The Scene
THE SCENE
IVAN J. WAGAR
IT would be nice if this column could continue to deal with sport and competition, but once in awhile we must devote some time to the more serious side of motorcycling and the future of our sport. Although the publisher and I are constantly attending meetings and seminars all over the country, usually the reporting of these matters is left to him. Recently, however, I was invited to attend the meeting of a special committee on automotive and traffic safety by the California Medical Association (CMA) and since it has, or will have, considerable effect on all two-wheeled road users, it must be reported.
The meeting was held in conjunction with various other CMA annual meetings, and the purpose was to discuss the many State and Assembly Bills, now pending, which pertain to motorcycling.
I approached the whole affair with a great deal of apprehension, envisioning a group of doctors who knew nothing about our sport and probably couldn't care less. This was not the case; in fact, the CMA is to be commended for selecting a committee of seven doctors very qualified and very serious in motorcycle matters. The list included: the eminent Dr. George Snively, famous for his research in head injuries at the Snell Foundation; Dr. Beverly Stewart, an avid motorcycle rider; Dr. Arnold Friesen, who toured from California to Boston with his wife on a BMW last year; Dr. Julian Sether, course physician at sports car races, including several which had motorcycles on the program; Dr. Jack Collins, Dr. Julian Waller and Dr. Tom Lyons. The last three named are not motorcyclists, but showed genuine concern regarding the problems facing us.
Guests, besides myself, were Howard Hill and Bob Brown from the State of Nevada, who have developed a motorcycle driver education program for youngsters under the legal driving age of sixteen. If a youth, aged fourteen, passes the Hill/ Brown test, he is qualified to drive twowheeled vehicles with less than 6-1/2 gross horsepower in Nevada. The system has been extremely successful in that graduates have a very low accident rate and they are driving two years sooner than would normally be allowed. The Hill/ Brown course will be presented in a future issue of CYCLE WORLD.
Of the thirteen Assembly and State Bills under discussion, nine dealt with motorcycling in one way or another. Of these, at least five had to do with compulsory helmets, or minimum helmet requirements. At this point. Dr. Waller explained that a teenager will, in his lifetime, contribute $125,000 to his community. He went on to point out that in more than 150 motorcycle deaths in California last year, the attending physician contributed death to head injuries where helmets were not worn; thus, California is out a potential 37 to 42 million dollars! There are many arguments against this sort of logic, but one fact remains — dollars carry tremendous weight in any discussion, particularly if they are in the millions.
Well, sports fans, despite the pros and cons relating to human rights, independence and so forth, the committee is going to recommend compulsory helmets for motorcyclists in California; not only will they be compulsory, but helmets will have to meet at least USASI Z 90.1 standards.
Assembly Bill No. 35 concerning protective footwear for motorcyclists was tabled. The bill, as presently worded, would make tennis shoes illegal, but a hard-soled, open toed, open heeled sandal would be satisfactory. The committee was unanimous regarding a special motorcycle operator's license, details of which will be worked out by the Department of Motor Vehicles, probably in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol.
One bill that did not require discussion was State Bill No. 122, which now makes it legal to have a motorcycle sidecar with two wheels; in fact, a motorcycle can now be a four-wheeled device in California.
BOB Hansen is one of the really "good people" in American racing. His beautifully prepared Team Hansen racers brighten up the pits like no other group of bikes. For Bob, it has all been a lot of work and a lot of fun. With riders like Ralph White, Jody Nicholas and Swede Savage, there have been rewarding moments and sometimes complete despair.
What bothered him the most was that his employer, American Honda, did not have any interest in racing, but now that has changed; Team Hansen will be using Honda 450s in the Daytona 200-mile race. And win, lose, or draw — everyone connected with the decision is to be congratulated.
(Continued on page 40)
During our trip to Japan, the publisher and I spent an hour trying to convince Mr. Honda he should encourage participation in U. S. racing, because ours is primarily a sporting market, and sales and racing go hand in hand. It is not even necessary to win every race, but the fact that the brand is represented on the track has great value. We are sportsmen and enjoy competition, taking racing seriously, but our lives do not depend on it. We would like to think our discussion had some effect on Honda's decision. Whether it did or not, we are happy to see it happen.
