Round Up
Round Up
BUYERS BEWARE
Butler and Smith, BMW importers for the U.S., sends along a useful warning:
“A word to the wise—purchase only motorcycles that comply with U.S. standards.
“Many purchasers who have bought motorcycles from foreign dealers are experiencing considerable difficulties in passing them through U.S. Customs. This also applies particularly to members of the armed forces who often buy from foreign dealers not knowing their motorcycles do not comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
“Some recent arrivals who were assured by foreign dealers that their motorcycles comply with the U.S. standards were surprised that they had to put up a bond at U.S. Customs which is held until a dealer can substantiate that the motorcycle has been brought into conformity with U.S. requirements.
“This applies particularly to reflectors, speedometers, tires, windshields, etc. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Standards Enforcement, failure to substantiate that the vehicle has been brought into conformity with FMVSS makes the owner liable to imposition of a civil penalty of up to $1000, and/ or an assessment of liquidated damages in the amount of the value of the vehicle. Further, the vehicle cannot be sold prior to the release of the bond.
“All BMW motorcycles imported by Butler & Smith, Inc., and sold through that sole U.S. distributor for overseas delivery, have a metal tag indicating their equipment complies with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).”
KAWASAKI SPEED FESTIVAL
Team Kawasaki had its own speed festival at Daytona after the other teams went home, and a fleet of KZ650s, KR750s andKZlOOOs cranked out an impressive list of national and world records.
The festival was a long time in planning. Kawasaki signed up pro AMA riders Mike Kidd, Steve McLaughlin, Randy Cleek and Diane Cox, freelance rocket Walt Fulton Jr. and racing writers Cook Neilson and Sam Moses.
The bulk of the work was done by three KZ650s, one with endurance engines and one modified for more power and a proportionally shorter life expectancy. The rules allow virtually full race engines and frames, but because the records will serve as Kawasaki’s testimonial to the reliability of their engines, the factory ordered modifications limited to comfort items like seats and bars, and a few engine tweaks like cams and open exhausts.
Such was the team’s faith in their engines that they sent the two endurance bikes out first, then late in the run the quickest machine did the sprint attempts so all three could finish at about the same time. After the 750-cc class runs, a KZ 1000 set new world and national records in the 1300-cc class.
METRIC IS COMING
This may be plain news and it may be fair warning. Whichever, we are in the process of redoing and expanding the test data panels and one of the changes will be an increased use of metric measurements.
The metric system is coming. Metrics do make more sense than the inch and pound and pint and so forth, and now that trade really does move in all directions all over the world, we need a worldwide system. Metric is it.
We bikers have it easier than the average
DAYTONA SURPRISE
The custom/cafe Kawasaki shown here appeared in, of all places, a display which also featured a prototype Corvette and a van. Actually it made sense. The Kawasaki is the personal property and pet and project of none other than Bill Mitchell, one of the better stylists at General Motors, a real life car enthusiast and also a motorcycle fan. Mitchell designed and built the seat/tank/nacelle and rides the Kawasaki around Detroit, just for the fun of it. person. Those of us who’ve been at this for years once coped with dual measurements, back in the Whitworth days. And because most motorcycles are imported, we’ve been subtly introduced to metrics almost unaware. We now speak of 500-cc engines, 36-mm venturis, a bore of 60 mm, 38-mm stanchion tubes and so forth. We quickly switch to five gallons, wheelbase of 58 in. and seven inches of front wheel travel and don’t think about it because we’re used to it.
This isn’t going to be a sudden change. We’ll simply keep the metrics now in use and bring the others in slowly, as the public and the industry pick up the theory.
And just in case emotional arguments arise, don’t forget that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin both favored metrics.
ALL-INDIAN DAY
Reworking the punchline of a one-time military hero, all those Indians came from . . . everywhere. Mokelumne Hill, California, an old Indian name, was the scene of Indian Day, the annual event held by and for owners and enthusiasts for Indian motorcycles.
