Cycle World Roundup
CYCLE WORLD
ROUNDUP
THE DUCK FLIES FREE
At last, after the judge told both sides to settle the case themselves or he’d take care of both sides, the Phantom Duck of the Desert and the Bureau of Land Management have reached an agreement and the Duck and his friends are not going to jail.
It’d been a long struggle. Several years ago the BLM declared itself unable to process the forms for the Barstow to Vegas desert race, formerly the best known and most popular cross-country event in the U.S. One of the competitors, real name Louis McKey, didn’t like the loss of the race so he and a few friends met on the anniversary of the event and rode dirt roads and trails to west of Vegas, as sort of a memorial. As part of the nostalgia, McKey billed himself as the Phantom Duck of the Desert.
The memorial ride grew, from a handful to a few dozen, and the event became a form of political protest. When the Duck got into the newspapers, the BLM noticed. BLM officials went to court and got an injunction ordering McKey and friends not to organize or encourage the ride.
The order came too late, as scores of riders turned up at the traditional starting line and rode open trails and powerline roads to the old finish area. After the ride, BLM took McKey to court, on a charge that he was in contempt of court for violation of the earlier order.
District Court Judge Warren J. Ferguson, who issued the original order after McKey and BLM couldn’t agree on a ride route that would have set the stage for an event permit, told both sides to settle the matter themselves.
■The entire episode shouldn’t have happened, the judge said. Off-road riders and government agencies have rights and procedures to follow and neither side did as much as could have been done to avoid the confrontation.
The Duck’s attorney drew up an agreement, signed after some hesitation by the BLM.
The important parts were first, the Duck is required to obtain permission before encouraging people to take part. Next, the contempt citation against the Duck was dismissed.
Third, the BLM and the AMA will prepare a monitoring system, so there’s some assurance that trail rides for large groups of people can be held without damage to the area.
As the punchline, BLM is required to give all due consideration to an application for such a ride, even if the applicant is the Phantom Duck of the Desert.
What will happen next, we can only predict. Our printing schedule is such that at the time of writing, the monitor plan is still being prepared, and by the time we know if the ride will take place, it will be too late to issue invitations.
Some of the CW crew have been on all the Duck’s B-to-V rides. If it’s legal in 1979, we’ll be there again. The traditional date is Sat., Nov. 24, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
This is not an invitation. But, if any offroad riders see a notice in their newspapers that the ride will take place, legally, taking part will be the best way to show the Phantom Duck of the Desert that his work has not been in vain. >
SMOOTH STARTING BONNEVILLE
Despite the air of gloom that has surrounded the Triumph factory in England recently because the new Conservative government asked for the payment of $2.8 million in overdue interest charges, work is pressing ahead at the co-operative on technical improvements that will take the factory successfully into the ’80s.
An electric start prototype, planned for production in 1980, was shown at the Earl’s Court Show in London. It uses a Lucas electric starter originally made for a Japanese car by Lucas’s Australian subsidiary, driving through 40:1 reduction gearing outboard of the timing gears to a sprag clutch.
According to Triumph engineering manager Brian Jones, the starter, using a 14-ah Yuasa battery, passed all of Lucas’ sub-zero cold start tests with flying colors.
The other improvement is the adoption of vibration absorbing rubber mountings for the engine.
Designed by Bernard Hooper, the system overcomes many of the shortcomings of the Norton Isolastic system which Hooper also designed.
On the Triumph, the engine pivots on large plates concentric with the swing arm bearings with a large rubber support below and a smaller one above. To allow fore and aft movement, the complete engine-swing arm assembly is supported on two small links below the engine pivot, the movement being limited by the shear force on the lower rubber support.
According to Jones, it makes the Bonneville as smooth as a Commando at speed but without the annoying shaking at low revs—and still with good handling.
With less tooling required for produc-„ tion, the rubber-mounted Bonnevilles could be in the dealers’ showrooms before the electric start version, maybe in early 1980.
