Round Up
Round Up
PULL RIGHT, TURN LEFT
Out of the snowbound midwest comes one of the better questions of the day. Two readers who for seasonal reasons could not settle this for themselves, write to ask: Is it true that when you turn a motorcycle to the left, you do so by actually steering to the right?
That may strike some as one of the stranger questions of the day. It shouldn’t. Before the technical editor sat down to answer the query, we took an office poll.
Half the riders in the building said, “Of course you pull right to turn left, Dummy. Everybody knows that.”
And the other half said “What? You’re making that up. No way you can steer one direction to go the other.”
So we adjourned to the parking lot for an experiment. Everybody who answered the question, either way, went up and down on a Honda CB400F, practicing changing directions, as in changing lanes, and going around actual corners.
Half the test panel was surprised. Not to stretch the suspense beyond endurance, the basic answer is Yes, if you wish to turn to the left, you begin by steering to the right.
This is a tricky thing to explain. Begin with the geometry of a normal motorcycle. When a bike turns, it leans. This also means that unless you’re making a deliberate effort at a slow speed, when the bike leans, it turns.
Now. Because the front forks are set at an angle, and because the wheel is in front of where the forks turn in the frame, when you wish to turn to the left, the bike must lean to the left. And the most natural way to lean via the handlebars is to give just the barest hint of a tug of the right hand, back toward the rider. This shifts the bike to the left, it leans and then it turns. If you’re really making a turn, you then pull back on the left grip, positive lock, as they say, and around you go.
We spent some time fiddling with this. You can easily change direction without using the bars at all. Simply shift your weight and tilt the bike in the direction you wish to go and the bike will go in that direction.
The most difficult thing to do in this context is to go left by steering left. If you counter-balance, and if the bike steers quickly, then you can go left by steering left. It takes conscious effort.
This entire subject seems to be a matter of instinct and unconscious learning. Some of the people who didn’t believe in reverse steering have been riding for years. The reverse tug is so gentle and so natural they didn’t know they were doing it.
Practice is also important. The safety research project described in the April CYCLE WORLD has turned up many cases of new riders who turned in the wrong direction; the car turned left in front of the motorcycle and the motorcycle turned right and hit the car. You’d expect the bike to turn left and miss the car. The researchers suspect that in a panic situation, the new rider hauls hard on the bars to the left and the bike goes right, against his will.
At any rate, we learned something from what began as an odd question. Doubters are urged to experiment in a safe place. Everybody else now has a sure way to win bets.
“THEY’RE GUESSING”
Speaking is one of the top men at American Honda. He is responding to some good-natured probing by us. The subject is the next generation of road Hondas, and leaks to the press about them.
The CYCLE WORLD staff was feeling a bit left out. The English, Australian and Canadian papers have been carrying early reports on the new bikes. While we here have limited our predictions to extensions of what we’ve seen at the Honda works in Japan, the other chaps are spelling out details. There’s even an artist’s rendering, vague, soft on detail but even so, the impression is that the press on two continents has been peeping over the fence or meeting mysterious men in downtown parking garages and has The Facts.
In detail, these reports for the rest of the English-speaking world say top of Honda’s 1978 line will be a 1200-cc water-cooled V6 engine, set in the frame longitudinally and driving the rear wheel via a shaft. The beast will come with a choice of foot or automatic shift. Next in the line is an 800cc V-4, then a pair of V-Twins at 600 cc and 400 cc.
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HONDA’S PRODUCTION ROAD RACER
Honda is back in road racing, at the club level. Shown is the MT-125R road racer, now in limited production and being offered to private customers, via normal dealer outlets. It’s powered by a highly tuned version of the Elsinore 125-cc engine; 25-plus bhp at 10,500 rpm, lots of magnesium and aluminum, seven intake ports, CDI ignition, 34mm Mikuni carb and six-speed transmission with ratios matched to the engine and to road racing’s needs. Honda says the MT125R has been clocked at more than 115 mph at the Suzuka test track.The single downtube, twin cradle frame is made from chrome-moly steel. The bike uses a mechanical front disc brake and comes complete with tachometer and racing tires. Dry weight is listed at 154 lb. and Honda says the MT-125R is expected to be competitive right off the showroom floor.
The model is new to the U.S. and to the production line, although Honda has been designing and developing the bike for three years. It’s been put into production mostly because Honda has not been active in road racing for several years, which has been distressing to Honda fans in light of the company’s years of winning all the world titles within reach.
