Roundup
ROUNDUP
HOW SOON WE FORGET
Every time a new test bike arrives. accompanied by a collection of advertising buzz-words to describe new technical innovations, someone around the office points out that the device was used in 1935 on the Whazzit made in Yugoslavia and finally Henry Manney will wander in and recall that the 1903 Harley-Davidson had the same feature.
In most cases, the actual first use is unknown as prototypes for all motorcycle manufacturers sported the first features and many of these never reach production.
The latest test bike with a buzz-word is the Suzuki GS750 with Twin Swirl Com bustion Chamber. All that is used to label a swirl combustion chamber, which isn't new at all. Almost all wedge-type corn bus tion chambers use gas swirl and there are lots of recent designs which blur the dis tinctions between hemispherical (non swirl) and wedge (swirl) combustion chambers. The swirl has been going on for generations.
Then there's the double overhead cam engine. The first that comes to mind is the 1911 Peugeot that used a 180° crankshaft parallel Twin with dohc. And four cylinder engines are nothing new. The Belgian F.N. (Fabrique National) had an inline Four in 1904. That motorcycle also used a shaft drive to connect the engine with the rear wheel, there being no transmission.
Now that virtually all Street bikes have disc brakes, it might be of interest to remember the Pointer. The Pointer com pany built several experimental motorcy cles in the early l960s with disc brakes but didn't install discs on the production bike because the company feared the public wouldn't buy a motorcycle with disc brakes.
LJ1a1~~~. Many of the most powerful motorcycles today are using four valves per cylinder. but that's nothing new. Indian used four valves per cylinder on its powerful board track machines in 1912. Earlier French board track racers had the Harley 80 and Kawasaki 1300 all beat to hell in the displacement category. Some of the French machines had 2500cc single cylin der engines.
When Yamaha introduced the 650cc Maxim I several months ago. the press was interested in the auxiliary shaft behind the cylinders that ran the alternator. A similar auxiliary shaft was also seen on the Ka wasaki 1300 and the Honda CBX. but that's not the first time a Japanese machine had such a feature. In 1966 the Bridge stone 175 Dual-Twin used an auxiliary shaft mounted behind the cylinders to drive the alternator and the ignition. Being a Twin. there wasn't a need to make the engine narrower for cornering clearance: the Bridgestone used the shaft so the two stroke Twin could use rotary valves on the end of the crankshaft. That same motorcy cle had a twin-shaft mechanism not at all like the Honda CB900's. The Bridgestone offered the rider a choice of rotary shift four-speed or return shaft five-speed with a second shift lever selecting the patterns.
Honda. of course, has previous experi ence in making two-speed subtransmis sions. The Trail 90 gained a dual range feature a dozen years ago and so did some of the other small trail bikes of the Sixties.
Earlier in the Sixties Suzuki made a mode! with integrated brakes, a feature today associated with Moto Guzzi. The Suzuki brakes were hydraulic, operated by the foot pedal. with a brake lever operating the front brake through cables as a reserve. That was the 250TA Suzuki.
Harley's new-for-1980 FHT has, among other things. an enclosed drive chain. Good move. Makes sense. And one that was in common usage 20 or more years ago. Used to be any European motorcycle that might see service in mud or dirt had the chain enclosed. Many of the Japanese bikes had enclosures when the makes first arrived in the U.S. The home market is practical. running the chain in an oil bath protects it from water and grit, hence in Japan and Europe the chain case was a selling point. We Americans are more sporting and the cases gradually disappeared.
Kawasaki~s top KZ440 has belt final drive. Sure, it's the latest technical break-> through belt, with restructured synthetics and miracle fiber reinforcement, but belt drive was used on motorcycles before the turn of the century. Belts were cheap and easy to repair and the slippage kept strain off the fragile engine and rear drive and— when there was one—the gearbox.
Point of all this is not to disparage the manufacturers. In none of the examples cited do the factories claim a first.
Instead, so clever have the motorcycle makers been over the decades that the surest way to be wrong in this business is to proclaim that something has never been done before.
KAWASAKI JUMPS INTO 500 GP
Kawasaki introduced the newKR500 at a press conference in Japan, announcing that 1978 and 1979 250cc and 350cc World Champion Kork Ballington of South Africa will ride the machine in 1980.
The new bike is thought to be in essence two KR250 engines combined into a square Four, similar in concept to the original RG500 Suzuki, with four crankshafts and four rotary-valves. Exact technical specifications can only be guessed at since no details were released, however. The shape of the sw ing arm suggests that a variation of the Kawasaki Uni-Trak system was used, with the shock placed differently. perhaps more like the positioning of Yamaha’s monoshock system. Some observers believe that the bike uses a monocoque chassis, but the chassis itself is effectively hidden by the aerodynamic fairing and tail section.
It's not known if the KR500 will appear in the U.S.
MEETING FOR SAFETY
Motorcycle safety is as vital, and as misunderstood, as it is dull. Sure as people are quick to tell you that riding is crazy, so do they (and we) turn away when it comes to knowing just how much risk we take; or how' we can make motorcycles less risky than they are.
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is sponsoring an international motorcycle safety conference in Washington D.C.. as one way to improve understanding of w hat happens on the road, as well as perhaps educating the public.
MSF does good work. They’re private in that they are funded by the motorcycle manufacturers rather than the government. and they are the folks who turn out the invaluable rider instruction courses used by state and local agencies enlightened enough to understand that skilled motorcyclists are better than scared ones.
The conference will be held May 18-23 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Washington, D.C. The agenda looks professional. There will be lectures and seminars on topics like rider psychology and education, licensing laws, analysis of accident date and helmet effectiveness and why people don’t see motorcycles. Plans are to have engineers, physicians, researchers and other professionals from all over the world.
