Cycle World Roundup
CYCLE WORLD ROUNDUP
WANTED: AN AWFUL MOTORCYCLE
Most motorcycles have gotten pretty good in recent years, the various makes all homing in on the same level of performance and comfort and reliability so that there are few models about which to warn motorcyclists. There is a motorcycle, however, that is so astoundingly unreliable, so impossible to ride because of its evil handling and unpredictable power, that we feel obliged to report it.
Unable as we were to agree on this bike’s worst feature, everyone on the staff took turns pointing out its frailties, yet despite its obvious shortcomings it remained easy to forget, such is the blandness of its styling. At least no one liked its looks, dull as it may be. The color is foul, the trim tasteless and no shape fits with another shape. All the chrome was peeling, the paint was rusting and the welds could cut a finger run lightly over them. No posterior on the staff fit the wretchedly hard saddle, and the controls were unreachable by hand or foot. If they had been within grasp or nudge we could comment that no controls move easily and most are difficult to control because of the poor cables used.
This matters little because this cantankerous beast is so difficult to start that the motorcycle is almost useless for transportation. There is no electric starter and the kickstarter broke the first time we tried to use it. Only push starting, w'hich required two people on the machine and three behind it, could get the bike running. When it did run, the engine wouldn’t idle at all, would die when given part throttle and scream uncontrollably when more throttle was opened. Then it would quit running. By careful coordination of the hard-toreach controls, a skillful rider could keep the machine running long enough when going down hills to engage a gear, this requiring moving his foot over to the other side of the machine, then punch the backward lever into position. Changing gears required two hands on the clutch lever, whereupon the engine would die. At the bottom of the hill the motorcycle kept on going because the brakes didn’t work at all in front and the rear brake grabbed so suddenly that the rider was afraid to touch it a second time.
When this pile was pushed down a winding road it responded to the most gradual of turns by wiggling violently, wrenching the handlebars from the rider’s grasp. On sharper corners everything on the motorcycle ground into the pavement, > the machine having no measurable cornering clearance. Only when the sidestand was lowered would the motorcycle fall onto its side.
Electrical components on this motorcycle are fascinating, but not really useable. The horn doesn’t make a sound, but glows. The taillight doesn’t glow but sparks. We never did get the headlight working. We were afraid to check into the occasional sparking going on under the difficult-toremove seat for fear that the constantly leaking gas would explode. Only the flood of oil leaking from the top of the engine kept the fumes under control.
Fortunately few people will ever be troubled by this motorcycle because it costs so much money. List price is more than the price of a cheap car. Resale value is nil.
Despite such harsh criticism, this is a very popular mororcycle around the Cycle World offices. This is the kind of bike test riders would argue over, each one wanting to comment on some facet of its performance. As you may have noticed, this is a motorcycle you haven’t read about in Cycle World before. It hasn’t been tested because we haven’t found it.
Instead, we get motorcycles that start easily, run well, use little gas, are reliable and troublefree. Handling has become a matter of how far the bike will lean before the pegs scrape, even on the fastest or the heaviest machines there being little deficiencies in handling. Brakes are almost always able to hold the tires on the verge of locking, some machines having the lever in a little too close or too far from the grip, or the effort may require more than two fingers. Even tires, those round black things on each end of the motorcycle that were always dismissed as rim protectors for years are now good enough on the average new motorcycle that we can fling test bikes around racetracks, scraping every-1 thing below the sidecovers, and the tires don’t slide or scare anybody.
It would be easier, and more fun, if test bikes had some of the awful features we’ve described. Poking fun at a bad motorcycle is a lot easier than describing why a good motorcycle works.
That’s why we’re still looking for that perfect motorcycle, the Genuine Slug.
FIXING THE YZ490 FIX
Stop the grinders! That chain guide fix for the YZ490J printed in the July, 1982 issue needs a little modification. Between the artist and the print shop the marks for making a cut and shimming the chain guide got moved around. The idea is to center the plastic chain guide on the chain by grinding some of the plastic away and shimming it to fit on the other side, as shown in these illustrations. The reason for the change is to eliminate thrown chains.
WHERE TO GO
Far be it from us to tell you where to go.
We did, however, tell you that Aspencade, the annual touring motorcyclists convention held in New Mexico each fall had been cancelled. The name of the event had been grabbed by a promoter in New York. That left a big hole on the calendars of many touring riders so a group of Aspencade enthusiasts have created a new rally that will be held in southern Colorado about the same time as Aspencade would have run.
It’s called the Durango, because that’s where it will be held Sept. 29 to Oct. 3. Good people are running the Durango. Joe Christian and Bob Anderson, two longtime touring riders, are the official promoters. They have gathered a collection of officials including Aspencade’s creator. Til Thompson to help with the chores. There will be an industry show set up in the Durango fairgrounds. A $15 preregistration fee covers entry to bike judging, poker runs, seminars, field events and supplies a pin. The biggest part of the event are the poker tours. These are 300 to 400 mi. long and explore scenic spots around Colorado and New Mexico like Slumgullion Pass or the old railroad to Chama.
The Durango is an AMA-sanctioned event. Registration and information is available from Durango Touring Rider Convention, 125 E. 32nd St., No. 206, Durango, Colo. 81301.
HELP FOUND
Several months ago a small request was printed on these pages. We wanted another editor, someone with great technical expertise, with knowledge of computers so he could help develop our test equipment, and an interest in motorcycles. No, it’s not usual for magazines to advertise in their* own editorial pages for staff, but then again, what magazine has more knowledgeable readers?
