Letters
LETTERS
LOOKING FOR PARKS?
I wonder if you could let me have the present address of Jim Parks, who has occasionally written for your magazine.
I met him last summer when he was living here. He promised to get me a motorcycle engine for which I advanced him the money. I later heard from him around Christmas, when he was in Iran. He said he would return and fulfill his obligation, but I have heard nothing since.
I am very anxious to locate him and would be very grateful if you could give me his address or the address of a place where letters would be forwarded from.
ALEXIA SOULIOTI 49 Shrewsbury House, Cheyne Walk London, SW3, England
Unfortunately, we have received several letters such as yours regarding Jim Parks, and that is why our publication has had nothing to do with the man for more than two years.
I would be very happy to run your letter, with the address, in the hopes that someone may know his whereabouts. I am very sorry that you have joined the ranks of those taken by this unscrupulous person. —Ed.
MOTORCYCLE TRAINING
As a resident of Ontario, Canada, I appreciated very much your fine article on motorcycle training, “24 Hours,” in the October issue. I, too, bought a motorcycle before obtaining a license to operate it, thus being forced into the paradoxical situation of not being able to drive until I got a license and not being able to get a license until I could drive. This forced me to drive on the road illegally, as I live in a built-up area where no open fields exist except for parks, which conveniently prohibit motorcycling through bylaws. Riding in parking lots only brought the police.
A much better system would have been the setting up of courses as described. In this way it would be possible to make sure that before a person was licensed to drive he knew how to handle a bike. The test as set by the Dept, of Transport means absolutely nothing. If you can name where the clutch and brakes are, know how to start, stop (not a panic stop), drive forward around pylons and make a left-hand turn, you can pass.
I had just put eight miles on my bike, when my brother asked if he could try it. He went around the block and never came back; he went to the hospital instead because he took a corner too fast. He had never been on a bike before. This is why I agree fully with the article. Driving a bike is not the same as driving a car you ride a bike and you only drive a car. Those who ride will know the difference.
Anyone who is interested in developing a Honda 250-350 information association can write to me.
RON YOUNG 114 Aylesworth Ave.
Scarvorough, Ontario Canada
SOUNDING OFF
You have a lot of nerve! In your September issue on the “Berkshire Two Days Trial,” a great emphasis is placed on the “sound tests.” You even included a photo of one, yet in the Ducati 450 R/T Road Test there is no comment on the fact that this bike does not have a muffler, other than to note it lacks one. What happened to “Less Sound, More Ground?” How many decibels does it produce?
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CHARLES R. REIS Pittsburgh, Pa.
“Less Sound, More Ground” Who are you trying to kid?
If you really believed in your slogan, you would hardly be carrying full-page ads for motorcycles with absolutely no muffler equipment whatsoever. I realize that you have advertising contracts to meet, but when you road tested the Ducati 450 R/T in your September 1971 issue why didn’t you make reference to the lack of a muffler and downgrade the bike for the amount of noise it creates?
THOMAS M. DITTMAN (no address given)
In our Road Test, we made it clear that the bike is incomplete as delivered. However, its unmuffled sound is relatively mellow compared to a two-stroke of near-equal displacement running with 1) expansion chamber, or 2) spark arrester added to an expansion chamber. As the Ducati 450 R/T is largely a competition-oriented machine, it is hard to take Ducati to task for having no muffler. But we can take you to task if you cow-trail a Duke with no muffler. -Ed.
A HELMET HA-HA
This isn’t really too important, but it might give somebody a laugh. The District of Columbia Dept, of Motor Vehicles established helmet requirements last year for D.C.’s mandatory helmet law. They done a good job! The law (copies available from Mr. Foote, D.C. Dept, of Motor Vehicles), reads: “Helmets approved must not restrict vision in an area 1 20 deg. to each side of the sagittal plane” (the one that divides the human body in half vertically). That’s nice. Find me a helmet that fits that spec. By that law your head is illegal, since it restricts vision in the 240-deg. area specified.
