Letters
LETTERS
FRONT OR REAR?
I have been taught, in books, by company manuals, by experienced riders, etc., that the rear brake always should be applied first, because of the effect the front brake has on steering. I learned this myself, the hard way, in an oil slick turn at the bottom of a hill on my 250-cc Suzuki T-10. I think this is a very important point. If everyone else is wrong, please explain why!
GEORGE LAYNE Ann Arbor, Mich.
Ask any road racer, and he’ll tell you that the front brake does most of the stopping, as weight, and therefore traction, is transferred to the front wheel during braking. The rear brake is applied about the same time as the front and serves more as a stabilizer than as a stopper.
As for your accident, which brake you use is irrelevant, (although use of the back brake would allow you to crash more neatly). You have no business braking on an oil slick. You should brake before coming to it or avoid it completely. —Ed.
DON’T LEAN ON ME
This morning 1 took the new California motorcycle driver’s test and flunked. This wouldn’t be so terrible an experience except that both the person who gave the test and 1 thought the answer I put down on paper was right, yet the official answer book said “No.” The question was this:
“If you are leaning too much when you approach a curve, you should not increase speed to obtain the correct angle.”
It was a true or false type question, and I answered, “True, you should not speed up if you are leaning too much already.” Higher powers said it was false.
I am going back tomorrow and answer the way they want it answered, but that particular item I’ll never believe. Could you comment on what the professionals think is right?
BOB SAUNDERS Davis, Calif.
Professionals would say that the question is hardly something they would think about, Bob, let alone include it on a driver’s test.-VA.
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SHORT CIRCUIT
I have read with interest your articles on flat track, which appears to be very similar to a very popular phase of the sport in New South Wales called short circuit. The big differences are that one right-hander must be included, and brakes are mandatory. Also there are no restrictions on fuel, tires or engines except for capacity classes. Hagon Esos and JAPs dominate the senior classes, while Bultaco has a fairly firm grip on the 250 and 350, and Kawasaki on the 125. Special sidecars are built with I 2-in, wheels-extremely low, for the outfit class-and, though there are the 500-cc and unlimited classes for Austra Han championship events, bikes are al most exclusively 650 Triumphs. All racing is amateur, but with the recent motorcycle boom, trade sponsorship is appearing.
Perhaps one day we will be able to have some international competition in this field.
PHIL YOUNG Sydney, Australia
Your "short circuit" sounds more like an open formula version of our Dirt TT races, rather than flat track, Phil. -Ed.
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE
I have had two motorcycles stolen from city streets in broad daylight. It's really sickening. Less than six months ago, my first motorcycle was stolen from a high school parking løt. Today, a cyclist rode off with my bike in the middle of downtown San Francisco while I stood and watched in amaze ment-helpless. When I reported this to the local police department, the officer remarked that he very much would like to own a motorcycle, but he thought the risk of thievery was too great. He had seen too many stolen vehicle re ports. At this point, I'm afraid I must agree.
In this modern age of technology, I wish one motorcycle industry would devise an ignition switch which is un tamperable. I am really amazed at the accessibility of the switches on all of the leading cycle manufacturers' bikes. Can't someone devise an ignition switch that can't be hot-wired? I know many friends who have shied away from motorcycles because they realize the risk of ownership of a really beautiful cycle. I'm afraid my cycling days are over. However, cyclist or not, I will always enjoy reading your colorful ma gazine. Keep the presses rolling!
GORDON YOUNG, Ex-cycist San Francisco, Calif.
Did you ever consider a chain and combination lock? You can carry it on your bike easily. To. keep it from scratching the paint, sleeve it with a section of bicycle inner tube. Make the lock a combination one, so you don't get caught losing your key. We sympa thize with you, having been victimized ourselves. -Ed.
THE SUN NEVER SETS
We, Australian motorcycle enthu siasts, enjoy your magazine tremen dously, especially the short stories and humor sections with their cycle slant.
Your road tests are very well done, second only to the English Motor Cycle weekly, and I notice you are starting to include fuel consumption figures. This is wonderful! While you're at it, could you relate these figures to road speeds, please?
STEPHEN PETSCHEL Myrtletown, Australia
We are second to none, Steve, if you `re talking about factual information. As for the mileage figures, these are taken from average riding conditions: a combination of in-traffic riding and highway tour ing. -Ed.
HE DIGS DU HAMEL
Let me congratulate you for publish ing the article on Yvon du Hamel (CW, Feb. `69). I feel he is the best all-around rider in North America, and it's good to see him finally get some of the publicity he deserves.
