Roundup
ROUNDUP
HARLEY’S RIDE WAS A PIECE OF CAKE
In order to appreciate the awfulness of this pun, you had to be there. To celebrate the independence of Harley-Davidson from AMF, the corporate mother that has protected H-D the past 12 years, the new Harley executives scheduled a freedom ride from York, Pennsylvania to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From assembly plant to engine manufacturing plant, a group of about 25 bikes, ridden by Harley’s new executives, PR people and members of the motorcycle press, paraded in formation for about 800 mi. Along the way on the four day ride Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show stopped at various Harley dealerships where, without exception, there was a cake covered with orange frosting and saying The Eagle Soars Alone.
After four days of cake four times a day the ride was anything but a piece of cake. What it was, was a media event. But that’s not bad. It is, however, jumping ahead in the story.
This story began 12 years ago when Harley-Davidson was acquired by AMF. At that time Harley was making about 14,000 motorcycles a year at the Milwaukee plant that was built before WWI. True Believers have always blamed AMF for everything from bad valves to the national debt, but the insiders at H-D know that AMF saved Harley from a fate worse than merger.
About a year ago AMF decided it was too committed to recreation fields and it wanted to change that. One way was to get rid of one of the more independent companies it had acquired and spend the money in other fields.
The people who were running HarleyDavidson at that time knew their company was a viable separate entity and so they put together a package, borrowing money from several major banks, and purchased Harley-Davidson from AMF. The independence ride was in celebration of that purchase.
Just what that independence will mean will be evaluated by history. Logically, it shouldn’t make a drastic change to Harley-Davidson motorcycles because the same people who were making decisions about the products when AMF owned the company are still making the decisions.
That’s not how the Harley riders see it, though. At the first stop on the freedom ride a large group of Harley riders climbed to the top of the Pittsburgh Harley shop and painted over the AM F on the> Harley sign. To them Harley-Davidson’s independence is important. It means that Harley-Davidson is a motorcycle company run by motorcycle people.
Maybe that’s why more than 500 Harley riders turned out at the Harley dealer at Napoleon, Ohio. Napoleon (down the road from Waterloo) is a town of something over 7000 people. Just where 500 Harley riders came from is anybody’s guess. But they showed up and gave the most rousing welcome to the new Harley brass because they cared about the company and the people at the company.
Likewise the Harley executives care about Harley-Davidsons and they care about Harley riders. Willie G. Davidson, vice-president of styling and grandson of one of the founders, is a private person who keeps his department out of the public eye. But when the Harley riders wanted to meet Willie G., he wanted to meet them. The messages weren’t important, just the contact between people who share a common love of a lifestyle built around a motorcycle.
That’s why Harley hasn’t abandoned their existing motorcycles and why they won’t in the future. There are improvements coming. Some of them, like the rubber mounted engine in the FLT or the fivespeed transmission, are already here and they’re going to be used in new models. But as long as Harley riders want to buy Harleys the way they have been made, Harley’s going to continue building them.
Harley isn’t going to build small bikes. Small being under 500cc, according to Chairman of the Board Vaughn Beals. And the company is committed to building V-Twin engines.
So there won’t be any immediate change in the product lineup. The first Harley-Davidson to roll down the assembly line without the AMF name on the tank was an FLH Heritage just like the FLH Heritage models made with AMF decals.
Harley-Davidsons may not be at the forefront of technological innovation in every field, but a trip from York to Milwaukee was an excellent demonstration of what Harleys do so well and why people buy them. The ride was enjoyable, the machines entertaining and reliable and besides, has anyone ever been cheered by a crowd of 500 instant friends in Napoleon, Ohio because he was riding a Honda?
LE MANS III
Moto Guzzi has named its big sports model the Le Mans ever since it quit being the V7 Sport. Originally the Le Mans was built with the 850cc engine, the frame originally found on the Sport, and styling touches that definitely ruled out the bike as a touring machine. When U.S. emission standards got tight enough Moto Guzzi enlarged the engine to 1000ce with larger barrels and called the bike Le Mans
Now there’s the Le Mans III. This latest version is the most changed since the V7 Sport became the Le Mans. Besides the obvious styling differences, the Le Mans III benefits from the most changed engine Moto Guzzi has made in the 15 years the big V-Twin has been produced.
