Roundup
ROUNDUP
FRIENDS ON THE ROAD III
When we last heard from our friend Robert Runyard he was patiently waiting for his motorcycle to join him in Medellin, Colombia. That was three issues ago. Runyard has since been reunited with his Yamaha 650 long enough for the ride to Tierra del Fuego. With the trip over, Robert has returned to a job at Kawasaki as a technical writer. When his bike clears customs, you'll read more about the trip. -Ed.
Yes Virginia, there is a Tierra del Fuego. Here at Lapatia Bay on the southern coast of Tierra del Fuego is where I turn around. This is where the road ends at the southern end of the Western Hemisphere.
I must say that getting here hasn’t been exactly a piece of cake. I’m cold, tired, hungry, dirty—mostly dirty. Today there’s a chill wind blowing up out of Antarctica licking up whitecaps and erecting a rainbow over the Beagle Channel. Stormy Cape Horn is only about 90 miles south of here, and local maps are liberally sprinkled with symbols that stand for shipwrecks. Now I know' why the books I read about this region carried titles like “The Blind Horn’s Hate” and “Tierra del Fuego: The Fatal Lodestone.”
In southern Argentina I met a Canadian couple on BMWs who had taken the ship to South America. During the voyage the ship’s engines failed and the couple spent 10 days drifting in the ocean. Then there’s the traveler’s tale of Lelo. Lelo was a Chilean R100RS rider I met in Los Angeles prior to departure. We planned to meet in Guatemala City but the embassy we were to meet at didn’t exist. Later at the airport in Colombia I discovered a note on my Yamaha: “Meet me at the Hotel Pacifico in Quito, Ecuador.” There is no Hotel Pacifico in Quito, I discovered.
Days later I dropped out of the beautiful Andean highlands. Before entering Peru, I was stopped at one of the dozens of police checkpoints and handed an envelope. “Meet me at this address in Lima,” said the note. Hundreds of miles of Peruvian desert later I stumbled into Lima, found the address and was informed Lelo left earlier that morning.
Forget it, I thought. The next day was spent heading east into the Andes over the world’s highest road, the Anticona Pass. Late that rainy afternoon I crossed the 15,800-foot pass in second gear. The rain had turned to snow. By dusk I had ridden the three vertical miles back to the coastal plain where I tried to undo the knots in my intestines.
Past the bleached skeletons of perished livestock, I continued south along the coastal desert. Sand dunes blew across the road and night riding became unthinkable. I passed the famous and mysterious lines at Nazca and reached Arequipa. While gift shopping someone came up from behind, covered my eyes and said “Guess who?” It was Lelo.
You can do it too, you know. If you’re a reasonably competent tourer, you could ride to Tierra del Fuego. It’ll put fantastic pictures behind your eyes. Think of standing dusty and dazzled among the wind twisted trees and wildflowers at Cape Boquerón on the Straits of Magellan and looking back at the whole Western Hemisphere. It’s something you’d better believe you’re going to remember for the rest of your life.
SORRY, JOAN
When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found out about a large increase in motorcycle fatalities last year (1977). administratrix Joan Claybrook pounced upon the numbers and proclaimed that helmet law repeal was the cause. That was before anybody had a chance to look at the actual numbers. Once the statistics became available, the AMA reviewed the figures and published a report which contradicts some of Ms. Claybrook’s opinions and conclusions. Among the findings:
Eight of the nine states with the worst fatality records retained helmet laws.
NHTSA didn’t consider the large increase in moped registrations w hich would influence accident statistics.
Overall motor vehicle fatalities, including cars and trucks, also increased markedly in 1977. Ms. Claybrook explained the rise in automobile fatalities as a result of increasing highway speeds.
Department of Transportation statistics compiled since 1975 have shown “no significant difference in the fatality rates of states requiring or not requiring the wearing of motorcycle helmets.”
The reports which NHTSA based its conclusions on didn’t even indicate if a> motorcyclist had been wearing a helmet in 31 percent of the fatalities.
States which had a helmet law had a higher fatality to registration ratio than states without helmet laws.
If any conclusions can be reached, it must be that helmet laws don’t prevent accidents or fatalities. Helmets, however, are still valuable pieces of safety equipment.
RACER'S CHOICE
Wanna real race bike? Cliff Benson of United Italian Motors is now importing Morbidelli 125cc road racers, the same bikes which have been world champion in the 125cc Gran Prix for the past two years. Technofreaks would love them: liquid cooled, rotary valve, two-stroke Twin with triple discs, Campagnolo
w'heels, Marzocchi suspension and a claimed 40 bhp. Top speed is optimistically listed at 155 mph.
A 250cc Morbidelli Gran Prix racer should be available soon from Benson. Prices? Ask Clift'at United Italian Motors, P.O. Box 141. Danville, Calif. 94526.
NEW AMA DIRECTOR
Back for a second stint as executive director of the American Motorcyclist Association is Lin A. Kuchler, 62. Kuchler served as executive director of the AMA from 1958 until 1966 when he left to take an executive position with NASCAR. Since 1972 he has been the executive vicepresident of NASCAR.
The AMA board of directors fired previous executive director Barrie Best last spring and appointed Gene Wirwahn as interim director. Wirwahn will leave the AMA to join a Washington. D.C. law' firm.
THE RUSSIAN FRONT
Ice races are very popular in the USSR. according to a report received from Novosti Press Agency in Moscow. During the winter months speedway tracks are covered with ice and studded-tire speedway bikes appear.
Motorcycle racing is one of the most popular spectator sports in the USSR, with 25.000 to 30,000 spectators normal at an
ice race, cross country, road race, speedway or motorball race. People’s Games, held every four years, are held in communities around the country with local winners competing in regions and. finally, in a national competition. During the last People’s Games in 1975 over 1 million riders competed. Doesn’t that sound like fun?
EUROPE’S HOT HONDA
Unveiled at the London Motorcycle Show was the new Honda CB900F which Honda says won’t be sold in the U.S. The dohc Four bears a strong resemblance to the latest Honda RCB endurance racer and shares many components with the RCB and others with the CBX.
Suspension and styling features such as instruments and handlebars come directly from the CBX. The engine is a mixture. Crankcases are identical to the RCB racer but the cam drive is like the CBX: one chain drives the rear cams and a second chain drives the front cams from the rear cams. Ignition and alternator are at the ends of the crankshafts, unlike the CBX although the engine is 1.7 in. narrower than the CBX. Weight is also down from the Six with a curb weight of 550 lb., about 50 lb. less than the CBX.
Unlike many recent Hondas, the 900 uses an undersquare bore-stroke ratio. Bore is the same as the CBX, 64.5mm and stroke is 69mm. Total displacement is 901.8cc. Claimed power is 95 hp at 9000 rpm. >
SHAFT DRIVE SUZUKI
Suzuki is bringing out its first shaft drive motorcycle, the GS850. Looking similar to the other GS models, the 850 will use the air adjustable forks and adjust able damping shocks of the GS1000. Weight. however, will be higher at a
claimed figure of 558 lb. dry. The 850 will sport many of the same features as the E versions of the GS bikes: mag style wheels, triple disc brakes and stepped saddle. There's even an electrical terminal for accessories.
Details include a 69mm bore, 56.4mm stroke. 843cc actual engine displacement. 8.8 to 1 compression ratio and 59.1 in. wheelbase.
