AS A FOUR-STROKE freak I point with pride to the fact that Yamaha can’t fill the demand for the TT500 and XT500. Baja and the California desert are full of them. I'm about to build a street bike out of mine. Do it all black with gold striping and fancy script lettering.
I am in the process of restoring a 1954 Swiss Condor. As you can well imagine, I’m having a fair amount of difficulty in finding information about this bike ... to say nothing of parts. I’m actually quite impressed with the engineering and construction of this model.
I feel we have been real close friends the last four years I have been taking your magazine. Your road tests on all motorcycles have been the best of all the magazines I have read. As far as I can see you are still the best. I bought a CB500 Honda in 1971 and have been touring ever since.
If it weren't for too many helpful people, choosing the correct grade of gasoline wouldn't be a problem. But it is a problem. Look in the owner's manual and you can see that the factory wants to help. Always use gasoline with an octane rating of 90, the book says, and adds that the octane should be rated under the Research Method.
TROUBLESHOOTING IGNITIONS: GETTING TO THE POINTS ON TIME
Tools and Techniques For Doing It Right
REQUIRED TOOLS
SUGGESTIONS AND PRECAUTIONS
Is Your Bike Here?
HONDA
750 FOUR IGNITION
ACCESS TO POINTS AND PRELIMINARY INSPECTION
POINT GAP ADJUSTMENT
IGNITION TIMING
TIMING MARKS
DETERMINING POINT OPENING
FINAL ASSEMBLY
DYNAMIC TIMING
DYNAMICALLY TIMING THE 750 FOUR
SUZUKI
380 THREE IGNITION
ACCESS TO POINTS AND PRELIMINARY INSPECTION
IGNITION TIMING
FINAL ASSEMBLY
MAGNETO/POINTS IGNITION SYSTEMS
BASIC OPERATION
HONDA
XL250 IGNITION
COMPONENT LOCATION
POINT ADJUSTMENT
DETERMINING POINT OPENING
STATIC TIMING
DYNAMIC TIMING
FINAL ASSEMBLY
YAMAHA
DT1 IGNITION
COMPONENT LOCATION
TIMING ADJUSTMENT
REPLACEMENT OF BREAKER POINTS
FINAL ASSEMBLY
SUMMARY AND PREVIEW
HONDA
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HONDA
750 FOUR
HONDA
380 THREE
HONDA
XL250
HONDA
DT1
Len Vucci
PROPER MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE is less complicated than it looks. Spend a few dollars for basic tools, plan the work before you do it, and follow instructions. You’ll save money, the work will be done right and perhaps the most rewarding, you’ll know the work was done right.
PROGRESS DOESN'T LAST forever. Back in 1972 Suzuki had a new idea: Take the latest in superbike technology. Scale it down here, beef it up there and you'd have a pleasant combination of touring, sport and commuting, all for an attractive price.
Pro Off-Road Racing: What's It Like To Race In Baja?
What's It Like To Race In Baja?
Is There Any Money ln It?
Bike Preparation Costs
Race, Pre-Run And Pit Support Costs
What’s The 500 Course Like?
How Long Does The 500 Take?
Which Type Of Bike Is Best For The Race?
How's The Course Marked? Do You Always Know Where You're Going?
What Do You Send To Your Pits?
Race Impressions:
SO, ARE BAJA OR OTHER PRO OFF-ROAD RACES WORTH TRYING?
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NO MATTER HOW you look at it, Baja racing is a whole new experience. And it’s mind boggling for anyone who is not familiar with the country and has never been riding there before. Distances between civilized outposts are great. Pit support is difficult to organize and is expensive because of the number of people and vehicles required.
THOROUGH MACHINE PREPARATION is a key ingredient in any racing recipe. Rider skill, determination and conditioning soon become irrelevant if the bike fails to live up to its end of the task of getting the rider to the finish line. Stir in the harsh realities of Baja racing and the character of bike prepping usually changes from necessary task to obsession.
Kenny Roberts at Daytona and Roger DeCoster at Carlsbad have one thing in common, they lose when they’re supposed to win. This time, for DeCoster, it was a broken footpeg in the first moto and a kinked front-brake cable in the second that kept the four-time World Champion out of the competition.
Smith And His 125 Honda Smoke Hannah And The Water-Pumper At Mid-Ohio
125cc USGP MID-OHIO
125 GP RESULTS
250 SUPPORT
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Without a doubt, this was one of the season’s finest races. Team Yamaha had its water-cooled OW25 factory specials for Bob Hannah, Danny Turner and Yukio Sugio. Honda had last year’s case-reed engine in this year’s works frame and, of course, it was for Marty Smith.
Unless you’re a motorcycle enthusiast with iron self-control and the compulsion to read everything in proper order, you’re not reading this introduction first. More likely you looked at the cover and picked out the various winners, then turned to the winner in the class you ride.
Touring riders are a demanding lot. Why? Because their prime interest is enjoying their trip. They want to feel the freedom of sensation a motorcycle offers, not work on it every time they pull into a gas station. Add to this an overwhelming desire for comfort and there is only one choice, the BMW R75/6.
Few machines over the years have commanded as much attention and respect as the KZ900 Four. The primary reason for this is the machine’s speed. One in average tune will reach 125 mph, given a long enough straight. And the same bike will turn a mid-12-second quarter mile.
When it comes down to giving the public what they want, no one does a better job than Yamaha. Its XS750D Triple is proof. This one sports double-overhead camshafts, a quiet collector exhaust, cast aluminum wheels, disc brakes, self-canceling turn signals, and styling that will not become dated quickly.
