Cycle World Roundup
CYCLE WORLD ROUNDUP
TEN BETTER MOTORCYCLES
Elsewhere in this issue of Cycle World are the motorcycles picked as the 10 best of the year. The selection is based on how well the machines do what they’re supposed to do, whether that’s Superbike or 250cc motocrosser. The decisions are the result of discussion, voting, arguing, voting, thinking and voting until there is a concensus of the editorial staff on the 10 Best Motorcycles.
Reason is about all that carries any weight in an argument, so figures and performance becomes very important in the selection of the 10 Best Motorcycles. Quarter-mile times, top speeds, lap times, mileage; these are the numbers that are easy to argue. Even some subjective evaluations, such as handling or comfort, are easy to agree upon.
But motorcycling isn’t always a rational endeavor. Most of us ride for fun and that fun comes from excitement and thrills and esthetic satisfaction that is quite separate from sheer numbers. So after we’ve agreed on what bikes are objectively the best, there’s still something to be said.
One editor came up with his list, not based on “any of this damn merit,” as the Duke said. No committees, no votes, no discussion, just a different point of view.
What if we forgot about winning races, getting the most for your money or even about money at all? What if we put up our feet, looked out the window and indulged ourselves?
We’d have a Ten Best that goes like this . . .
Superbike, Ducati 900SS because nothing else so stirs the soul, please the eye and thrills the mind.
Touring, Moto Guzzi 1000 because the seat is wonderfully comfortable and the machine can entertain the rider when the road doesn’t.
Mid -size street, Triumph Bonneville, not because of what it is, but what it’s done and what it means, it’s earned it.
Small street, Honda Passport. It’s small and fun and terribly efficient. It does what a small bike should do.
Dual purpose, BMW R80G/S because a dual-purpose machine should be a traveling bike for all terrain and it’s strong.
Second bike, any Harley-Davidson because Harleys fill needs no other bikes fill, while leaving so many bases uncovered.
Dirt bike, Maico 490 ‘cause the power from it is wild and crazy and controllable and that’s why people ride it.
Proficiency, Suzuki GS1100 because no motorcycle does so many things so well with so few faults.
Single purpose, Montesa Cota 349 because no purpose is so narrow as trials and this bike is so useless for anything else. Looking, Suzuki Katana because it works, everybody looks and everything else looks like something else._
RESTRICTORS REMOVED
Winston Pro racing in 1982 is going to be as fast and as close as ever, thanks to a last-minute display of good sense by the AMA.
Politics, as usual. Several years ago, when all the makers of race-worthy 750 Twins except Harley-Davidson had gone away, the factories with 500 Singles suggested that if there was some sort of rule change to make 500s competitive with 750s, they might get into racing. Otherwise, they said, they couldn’t do it because they weren’t going to make 750 Twins.
So the AMA obligingly revised the rules. In 1982 the 750s were supposed to use restrictors between carb and intake port, a power limiter already being used in junior flat track so new racers won’t have more power than they can handle.
Next, Honda and Yamaha introduced 750 versions of their road-going Twins and submitted proof that they were being produced in the required numbers and are thus eligible for AMA Class C racing. Last winter the competition board considered dropping the restrictor rule, on grounds that there are now competing engines and several factories entering teams and selling equipment to privateers.
The board decided that because they had already issued the rule, and because they’ve been criticized in the past for not being consistent, they’d keep the restrictor requirement even though there was no longer any need for it.
This didn’t sit well with the racers. Tuners for all three of the majors involved couldn’t see anything to gain from limiting power, and they feared their rivals might somehow benefit. None of the riders wanted less power; the difference between winning and losing is, after all, who goes fastest.
There was talk of boycotts and protests and a few months after the meeting, the board re-thought and rescinded the restrictor rule. Whatever power you can get from your Harley, Honda, Norton, Triumph or Yamaha is once again legal.
BEGINNING ADVICE
Getting new riders introduced to motorcycling safely is a good way to find new motorcycle customers, so Suzuki has come out with a 10 min. introductory film, provided by Suzuki dealers, that can help beginning riders. The film shows a rider going through an MSF-sponsored rider course and points out some of the skills new riders should learn. Anyone interested can view the film at a Suzuki dealership.
