Cycle World Roundup
CYCLE WORLD ROUNDUP
FINDING A MECHANIC
HOW, asked a reader, can a motorcyclist find a good mechanic? Next came a long pause around the office as we all sat thinking about that one, knowing it was a problem, but having never come quite to grips with it because we either do all our own work on our bikes or because we know good mechanics whom we’ve met racing or through our business.
But that doesn’t help the reader who needs to know how to tell a good mechanic from a bad one or to know that his RD400 doesn’t need a new camshaft. So here is a collection of tips.
It’s best to know something about the mechanics of motorcycles. That’s why there are technical articles in Cycle World and other motorcycle magazines. Local ♦colleges and night schools frequently offer courses on motorcycle mechanics or automotive mechanics that can teach the basics. Even a normal school text like Ellinger’s Automechanics can provide enough information to keep a motorcyclist from falling for unprofessional work.
, Probably the most common technique for finding mechanics is to ask other motorcyclists if they know of good mechanics. One recommendation doesn’t guarantee that you’ll find a good mechanic, but if several riders of the same brand of motorcycle all recommend the same mechanic Aor shop, chances are the mechanic is good. Ask how long the mechanics have been working at a shop. Mechanics who care about their work usually end up working for dealers who care about the work and neither one puts up with incompetence for very long. That leads good mechanics to good dealers and they stay there for a while.
Know who actually does the work on your motorcycle when you bring it to the shop. If routine service performed by the mechanic working on your bike is good and you’re satisfied, ask to have the same mechanic work on your bike each time. Good mechanics have lots of requests for their work.
Don’t expect a bargain. If a mechanic is good, he doesn’t work cheap. He’s probably experienced, supporting a family and expects a reasonable income. Expecting a $2 an hour mechanic to work wonders is like expecting to find a 100 lb. motocrosser or a 50 hp 125.
Even if you can do the basic maintenance yourself, there’s something to be gained by having the shop perform routine tune and servicing. It gives you an inexpensive opportunity to see if the shop seems competent. If your CB750 goes into the shop for a routine servicing and comes out running worse than it went in, you’ve just found a shop you don’t want to go back to. At least they’re less likely to foul up a motorcycle with a poor tune up than with a poor engine rebuild.
A good parts supply hints of a good> dealer. After all, if the shop doesn’t have a clutch cable or points for the most common models, how can it perform any repairs?
You can help the mechanic and hold down costs at the same time by selecting motorcycles and accessories that aren’t hard to work on. If you’ve found a good mechanic and are concerned with maintenance costs, ask him how difficult it is to work on motorcycles you’re thinking about buying or accessories you might install. A fully loaded motorcycle can sometimes take a mechanic an hour just to undress so he can begin working on it and that adds to your bill and his frustration if the pieces don’t fit properly.
THE KICK START DETERRENT
Just about the time electric start became virtually standard for road bikes, the kick start lever began to disappear. We didn’t like the trend, as even riders who prefer electric legs find comfort in knowing that when the battery goes dead, the engine gets wet or whatever, you can still leap on the lever and get things going.
When we said as much to the factories, we were told the levers were coming off' to save weight and money. Although this didn't convince us, fewer and fewer motorcycles are coming with kick start as an option.
Now we know7 why. One of the big makers was telling us how they're appealing to potential buyers, people who haven’t ridden before but are thinking about bikes as transportation.
These people are used to cars. They don’t know much about motorcycles, and they have in their heads attitudes that don’t match those of traditional bikers.
They don’t like kick start. Not only do they not know7 how to start a motor that way. they take the fitting of a kick lever as a sign of weakness; if the engine is reliable, why does it have a back-up starting system?
Traditional riders know that batteries go flat, despite modern science. To us. considering the kick lever as a sign of weakness is like saying if this ship is seaworthy, why does it have lifeboats?
RALLY TIME
Motorcycle rallies aren’t new, but some new twists have been added to the rally idea by the Vetter Corp., which is sponsoring a rally for owners of Vetter fairings Aug. 22 to 24 at the Flying W Ranch near Colorado Springs.
Unlike many other large rallies, there are no plans to register motorcyclists at the event. Instead, anyone wishing to attend the rally must send the $35 per per-
Ison (P.O. registration Box 654, fee Rantoul, to the 111. Vetter 61866) Corp. a month before the rally or call for reservations (800-637-1134 or 800-252-1119 in Illinois) a month before. That’s because the number of guests is limited to 8000 this year.
Now if 8000 sounds like a lot of people to attend a first year rally, it is, but the folks at Vetter are sure their event will be of interest enough to bring that many people to Colorado Springs. Events scheduled for the rally were still adding up last time we talked to the Vetter people, but included performances by some well known entertainer (not Willie Nelson, they said), guided tours and hikes in the mountains, a motorcycle economy run, coasting races, demonstrations of karate and trials riding and archery plus other nightly entertainment. Also, a total of $ 15,000 in prizes will be awarded, including a Vetter Mystery Ship.