Honda has not had the machinery or been willing to spend the surplus funds to go back into GP racing on a total-commitment basis, but the home office has felt the need to show the flag. (Many of the top men in Honda management, especially research and development, were involved with the bike and car GP programs and they miss racing as much as the fans miss them.) So Honda began getting back into the sport with the 750based 941RCB machine, which dominated European long-distance events in 1976. The U.S. doesn’t have races like that, and our rules require a different machine anyway, so Honda will go for the small-bore races and the hardcore fans. For now, anyway.
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What we know is that Honda is getting ready to do something at least as new and different as was the original transverse Four of 1969. We suspect there wäll be shaft drives, and we know Honda has been working on opposed cylinder configurations, flat and/or V. We don’t know any more than that, which brings us back to the poor chap at Honda. How come the men in other places leak all this wonderful news to the press and all we get from him is 1977 models?
The other men working for Honda say no more than he does, our friend answered. The press elsewhere doesn’t know' any more than we do. They’re guessing.
And sure, American Honda and Honda at home and overseas is delighted to be the object of so much curiosity. Honda would be worried if nobody cared.
Oh, he said, could you guys please send me one of those artist’s sketches? Seemed the people with the facts are the last to hear the rumors.
TRIUMPH HANGS ON
The workers at the Triumph plant in Meriden. England, meanwhile, still have hopes of both keeping their jobs and the Triumph name in operation.
In previous chapters, the Meriden workers and Triumph management were divorced. so to speak, and the workers got custody of the plant while the marketing rights, distribution, etc., went to Norton Villiers Triumph, the company which had owned the whole thing. Awkw'ard.
The English government has been working toward a solution. Now it seems there may be one. In a complicated financial deal, another British industrial combine is supposed to work out a deal by w'hich that combine will buy certain non-motorcycle parts from Meriden. This makes Meriden a good financial risk, so the government will lend the workers’ co-op enough money to buy the marketing rights and set up a distribution network. Meanwhile, the Triumph Bonneville is expected to have enough appeal—it is, after all—a market to itself, to keep the co-op going and bring in enough money to design and build new' bikes. This sounds logical and sensible and we can only hope the rescue comes through.
Other English news, meanwhile, is that NVT’s manufacturing branch is assembling Nortons out of stocked parts, 1500 by count. There are people still in the market
for that attractive Twin. Perhaps once the 1500 are sold there will be proof that Norton production should resume.
There’s already an example. CCM, which began as a firm making one-off motocross racers out of what amounted to BSA parts, is thriving. They’ve built and sold 700 machines, most for export, and are in the process of moving into a larger building. The English motorcycle is alive and winning in Texas. (See pg 60.)
HELMET HEARING
No, not that kind of hearing. The kind you do inside your helmet. Seems because a rider inside a helmet can hear less, he can hear more of what needs to be heard.
This comes from the University of Utah, where an engineering study has been conducted on that old question; does wearing a helmet impair a motorcycle rider’s ability to hear warning signals such as sirens? (This has been one of the arguments advanced against wearing helmets, which may be why the university conducted this test.)
The engineers set up a person, a wind tunnel, a 350-cc motorcycle, a full-face helmet, a certified police siren and some complicated sound measuring equipment.
They tested noise levels from 20 mph to 60 mph. Turns out a helmet on the average reduces incoming noise by 20 decibels; at a sample speed of 30 mph, the exposed ear is subjected to 100 decibels while the helmeted ear gets 80.
Most of this noise is wind. The test subjects could more easily detect the siren with the helmet on. that is, with less wind noise blocking other sound, than with bare heads, the reverse of the old argument.
As a side benefit, 100 decibels can be detrimental to your ears, over an extended period of time. (Federal law prohibits a worker from exposure to decibel levels in excess of 115.) No problem for short runs, the Utah researchers say, but wearing a helmet does appear to be a health benefit even if you don’t fall off the motorcycle.
FIRE AT VETTER
M Metier Fairing Co., which surely needs ■■no introduction for touring riders, ■»suffered a serious fire in late January. Two of the company’s six buildings were destroyed along with the production facilities inside.
Craig Vetter tells us the experts advise him it will take months to get back on schedule, and Vetter adds he doesn’t intend for this to happen. The crew was putting in 24-hour days as soon as the ashes cooled, and Vetter is back in production as this is written.
