Roundup
ROUNDUP
WHAT’LL SHE DO?
Numbers have always been important to motorcyclists whether the number is miles per gallon or inches of travel. For most motorcyclists the important numbers have, in times past, been how fast will it go and how much horsepower does it have?
These numbers were important to show that my bike could beat your bike without having to engage in wheel-to-wheel combat. Of course in days gone by it was much easier to find out What’ll she do because ¿traffic enforcement hadn’t become a major industry and because an Indian with even two speeds and two cylinders could only be made to go so fast.
If that wasn’t fast enough the fix was bigger pistons or a stroker kit so that the engine could inhale more fuel and air and therefore make more horsepower. It didn’t take too many years of motorcycling before people figured out that more displacement was the easiest way to get more power. It was also an easy way to classify motorcycles for racing or taxing or any other important matter.
The earliest way to more horsepower in any displacement limited class was to spin the engine faster, a trick that might as well be called Honda’s Law. The second method was to try and pump air into an engine at greater than atmospheric pressure. And that was called supercharging.
Nearly as quickly as everyone figured out how to strap a Rootes blower on the side of a BMW, everyone else figured out that the whole idea of a displacement limit was to limit how much air could be ingested in an engine and that pumping more air into an engine effectively increased the displacement. And from that came equivalency formulas that said, for instance, that a 500cc supercharged engine had to compete against lOOOcc normally aspirated engines because both could put out 100 horsepower if the weather was right and the rod bolts had been tightened. Naturally if there was no advantage to putting on the blower, people wouldn’t bother and supercharging disappeared from most motorcycles and cars for a number of years.
Now, thanks to the development of turbocharging for aircraft engines and diesels, the word Turbo has become music to marketeers’ ears and the leaders of motorcycling aren’t deaf. So Honda and Yamaha have both announced turbocharged production motorcycles for the coming year. The Honda you have already seen on the cover. Yamaha’s turbo has been announced but is yet to be seen.
Despite what the brochures say, turbocharging is not a miracle. All the turbos we’ve ridden, including the Honda, have turbo lag. When you open the throttle, you must wait a short time for the boost to build up and develop the promised horsepower.
This is because the turbo is powered by exhaust gases and at small throttle openings there is relatively low exhaust pressure, which means the turbo isn’t spinning fast at all. So when the throttle is opened the exhaust still isn’t at full pressure because the turbo isn’t up to speed and it takes a while for this whole system to build itself up into a frenzy. A second point worth noting is that a small displacement turbocharged engine doesn’t have the light weight and simplicity of a small machine with the horsepower of a big machine. Whether a 500cc turbo or an 1 lOOcc normally aspirated engine is used, it takes so much machinery and weight to develop 100 horsepower. A good example is Honda’s turbo that weighs as much as a Honda CB900 to develop approximately the same horsepower. It also uses more parts. Besides the turbocharger itself, there’s the electronic fuel injection on the turbo and all the various sensors on the machine to operate the injection.
Where a turbocharger does have a big advantage is at high altitude where it can enable an engine to develop the same power it could at sea level. This is why turbos have become popular for piston-engined aircraft. And when an engine operates at a relatively constant speed the turbo lag isn’t a problem either.
None of this means that a turbo bike is necessarily a bad motorcycle, nor does it mean that a turbo bike is a good motorcycle. It simply means there is no such thing as free horsepower.
And the end result is still What’ll she do?
RESERVE CALCULATIONS
During a discussion of fuel mileage the Honda tech crew told us a 1981model fact we’d never heard: all 1981 Hondas have the reserve level of the fuel tank calculated so you can ride 30 mi. after running out on the main tank.
Why? Honda’s former practice was to provide nearly one gallon of reserve no matter what the tank or engine size. This seemed like a good idea. It gave plenty of travel after the sputtering engine told you it was time to fill up.
The arrival of the Customs and their small tanks gave rise to complaints. The owners said they had to stop too often. This also makes sense. A 5-gal. tank with 1 gal. reserve lets you ride maybe 200 miles, while the 3-gal. tank with one in reserve
forces a stop every 100 miles.
Next, how much reserve capacity should a motorcycle have? A survey of American towns showed that most were located to serve farmers. They were spaced so you could drive a wagon there and back to the farm in one day’s worth of daylight. Motors and pavement and Interstates aside, towns large enough to have gas available at any time are still 30 mi. or so apart.
That, Honda decided, is the proper minimum. The level of the pipe in the tank should be placed so you go on reserve with 30 mi. of fuel still in the tank. And that’s what they did, with half a gallon for the 60-mpg models, 3Á for the 45-mpgs and so forth.
