Feed Back

FEED BACK

Readers, as well as those involved in the motorcycle industry, are invited to have their say about motorcycles they own or have owned. Anything is fair game: performance, handling, reliability, service, parts availability, lovability, you name it. Suggestions: be objective, be fair, no wildly emotional but illfounded invectives; include useful facts like mileage on odometer, time owned, model year, special equipment and accessories bought, etc.

A THING OF BEAUTY

My 1974 Norton 850 Commando is now one year old and sports 13,000 miles on the odometer. It is unquestionably the best bike I’ve ever owned.

With only the manufacturer’s recommended periodic maintenance and the addition of a Thermo-Chem oil cooler, this machine has performed flawlessly in everything from heavy San Francisco traffic to flat-out boogies up Marin County’s legendary Highway One.

In sheer beauty, reliability, performance and handling (my God, the handling!)', this machine puts it together better than any machine I have ever come in contact with.

Let others say what they will about British machinery, this is a bike I look forward to owning and riding for many years to come.

Sherm Lovell Alameda, Calif.

DUCATI DEVOTEE

I own a 1975 Ducati 750 GT, purchased new in March of ’75. It now has 8500 memorable miles on it, though not all of them have been troublefree. The first items I replaced were the handlebars (with BMW R90S bars), and the new style exhaust system (with the older megaphone style pipes). The older mufflers look better, sound great and haven’t attracted the curiosity of law enforcement officials.

Everything went just ducky the first 1000 miles, but when I began to ride with more zeal, it became apparent that the stock air filters gave the engine emphysema. Since I never ride on dirt roads, I put on velocity stacks. After all, the Sport gets away with it. I realized my mistake at 6000 miles, when I noticed blue smoke from the front cylinder.

(Continued on page 26)

I took the front head off and discovered that the inlet valve guide was completely worn out. The bike sat for a month during prime riding weather waiting for a guide. . .and none came. Finally, I had a machinist friend make a guide, and for 2500 miles everything has been fine. Now, however, I have foam socks for filters, which seem like a good alternative to the stock plumbing.

At 2000 miles the throttle cable broke; new ones were back-ordered so I made a new inner cable. It broke again at 4000 miles; they were still backordered so I made another one. This time I took out the retainer clip in the twist grip that was cutting the cable, and this seems to be the cure.

Recently I decided to pick up a spare cable to carry just in case, and they’re still back-ordered! I modified a cable for an RV90 Suzuki and carry that instead.

Other than those problems, the bike has been troublefree and reliable despite my preference to ignore the 55-mph speed limit.

Last spring some friends and I took a trip that consisted of two legs of straight riding for 900 miles each. The seat was fantastic, vibration was never apparent while riding, and gas mileage averaged 50 mpg.

The Ducati may not be the fastest bike on the road, but for riding to work, touring and dashing about on curvy roads, I’ve never ridden another bike that does it all so well. In short it’s just a helluva lot of fun to ride. A person buys a Ducati because he or she wants a Ducati. I’m sure if more people knew what they were all about, there would be more people riding them. Maybe then we’d see some parts available.

Barry Ross Mount Vernon, OH

BLITZING DEFINED

In your January issue of CYCLE WORLD a David Moore from Monterey Park, Calif., wrote to you bragging up his Honda CB750 Four. He said that of the nine bikes he has owned, his Honda Four was tops in reliability. I agree with him in everything he said except the 5-6000 miles to a rear tire. He claims that he blitzes over mountain roads. My 750 eats rear tires every 3000 to 3500 miles. I had 10,000 miles on my bike when it was ripped off and was on the third rear tire and second front tire. Three months later they found it. It had a new rear skin on it.

(Continued on page 28)

I know I’m a little hard on the bike, but I’d like to know what they consider blitzing in Calif. It must mean taking an easy ride up the mountain on a Sunday afternoon with the old lady to have a picnic. Here in New York blitzing is a very quick ride down the road with a lot of shifting, braking, sliding and a few crashes. It’s hard on the bike and tires, but that’s how we get our jollies. So either this guy is an easy rider or has steel wheels. But he is right, the Hondas are solid, strong bikes. In 8000 miles I haven’t had a tune-up and it’s still running strong. Love my Four.