Okay, so you use a half-helmet. But wait—they also have a clause that states that, “an approved helmet must not restrict auditory reception.” Even your half-helmet must have chin straps, right?
I did a little checking into this the DMV, when confronted with this data, simply stated that, “Just wear a helmet. It will give you some protection and the cops won’t give you a ticket.” Thank you. For nothing.
I surveyed about 30 of the D.C. motorcycle police and scooter patrolmen, and could not find one legal helmet among them, according to the D.C. law. I could not find one legal windshield on about 20 of the police department’s scooters (after 20 I gave up).
So, I took my Bell Star up to the local police station and turned myself in to the police for knowingly and deliberately wearing an illegal helmet. They told me to go away and leave them alone. If a helmet law is treated like this one, with the government establishing impossible standards, and then doing what they damn well please regardless of the law, it becomes a hopeless joke.
Why bother with it in the first place? If an area is going to have a helmet law, why don’t they do it right? Establish some reasonable standards, like the Snell Foundation standards which mean something, instead of the Z90 standards which are almost worthless. That would eliminate the Cheapo helmets now on the market, and give the consumer a really good helmet.
PETER H. GOOKINS Washington, D.C.
A GOOD DEFENSE. . .
In your August edition of CYCLE WORLD, you printed a letter of complaint, entitled “What Can We Assume?”. The author of the complaint stated that he was a very safe cycle rider, and couldn’t understand why people complained of being “pushed around and run over by cars.” He insisted that if you drive carefully and “take all the fun out of it,” you won’t be run over by cars, etc. By personal experience, I can tell you no matter how well you ride or how careful a rider you are, you have to drive defensively. Just because you drive with your headlight on, and wear a bright-colored helmet, is no assurance that drivers won’t try and run you off the road. The author had a good point though: do all of your “hell-raising” in the dirt. It’s safer there. Most of the time there are no cars to run over.
I believe that if everyone had an attitude like the author’s we wouldn’t last three seconds in the street. Ask any experienced street rider. They say that the author has been real lucky. Street riding is a full-time job. And you always have to be on the defensive side.
S. MARTIN Anaheim, Calif.
DOG-TAG RACERS
A letter to our local motorcycle papers has created enough reaction to suggest your editorial interest for national publication.
Basically, it is this: Require all competition riders to show, before starting, a card or dog tag stating their blood type and medical history, in addition to the usual identification and next of kin, etc.
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The responsibility of every rider, from street to Baja 1000, should be to furnish necessary medical information to any rescue unit, even if dazed or unconscious. A plastic encased card taped in the helmet, or dog tags on wrist or neck may seem like more red tape, but if only one life is saved by this requirement, it would be worth the trouble.
The American National Red Cross, Blood Donor Service, has indicated cooperation in setting up Blood Banks for each AMA District. Thus, if a rider should need plasma, he can draw on the District account, rather than paying $25-30 per pint from a commercial source.
Please, riders, don’t make the medics spend precious time typing your blood, if you need it NOW. Request a card or tag from your sponsoring group, fill it out, and wear it in good health. The grand prix drivers and riders do —are you worth less?
SHAY ROMPELL Sun Valley, Calif.
MEDICARD
Do your readers know that many minor accidents become serious and result in major permanent damage or death because the attending medic or physician knows nothing of the victim’s medical history or often the victim’s name or next-of-kin?
I now have one of the new MediCards and can only wonder why somebody hasn’t thought of this before. The MediCard kit contains a printed card upon which you list all important information such as your name, address, next-of-kin, emergency telephone numbers, and a brief medical history including allergies, blood-type, and current illnesses. In addition to the card, the kit contains a small, hard-plastic carrying case and a chain by which the MediCard can be attached to one’s clothing. And the truly final touch is two small decals to be applied to your helmet and bike advising that you have a MediCard.
The MediCards are available from MEDICARD, 9250 Del Arroyo Drive, Sun Valley, CA 91352 and sell for $1 each, with discounts for clubs and larger quantities.
