. It goes back together almost as easily.

It is even more friend-attracting than a simple two-wheeler. Especially so in the case of the local fuzz, who stop us constantly out of curiosity. But far from being annoying, it is simply another opportunity to gas about the joys of motorcycling and spread the word in a very friendly way.

I can honestly and wholeheartedly recommend the Spirit of America sidecar. For us it has opened a new dimension in motorcycling.

Vic, Irja and Kenny Hanson Villalba, Puerto Rico

DIFFERING ROAD TEST RESULTS

First off, I would like to compliment you on your fine magazine. I believe that I’ve read most all that are locally available, and yours is one of the few that is worthwhile and the only one to which I subscribe. You give excellent coverage of all aspects of the sport and your road tests are very objective. However, I would like to offer some observations of some motorcycles I’ve owned and which you’ve done tests on.

My first bike was a ‘64 Honda 305 Scrambler and my last a ‘75 BMW R90/6. There have been several in between, all of which were off-road except a CB750 that I traded in on the BMW. I personally feel that BMW makes the finest motorcycles generally available. My 750 Honda was okay, but not even in the same league with BMW.

My favorite off-road bike is a ‘73 Yamaha 500MX. The chamber is where it belongs, it’s dependable and has enough power to take my 6 ft. 6 in. and 240 lb. up any hill I’m capable of. I don’t race motocross; perhaps if I did I might want something different. However, for a play bike I think the big Yamaha is great. I was disappointed to see it discontinued.

My least favorite bike is a ‘74 175 Can-Am MX1. I purchased it new for my wife in early ‘74. She didn’t like it because it was too heavy. She now has a Yamaha 1 25 YZ and is very happy with it. In any event, my first problem with the Can-Am was when the PEI went out. It took forever to figure out what it was, but at least it was replaced under warranty, as were the fork seals when they gave up. Then the bearing in the steering head seized and had to be replaced. This was on me, as was the Can-Am speedo, which was installed by the dealer and went for all of 80 miles before it quit. These things were sort of like the decals coming off the tank, sometimes expensive, always disappointing, but hardly a matter of life or death.

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Then something that could have been very painful happened. A washer that holds the front brake shoes in place came loose and lodged between the shoe and the hub. It broke out several reinforcements that were cast into the hub, then caused the front wheel to seize. I wasn’t going very fast so I simply fell over. I would hate to have had the same thing happen WFO in sixth gear. Or better yet, how about on the T’NT in heavy highway traffic?

Anyway, it just goes to show you all things are not the same to all people. As I remember, you didn’t like the 500 Yamaha or the 125 YZ, yet you were impressed with the 175 Can-Am. However, for me at least, just the reverse is true. It’s nice to know we feel pretty much the same about BMW.

Doug Van Tassel Pittsburg, Kan.

EXPLAINING “SELECTIVE SERVICE”

I am writing in response to a letter entitled “Selective Service” from Charles Hibbard of Flushing, Mich., in the Feb. ‘75 “Feedback’’ column.

I can fully appreciate his feelings of anger and frustration over his experience of buying a new motorcycle and very shortly needing a replacement part but not being able to get it from his dealer. He states that he tried to purchase the part at another dealer, but was refused the sale when it was discovered that he had purchased his bike from someone else. One of the pitfalls of a beginner in buying a motorcycle is making a purchase because the price is the lowest in town or because the dealership is closest to home without checking the reputation of the dealer selected. Consequently, there were hard feelings between the two dealers.

1. The dealer Cougar & Hunter Suzuki Sales, where the machine was originally purchased, has a policy to stock only a token amount of parts to satisfy the requirements of a Suzuki franchise, excluding spark plugs. They only carry AC plugs.

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2. The dealer H&S Suzuki sales has a policy to stock a very wide variety of parts for all displacement bikes. They also have a wide assortment of accessories, plus racing parts. In other words, when you need something, they have it. So you see, H&S resents Cougar & Hunter underselling them and then sending their buyers to H&S or others to get replacement parts that they themselves will not stock even for their own customers. By the way, both dealers are big and long-established, so there’s no excuse for Cougar & Hunter.

I have bought several bikes from Cougar & Hunter and to this day I have been able to buy parts I needed only three times in at least 30 trips to this dealer. They are always, “Out of stock.’’ So I go to the good, reliable dealers like H&S who have had the parts I’ve needed 100 percent of the time so far. But I don’t tell them that I came from Cougar & Hunter. But I am not hostile toward C&H because I know what to expect. Mr. Hibbard was ripped off by the dealer he bought his machine from, not the dealer he tracked down to try to get his part from. After a few years you become like a wagon wheel. . .you’ve been through it all. Bob Cassetty Flushing, Mich.

A GOOD MT125

Of all the letters I’ve read in CYCLE WORLD, I’ve yet to see one about an MT125 Elsinore. This is quite a motorcycle.

Lots of people put the MT down; but, if they’d stop and think what the MT’s purpose is, they’d appreciate it more. If I had wanted a dirt bike only, I would have gotten a CR250; if I had wanted a street bike only, I’d have gotten a 550 Four.

Being a ‘dozer operator, I spend lots of time in the hills. I’ve built several climbs and trails for guys. I’ve taken my MT where 185s couldn’t go. With the MT, the tach must read 6000 or more to climb effectively. I’ve ridden bikes that climb like snails and they turn me off. Keeping the rpm high tends to make the cyclist more alert and a more skillful rider, I feel.

I ride my MT to work, hillclimbing, etc. It’s a dual-purpose bike and it serves its purposes very well. With gasoline going sky-high, street/trailers will soon rule.

John H. Blackburn Prestonsburg, Ky.