Whatever you do, don’t try to attend the rally without a Vetter fairing on your bike, though.
Of course the Vetter rally isn’t the only rally going on in August. There’s also the Black Hills Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, one of the biggest and oldest road rallies going and running from Aug. 4 to Aug. 10. Sturgis, as it is usually called, includes a series of AMA-sanctioned races including professional short track and half miles, plus amateur short track and hill climbs.
There are also the usual collection of tours during the Black Hills Rally with an AMA District 30 road tour held Monday and Tuesday of the rally.
Finally, there’s the Aspencade Motorcyclist Convention in Ruidoso, New Mexico Oct. 1-4. Til Thompson (RO. Box 970, Ruidoso, N.M. 88345, (505) 257-2919) is shortening his week of tours and bike competition a bit this year, but there will still be the usual trade show held in the convention center, parade through downtown Ruidoso and the other traditional events of the Aspencade.
RACERS REMEMBERED
Flat trackers are now getting their own association, beginning with those who rode prior to 1970. The White Plate Flat Trackers Association is being formed by several veteran racers in Sturgis, South Dakota in order to create a record of flat track racing in this country.
The charter members are limited to those racers issued white number plates by the AMA before 1970. The restriction favoring older riders is necessary, according to the announcement by advisory board member J.C. Hoel, because the group doesn’t know how many flat trackers will respond and this will limit the initial membership to a number that can be handled. Eventually the White Plate Flat Trackers Association will be opened up to all expert professional riders.
The group wants to establish a book listing the names and a short history of the racers in the club and, eventually, work to establish a motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Interested racers can contact J.C. Hoel at P.O. Box 297, Sturgis, S. Dak. 57785.
CLASSICS AT LANCASTER
The recent standard years has of old been bike carried freaks enerin getically by Frank Conley, Esq of Carmel Valley, Calif., in the form of the Classic and Antique Motorcycle Association. Usterwas he organized a giant thrash and rummage sale at Visalia, up in the San Joaquin Valley, but various events forced a move to Reedley and then Lancaster, Calif, in May of this year. Lovers of old bangers can bring them for a friendly ride on the Sunday or a Concours d’Elegance on Saturday; as all old bike owners are perpetually looking for old bike bits, purveyors of these (who may have cleaned out a barn somewhere) turn Antelope Valley Jr College’s parking lot into a close approximation of an Arab souk. Ranks of Harley sidevalve heads can be seen laid out while serried rows of boxes containing God knows what are at convenient stooping height. Even more oriental booths peddle yet something else, a sparkling example being Steve Wright’s marvelous new book on early m/c racing.
There is also an orgy of polishing as people come for hundreds of miles to present their bikes and themselves in the best light. There are more Indians than owned by the Cleveland PD in 1939 and a fair smattering of everything else too, including such rare birds as a Vincent Black wossisname with all-over fairing, several Royal Enfield Twins, an Ariel Arrow, Nimbuses and whatever that Velocette was that had fiberglass all over it. Waste of good machinery. Velo people got together (one of them bought a 250 Matchless!!!), Norton ditto, Indian ditto and ad infinitum. Generally you couldn’t find the owner as he was out looking for something and it was commonplace to see a newly bought Harley Servicar with all sorts of ditto rusty forks sticking out of the box. A bit more unusual was a gent in a wheel chair pushing a pair of giant telescopies in front of him.
The bloom is sort of off the rose as far as the old stalwarts are concerned. One of them confided that he didn’t even bother showing one of his lovely machines (which run) as there is so much niggling and backbiting. Know somebody, paid off the judges etc. Equally as tiresome are the instant experts whose sole reason for living is to tell some Triumph owner that he “has got the wrong buddy pegs for that year.” They don’t remember that five or six years of war meant that when something wore out, it was replaced by the nearest and easiest alternative. And the bolt holes didn’t even have to fit.
Still the CAMA meeting fills a reat need, the conversation is wonderful, you always learning something, And the bolt holes didn’t even have to fit.
Still, the CAMA meeting fills a great need, the conversation is wonderful, you always learn something, and we should all be the poorer without it.
—Henry N. Manney III
LEADING THE WAY
Everybody knows motorcycles get better gas mileage and are faster than cars because they’re lighter and have better power-to-weight ratios, right? But that’s not all there is to it. There’s also technical expertise.
For example, Yamaha has just signed an agreement with Fiat, the Italian auto making plant, and is negotiating with Ford Motor Co. for both the auto makers to use Yamaha’s new fuel savings induction system. Details of Yamaha’s innovation haven’t been revealed but Yamaha says its new YICS (Yamaha Induction Control System) reduces fuel use by at least 10 percent and is easy to apply to existing engines.
Yamaha is no newcomer to automobile engines. When Toyota built an exotic sports car, the 2000GT, Yamaha made the engines because Yamaha had more expertise in building high performance engines than Toyota. Because Yamaha’s engine production capacity is limited, the company is now selling the rights to its new design.