ENCOURAGED by their almost complete devastation of European motocross for the past couple of seasons, the Jawa/CZ group are building production road racing machines for sale to the general public. The factory does not intend to enter the machine in GP racing, nor do they have serious thoughts about developing something to chase factory Hondas and Yamahas. Rather, it is designed as a club racing mount for riders who are unable to buy Italian or Japanese production racers.
The frame is a duplicate of that used in motocross by Jawa works rider Vlastimil Valek for the past two seasons, and has commonly been dubbed the "banana" frame. Quite light in construction, the frame offers an unobstructed air flow to the cylinder and head. Another advantage is that the engine can be easily removed from the frame for servicing.
Basically, the engine is the same as used for motocross with an enormous exhaust port feeding a siamesed exhaust pipe that splits into two pipes about three inches from the cylinder. Bore and stroke are oversquare at 70 x 64mm. A 32mm Jikov carburetor is used, and compression is 12:1.
The engine continues to use two plugs fired at the same time and fed by their own coils. A dry clutch and five-speed transmission indicate a fair amount of seriousness. Although 31 horsepower at 7,200 rpm and a top speed of 115 is a bit low, the total weight with fairing is only 227 pounds. On short club circuits, the machine should put in a good performance in capable hands.
So far, there is no price announcement, but thirty have been built and production continues.
ONE of the constant problems in the monthly magazine business is the news that arrives too late. Plans for our special April trials issue started in November last year and material was care-
(Continued on page 42)
fully gathered for four months. During this period, pieces and information came in from many people and countries, gradually building the jigsaw that eventually became a magazine. Then, a week after the whole thing is printed, we receive news of a new English trials machine — you can't win.
The entry into serious trials competition is the new Cheetah, built by trials specialists Bob Gollner and Mick Whitlock. To show they are sincere, the builders have signed Arthur Dovey and Paul Dunkley, two pretty good names, and further testimony that the Cheetah must be a good mount.
The chrome nickelplated frame has profiled and brazed joints and is constructed from Reynolds 531 tubing. Taper roller bearings are used in the steering head, and the swing arm is mounted in Metalistik rubber torsion bushes. A special Greeves barrel and piston is fitted to a standard Villiers 37A lower half, giving extremely good low end performance.
Total weight is a mere 196 pounds, and the front forks have 7-1/4 inches of travel! An air filter is mounted as high as possible under the seat to permit maximum submersion.
Dovey and Dunkley (Goodnight, David) have been entered in the Scottish Six Days Trial.
A TRANSATLANTIC telephone call at press time from our man in
England, B. R. Nicholls, informs us that Honda has withdrawn from the 50cc and 125cc classes for all grand prix classics this year! Among other things this means that Honda's one-two-five strongman, the evergreen Luigi Taveri, will probably retire. Such a possibility has been in the winds for quite some time, as Taveri is 37 years old. This would have been his 21st year of racing.
Honda's move also makes it fairly certain that their other ultra-lightweight specialist, Ralph Bryans, will be shifted to a two-fifty, as backup man to Mike Hailwood — something which will surely relieve Mike, as he was facing the grim prospect of carrying the 250, 350 and 500cc classes alone. The 50cc class , always an orphan although admittedly much faster as of late, now becomes somewhat of a farce, as Suzuki is the only major manufacturer competing.
Now to the inevitable question. Why did Honda do it? Part of the reason seems to be the shortage of the large army of seasoned riders it takes to make a factory team with a good chance to sweep up "all five." One may have the fastest bikes in the world, but this means nothing if there's no one to ride them. So concentrating what is left in the way of rider talent on the prestige classes, one of which is the two-fifty, makes sense. But how long will it be before the Japanese look to America for rider talent?
Honda has been de-emphasizing their two-wheeled racing program, perhaps in favor of the Formula cars; their withdrawal from the 50 and 125 classes must also be viewed as a continuation of the shift. Pity, that. International motorcycle road racing, in losing such a formidable competitor in those classes, must also lose some of its flavor, at least for the time being. I
