Roundup
ROUNDUP
GUILT WITHOUT ASSOCIATION
Somewhere there’s a prayer, or maybe it’s just a folk saying, about how we need more protection from our friends than from our enemies. Whichever, the moral fits motorcycling, as just about the time our critics are put on the defensive by recognition of the motorcycle as an inflation-fighter, we get the worst possible press, thanks to a man who likes bikes.
Can’t quite call him a villain, so the focal point here is U.S. Representative Robert S. Walker of the 16th District, Pennsylvania. Rep. Walker is chairman of the House Republican Research Committee’s Task Force on Welfare Reform, and as an outgrowth of that work Rep. Walker has introduced in Congress a bill calling for the creation of a federal strike force to investigate crimes committed by “outlaw motorcycle gangs.’’
Yes. Seems the welfare reform task force held hearings and was told that outlaw motorcycle gangs are organized, are a major criminal element, have a network of leaders, employ terrorism, and have the numbers and ability to cross state lines and pose “formidable and overwhelming’’ (to quote from the resolution) problems for state and local law enforcement officers . . . etc.
Now then. Surely nobody is in favor of organized crime, welfare abuse, narcotics traffic, strong-arm robbery P and all the other violations on the list.
Just as surely, there are already laws on the books, laws which provide penalties and such for people who rob, steal and cheat. There are organized crime rings. There are already federal agencies in existance to provide help and coordination of state and local efforts.
What’s new here is the inclusion of motorcycles.
Due to conditioning.somehow we fear the public finds it all too easy for the full name. Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, to roll off the tongue and into the reaction center of the brain Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. Sure. See them all the time. We know what they look like and we know what they ride.
We have no firsthand knowledge
of this particular bill, or issue. We’re told it began in Pennsylvania, where rampant welfare abuse was discovered and where it appeared that some of the abusers owned or rode motorcycles. Hence, the link. And the effort by Rep. Walker to take action, to do something about what’s been presented in his state as a problem.
What we worry about, though, is this easy connection. It’s simplistic to list this, but mobsters ride in cars. Smugglers use boats and airplanes. Has there been any bill introduced to deal with Outlaw Private Pilots? Outlaw Offshore Sailors?
Shucks no. There’s no image to dwell
on. We know what outlaw bikers look like.
But somehow outlaw sailors conjures up.
what? An America’s Cup boat crewed by pegleg pirates?
So we get singled out. If major crimes like drug smuggling and extortion are committed by outlaw motorcycle gangs, then it follows that outlay motorcycle gangs commit awful crimes.
Next? The American Motorcyclist Association has been asked, in seriousness, by local law enforcement agencies to provide a list of AMA clubs in one region. Right. So the officers can distinguish between lawful and outlaw.
The AMA properly refused. There are motorcycle clubs that don’t belong to the AMA. That doesn’t make them bad guys. Start demanding membership cards and what’s next? Interrogation because of the bike you ride, the clothes you wear, the length of your hair?
What’s been missed is that the outlaw gangs, of the type subject to the proposed strike force, simply are motorcycle gangs the way the drug smugglers are pilots, that is, not much.
About our friend. Rep. Walker likes motorcycles. He rides one. Quoting from a letter to Melvin Stahl of the Motorcycle Industry Council, Rep. Walker says “I am an enthusiastic supporter of the use of the motorcycle for sport, recreation and fuel efficient transportation ... lam including an additional clause in H. Con. Res. 220 (the strike force resolution . . . ed. ) which specifies that the legislation is targeted only to that irresponsible outlaw gang element. The clause will also acknowledge that this element is damaging to the welfare and public image of the vast majority of law-abiding Americans who enjoy motorcycles.’’
What will come of all this? Probably not very much. Resolutions calling for this or that are easy to submit. There’s usually a flurry of news, pro and/or con, and the proposal fades away, its purpose having been achieved.
Public memory being what is, though, our concern is that long after the resolution has disappeared without the creation of the strike force, and long after the clause defending motorcycles has become fine print, the non-riding public will remember that those bad-looking guys on the big bikes are outlaws, and worse. >
MORE SUZUKIS FOR 1980
Suzuki has introduced several new motorcycles for 1980 in both street and dirt categories.
Two of the new Suzukis are 400cc four-stroke Singles, both based on the SP400 dual purpose bike, but set up strictly for the street. There’s the GN400 styled like Suzuki’s L models with a stepped seat.
bucko handlebars, and cast wheels. Then there’s the base model GN400X with wire spoke wheels, shorter handlebars, a flatter seat, but with the same 16 in. rear tire. Both models look slightly raked with the long leading axle forks and low rear end.
Being essentially SP400s, they have a 396cc sohc engine, 36mm CV carb, fivespeed transmission and a claimed dry weight of 313 lb. A single disc front and drum rear brake are used on both models. Gas tank capacity is 3.0 gal., wheelbase is 55.5 in. The electronic ignition and automatic compression release are new on the Suzuki Single this year.
A smaller Suzuki street bike is the GS250 four-stroke Twin. Much like the new GS450, the GS250 uses a gear driven counterbalancer shaft to smooth out the engine, eight-valve TSCC head and a pair of CV carbs. The GS250 only comes styled like the larger L models with stepped seat, megaphone-style mufflers and the L-style gas tank. Wire spoke wheels and a single disc front brake complete the package.