Perfection is a pretty tough word. If you think about what it means, you begin to realize that in order for it to be applied to a motorcycle, that motorcycle has to be faultless, devoid of anything that is substandard. The Yamaha RD400C is the closest thing to a perfect motorcycle that we've ever come up against.
Selecting the best 500 class roadster was not easy. Our choice, the Honda CB550F, got stiff competition from both the Yamaha XS500C and the Suzuki GT550. Both the Yamaha and Honda handle fairly well. The Yamaha has an edge in suspension and weight.
Motocross is racing, pure and simple. And when it comes down to choosing a racing machine, the object is to select something capable of winning on a wide variety of tracks. For this purpose, we feel the 400 Maico Adolf Weil Replica is the best open class machine you can buy.
In the hands of an inexperienced rider, the KTM/Penton 400 can be a dangerous tool. It is too fast and steers too precisely for novices. In the hands of an expert, however, the machine is a proven winner in either enduro or Six-Day competition.
One of the most dramatic changes in the motocross world was Suzuki's move from the TM-series motocrossers to the RM line. The new machines are no longer play bikes with a lot of horsepower. They are replicas of the Grand Prix works bikes, with production considerations factored in.
Small-bore motocross racing is more competitive than anything else we can think of. Seasoned professionals like the challenge of getting the most out of a small motor. Beginners like the light weight and compact machine size. Because so many people race these machines, factory interest is high, and any one brand does not have a clear advantage in stock form.
Montesa's latest trialer is the end result of a three-year research and development program. They wanted perfection, not just another bike to market. Happily, they've come close . . . close enough at least to make the 348 head of its class. They began by designing a 305.8cc engine that is a performance marvel.
Combining Yamaha’s Versatile Thumper With A Chassis Designed And Built By Kenny Roberts Creates A Very Serious Playbike
Yamaha
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Yamaha
K-R 500
$2300
D. Randy Riggs
EVER WONDER what kind of bike a champion like Kenny Roberts would design if there were no factory engineers to censor his ideas and thoughts? Well, you don't have to wonder any longer because Kenny has recently formed his own company, K-R Racing Specialties and has begun to manufacture motorcycle and bicycle motocross frames.
This Month: Jumping Techniques And Surviving Front-Wheel Landings
JUMP TECHNIQUES
UPHILLL JUMPS
DOWNHILL JUMPS
PEAKED JUMPS
FALL-AWAY JUMPS AND DROP-OFFS
SERIES JUMPS
JUMPS FOLLOWED BY TURNS
FRONT WHEEL LANDINGS
WATER CROSSINGS
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Russ Darnell
The fast run across the dry lake let you relax, and left you refreshed and much cooler. The first jump from the flat lake surface back into the rough was exhilarating. It was soon followed by many others of various sizes and configurations as the terrain once again changed.
Careful shopping can net you a plum instead of a lemon
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Fernando Belair
SOMETIMES, because of high initial purchase price or the unwillingness of an owner to put up with first-year de preciation, a new motorcycle is not the wisest purchase. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of used motorcycles are being bought.
The National Women's Motocross Nationals once again prove that female riders can stand the heat outside the kitchen
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Virginia DeMoss
A RECORD-SETTING summer day in an arid valley town that's practicing to be a desert when it grows up; the temperature is resting temporarily on the 90° mark in anticipation of the long, hard climb ahead. It's a day so hot so early that road runners walk and anyone with half the good sense they were born with sits on the front porch and swats flies.
NO MATTER WHAT part of the country a motorcycle rider lives in, cool, cold or freezing weather is bound to be a part of the riding picture from time to time. Even when the thermometer isn't at the bone-freezing level, a bike can inflict a terrible misery on its rider due to the surprising effects of what is termed "chill factor," which multiplies the temperature downward as the motorcycle's speed increases.
The OW72 comes through, Castle Rock and Pike's Peak Results
HOY ODOM SAN JOSE MEMORIAL
PIKE’S PEAK HILLCLIMB
CASTLE ROCK TT
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Yamaha's $50,000 flat track engine, the OW72, has at last won its first race. The Kenny Roberts orchestrated victory occurred on the half-mile dirt track at San Jose, Calif., the midway mark of the 28-race Camel Pro Series. Until now, the very special 750cc four-stroke Twin (CW, Aug. 76) had been an expensive failure and a non-winner in seven races.
Morris Industries, manufacturers of Morris Mags, has announced a tubeless mag immediately available for use with the tubeless street tires recently introduced to the market by the major tire manufacturers. Tubeless tires coupled with Morris Mags mean cooler running, longer tire life, easier leak repair, plus weight savings. For further information contact Morris Industries, Dept. CW-10, 3853 S. Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92707.
Morris Industries
Snapper Model 600
$1
Ask your dealer to show you a Snapper Model 600 Goggle, or send $1 to National Hydron Incorporated, Dept. CW-10, 1633 Rothsville Road, Rothsville, PA 17573, and they’ll send you a color catalog of all National Hydron Products, plus a free, full-color signature series of famous racers, each suitable for framing.
Morris Industries
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$11.95
Vintage Motorcycle Supply now has a genuine taillight lens available for the 1945 — ’54 Harley-Davidson Twins. It’s made from the original tooling out of ruby red glass. Perfect-fit replacement part is not to be confused with the resin and plastic lens now on the market. List price $11.95, post, paid, from Vintage Motorcycle Supply, Dept. CW-10, 552 Mountain View Ave., Oxnard, C'A 93030.
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The new' Snapper Model 600 Goggle from Hydron Incorporated features the design you always w'anted but couldn't get. It has a large frame that fits over most glasses and under most helmets, and an extra wide angle of vision. Aerodynamic ally designed and tested wind tunnel scoops channel a comfortable stream of air into the goggle.