This is a motorcycle event, in a way, while not being at all like Daytona or Aspencade. Heavy stuff. The conference is open to the public, though, because while the MSF knows that statistical research and psychological factors aren’t the stuff of which most vacations are made, they would like to have members of the riding public there, to comment or simply to learn more about motorcycles and safety.
Registration fee for the full conference is $90, and one day is $50. For details, write to Roger Quane, Motorcycle Safety Foun-1' dation. 780 Elkridge Landing Road, Linthicum. Md. 21090.
WHAT ABOUT HANNAH?
Bob “Hurricane” Hannah’s right leg, broken in a water-skiing accident, hasn’t healed as rapidly as expected and could delay Hannah’s return to racing with Team Yamaha. Early reports suggest that Hannah may switch from the 250cc class into the 500cc class, in which national races start later in the year, the idea being that his leg may be race ready by the time th 500cc races begin.
But Yamaha Racing Manager Kenny Clark declined to state Yamaha’s plans for
QUOTE. . .
From Bruce Preston. Chairman of the British Motorcyclists Federation: “The only way that a motorcyclist can survive on today's roads is by his own skill and attitude.”
SUZUKI ANTI-DIVE
Seen at the Tokyo Motor Show was a domestic (Japanese) market GS750 with Suzuki's anti-dive front fork. The anti-dive system reduces fork compression under braking. The system uses a plunger to block off'a compression oil passageway in the fork when the front brake is applied, thus dramatically increasing compression damping and slowing fork compression.
No plans were announced to import the anti-dive 750 into the U.S.
ROADS ARE ROADS
Here’s a small victory. When the federal government began inventorying public land with an eye to closing great chunks of it as wilderness, one of the hidden catches was that a road was defined as something improved by machine. Wilderness cannot contain roads, see. so trails made by bikes or trucks or Jeeps don’t exist, not if they're in land that could otherwise be declared off-limits to vehicles. What this definition did was allow the surveyors to pretend that land used for recreation wasn’t being used at all.
The rule has been changed. The feds now admit to the existence of “ways and trails”, that is. one and two-lane tracks already in use by vehicles and not in need of grading and filling and the like. Millions of acres being inventoried contain such ways and trails and while the surveys and studies are going on. we'll be allowed to ride where we've ridden for generations.
We’re not sure we'll get our fair share of recreational land, but at least they know we’ve been out there.
A QUICKER KAWASAKI?
Also in the rumor mill is the one about the hot new Kawasaki 1000 that will do to the other sports bikes w hat the Z-1 did to the 750s.
Unconfirmed at this writing, one leak says that Kawasaki is working on either a four-valve 1000 or one with fuel injection. Could be. Four valves are becoming a staple for Honda and Suzuki in their contest for Superbike honors, so Kawasaki engineers could be panning the same
creek. Even so. fuel injection does boost power, and it can control the mixture more closely than carbs, ergo a two-valve 1000 could be tuned for higher output while also meeting the emissions rules.
Backing that up, a reader tells us that a Big Green Exec told him that Kawasaki doesn’t believe in four-valve heads. But. this man said, don't use your down payment on a CBX or GS1100 until you've seen what we’re bringing out come spring.
MORE FROM SUZUKI
R eliable sources, as they say in politics, tell us Suzuki will introduce two-anda-half additional 1980 models later this year. The most logical of the group is a street only 400 Single, with the engine as seen in this year's DR400, the frame of the SP370 and road tires, lower seat and suspension and the usual DOT-approved equipment. Kick start only, we guess. Photos from the Tokyo motorcycle show are of a GN400E done in the fashionable semichopper mode. There’s a stepped seat, high handlebars and leading axle fork. Some sort of compression release is included.
As a timely bid for the entry market, there's supposed to be a GS250. a Tw in like the GS450 but downsized. Such a machine would be a cinch for Suzuki to offer, as they already sell one like that in Europe. But is the U.S. ready for small Twins? There used to be a choice of such bikes, but people stopped buying them back in the Sixties so they faded from the market. The 250 Twin is a handy size and we may be ready to appreciate them again.
That half model? A scooter. Like the Vespa scooter, with small w heels and w ind protection. Not quite a motorcycle as we usually define the term, but something with more snap and more highway utility than you can get with a moped. Again, something of a return. Scooters formerly were popular transportation, either for people who didn’t want a (gasp!) motorcycle. or for those of us who had Triumph tastes and Cushman incomes.
EVER CHANGING
Mo snickering allowed on this one. The 1980 CCM is now a “works replica.” Yes. the booming four-stroke Single motocrosser from England is better than ever for 1980. There’s a new' four-valve head for more power on the 580cc engine. And with the alternator ignition, no longer will the eager rider have to wait until the battery is charged before riding. The chrome plated frame is subtly changed with a little less steering rake and the head stock moved forward 1 in. There are magnesium crankcases. magnesium forks and hubs with nearly 12 in. of wheel travel. Even the appearance has been improved w ith a gold anodized gas tank and matching gold trim on the seat.
As the U.S. importer says, “Surely a most fetching combination.”
Available from CCM Imports America. Route 1. Huntley, 111. 60142.
CALLING ALL CLUBS
n order to compile a list of all national motorcycle clubs, we need some help. Will representatives of every national level motorcycle club (that includes brand clubs, political organizations—anything to do with motorcycles) send a note to Club List. Cycle World. 1499 Monrovia. Newport Beach. Calif. 92663 giving the club address, phone number and the name of someone interested people may contact? When enough, we can print a list.
