Roundup
ROUNDUP
SIGNS OF PROGRESS
Ever think you'd see signs like these? Official government messages, displayed before a captive audience of thousands, coming right out and encouraging the use of motorcycles?
Neither did we but on Feb. 24, 1980 the actual sign shown here appeared in bright lights, on the Santa Monica Freeway south of Los Angeles.
This is a sign of progress, and proof that political action can have positive results.
Credit for this goes mostly to Mrs. Adriana Gianturco. Director of Transportation for California’s Department of Transportation, known in govspeak as Caltrans.
Gianturco is not a closet biker. Doesn’t actually know much about motorcycles. But she's willing to listen, she has a program to direct and she's willing to take responsibility w hen it strikes.
Also, she has employees who ride motorcycles. Caltrans has various programs, for cars, trucks, bicycles and the other
forms of transportation.
There were no programs for motorcycles, so one day the bikers in the department made a little presentation. Motorcycles are not always fatal, they get terrific gas mileage, take up little space and need not make noise. Normal people ride them.
Given these facts, the next step was a meeting between Caltrans personnel, some riders and some not. and motorcycle groups: the Motorcycle Industry Council, California Motorcycle Dealers Assn., American Motorcyclist Assn, and yes, not to be modest, some members of the motorcycle press.
We. that is, the bike nuts, were asked what we’d like, what special needs motorcycles have on public roads and in the transportation scheme of things?
Three main areas. One, we believe motorcycles are entitled to recognition as efficient transportation. Never mind the fun for now. those of us wfio’ve smarted under the federal idea that we should be deprived of fuel if rationing comes are tired of not being treated fairly.
Next, signs. Riding has special hazards. Just as trucks are warned of low bridges, campers are told about high winds, so should bikers be told about road conditions that effect them.
Finally, as efficient transportation, we’d like a break during rush hour. If cars w ith two people get to use the limited—and thus faster—lanes, so should motorcycles solo.
The Caltrans guys listened, asked questions and explained policy. They went back to headquarters.
Here are the preliminary results. Quoting from a Caltrans letter to those who were at the meeting, “As a direct result of our meeting, motorcycles are recognized (for the first time) as a fuel-efficient mode of transportation that we will encourage.”
Thus, the freeway signs.
As for warning signs, they’ll come in due course. Caltrans recognizes that motorcycles do have special needs. Skewed railroad crossings, for example. And the dreaded rain grooves. Caltrans engineers aren’t sure yet what forms the signs should take. i.e. should they design a symbol for motorcycles? Or because some cars are moved by the grooves, should the signs simply warn of that? But the signs will appear.
As to the use of what Caltrans knows as
HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes, there’s red tape in the way. The funding for such lanes was done specifically for bus and carpool use. Nobody ever thought about bikes, see, which we can well believe. So legislation is needed. And because other government agencies are involved in the HOV programs, they’ll have to agree to the change. But. The theory, one motorcycle getting 50 mpg, carrying one person and taking up maybe 10 square feet of roadway, is more efficient than two people in a car, at 15 mpg and using 100 square feet of highway, went over well with Caltrans, so we hope the other agencies are as reasonable.
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Let’s be cynical for a moment. Caltrans has not done this because Gianturco and her staff are nuts about bikes. Rather, Caltrans is supposed to make transportation better.
We are a way. They have begun working with the motorcycle nuts because we are efficient. We fit their needs. And, because it helps us all to have this recognition, they fit our needs.
Further, Caltrans has done this because they were asked. Because motorcycle people talked straight and spent their own time, meeting Caltrans halfway. We tend to curse politics around here, to get so wound up in our battles with the BLM, the EPA and Joan Whatsername that we lose perspective. These people are not all bad.
Final proof of that. The mass media even has mentioned that various government employees, usually on the workingstiff level, have been forbidden to ride motorcycles on duty. They have been denied mileage money for motorcycle use.
The State of California in fact does just that.
The policy is on its way to being changed. Quoting again, this time a letter from Ron Herbold, Deputy Director, Administration and Finance, to the executive secretary of the state Board of Control, “In light of the fact that board of control rules allow reimbursement for nearly every other means of transportation, including bicycles, it seems appropriate that motorcycle usage should be a viable and reimburseable means of transportation on official state business. . . . While it is true that there are a few ‘fender-benders’ when operating a motorcycle, this is a popular means of transportation and should be a matter of personal choice.”
Amen to that.
FOR THE RECORD
Ïn our test of the GS750 Suzuki in the March, 1980 issue, we stated that the Suzuki had more camshaft duration than the CB750F Honda. 268° to 220°. Those were figures supplied to us by the motorcycle manufacturers.
However, a problem arises in that Honda measures cam timing from 1mm lift, in the belief that not much gas flows until the valves reach that lift. But Suzuki measures cam timing from 0.3mm lift, and that makes a difference. The Suzuki’s cam timing using that system of measurement opens the intake valves at 32° BTDC and closes them at 56° ABDC, for 268° of duration, while the exhaust valves open at 64° BBDC and close at 24° AT DC, again producing 268° of duration.
The Honda has identical intake and exhaust durations of 220°(cam timing 5-35 and 35-5) when measured at 1mm. but when measured at 0.3mm that changes to intake valves opening at 33° BTDC and closing at 76° ABDC, exhaust valves opening at 62° BBDC and closing at 42° ATDC for durations of 289° in each case.
HONDAS TO COME
Some new facts, mingled with rumors, concerning Honda’s plans for road and racing:
A Honda employe who does know what’s coming gives a few' hints. We have not yet seen the end of the displacement race, he says. Most of the coming models will be designed for the growing middleweight market, but there still is a demand for big bikes and Honda's going to supply them.