Also, I must agree with your com ments against the AMA. I hope they reverse the decision against Mann and Bolger. It's a disgrace that two of the most sportsmanly riders in the U.S. are made out to be bad guys.
ROBERT GUZZO Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
THIS IS ADMIRATION?
I have evidence proving the existence of numerous societies, whose main pur pose seems to be to encourage cyclists to sell their machines and take up golf.
These societies are called "Mutual Admiration Societies" and consist of incompetent mechanics, crooked dealers and "couldn't care less" factory represen tatives. I recently butted heads with one of these societies when I tried to get the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. to make good the warranty on my Sprint SS 350. Tell me, is there an agency authorized to investigate these societies? If not, do you know of a sporting equipment shop that takes motorcycles as trade-ins?
RALPH ALEXANDER Rochester, N.Y.
Have you tried your local mortu apy?-Ed.
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IMAGINATIVE DIPPY-DO
Having traveled extensively on bikes myself, I thoroughly resent some over imaginative dippy-do [Jim Parks] paint ing such a false picture of adventure and glory.. .To let our young people believe this rot could actually be dangerous to prospective riders.
E.A. GREENWOOD Buffalo, N.Y.
By all means, we must protect our young people.-FA.
STOLEN ROAD RACER
I was fortunate to purchase the TD2 250-cc Yamaha road racer ridden by Dick Newell at Daytona this year. On the night of May 4, 1969, it was stolen from my locked garage in Gainesville, Fla., where I am a student at the University of Florida. This machine represented almost my entire life’s savings.
1 now am asking the assistance of all honest motorcyclists in the country, who hold motorcycle thieves in contempt, to help me recover my machine. I am offering a $200 reward for information leading to its recovery. If the person who stole it tells me where it is, he could receive the reward.
At the time the bike was stolen, it was white with a red stripe down the fuel tank and back of the seat. The front fender was red and the fairing, white with black numbers. It could be any color now. The serial numbers are DS6-900114 for the engine and TD2-9001 14 for the frame.
If you have seen the machine or know anything that may help me, please call Cocoa Beach, Fla., 783-7934. There are very few of these machines in the country. Please help me recover mine.
JON CIENER 104 La Riviera Cocoa Beach, Fla.
WHERE IS JUSTICE?
A bill to repeal the helmet law was introduced in the legislature by Senator Betty Roberts at the request of Daniel M. Ruffing, president of the Oregon Motorcycle Liberties Assn., where it passed the Highway Committee 6 to 1, then the Senate 20 to 9, and a do-pass recommendation was given it in the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. It then went to the Ways and Means Committee where Representative Stafford Hansell, chairman of the committee, refused to introduce it to the committee. He stated that the federal government threatened to withhold a portion of the federal funds allotted to the state, strictly blackmail on the part of the federal government.
One person stopped this law from being repealed in spite of the fact that other legislators appealed to him to act on it. What a farce. One person can stop the chain of events leading to justice.
In the overall picture, the helmet as a safety feature is negative, due to the fact that it restricts the senses, namely, hearing, sight, and balance. It gives a false sense of security, and traps bugs and bees which have caused numerous accidents. In Oregon, the death rate of motorcyclists increased by five percent since the helmet law went into effect.
Above all, the law defies the very principles America was founded upon. It takes away rights from the individual—a step in the direction of making the people slaves to the government.
The American Civil Liberties Union is taking the helmet law to the Supreme Court. This fact in itself raises the question of its constitutionality. The law allows the exercise of the police power to regulate, under threat of criminal sanction, individual conduct, which conduct relates solely to the safety of the individual and not to that of society at large, and is therefore unconstitutional.
The Oregon Motor Vehicle Laws, 1968-1969 edition, 483.014 (2), define “motorcycle” as every motor vehicle, except tractors, designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground. The vehicles owned by the federal government and operated by the postmen fit this description, but the government exempts its employees from the very law it imposes on its citizens through a technicality of being enclosed.
Section 20 of the constitution of Oregon states, “Equality of privileges and immunities of citizens.” No law shall be passed granting to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges, or immunities, which upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens.
The meter maids and garbage collectors must wear helmets, but the postmen do not although they use identical vehicles. Where is justice?
DANIEL M. RUFFING Oregon Motorcycle Liberty Assn.
Rt. 1, Box 300 A ÍQ] Clackamas, OR 97015
