Brought me up short, this one did. Talking with a man who wasn't sure which bike to buy and when we had that question settled he asked with whom he'd been speaking. I told him and he said "Oh yeah. You're the only one who gets his picture in the magazine."
Since I've read the Harry Hurt/ NHTSA report I have re-read, analyzed, advocated and promoted it to anyone who would listen. I even changed my style of riding. Tonight some of these changes probably saved my life. I am a 24-year-old college graduate with three years of dirt bike experience prior to eight years of street riding.
What isn't explained in this issue's test of the Moto Guzzi V50 is why we went to Montana to test a motorcycle. The 490cc Guzzi has been sold in this country for about two years, and during that time we’ve seen just enough of the bike to get us interested.
California took the first step toward recognizing motorcycles as a way of saving gas when the state flashed a notice on an electronic billboard proclaiming that "Motorcycles are energy savers." Now the same Caltrans motorcycle coordinator, Joe Mariner, has announced more benefits for motorcyclists.
By now college courses in motorcycle safety have become, if not common, at least accepted. One of the leaders in motorcycle safety education, Northern Illinois University, recently expanded into another area of motorcycle training by offering trail riding workshops.
"Who cares what happens when it doesn't work," said Larry Acedo, staring at the Kawasaki Classic’s fuel injection system. “All I care about is how it works." Acedo’s words stopped everything in a conversation covering the problems a Classic owner might face if the system quit working along some rural road.
Motorcycling around the world appears to be turning into a competitive sport with the latest entrant claiming he made the trip in 76 days, three days quicker than the last record holder. Perhaps more amusing is that Marco Gardoqui says he rode a Derbi moped on his 1 1,704 mi.
SUZUKI INTRODUCES NEW SINGLE-SHOCK WORKS MOTOCROSSER
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Jim Gianatsis
Team Suzuki has now joined the other three major Japanese factory motocross teams with the introduction of their own single rear shock works bikes. With the Full Floating Suspension System, the new bikes were first seen in Europe earlier this season at the 250cc and 500cc World Championships.
GUZZI'S Beautiful V-50 is the Essence of Italian Motorcycles: Small,Light,Responsive and Slow.
MOTO GUZZI
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MOTO GUZZI
V50 II
$3149
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Moto Guzzi's seldom-seen V50 500cc roadster is either the most beautiful, exotic and best handling mid-size bike made or an over-priced, under-powered small Twin. Which bike it is depends on the motorcyclist and only those who appreciate machines that are red, Italian and make all the right noises will be excited by the V 50-II. Moto Guzzi doesn’t introduce an allnew motorcycle design every year, or every decade for that matter.
Fork oil, like fine wine, tends to develop a lot of character with age. It begins as an undistinguished red or amber fluid and with the passing of years matures into an interesting mixture of rainwater, powdered chrome, metallic oxides and road grime, with trace elements of mineral oil.
Twin Belt Drive is New But it Hasn't Changed the Feel of Riding a Harley.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON
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HARLEY-DAVIDSON
FX8-8C
$5687
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Harley-Davidsons, the factory tells us, are more than machines. It has to do with producing a motorcycle that isn't evaluated just on the basis of function, but on the way it makes a rider feel while functioning and the latest in a long line of not-quite machines is the Sturgis, or the FXB 80 to those familiar with Harley's letter designations.
A Rich Young Lord Who Likes Bikes,A Slice of Grand Prix V-Eight and Presto... England Is Back In The Superbike Business
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Allan Girdler
Nothing in the scene made sense. The British motorcycle industry is the ghost of a shadow, current practice is to have more cylinders and less displacement and finally, my family did its best to put George III in his place, that is, out of America.
They're all gone now. Norton, BSA, Royal Enfield, Matchless, Velocette, Triumph. Well, almost all gone. The rest of the Triumph models are history, but the Bonneville survives, produced by a workers’ cooperative after the parent company succumbed from a combination of strikes and the generally harsh economic conditions in England.
When it comes to getting attention, nothing works better than a kick in the butt. One Monday we were visited by an electronics and mathematics engineer named John Voevodsky. He invented, tested and lobbied for an auxiliary brake light, known as the Cyberlite.
Fuel Injection Solves the Cold-Start Problem, but the Price is a lot of Dollars and Overwhelming Complexity
KAWASAKI
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KAWASAKI
KZ1000G-1 CLASSIC
$4199
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The sun breaks over the horizon, sweeping remnants of night into long shadows across the drive. The memory of sleep too-soon ended is slapped away by dawn air, still crisp with the chill of darkness. A rider shivers into his jacket, tugs on helmet and gloves, clicks on the ignition, pulls in the clutch and hits the starter.
A Look at the 1980 Daytona Superbike-Winning Yoshimura Suzuki
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John Ulrich
In racing there is a word for people who don't improve their bikes every season. The word is loser. To win, development must never stop. Every year’s machine must be better than the last. Lap times continue to fall, machines and entire classes travel around racetracks at quicker rates.