But there will be some unavoidable delays and adjustments, which is why this note. If you’ve ordered a Vetter fairing, hardware, windshield, etc., and the dealer says it may take longer than originally planned, please note Vetter and company are doing all they can do.
ADDENDA
Post-test notes: The Husqvarna technical people took some exception to the Husky 390CR comments in our March issue, specifically the part about the 390 engine not running strongly at low rpm. That was not normal behavior, they said. Rather, the test bike was fitted with a prototype carburetor, adapted from the 360 engine. It was not jetted properly. The production 390CR will have a production carburetor set for the 390 engine, it will be jetted properly and the 390CR will pull at all engine speeds.
As a late addition to the Suzuki PE250 test, ’way last November, when the PE250 first arrived, it was not certified for use on public lands in several places, mostly California and New England. Since that test was published Suzuki has designed a noise reduction kit, for $6 or so, which will bring the noise level down to that required for open land use. And it doesn’t subtract power. Suzuki tells us the kits are being sold and stocked by dealers, so there’s now a way you can legally compete in enduros with the PE250 where noise laws are in force.
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BOOK REPORT
Perhaps a gentle hint on the quality of bikes in our own garages, Jeff Clew’s The Restoration of Vintage and Thoroughbred Motorcycles (Haynes-Foulis; $15.95) landed with a thud on Girdler’s desk and he promptly passed it on to me. A largish tome of 10 x 7 inches approximately, it packs a good deal of information into its 204 pages of text and photos by dint of rather small type and thus is no quickie read. One may well wonder what such a specialist work has for the “normal” motorcyclist but in fact there are a large number of handy hints on repairing time’s damages to parts of a motorcycle that would either have to be sent out for professional attention or consigned to the scrap heap. And nobody enjoys paying $20 plus tax for some piddly little bit.
Vintage enthusiasts who already do this sort of thing may think they know all the answers but after viewing some of the local work on restored bikes, perhaps Mr. Clews’ book might well be useful. In his 18 chapters, he goes methodically through the steps necessary to restore a decrepit motorcycle found in a henhouse, say, offering many valuable suggestions that will save the hobbyist much grief later on. Sometimes there is less detail than one would like, but after all he can't do the wiring diagrams for every motorcycle ever manufactured. As Mr. Clews is English, his emphasis is on English machines and in fact he gives various addresses for renovators and restorers in that country. Nevertheless, the message is universal and the book’s chief value is to those just starting in this laudable pursuit of keeping old bangers away from the junk man. A must for anyone but your hardened racing freak.
Henry Manney
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MV DROPS OUT
Sad news for racing fans worldwide. For the first time in 30 years, there will be no MV racing team. Count Corrado Augusta. MV president, has shut down the racing shop and declared 1977 to be a year of suspension, in hopes MV will be able to return to the track in 1978.
That isn't likely. MV and Ducati are both part of an industrial conglomerate controlled by the Italian government. The motorcycle companies are not bringing money into the system, and the men at the top, who answer to their directors just as in any large organization, have decided to rationalize and merge their two semi-parallel operations. The MV trademark has been assigned to Ducati, who in turn refused to take over the road-racing shop. Presumably one or several of the Ducati road models will either be based on or will use portions of MV components. There was some hope that Count Augusta would take up the burden of supporting the racing team himself, but times are hard for the Count too.
After 30 years, 75 world titles in all solo classes except 50 cc and no fewer than 3028 victories, the chances of the MV fire engines ever appearing on the track again look very slim.
Carlo Perelli
CARRYING COALS
This is unlikely but true. One of the many enthusiasts working in the U.S. to keep British bikes on the road tells us he has a certain rivalry going. There are other people out there looking for those classic Triumph Twins.
These other people are in the exportation business. They are buying all the Triumph engines they can find and are shipping them overseas.
To Japan.
Amazing but true. Motorcycle sports take different forms in different places and in Japan one of the more popular forms of racing is sort of like speedway but not quite. They use short tracks and highly specialized bikes, but the racing is done by teams and the main attraction is the legal placing of bets on the teams or the riders or both. Call it a mixture of speedway and jai alai.
Anyway, this is a major entertainment in Japan and for some reason they began the racing with English Twins, just as we have all those 500 Single Jawa engines in speedway, and because of the rules or the cost of completely converting all the bikes or something, they are still using the big Tw ins and the teams have standing orders for all Triumph engines they can buy. 0