H.D.R.

Horseheads, N. Y.

BEAMING BMW OWNER

Back in June of 1974 I bought a BMW R75/6 from Midwest Triumph Corp. in Alsip, Illinois, for about $2800; it included a 6-gal. tank and a combo luggage rack and backrest. Before I choke on the emotion of my undying love for Bavarian Motor Works, I’d like to plug Midwest’s service department. They are the most organized, the friendliest, the closest knit, the most honestly helpful and empathetic group of service people I’ve dealt with on a doctorpatient level.

I’m a little biased, of course, I used to work for them, but because of the 20 or so motorcycles I’ve owned (or still own) since 1971, I’ve dealt with every service department for major brands within a 50-mile radius, and when you live only 35 miles from Chicago’s Loop, that’s a helluva lot of bike shops.

Anyway, Midwest is a little like a Honda 750. It may not be number one at any of those items individually, but put ’em all together and you get a pretty good conglomerate. Midwest’s manager, Ron, is just the best there is.

I kind of miss them, though. I haven’t seen them since June, 1974, when my quartz-halogen bulb blinked out after three weeks. They handed me a new one even though the 2000-mi. electrical parts warranty was up. Who ever heard of a BMW quartz-halogen bulb going out after three weeks?

However, 1 1,000 miles, one set of plugs and four oil changes later, the only continuing difficulty I’ve had is trying to keep enough Vaseline on the battery connections to prevent them from eroding away. I haven’t even changed tires yet. I consistently get more than 40 miles per around town and average 46 mpg two-up fully loaded on the highway.

The machine will run on any gasoline including unleaded, as long as I don’t crank it over 5 500 rpm in fourth when it starts to misfire not too terribly (by then you’re doing over 80 anyhow. . .). It’s a giant plus when the only gas station you can find is a Clark station that does not sell premium, has run out of regular, and is left with only the law-required unleaded (I had a Honda 750 that choked on regular).

(Continued on page 30)

I know $2800 is a lot to spend on a motorcycle, but so far with the strange lack of chain, tire and plug replacements, it looks as if I’m coming out ahead. I also know you can buy almost any other 750 (besides newer Hondas and older Suzukis) and they will leave the BMW in a cloud of smoke—on the straights. But the Beemer outhandles any big bike I’ve had at high speed and because of its low weight and center of gravity isn’t bad in slow traffic, either.

So, while the speed freaks beat me to the foothills then stop to fill up, I can use my other three gallons and lose them in the mountains.

Bye, bye.

David W. Booth Lansing, 111.

ANOTHER VOTE FOR THE TS185

In the Jan. issue of CYCLE WORLD I read the “Feedback” letter about Keith Foster’s reliable 1974 TS185 Suzuki.

I too own a TS185 Suzuki (1972) and have been pleased with what I bought. It has almost 12,000 miles on it. I ride the dirt (and snow), and have found that parts availability is good. Like Mr. Foster, I feel it is a good, mid-priced enduro bike.

Instead of NGK spark plugs, though, I prefer ND plugs. The one in it now has more than 4000 miles on it and has not failed yet. How’s that?

Fran Kaminski Freeport, 111.

BEST BIKE BUY

After one year and 5000 miles with my 1974 Kawasaki S3 400, I must concede that it is an excellent machine in nearly every category. It has been reliable, economical (40-55 mpg, depending upon which side of 60 mph I use), vibrationless under 80 mph and fast enough for rational driving. The only negative comment is that the seat gets very hard after an hour’s riding.

The S3 must surely rank as one of the best buys in motorcycling today.

May I also congratulate you on an excellent publication. Your reporting is far superior to earlier years and we are richer for the improvement.

Raymond Sine Jamaica, N.Y.