The response was overwhelming. Engineers and computer analysts and writers of every description sent in letters. Picking a new technical editor was as difficult and as satisfying as looking through the museum of all the world’s great motorcycles and trying to decide which to ride to lunch.
When Steve Anderson accepted our offer, the process ended. He fit our help wanted request perfectly. While earningshis BS degree in mechanical engineering from M.I.T. he worked in a Honda dealership as a mechanic. After that he spent the next three years at Williams Research Corp. designing turbofan engines for business jets and the cruise missile. In his spare time he roadraces motorcycles, mostly the RD400s he has. He’s managed class wins in WERA races, so he obviously knows how to ride. He has also designed and built his own small GP roadracer, which, as every home builder will understand, has just a few more bugs to get worked out.
With Anderson becoming the technical editor, Peter Egan becomes the feature editor.
RECOGNIZED AT LAST
For what it’s worth, there are now people in Congress who agree that motorcycles are fuel efficient and useful for* transportation. After listening to representatives from the AMA and the recently formed National Motorcycle Commuters Association, the Environment and Public Works committee has issued a report declaring that “motorcycles are extremely fuel-efficient, represent a viable commuting alternative for many individuals, and deserve consideration in state and local transportation plans.’’ The committee also urged the secretary of transportation to promote “commuter-oriented motorcycle use by encouraging state and local governments to make preferential carpool high, way lanes available for use by motorcycles at any time that they are available for use by carpools.”
The report is yet to be approved by the entire House of Representatives.
KRAUSER MOTORCYCLE
Almost two years after the first Krauser MKM-1000 was shown, the production motorcycle has been announced. The MKM-1000, you may recall, looks like the world’s fanciest BM W. It is a very custom motorcycle with its •multi-piece tube frame and elaborate bodywork. Originally the price was expected to be around $14,000, but now the list price is $1 1,895. Still not a bargain, but about the price of a fancy Toyota sedan.
At the core of this motorcycle is the frame, made from 52 straight tubes and four bent pieces, welded up into as strong a frame as Krauser could design. This space frame raises the BMW engine higher than it sits in a BMW' frame, and it also provides a little more wheelbase. Besides the engine and driveline, most of the ^other pieces are carryover from a lOOOcc BMW, which makes for an easy time getting parts. Various pieces have been improved, like forks with revised damping and brakes that have been worked over for better stopping power.
There’s no room for color here, but no ink could do justice to the white body panels on the fairing and integrated tank-seat assembly, with orange, purple and black trim. No, it will never be confused with any other motorcycle. The Krauser MKM-1000 will be sold through various BMW dealers. For more information, contact Krauser USA, 6909 216th St. S.W., Lynnwood, Wash. 98036.
CEASE-FIRE DECLARED
One of the oldest battles in motorcycling is officially over. Motorcyclists in St. Louis, Missouri are now able to ride kon all the city’s streets. For three years St. Louis has prohibited motorcycles from some of the city streets, those that happened to be within city parks. The excuse used was to control noise.
On the long road to a solution the AMA took the city to court, the Missouri Supreme Court ultimately deciding not to hear the case. The biker’s argument was always that if the city is opposed to excessive noise, it should pass a noise ordinance, not an anti-motorcycle ordinance. And working with the AMA, after all the courtroom battles, that’s what the city did. The noise standards apply to all motor vehicles and are designed so the police can test suspected offenders. There’s an 82 decibel limit for low speed areas and 86 db(A) in places with speed limits 35 mph or greater._
THE FIRST '83
Harley-Davidson has become the first motorcycle company to introduce a 1983 model, that being the XLX-61. As the name implies, the XLX is a Sportster, powered by the 61 c.i.d. ohv V-Twin Sportster motor. The frame is standard Sportster, as it was revised last year.
What makes the XLX special is all the stufF not on it. As the photo shows, this is a very basic motorcycle. Wherever weight could be trimmed, was trimmed. A smaller, lighter front fender is used. There is no tachometer. The seat is hardly bigger than the new, smaller air filter housing, and it doesn’t look like it is any better padded. Even the chrome on the exhaust systern is gone, replaced by a corrosionresistant Sermetal flat black finish. With all this gone the XLX weighs 486 lb. dry. That’s about 20 lb. lighter than the standard Sportster, which is already considerably lighter than most lOOOcc motorcycles.
On all new Sportsters there’s a new ignition system that includes a vacuum control for spark advance, in addition to the rpm-controlled advance. This has been standard practice in the automotive world
for decades, and it’s been used on the Yamaha 1100 and the latest Gold Wings. Under conditions of high vacuum, like steady-state cruising.on flat roads, the ignition can be advanced. When the throttle is whacked open, the vacuum drops, retarding the ignition timing. This keeps the
engine from detonating to death and enables the Sportster to have higher cornpression and still run on regular gas. Compression ratio is back to 8.8:1, from the 8:1 used this year. A less restrictive exhaust system, with larger diameter crossover pipe, helps increase horsepower and engine response, Most aluminum parts on the XLX have been bead blasted and painted a semi-flat metallic color. The rest of the bodywork is black. Handlebars are flat track style, lower and flatter than normal Harley bars, If the solo seat doesn’t appeal, any of the Sportster seats will fit the XLX, though the first XLX owner hasn’t been
heard to complain about the stock bike, But then again, his other Harleys don’t have any better seats, The first XLX owner is Jay Springsteen.
