Ronnie is a good kid, 17 or so and welcome in my house for 10 years, ever since he and my sons began hanging around together. He’s polite, does well in school, likes motorcycles and is in general the kid I sometimes tell my sons they could be more like, with emphasis on doing well in school.
The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World’s Motorcycles
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Edited by Erwin Tragatsch Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York $22.95 [320 pp] There is a dirth of good books on motorcycling. Books which feature motorcycles to a great extent fall in two broad categories: books for motorcyclists and books for everybody.
Two issues back we left our friend Robert Runyard, Yamaha's technical writer, after the first 1000 miles of his planned ride to Tierra del Fuego. In this communique, we learn that while he's made it to South America, the motorcycle hasn't. Not yet, anyway.—Ed.
Backing Off the Boy-Racer Valve Hasn't Tamed the Big Triple
LAVERDA
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LAVERDA
JOTA 1200 AMERICA
$4250
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Circumstances alter impressions. After perhaps ten minutes and two miles aboard Laverda's Jota 1200 America, even a rider predisposed toward Italian Stallions will be ready for a choice of two actions: 1) Trade the Jota for four 400cc Twins, even up.
In theory a dual-purpose motorcycle is two bikes in one: a street bike to ride to the corner market or to school; a dirt bike to play with on the weekends. Traditionally, the off-road performance of such machines has been limited by their orientation toward street use.
If you’re used to camping in a motor home, bikepacking may present a few problems. The idea is to carry everything you need on the motorcycle. But while that limits both the number and the size of things that can be taken along, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to carry what you actually need.
When Honda and Yamaha Took On The World, It Wasn’t Sport. It Was Combat.
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C.D. Bohon
There are really two stories behind the Honda—Yamaha GP rivalry of a decade ago. One involves the creation of a new level of internal combustion engine performance from a base of total inferiority. The other involves the men who actually rode the often imperfectly executed theories right to the edge, and sometimes beyond, of human talent, skill, and courage on the harsh, rubber and oil stained asphalt of the European Grand Prix road racing circuits.
A Lightweight Six-Speed Enduro That is Already Winning
R. J Reynolds Tobocco Co.
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R. J Reynolds Tobocco Co.
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R. J Reynolds Tobocco Co.
PE175
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We tested the first Suzuki PE250 in December 1976. We took it to Baja California and ran it for two days and one night, until we logged 1000 miles. We were impressed with the new' PE and predicted both smaller and larger displacement models.
Technology Catches Up To The Vertical Twin (With Surprising Results)
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$1899
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In this age of bigger and faster motorcycles with more and more cylinders and valves and carburetors, there remains a market for traditionally-sized twin cylinder bikes. The subject of this test—the double-overhead-cam, balancer-equipped vertical-twin four-stroke KZ750— is Kawasaki’s fourth largest seller in spite of its relatively recent introduction in 1976.
Most of the rumors were true: There is a new BMW, it is smaller and more sporting than its bigger brothers and perhaps best of all, the new model is still very much a BMW. The new machine is actually a family, on home ground at least. As the complete line has become larger, with the R75 replaced by the R80 and the R90 followed by the R100, the men in charge have not forgotten the market for smaller bikes—especially in the sports/touring line and in Germany for the man who likes to keep operating costs low.
Our lives are often profoundly affected by deceptively simple incidents: a recent job change made my former transportation arrangements ineffective, so I yielded to a secret hankering and the suggestion of a riding friend and bought a 250 “to commute on.” My friend is a competent rider and got me started right.
Welding, put simply, is the melting together of pieces of metal. This is easy enough to comprehend. Simple as it may sound, though, there are complexities involved in welding that can defy all but the most experienced and thoughtful welder.
Mikkola Shows Why He’s World Champion, Lackey Breaks And Bell Is First American
250 Support
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John Ulrich
Fred Caldwell
Lackey, Lackey, Lackey!” screams a sunburned girl with a too-small halter top, flinging both her arms into the air and shaking uncontrollably. All around her people yell, shake fists, wail, press hard against the chain link fence, stick out their upraised thumbs, wave and work themselves into frenzies.
A 500 Yamaha Built to Challenqe the Mexican Peninsula After riding off-road for many years and racing District 37 (Southern California) desert events for the last 10 years. I tired of it all. I started racing and trail riding in Baja California.
Overwhelmed by the major questions of helmets or not and mandatory usage vs voluntary, is another, calmer debate. In simplest terms, there are riders who cannot see why so much fuss is made in behalf of what’s known (to them) as car racer helmets; full coverage, with only a narrow opening for vision.
Roberts carries on; Suzuki sets Pro Stock record; Yanks head for France; The mile may accept 500s; Hailwood comes back and Hennen is hurt at Man
KING KENNY OVER THERE
HENNEN INJURED AT MAN
TKO AFTER EIGHT ROUNDS
SUZUKI SETS PRO STOCK RECORD
SAN JOSE 500cc MILE?
MIKE THE BIKE’S TT
MOTORCYCLE OLYMPIAD
SPRINGSTEEN'S LEADING AGAIN
AMERICANS TO BOL D'OR
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Before Kenny Roberts arrived to chase three World Championships, Europeans expressed doubts that any American could do serious Grand Prix business in his first season on the continent. Roberts has proved them wrong, with three firsts, a second and a DNF in the 500cc class: a first, two seconds and a DNF in the 250cc class; and four firsts, a second and a DNF in the 750cc class.
Skipping the formal name of Laminar Sport 1 fairing for the moment, what we have here is another chapter in a continuing search for a sports fairing that works. We also have a new descriptive title, the Cafe Windshield. How this comes about began with chapter one, in which the CW long-term Kawasaki KZ650 was fitted with a Krauser fairing designed for a Honda GL1000.
Motorcycles, like clothes, have to fit your size and your style to be comfortable. Unlike clothes, motorcycles don’t come in sizes. When you buy a Road Rasher 900 or a Stump Jumper 250, you get a machine that comes close to fitting a lot of riders of any age, sex or size, but which probably doesn’t fit most of them exactly right.
I recently purchased a new 1978 Yamaha XS650E and found that the oil pressure warning light has been eliminated on this model. It is my understanding that previous models had the oil pressure indicator wired into the stop light warning light.
A new Barum motocross rear tire is now available in a 550-17 size. These new tires are light, weighing only 12 lb., 8 oz., said to be 3-6 lb. less than other popular European 17-in. rear tires. Their rubber compound is soft, allowing excellent traction.