Round Up
Round Up
OLYMPICS POSTPONED
No system is perfect. Couple months ago some savvy chaps announced a keen event, an invitational motorcycle contest to which all the top stars of road, flat-track, desert and motocross competition would be matched against each other in a mix of events, on any one motorcycle the rider felt would be the best machine for the events.
Comes now a postponement. The promoters say they couldn't get all the details ironed out with all the various factorv
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stars, so the two-day competition was not held in late February. (Sorry about the delay in announcing the delay, but monthly magazines are always behind getting the news into print.)
New dates are September 17 and 18, at Orange County International Raceway and Saddleback Park. The same format is promised, that is, TT, flat track, hillclimb, Scottish trials, motocross, road racing, etc. The new flaw is that the later date conflicts with some AMA events and not all the AMA stars will be able to take part. Damn. Still a good idea. Meanwhile we intend to lean on the promoters and keep the news coming ahead of when things occur or don't occur.
A SQUIRT IN TIME
Perhaps because this was a new experience, it seemed important and terrifying.
Ever had a puncture flat on the road? One of our test riders was on his way home the other night, on the interstate in the second lane running with the traffic when the rear wheel w’obbled, the way they do sometimes on a rain groove. Then it got worse, quicker than it takes to describe. The wobble became a lurching kick in the back. Luckily there was enough room to quickly head for the shoulder. By the time the bike was slowed, it could barely be kept in a straight line.
Our man wobbled along the shoulder, cringing as the trucks blasted past, until he could get off the highway. Later, it took three men to wrestle the bike into the van. With no air pressure, the tire sidewall had the strength of a burst balloon.
At that, our man was lucky. The men doing the accident research described later in this issue say in most cases a puncture flat puts the rider on the ground. Nor does it take much. We found that culprit was a small nail. Seems when a front tire hits a nail lying in the road, the force flips the nail into the air and every so often it hits the rear tire and the pavement just wrong and bang, there you are clinging to the bars.
Off-road riding means flats as routine. Heck, you say. a flat, and then you ride the 25 miles to the checkpoint or the truck. Dirt tires have stiff sidewalls and road tires don't. It’s always a bother to fix a flat tire and they seldom occur at a convenient time. We’re most of us used to having a flat tire when you step out of the house in the morning.
But a puncture flat at speed is something else. Couple years ago our just-initiated tester tried to give some sealant/balancer to a real old timer. Right, give. The veteran wouldn't have any. “When I have a flat,” he proclaimed, “I want to know about it.”
Take this from a survivor. When you have a flat on the open road, you will know it.
We just received a pleasant letter from a stunt man, one Don Latray. He’s 22 years old. has been doing jumps and tricks for five years. His longest jump to date w’as 108 feet, his most spectacular w’as across four elephants and his longest wheelie has been l‘/2 mi.
He is working the county fair circuit and wrote to us, with pictures, because he’s read CYCLE WORLD for years, feels we're the best magazine and hopes w’e'll make some mention of him because we cover a wide variety of subjects and he knows you don't get anywhere in the stunt business unless you become famous.
A problem. We’re always willing to help, except that stunts and displays are somewhat out of our usual line. About when we w’ere wondering how7 to politely refuse, the publisher, who is not a sentimental man, came into the editorial offices.
The problem brought a tw inkle to his eye. Back in 1966 or so, he said, when he w7as a staff writer, tester and club racer, the magazine used to receive notes and pictures from a jumper. Every week or so another self-written news release would arrive from one county seat or another.
“We used to w'onder how he expected to make the big time,” mused the publisher. “The guy had a name you couldn’t hope to spell.”
Got it first time. If you get the chance, go watch Don Latray jump over elephants and wheelie out of sight. You may be watching the Evel what’s-his-name of tomorrow.
Our solution is a few ounces of prevention. In our case, we’ve used Advanced Cycle Products sealer/balancer in our own bikes since the stuff came out. (There may be other sealers on the market as good, but we don't know’ of them, nor have we tried them.) From now on we’ll be putting sealer in every road test bike that comes through the shop.
MATCH, DON’T MIX
Something in the same line, that is, experience passed along as a safety tip, comes from Lester Tire and Wheel Co. They’ve been doing some testing, comparing their cast wheels with the wire wheels' fitted to most all production motorcycles.
During the test sessions—wffiich the company says showed the cast wheels provided better control and less tire slippage at low tire pressures, but which isn’t the point here—the company’s engineers noted an unusual thing.
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KAWASAKI'S LATEST RACER
Kawasaki no longer fields a U.S. road racing team but the factory is still very much involved in the sport in Europe, witness their latest 250. The offset two-stroke twin looks pretty much like last year’s model but frame and suspension are new. The rear suspension is cantilevered, with one shock absorber mounted vertically behind the gearbox. Word in England is that Kawasaki will contest for the 250 world title with this machine, will have Mick Grant and Barry Ditchburn on the world 750 championship trail and may also return to international trials later in the year. The Kawasaki 750 crew was reported most unhappy that they didn’t get to run at Daytona, especially since points scored at that race will apply toward the title.