TRIUMPH NOT STANDING STILL
Despite a long and troubled past of debts, loans and organizational headaches, the Triumph cooperative at Meriden appears to have regrouped and will introduce four new U.S. models for 1982. Relieved of a large debt by the government, Triumph has entered a new phase of belt-tightening. The work force was recently trimmed from 750 down to 250 employees and a new 12-member management board set up, now half labor and half full time management. The factory plans to produce about 80 machines per week.
Three of the new models, the Executive, Royal and Bonneville, will have larger, restyled tanks, new seats arid other
cosmetic changes. A “normal” Bonneville model with the traditional teardrop tank will be available later in the year. The Executive, a sport-touring version with hardshell luggage and small fairing, was not imported this year because an unfavorable dollar/pound ratio drove the price up to $5000 on the American market. A devaluation of the pound, however, has reduced the price to a more reasonable $3995, so Triumph will bring in the Executive for ’82. The Royal version, list price $3695, will feature low handlebars, Morris spoked alloy wheels, dual front discs, black upper end on the engine and black and gold paint on the tank and trim. The standard Bonneville will sell for $3295.
...AND STILL TO COME
Half the 1982 motorcycles are still officially secret as of this writing. The Honda and Yamaha lines will be shown in time for the January issue. Kawasaki’s show has just been postponed and the new date isn’t firm. We hope to deliver full details in January, but maybe not.
Harley-Davidson signed in last month, Triumph is elsewhere on this page, we’ll see the Husqvarnas two months from now, Can-Am has its semi-secret four-stroke on the boat, Moto Guzzi has announced a new and improved Le Mans.
What else? Mostly it’s a matter of what we didn’t see this year, i.e. the Suzuki VFour, but expect late in 1982 or in 1983. (The factories always work several years ahead, which is why these rumors rise to the surface.)
There is a Suzuki V-Four, at least a year away. Harley-Davidson is right now testing still another marked improvement on the V-Twin and some water-cooled prototypes.
The English press says Honda will return with a 400 Four, replacing the lovely little 400F dropped five years ago, and we also hear tell they have a 500 Triple. Yes, like half a CBX. Wouldn’t that be a narrow little number!
In Germany, Das Motorrad has spy sketches of BMW’s Flat Four. Not flat and opposed, like the BMW Twin or Honda’s GL, but an inline Four aligned with the wheelbase and laid on one side; the crankshaft on the left, twin-cam cylinder head on the right. Water cooling, lOOOcc, we’re told, and when it appears the bike will probably have the one-shock rear suspension first seen on the R80G/S.
Back in reality again, production of the Hesketh VI000 has been delayed a month or so. The first examples off the production line were loaned to outsiders, who reported that the clutch grabbed and the gearshift was notchy. Okay, said Lord H., we’ll shut down the line and fix both. U.S. sale is still more than a year away, but it’s nice to know it will be right when it gets here.
All three new Triumphs will have 4.8 gal. gas tanks, Marzocchi oil reservoir rear shocks, unchromed cast iron discs, and seats redesigned for better contour and improved cushioning.
OUR INPUT INVITED
Due to changes in the political climate, and to work on motorcycling’s behalf by user groups, we bike nuts have a new and unprecedented chance to make our wishes known.
In the recent past, various federal programs were funded and approved by Congress acting out the requests of the National Health and Traffic Safety Administration, whose functionaries pretty much submitted what they wanted.
The present administration has changed the rules. We the citizens and the people most affected by the various programs, are invited to submit suggestions. Further, all programs will be judged on the basis of their effectiveness, that is, programs that have good records will take precedence over, say, backward-steering bikes.
What we can do, have been asked to do, is comment on what programs we’d like to see encouraged. Such as? The three that come to mind are rider training, better licensing tests and driver awareness.
A short letter or postcard is all it will take. Positive remarks, please. This isn’t the time to debate helmet laws or arguments for the past. And hurry. The docket closes Oct. 29.
Send those cards and letters to DOT, Docket #81-12, Docket Section, Rm. 5109, Nassif Bldg, 400 7th St. SW, Washington, D.C. 20590.