No details from him. But we do have another source, unofficial but proven from tips he’s given us in the past. He says the planned big new Honda is a V-Four, w ith a few' more cc’s than the GL1100 but not many. It will be smaller and lighter than the Gold Wing, and will replace the CBX, because that machine has never sold in the numbers Honda expected. The logical configuration for a Honda V-Four would be a doubled CX500. that is, longitudinal crankshaft, pushrods, water cooling and shaft drive, although how that design could be lighter than the Wing, we don’t know.
The second new' machine is for racing only, it’s so clever it may not be legal, and it’s a fact. The actual construction is underway.
Begin with Honda’s return to U.S. racing. That mostly means the American Motorcyclist Association's Winston Pro series. The rules require production-based engines, while the various types of events dictate different sizes and types of engines.
These two conflicting requirements have meant that no one factory can do it all. Harley-Davidson rules the miles and halfmiles, Harley, Triumph and Yamaha divide the TTs, Yamahas win most of the short track races and just about all of the road races, Kawasaki and Suzuki are the best in Superbikes, etc.
Honda gets back in the game. Big Red has a super short track motor in the CR250, ditto TT with the XR500, the CB750-based Superbikes are hot prospects this year. Honda has top riders signed up.
But they don’t have a thing for the miles and half miles.
Or do they? As they say in Milwaukee, nothing beats a four-stroke V-Twin. The XR750 has been the winner on the fast dirt circuits for 10 years.
You got it. Honda already has a V-Twin. Shaft drive, water cooled and one quarter turn wrong. But. Suppose you turned the engine around? Suppose because you don’t need to shift much anyway, you could adapt to chain drive? Suppose you did the above while applying to the AMA for certification, i.e. how much and what sort of modification can you do before a production-based engine is declared a racing engine?
Honda is doing both. The construction is under way, the papers have been applied for. Don’t know if the AMA will allow it, the project may not even work. But we’re first in line to see how the thing comes out.
VETTER DOES IT AGAIN
About the time Craig Vetter sold his ^Vetter Corp., two CW staff members visited him at his San Luis Obispo mountaintop design center and heard about his desire to build his own motorcycle.
What Craig had in mind was an exotic, high performance, customized motorcycle. In his terms, it would be a motorcycling equivalent of the 427 Cobra, a superfast sporting machine probably based on some existing components but put together in a distinctive Vetter design.
At about the same time Craig was working on a new shape for a superbike racer, a one piece shell incorporating a small fairing, gas tank, seat and tailpiece with an oil cooler at the rear. Like the Triumph Hurricane Vetter designed for Triumph in the late Sixties, the Mystery Ship would be a semi-monocoque.
Now everything has fallen into place. The exotic Superbike and the roadracing missile have grow n together. Craig has now formed Mystery Ships Inc. to build 200 of his dream bikes.
A Mystery Ship is built around a Kawasaki KZ1000, though it doesn’t look like any Kawasaki you've ever seen. Without a careful look, it’s hardly recognizable as having anything from a Kawasaki.
The engine is breathed on by tuning wizard Pops Yoshimura to create an engine with as much firepower as the customer orders. From mostly stock all the way to AMA Superbike racer, a customer can go as fast as he can afford.
Modifications don't end with the engine. The frame is strengthened with additional braces and gusseting, excess tabs and unnecessary brackets are removed to save weight and the steering head is relocated and has 62mm tapered bearings. With a steep 26° steering rake and 59 in. wheelbase the Mystery Ship should steer more quickly than the stock KZ 1000 and it will also weigh less: Vetter claims 495 lb. dry.
Brakes, shocks, swing arm and of course all the body parts are different. Footpegs and controls are relocated so the rider crouches in a proper cafe racer position uncompromised by such concerns as passenger carrying or a one-size-fits-all fairing.
Body work on the Mystery Ship is what really gives the bike its exciting appearance. The fairing is a sharply raked, shark-like piece with minimal frontal area and clean lines. The rectangular quartz halogen headlight is hidden behind a faired cover, right above the oil cooler inlet. Despite the two-piece body, the fairing flows into the tank, sidecover piece with flared sides offering protection for a rider’s legs. Number plates on either side of the bike indicate which of the 200 Mystery Ships this is, each one receiving its own number. And the whole package is street legal with Michelin tires mounted on Dymag three spoke wheels.
Base price for the first 20 orders is $9995. A $10 informational package is available from Mystery Ships, 4420 Edna Road. San Luis Obispo. Calif. 93401.
BLOWING SMOKE
California once again leads the nation as far as emission standards are concerned and w'hat’s shaping up isn’t good for motorcyclists.
Existing federal emission standards for motorcycles grew' more stringent from 1978 until 1980 w'hen a final standard was reached. Future motorcycles will only have to meet the same federal standards as current motorcycles. Not so for California motorcycles, unless the California Air Resources Board changes its plans.
The current federal standard sets a maximum of 5 grams per kilometer hydrocarbon emissions. CARB regulations will require a limit of 1 gram per kilometer of hydrocarbons beginning in 1982. Even at the present limits many motorcycles are running poorly because of the lean carburetion necessary to hold down hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide levels. What would happen if the standards w'ere tighter?
Chances are leaner carburetion by itself couldn't solve the problem. A stratified charge similar to the Honda CVCC system might work. Or the motorcycle companies could add a thermal reactor that would burn off hydrocarbon by injecting air into a chamber in the exhaust, but that would require an air pump and a heavy chamber. In any case, the Motorcycle Industry Council estimates a cost increase of $200 to $450 per motorcycle in order to meet the standards.
TEL-A-NOVICE
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation, the people who organize the excellent riding schools, have opened a California office. And because new riders don’t always know' where to find the schools, the office has a toll-free number for information.
It’s (800) 952-5672. A call will get a list of certified schools in the caller’s area.