BETTER HELMETS
Snell Foundation tests have been deter-^ mining what helmets offer the best protection for many years. Periodically the Snell standards are raised as helmet designs improve, usually at five year intervals. The last standard was set in 1975 and the Snell ’75 helmets have been required for virtually all motorcycle competition in ^ this country. Now there’s a Snell 1980 standard.
The new standard became effective on July 1, 1981. New tests added for the 1980 standard are for a helmet’s resistance to^ fire, a jerking test on the chin strap replacing the former steady pressure test, and an additional multiple impact test. A test of the chin piece is now provided for full-face helmets.
Helmet manufacturers voluntarily apply for the independent tests of the Snell Foundation and the helmets that bear the Snell sticker have passed the foundation^ requirements for impact penetration resistance, energy absorption, retention sys-, tem, resistence to chemicals and quality control.
Snell ’80 stickers are now appearing in helmets available at motorcycle dealers.
SMALL SPORT
Motorcycles don’t have to be big to be exciting, as shown by Honda’s first 1982 model introduced. The MB5 is a 49cc, two-stroke Single with 6.3 bhp at 9000 rpm. Honda hasn’t been known for its two-stroke street bikes in the U.S. (is this the first one?) but has equipped the machine with oil injection and a gear driven counterbalancer shaft to reduce vibration.
Separating this 49cc motorcycle from all those mopeds is the five-speed transmission and racer-replica styling. The engine functions as a frame member with the steel-tube frame. Suspension is relatively long travel 4.9 in. forks and 3.5 in. in back. Wheels are 18 in. three spoke ComStars and there’s a hydraulic disc brake on the front wheel.
Just so no one missed the point of this bike Honda introduced the MB5 to the motorcycle press on a miniature race track at a Malibu Grand Prix where the MB5 provided nimble handling, a peaky powerband and lots of fun.
NORTON OWNER’S RALLY
One of the curious things about motorcycling is the persistence with which defunct marques survive. Inevitably a few energetic folks get together to form a Club which, if the (unpaid) volunteers are successful, grows into a social contact and pipeline through which much needed information can be passed. As Skid Klees has found out, it is mighty lonely out there with a Terrot. At any rate, Norton folks revel in their machines and recently threw a meet out at Woodchuck Camp Grounds -some 9 mi. east of Temecula Calif. Situated more or less in the scrub, Woodchuck has planted itself down in a nice canyon festooned with oaks and in fact what with the “village street” of stores etc. looks remarkably like one of those Movie Ranches that were very handy for low-budget cowboy films of the 30s and 40s, (see Gene Autry, Roy Rogers etc.) and may be still. Anyway this was a Southern California Chapter “do” and as such was presided over by Pres. Nick Cullins, Sec’y Rob Bowens and Gen’l Authoritative Presence M. et Mme. Brian Slark. Actually the meet was a nice three day one incorporating a poker run, general feed, mild boozeup, Trick Norton Show and the piece de resistance, walking about and seeing what the other guy had. Bikes present were overwhelmingly Twins, usually of the bigger sizes, but a few strangers were noticed as if the Norton wasn’t running (which it often isn’t) you could bring your Honder or BSA Gold Star (boo) or even Twostroke.
Interesting bikes in the “show” included a special Hagonised 940cc Twin all rigged for desert racing with sidecar (Bertus), a 940cc road racer with all sorts special Calif, parts (Gjonovitch), an Atlas 750cc drag racer with Triumph frame (Bowen), a roadgoing ’65 Featherbed Manx with lights and all that, actually ridden tothe event by Steele Therkelson, plus several other clean examples which I ddidn’t find out much about (see photo) as we were too busy talking. Occasionally some v pretty girls would appear dripping from the pool, clad in less than they used to wear in the burlesque theatre, and also occasionally a line of Nortons would rumble in from the poker run held that day, the drivers being somewhat impatient to get outside a cold one as the ambient temp was hovering around 100°. Other attractions included a nice Mexican dinner for all and sundry in the Saloon, noises off by the dragster (formidable!) and the Manx with its bobby dodger open as most had never seen one, let alone heard one run (a couple of visting Japanese were seen
squatting in rapt contemplation by it for an hour), and the ease of conversation with the best looking girl as with the grungiest tourer. All one big happy family. At dusk there was a giant sort of presentation/ speech/poker run hoo ha by Nick Cullen who managed to give something to almost everybody I think but due to his mock
Cockney accent ... he comes from Colorado ... it was difficult to distiguish just what was going on. Furthest Distance went to a chap from Detroit and that’s about it. You would have enjoyed the day as well as the evening. Balmy temp, clear skies, desert moon . . . Norton riders arise!
Henry N Manney III