I have often said that the best dollar you can spend as a motorcyclist is by joining MORE, but now I must retract that. Whereas your dollar to MORE will only save motorcycling, the dollar for MediCard may save your life.
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RUSS SANFORD President & Lobbyist Motorcycle Owners, Riders, & Enthus.
P.O. Box 26062 Sacramento, CA 95826
Carrying such information on a MediCard, or even some notes on the back of your drivers license, is worthwhile. Racers in particular should do this.— Ed.
DO IT OUR WAY
I was quite impressed with Mr. A. Robinson’s letter in the August issue of CYCLE WORLD. He obviously spent a good deal of time and thought concerning the noise problem with bikes.
Here in Georgia, I believe we are really living on borrowed time concerning any truly restrictive legislation on either street or off-road riding. With the tremendous growth of motorcycling in this area, however, this good fortune cannot continue. Obviously, one of the ways to prevent truly restrictive legislation is to encourage legislation that you can live with.
I was so impressed with Mr. Robinson’s idea that I wrote one of our senators, Senator Talmadge, and requested that he consider a bill exactly along the lines of the three steps that Mr. Robinson suggested. These three items, if enforced, would obviously eliminate the noise problem that is plaguing every urban area of the country.
I am sure that a sound engineer could say why bike noise is more objectionable than the same decibel level of automobile noise—but most of us will agree that it is. It is not necessary to have noise to enjoy biking! Let’s police, ourselves before Big Brother takes over again.
JOHN W. MIFFLIN Atlanta, Ga.
MOTORCYCLE ADDICTION
I would like to take exception with the letter from Mr. Henri Klok in your September “Letters.”
Mr. Klok claims that motorcycle addiction stems from taking risks on a motorcycle, thereby deliberately poisoning himself slightly just to experience the body’s reactions. I do not know where Mr. Klok takes these elating risks, but I sincerely hope that he is not on the public highway, where he runs the risk of making just one small miscalculation and killing himself, and worse, some innocent bystander.
It is unfortunate that there are people who receive no elation from riding a motorcycle down a stretch of (Continued on page 18) winding mountain road with the wind' hitting him in the face, and the sun or moon and stars looking down as he leans his machine around the corners like it and he were one superb creature created by a god who felt that there is more to motorcycling than taking unnecessary risks, endangering yourself and someone else, in the mistaken belief that “basically, there isn’t too much phenomena in man unless you provoke it in more experiments.”
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I own two bikes: a ’66 BSA Spitfire Mark II Special 650, and a 1971 Moto Guzzi 750 police special ... in fact, I do not own a car. I ride everywhere I go, and having done considerable riding both on the road and off, I have never felt the need to take risks to feel elated.
I would much prefer to ride until I am 75 years old and die in a bed of old age, than to ride until I am 35 and die in a blaze of glory, twisted metal, and gushing blood from feeling elated.
I think Mr. Klok expressed his feelings correctly when he said, of the medullary portion of the adrenal glands: “Secretion is brought out by fear of survival, while in most of us, it is caused by fear for survival.”
DONALD A. LOFGRAN Monterey Park, Calif.
ON FRAME DESIGN
I suspect you are yet to hear the last of the monocoque vs. space-frame argument in which the design of Messrs. Haagstead and Gordon has been questioned by Mr. Barrie Lees of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute.
Mr. Lees makes some valid points, but, in his championing of the space frame, I believe that he overlooks some practical considerations.
First, a proper “bridge-truss” structure, in which the members are subject only to tension or compression, has a high strength/weight ratio only to the extent that the tubing diameter is small relative to the other dimensions of the frame. But a motorcycle frame, which is narrow compared with its height or width, is hard to reconcile with the theoretical optimum, and in practical frames the members must themselves be thick enough to provide a good deal of the lateral stiffness.
Then to hold the whole thing together it must be welded (and sometimes gusseted) in such a way that the joints transmit torques which must, once again, be absorbed by the stiffness of the members.