ANOTHER SAFETY MOTORCYCLE
Another prototype safety-first motorcycle has been developed, this time by the British Transport and Road Research Laboratory. Based on a 750cc Triumph Bonneville, the British bike looks like a normal Bonneville with huge fiberglass leg shields in front, odd-shaped saddlebags in back, a molded windshield on the handlebars, and a large, padded chest protec-
tor sticking straight up from the gas tank. Among the features of the experimental cycle are anti-lock brakes, sintered metallic brake pads for improved wet weather braking performance, and a digital speedometer, though the value of a digital speedometer for improving safety seems questionable.
A VETTER MOTORCYCLE
Craig Vetter has “amicably settled” a legal dispute with Rick Binet whcj purchased the Vetter Corp. from him last year. The agreement, Vetter said, allows him to develop his Mystery Ship roadracer and, ultimately, will result in a Vetter motorcycle.
Vetter has begun work at his San Luis Obispo, California design studio on an exotic, low volume superbike that will bear his name when finished. No details of Vetter’s motorcycle are available yet and there’s no timetable on its release.
BMW RUMORS
Reports from Europe have been predicting a new three or four cylinder BMW. BMW has shown a modular-style inline Triple that can be built as either a street or off-road bike. Later photos in the European press have shown an opposed or vee-Four BMW.
For 1980, however, the BMW model lineup will remain as it was in 1979. Smallest of the line w ill continue to be the R65, but the price on BMW’s smallest model is expected to increase sharply. Next up the line is the R80/7, then the four Thousands: R100T, RIOOS, R100RT and R100RS.
BMW sales during the first part of 1979 have been very good. Butler and Smith, the BMW importers for North America, reported the R65 and R100RT models were sold out early in the year.
Although the BMW lineup will be the same, there will be the usual annual improvements to specific models. On the RT, for instance, the fairing will now come with a thicker plexiglass windshield, as thick as those on American fairings. The windshield size will be increased somewhat for more protection. The storage pocket covers on the RT fairing will have the locks repositioned so the key fits easily and so the covers are more secure. All 1980 models will use lower compression engines that can run on low' octane American fuels.
WANKEL DELAY
Britain’s long-awaited foray back into the superbike market, the Norton Wankel, has been further delayed.
Plans were for the 135mph twin-rotor machine to be introduced during September but Dennis Poore, head of the holding company that owns both the new BSA Co. Ltd. (making mopeds and Yamaha-powered trail bikes) and Norton Motors ( 1978) Ltd., which has been developing the rotary-powered machine for production, has been reported to have indefinitely delayed the bike’s first appearance because of the
uncertain political atmosphere surrounding the Triumph co-operative.
The machine is, however, ready to go. Twenty-five production prototypes have been built for evaluation and if the experience of our technical editor is any guide, it should be a jet. Weighing 450 lb. wet, it develops 75 bhp at the back wheel, zips through the quarter mile in under 12 sec. and gets 45 mpg to the gallon. There won’t be many made though in the first year, perhaps 500. Not surprising at the $7000 asking price in Britain.
ANOTHER CUSTOM
Spied at the Suzuka race circuit at the time of the Suzuka Eight Hour was this Honda CB650 Custom. Unlike the 1979 CB650, the Custom has four short mufflers, not the two long mufflers. The stepped seat extends down lower on the side of the motorcycle for styling. The gas tank looks like the stubby tank on the CX500 Custom and the bars pull back like those of the CX500 Custom. It still has the
black-painted reversed Comstar wheels, sohc Four motor and straight-leg forks, but there are twin front disc brakes on one of two Customs seen, chromed covers on the rear shocks and the same hollow shaft mirrors used on the 1979 CB750s.
The semi-choppers remained big sellers in 1979, we’re told, so expect more of the bucko-handlebar, fat rear tire, short muffler. low seat machines for 1980.
OUR NEW WIZARD
New on the masthead this month, although not new to the pages of the magazine, is John Nutting, our new Technical Editor.
John is overqualified for the job. He’s a graduate engineer, which every tech. ed. should be, and he’s worked in computer programming, so he can understand our onboard test rig and make it work even better than it already does.
Next, John is an experienced journalist. He joined the staff of Motor Cycle Weekly and then moved up until he was editor of Which Bike7, an English magazine that does nothing but test and evaluate.
As the clincher, John is a bike nut, and an amateur racer. He’s been writing for CW for some time now, so when the technical editor’s job became vacant, we asked him to join the staff.