The town is the home of the American Indian Motorcycle Co. Hosts for the event were the legendary Sammy Pierce and Charley and Lois Methre, owners of the company since Sammy retired.
continued on page 10 Sammy reports more than 300 Indian fans showed up for the 1977 event. Present were Chiefs, Scouts, Indian Fours, stroked 80s, etc., plus a group of show bikes and restorations.
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“Even a few old Harleys showed up under their own power,” Sammy concludes, “but they were carrying tow ropes just in case.”
Z-THOU LEGAL
K awasaki's KZ1000, which actually displaces 1015 cc, has been accepted as legal for AMA production class racing, despite an original rule limiting such racers to 1000 cc or less.
The intent was sportsmanship. To ex clude one of the more sporting and power ful and popular models would have been bad for racing and for the AMA.
But one must follow the rules, and the rule said no more than 1000 cc. The AMA kept the spirit of racing intact by allowing 1000 cc plus a 1 cm. overbore. That works out to about 1030 cc, and because the old limit can now be broken with a simple engine rebuild, the AMA will allow en gines which fall between 1000 and 1030 cc, in other words, the KZ1000.
NEWS FROM NVT
N orton Villiers Triumph is still at work. In fact they have new projects under way and better plans for the future. NVT chairman Dennis Poore writes from London:
"Anything which I might write on the economic situation in the U.K. with partic ular reference to Triumph and Norton would inevitably be out of date by the time it appeared in your magazine since the situation appears to change if not hourly, at least week by week. You may have heard we are presently engaged in trying to sell the Bonneville marketing assets to the Co op since it appears that only by facing directly the rigors of the market will the Co-op understand that they cannot man ufacture more Bonnevilles than the market wishes to absorb at the price they wish to char2e.
"For diverse reasons, the government has now agreed to support the Co-op with a grant of some £500,000 which will en able them to buy the marketing assets but only on condition that we hand the money back to the government in early redemp tion of the preference shares in which they invested at the time NVT was created in 1973.
"We at NVT are strongly in favor of this transaction, mainly because we are all heartily sick of the political arguments which the Co-op inevitably brings in its train. You will appreciate that selling the assets all around the world involves a whole lot of complex legal work and Exchange Control consents and the like. However, we are all persevering and it may well happen soon.
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“When this is all out of the way, NVT may be able to collect its thoughts and work out whether we have any money left and decide what useful contribution we might then be able to make to the world motorcycling scene.
“Among other things, we have managed to keep a minor development effort going on the Wankel engine machine. Everybody who rides the development model is wildly enthusiastic and there is little doubt that in our particular configuration, we have opened the way to new thinking on motorcycling.”
A SAFER AVERAGE
Many years ago, back when riding a motorcycle meant flying in the face of every civilized convention, biking had one odd fact in its favor:
On the basis of fatalities per million miles traveled, motorcycles were safer than cars.
Truth. Also something of a trick with words. Motorcycles were not safer than cars. Instead, the fearless few who rode motorcycles were extremely good at it. Because they didn’t hit cars and were practiced at not letting cars hit them, and because of lower speeds, not riding as much at night, in bad weather, etc., the statistics were in the motorcycle’s favor.
When motorcycles became popular, though, the statistics turned violently around. Literally millions new riders arrived and tens of thousands of them literally hit the streets. The death rate per million miles is now several times that of cars.
But. Latest statistic is that although motorcycle registrations have increased by 120 percent during the past six years, accidents have increased by 79 percent; the curve is starting back down, as a larger percentage of riders on the road are experienced riders, the accident rate per motorcycle is dropping. It’s a nice fact to have on our side.
A HALL OF FAME
The American Motorcyclist Association has plans for a motorcycle hall of fame; racing and general memorabilia, people and machines. There don’t seem to be any definite plans yet, in terms of just what and where, but the AMA would like to hear from owners of antique (pre-1930) and classic (1931-53) motorcycles, who’d be willing to lend their bikes for display. Interested parties can write the AMA at P.O. Box 141, Westerville, Ohio 43081. 0