Wire wheels flex. Bound to and always have, and nothing exactly wrong with that. Cast alloy wheels are much less flexible. Also to be expected.
But during these tests, on several occasions the bike was ridden with one wire wheel and one cast wheel and the rider reported strange handling. Lester’s report says they suspect that when one wheel flexes and the other doesn’t, the rigid one puts all the stress into the wire one and thus increases the flex there. Lester compares this to the problem of putting radial tires at one end of a car and cross-ply tires at the other: Neither type is bad, but because they have different characteristics, they don’t work well together.
No scientific facts yet, Lester reports, but just to be on the safe side, they recommend that wire and cast wheels not be used on the same bike at the same time.
EMISSION REGS COMPLETED
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has announced its final regulations for road-legal motorcycles manufactured after January 1, 1978, and after January 1, 1980.
The first level of this graduated control program is expected to mean that the average road bike will produce 34 percent less hydrocarbon and 36 percent less carbon monoxide in 1978, and 54 percent less HC and 49 percent less CO in 1980. The rules apply only to road machines, and only to bikes with engines of at least 50-cc displacement.
The permitted levels are based on grams of pollutant per mile and the HC regs have a sliding scale for displacement. The 1978 standard allows 8 grams/mile for engines of less than 170cc, 8 to 22.5 g/m for engines between 170 cc and 750 cc, and 22.5 g/m for engines with more than 750 cc. This is hard to argue with. Grams-permile seems a fair way to judge a vehicle.
The EPA bulletin has the ring of victory to it. “Motorcycles, which today pollute the air with about six times more hydrocarbons and over twice as much carbon monoxide per mile than automobiles meeting current federal air pollution emission standards . . . the announcement begins. The EPA goes on to predict improved fuel economy, 20 percent in 1978 and an additional 9 percent in 1980. The cost of an average motorcycle will increase by $47 in 1978 because of the rules, and by $9 in 1980, they add, but this extra money will be at least partially offset by the increase in mileage and by lower maintenance cost and improved reliability.
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Just like new cars, right? Uh huh.
Or, as they cheerfully say, “Technology is available to allow motorcycle makers to achieve the 1978-79 standards. The more stringent 1980 standard will require significant improvements in two-stroke emission reductions or the conversion of large twostrokes to four-stroke design, thus obtaining significant emissions reductions from the highest emitting class of motorcycles.”
Nothing in the EPA announcement about off-road bikes, except that they are not included in the EPA’s mandate, the 1970 Clean Air Act, and that roughly 30 percent of the motorcycles sold new in the U.S. are thus unregulated, a situation one can assume is not in keeping with the EPA’s attitude.
LAW VS. PERSUASION
There are many states with mandatory helmet use laws, maybe because the federal government imposes its own penalties on states which don’t have such laws, and maybe because the various state legislators et al believe helmet laws are good. Also present is a trend against such laws, following rulings that say the state may not impose these rules on citizens.
Fine. There is no longer any doubt that helmets work, as noted in this issue. As a sidelight to that, research shows that in a non-compulsory states such as California, about half the riders on public roads wear helmets. They do it because they want to.
The federal Department of Transportation is now conducting a campaign. It’s aimed at states which either are or may be considering repeal of mandatory helmet laws.
How odd. While this is going on the outgoing Secretary of Transportation has issued a report saying that 1) unless there are laws requiring seatbelt use, the percentage of use will not rise above 40 percent, repeat, 40 percent, no matter how much clever advertising is done. 2) “I have concluded that a federal requirement that states enact laws to increase to a specified level seatbelt use would not at this time be publicly acceptable.”
In other words, if 60 percent of the drivers won’t wear belts, let them alone. No sense making trouble. If 50 percent of the riders don’t wear helmets, sic ’em.
See how highly they value us? And you thought we were second class citizens.
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NEW RIDER'S HOMEWORK
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has been doing good work for severalyears, mostly in the educational field. They prepare books and films and courses for instructors. all in hopes of teaching new motorcycle riders the correct way to ride.
Professional instruction, in public schools or wherever, isn't always available. For this reason the MSF is offering sort of a home study course, copies of the textbook used in the regular instruction system.
It's a good book. Written for the beginner, it has tips for skilled riding and safe riding. How to stop, what to look out for, etc. The book even has tests for the student to take, so he or she will know what’s actually been learned. Basic? Sure, but far better than having your buddy teach you the wrong way. And if you already know how to ride, the book is better than you are at explaining the basics to somebody else.
Interested parties can get a copy for $2, from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, 6755 Elkridge Landing Rd.. Linthicum, MD 21090.
THE CLUBMAN REVISED?
The Yamaha XT and TT500 are, as noted several times already, derived from the spirit of the classic British Thumper, the big Single suited for road and racing. There are many owners converting to off-road-only equipment, with special frames and such, and we’ve heard of guys planning to equip their XT500s for road use only.
Why not a road-goer from the factory? Yamaha could keep the basic XT500 but switch to good road tires, smaller bars, drop the ride height an inch or two and go to a low exhaust pipe. A polished steel tank and some black paint and they'd have a lovely version of the English club racer from 20 years ago. IÔ1