Remember when Kawasaki dirt machines were a joke? Showing up at a race track with one proved you didn’t know much about dirt riding. The older ones had fast engines, narrow powerbands and handling best described as awful. Kawasaki got serious around ’78 and most of the ’79 models were really good.
MIKE BELL CONTINUES DOMINANCE IN SUPERCROSS SERIES
Mike Bell Out Front in Supercross; Vance Wins Again; Lawson Leads Superbike Production
PONTIAC SATURDAY
PONTIAC SUNDAY
NEW ORLEANS SATURDAY
NEW ORLEANS SUNDAY
KANSAS CITY
SERIES POINTS STANDINGS:
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Jim Gianatsis
A springtime session of the AMA Supercross Series saw Team Yamaha's Mike Bell stretching his early-season lead in the 1980 indoor motocross championship. In three weekends of stadium racing “Daddy Long Legs” Bell was able to increase his points margin to 276 points over second place Kent Howerton of Team Suzuki, who has 247 points.
Eddie Lawson, of Ontario, California won the Talledega Superbike Production race, drafting and passing leader David Aldana just before the finish line. The race marked Aldana’s first ride with Team Kawasaki after riding for the Yoshimura/Suzuki team at Daytona and in the Trans-Atlantic Match Races.
COOLEY WINS CHARLOTTE SUPERBIKE AFTER FREDDIE CRASHES
SUPERBIKE RESULTS
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Reigning Superbike Production Champion Wes Cooley put the Yoshirnura/Vetter Suzuki GS1000 into first place at the Charlotte Superbike Production race, taking the lead after Freddie Spencer crashed on the banking. Spencer’s fall came when his Honda CB750F-based racer threw a connecting rod through the engine cases and lubricated the rear tire on a fast part of the steeply-banked track.
Terry Vance took the Pro Stock class points lead in both the International Drag Bike Assn. (IDBA) and National Motorcycle Racing Assn. (NMRA) championship series by winning four races in a row with his Suzuki GS 1100 tuned by Byron Hines. Vance started his streak by winning with NMRA at Baton Rouge, defeating “Superbike Mike” Keyte; then moved on to beat Bob Carpenter at an N MRA event in New Hampshire.
Pat Eagan and the Cycle World Project Hawk took three firsts and a second in their first four American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) points races of this season. The high placings put Eagan into the AFM 430cc Production class points lead, 65 pts.
I own a 1974 BSA B50 MX and am very interested in modifying the suspension. Your May, 1979, issue carried an article testing the CCM 600 which uses B50 engine tooling, etc. Do you know if the swing arm and fork/triple clamp assembly will fit my frame?
Metzeler has a new motocross tire designed for large displacement dirt bikes. The metric-sized tire has the same outside diameter as a 4.50 but features a 1 in. wider contact patch. Also adding gripping power is the Metzeler’s new nylon casing technique. This casing promotes flexing for more bite. Weight of the new model is around 15 lb. and cost is about $80. The 150/80 should be at dealers by midsummer.
Metzeler
TUBE REPAIR KIT
Webco’s enduro rider’s tube repair and inflation kit has been enlarged for road bike use with three additional C02 cartridges and a flexible air hose that fits around discs and mag spokes. The cold patch kit contains an assortment of precut patches, one tire boot, a buffer, five C02 cartridges, flex hose, stem fitting, and rubber cement sealed in individual plastic pellets. Each pellet holds enough glue to apply one patch. Webco dealers should have the kit or contact Webco, Inc., CW-9, Box 429, Venice, Calif. 90291.
Metzeler
Travel Tanks
$249
A small electric fuel pump transfers fuel from the side tanks to the main tank when the main gets low. All hoses, lines hardware and fittings are supplied along with step-by-step installation instructions. Prices range from $209 to $249 depending on make and model of bike. For more information contact: Interstate Accessories, Inc. CW-9, 7832 Alabama Ave. #11, Canoga Park, Calif. 91304. Phone toll free, Calif. 800-382-3600, nationwide 800-423-5120.
Metzeler
M. ROBERT PLASTIC BOOTS
M. Robert boots are made from flexible polyurethane plastic and use a full length foam liner like a ski boot. The top front of the boot contains ventilation holes that direct air to the front of the foam liners to make hot weather riding more comfortable. These vents can also be blocked for cold weather use. Two easy-to-fasten skiboot-type buckles use a wire cable and lever closure. The uppers pivot at the ankles on metal pivot pins. Both MX and enduro models are offered. MX models have steel shanks, enduro models don’t. Sizes run from 7 1/2 to 10 1/2 in odd numbers. Colors are red or black and sell for around $120. Check with your local dealer or contact Race Ready, Inc., CW-9, 10651 King William Dr., Dallas, Texas 75220. Call (214) 556-0237.
Photographers, we need your photos for Slipstream We're looking for photos that make us smile because they say something about motorcycling. Submissions should be made to Slipstream, Cycle World, 1499 Monrovia, Newport Beach, Calif. 92663.