New cylinders, heads, intake ports and4 exhausts enable the new 850cc engine to produce 3 bhp more than the 1000cc engine would. This has been accomplished at the same time that compression has been reduced to 9.8:1. Cylinder and head shape is externally like that of the V50 Moto Guzzi, with squared-off corners and< rocker arm covers that are more angular in design.
Suspension is now assisted by air pressure at both ends of the Le Mans III. Both the forks and the shocks have cross-over tubes linking the air valves for easy adjustment.
Styling of the Le Mans III is more angular than that of the Le Mans IL A small, sporting fairing is mounted on the bike and wind deflectors are mounted around the new 6.6 gal. gas tank. Inside the small fairing is an instrument group with a large central tachometer, a medium size speed-, ometer and a small voltmeter.
Moto Guzzi’s V50 III has received slight changes. The saddle is shaped differently and the ignition is now a battery and points system rather than the electronic ignition used previously.
NEW HARLEY-DAVIDSONS
Harley-Davidson introduced several new machines recently and 1982 will see another pair of new Harleys. Most interesting of the new bikes is the FXRS. As the FX designates, this is part of the Superglide series. But the RS is the most different FX of all. It’s based on the FLT design with a rubber-mounted engine and five-speed transmission.
Initially the RS was to be a strippeddown and sporting version of the FLT. Fortunately, styling got in the way and the motorcycle is even better because of it. According to Harley’s vice president of engineering, Jeff Bleustein, when the RS was built around the existing FLT chassis, it didn’t look right. The FLT uses an extremely long backbone because of the reversed triple clamps which put the FLT’s fork tubes behind the steering head. That works on the FLT because the goose-neck frame is hidden by the fairing. On the RS it looked so strange that engineering was allowed to design a completely new frame for the bike. That has meant that the RS frame is less compromised than it would have been.
Being designed as a sports Harley, the front end is conventional with the fork legs ahead of the steering head. There’s no chain enclosure on the RS, another departure from the FLT design, which suits the more sporting nature of the bike. Major frame dimensions are entirely different, enabling the RS to have the battery tucked into the frame rather than hung on the side as it is on the T.
Riding the RS around Harley’s test track at York, Pennsylvania was a surprise and a treat. Looking for the bike to be basically a lightened FLT, test riders expected a smooth ride and the good shifting provided by the five-speed. But what stood out was the handling and the brakes. This bike doesn’t steer like any previous Harley. It also doesn’t steer like any of the big Japanese superbikes. The steering is light and precise and makes the machine feel much lighter than it must be. It doesn’t fall into turns or require muscle to place into turns. It also changes direction easily and precisely.
Harley’s test track is a narrow, winding road carved into the hillside behind the assembly facility. It has off-camber turns, pot-holes, a long straight and bumps. It’s just the sort of road a motorcyclist would like to find for a Sunday ride. On this track the RS was a joy to ride. Power from the standard Harley 80 cu. in. engine was ample. A new Girling rear brake and new leverage ratios for the front brakes, all discs, provided plenty of stopping power with moderate lever pressure. Dunlop K181 raised white letter tires were mounted on both ends of the RS. This is the first time in many years that a Harley has worn anything but Goodyears. Production bikes may have Goodyears or Dunlops, but the tires on the bike ridden by members of the press worked very well on the Harley.
New controls make the clutch and brake levers easier to reach and use, plus including larger buttons for the signal lights, starter and horn. The new controls will be phased in on all Harleys.
In addition to the RS model, there’s a standard FXR version that doesn’t have some of the trim pieces used on the RS. Mechanically the two are the same motorcycles.
The second new bike for 1982 is the Sportster. The name is unchanged, but it gets a new welded steel tube frame that’s lighter and stronger than the old Sportster frame. It also looks more like earlier Sportsters than the models of the past couple of years. It isn’t as drastic a revision as the R and RS models, but the new Sportster is the wave of the future at Harley, being an updated and generally improved machine with all the details refined. For instance, there’s a higher output alternator, a low-maintenance battery, the new hand controls, relocated oil filter, halogen headlight, larger 3 gal. gas tank, smaller 48-tooth rear sprocket and the new Girling rear brake. The Sportster, and all other Harleys, can now run on regular gasoline. Parts to convert existing Harleys for operation on regular or low-lead gasoline will also be available.