For dirt riders Suzuki has the RS 175 and RS250, a pair of immitation PEs. Designed as play bikes, the RSs have PE-style tanks, seats and sidepanels, but lower prices than the serious enduro machines.
The RS models aren't street legal, like the TS models, but offer enduro lighting, just like the PEs. No suspension figures have been listed, though the RS uses a boxtype steel swing arm and leading axle forks. Both have reed-valve two-stroke engines and six-speed transmissions, primary kick start, electronic ignition and full floating rear brake.
HONDA RC500M PRO-LINK
Honda’s latest factory motocrosser. the 453cc RC500M, has a single shock rear suspension like the water cooled 250s that showed up at Anaheim. Biggest difference between the 250 and open bikes is the water cooling; only the 250 has it. The shock is almost vertical in the middle of the bike. The top of the large shock bolts to the end of the main backbone, the bottom mounts to a rocker arrangement on the front part of the swing arm. The rocker changes the leverage ratio, making shock damping and spring rate simpler.
Many parts of the 212 lb. bike are aluminum including: kick starter, brake pedal, shift lever, shock reservoir, triple clamps, silencer, static arm, chain guide, head stay, and swing arm. The swing arm appears to be made from many stamped pieces and
the lower part furnishes the necessary gusseting, thanks to the shape of the stamping that is deeper below the rocker attaching point. Strange welds show at the sides of the swing arm in about the right location for a cross brace—could the cross brace extend through the inner side and weld to the outermost side? Honda is not saying, common for them. The frame has double front downtubes and heavy triangulation in the area where the lower part of the rocker mounts to it.
Honda calls its suspension design ProLink. Looks like all the Japanese racing teams are sold on single shock motocross bikes. Suzuki is working on their version of a single shock racer but we haven’t seen one yet. Honda's design is the cleanest so far.
TOP GEAR TESTING
One of the (several) improvements provided by our onboard computer is that it, unlike any and all collections of stopwatches and timing lights, can deliver accurate reports on times to speed and distance, self-contained.
We’ve taken advantage of this by enlarging the test section of our road tests, to show times for accelerating while rolling.
There are two times; 40-60 mph and 6080 mph, shown on the panel in seconds. Both are done with the test bike in its top gear. The method is simple. The bike is in high gear, with throttle wide open. We get a printout of the time between set speeds, i.e. 30, 40. 50, 60, etc., and we take the numbers off the tape and subtract.
Why? Because until now, all we’ve reported has been complete acceleration, from rest up to 120 mph or so, depending on the machine. That’s fine when it comes to showing dragstrip performance and for comparing peak output of engines.
But few of us ride only at the strip. Most
of our riding is done on the road, and useful performance is how quickly the bike will get out and around the slow truck, or a line of cars.
Pulling power is just as important and the roll-on test shows that better than any through-the-gears test can.
Pulling power and passing power both are functions of the same thing; a surplus, the difference between how much power is required to cruise down the road at a steady speed, and how much power a given engine produces, wide open, in top gear at that speed. The motorcycle that goes from 40 to 60 in top quickly will be the motorcycle that sails effortlessly uphill or around the truck, or hauls the fairing and luggage without strain. (The touring bike tests later in this issue illustrate the point quite well.)
In sum, we haven't taken road tests off the strip and onto the highway. But we have added some tests all riders can relate to.
HOW TO LEARN TO DO IT
Now that we’ve learned the obvious, i.e.
that inexperienced and untrained riders are more likely to have accidents than are those with good habits and lots of miles behind them, it’s time for some encouraging words.
By request. We’ve heard from readers who are new to the sport, and who agree that the school of hard knocks isn’t the best place to learn. Fine, they say, but how do we find the right school?
There is no national program, for instance. What little we’ve heard from the federal government is that politicians and their helpers back away from rider training. It would only encourage youth to ride motorcycles, they reason, and we all know we can’t have that.
Several of the states are more enlightened.
And we have the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. The MSF, a privately funded non-profit organization, is the place where the best riding instruction systems come from. MSF doesn’t teach riding. Instead, they have prepared all the books, films, etc., and they provide the material for schools and dealer organizations, police departments, whoever wants them. The trained instructors get the help they need.
MSF also keeps track of riding schools. Not just the ones using MSF material, but all the various places, public and private, where the new motorcycle rider can receive good advice and training. MSF keeps a constant file on schools, updated several times a year.
And they give this information away.
All you need to do is ask. If you’d like a list of rider schools and courses in your area, any place in the U.S., write to Judith Johnsen, Research Department, Motorcycle Safety Foundation, 780 Elkridge Landing Road, Linthicum, Md. 21090.
SHOWING OFF
Harley-Davidson will sponsor what is expected to be the world’s largest motorcycle show this summer when the H-D people bring their Artistry in Iron show to the Los Angeles Sports Arena July 11 and 12.
There are 19 classes for up to 400 entries of Harley-Davidsons broken into three categories, Vintage, Custom and Competition. Additional classes for motorcycle art, everything from gas tanks to metal sculpture to photography, will be included. There is no entry fee and the show winner will receive his choice, of new HarleyDavidsons.