The result of all this is that the tubing used must be two or three times thicker (and heavier) than what would be needed if only compression and tension were involved.
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The temptation at this point is to go to one very stiff tube which could handle all loads. The monocoque is, of course, an approximation of this.
DAVID CALL Darwin, N.T., Australia
MECHANICS COURSE
Scott Community College of the Eastern Iowa Community College District recently initiated a curriculum for a Motorcycle Mechanics Program which will begin its first class on Thursday, May 13, 1971. I have enclosed brochure information concerning the details of the program in hopes that you would feel that it would be beneficial to your reading audience.
The Motorcycle Mechanics Program is not a “Brand Name” course, but offers basic instruction on a variety of makes of motorcycles. Students entering the program will be developed to a graduate level in a period of nine months, and the graduate will possess skills necessary to progress to the journeyman level.
The Motorcycle Mechanics Program is veteran’s approved and will have an ability to accommodate a maximum of 30 students. Admission for new students after the May 13 date will be opened approximately every six weeks thereafter. Students will be admitted on the following registration dates: June 23, August 30, October 7, and November 18 in 1971.
Additional information concerning the program will be made available by contacting James Whitney, Motorcycle Mechanics Program Chairman, Belmont Road, Bettendorf, Iowa 52722 or me.
ROBERT N. ILLINGSWORTH Director of Student Personnel Scott Community College Davenport, Iowa
PERIPHERAL VISION
Apart from the obvious advantage of providing early warning of hazards overtaking us, our peripheral vision is important to our sense of equilibrium. Our sense of equilibrium is maintained by the integrated senses of vision, our vestibular system, or semi-circular canals of the ear, and our proprioceptive system, or our sense of body movement and tension. Researchers have shown that information gathered by our peripheral vision is more important to maintaining our balance than our straight-ahead vision, even though our ability to discriminate detail with our peripheral vision is minimal (see “Technically Speaking,” Skiing, Nov. 1969, 50-59, for an article on the maintenance of equilibrium while in motion).
These facts are worth remembering when purchasing a pair of goggles, since there are some goggles on the market that partially block peripheral vision.
GLENN MCGREERY San Jose, Calif.
RETURN TO JOY
Thoroughly enjoyed Bob Pierce’s “Travels of an Old Dude” in the August edition of your magazine, and I appreciate this article for us older enthusiasts.
I bowed to my family and gave up cycles in my early 20s, after enjoying these Indians: the plucky 30.50 Scout, an always-ready Chief, and a faltering, overheating Four, in that order. Oh, how I wish I still had these pleasures to tinker with again.
With my family grown, and many years (mostly pleasant) making the daily work bit, I found myself observing the shiny bikes from my commuting driver’s seat. I subscribed to your magazine and nonchalantly shopped the growing cycle shops. You’re right. I rode home a Candy-tone Honda CB450 with Wixom fairing and saddlebags, and exposed it to family and friends with the pride of a first-born.
Anyway, wanted to tell you, after reading Mr. Pierce, I loaded up a sleeping bag, and took off alone through beautiful Arkansas and southeast Oklahoma. After a 700-mile loop, I can’t express my enjoyment of the 450, the scenery, the park facilities, and the people along the way. However, I must talk my wife into going next time. I’m too conservative to continue paying those long distance phone calls, telling her I’m okay.
GENE BURRIS Bethany, Okla.
BRIDGING THE GAP
Our motorcycles, his and mine, are bridging the “generation gap” between me and my 16-year-old son. It is characteristic of teen-age young men to do things with some element of danger, to be interested in things mechanical, and to enjoy physical challenge. The motorcycle provides this and is something dad and son can do together, although at different speeds. When things get sticky around our house, the bikes always serve, finally, to reestablish communications. I’ve heard a lot of dads complaining, and sometimes I have felt like asking, “What do you do with him—that he likes to do?” In many cases, I think, a couple of bikes could solve problems.
CARL SHIPMAN The Dirt Rider Albuquerque, N.M.
