Roundup

ROUNDUP

WINNING THROUGH COOPERATION

Off-road motorcycling has become a Them-and-Us situation for many motorcyclists as a result of conflicts with environmentalists. Normally it's a simple story we've all heard dozens of times: Environmentalists propose land closures. And the techniques used are frequently questionable as roads become redefined and wilderness areas no longer have to be wilderness.

Don't despair, however. A group of hard-working motorcyclists along the central coast of California has shown that there is hope for off-road riding even in a hotbed of environmental concern.

The Cal Poly Penguins, a campus motorcycle club at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, has held an enduro in the hills of central San Luis Obispo County for 31 years now, the longest continuously held enduro in the state. In the last 10 years, though, the Santa Lucia chapter of the Sierra Club has taken an active roll in opposition to the Hi-Mountain enduro because the Sierra Club has been trying to get much of the area designated as wilderness. Each year the Sierra Club went a little farther protesting the event until the 30th Hi-Mountain Enduro was held last year. By that time the feelings between the Sierra Club and the Penguins had degenerated to the point that when marking arrows on the route misdirected a third of the 320 riders, riders were blaming the Sierra Club for switching the markers.

Prior to that event the Sierra Club had protested the enduro to every governmental agency involved, including a last-day appeal to the forest service that was turned down two days before the event was run. At the end of the event the Sierra Club's spokesman threatened that there would never be a 31st Hi-Mountain and that his club was prepared to spend thousands of dollars fighting the enduro in court.

Come 1981 and there was a Hi-Mountain Enduro. The maximum number of riders, 500, rode along the hills and trails on a beautiful spring day and had as pleasant a ride as any enduro could provide. There were no last minute appeals or protests, no lawyers on the way to the bank with bags of motorcyclists' money and no raped or pillaged falcons.

How'd that happen?

Like most anything else of value, it was the result of lots of hard work. It also required communication between the motorcyclists and the environmentalists, even though relations had become quite strained.

Probably the beginning of this unusual union between the Penguins and the Sierra Club started after the 1980 enduro. The Penguins learned that Sierra Club observer Lee Wilson was assisting the riders in following the miss-marked course, quite opposite the rumors running around the pits following the event. So Wilson was awarded an honorary membership in the Penguins.

Then the Penguins started planning the 1981 event immediately after the 1980 run finished. Route changes were called “100 percent better” by the Sierra Club spokesman. And Penguin members went out to the proposed route with members of the Sierra Club and talked with them, finding out what their concerns were, and

how they could be alleviated.

When enduro steward Paul Peterson was able to speak to members of the Sierra Club, things seemed much simpler than when threats were conveyed via newspaper articles. The result was the 31st annual Hi-Mountain enduro held March 31st without protest or legal action. The route covered only existing motorcycle trails and roads, but the terrain ranged from grassy meadows to mountain ridges above the clouds. There were creek crossings and rocky downhills and mud puddles for the C riders to explore. There were average times high enough to keep the A and B riders busy on the first loop, and^ slow enough to be realistic. Some last minute grading by the forest service made, some of the average speeds appear too slow on the graded roads, but then the scenery was spectacular so some rubber necking was in order.

No riders were lost this time. There was no overriding bad feeling. And before the* trophies were sent out, Peterson and his crew of Penguins were out planning the 32nd Hi-Mountain Enduro and working on some fresh trails to be included in the 1982 run.

Aren't happy endings wonderful?

ON ANY SUNDAY II, TAKE II

Movies about motorcycles are sort of like mail in the Army; even a seed catalog is better than nothing at all. And for the past decade or so mail call has been pretty bleak and disappointing. A few good documentaries like The Young Matadors and Take it to the Limit have run the convention and club meeting circuit, but haven't really been accessible to the public. Not since On Any Sunday back in 1970 has a documentary about motorcycling made it to neighborhood movie theaters. The brainchild of Bruce Brown, who had also directed a successful surfing film called Endless Summer, On Any Sunday was a big hit with motorcyclists and people who wanted to be, and was credited with stirring up a lot of enthusiasm and new membership in the sport.

Every good idea deserves a sequel, of course, so about a year ago a film called On Any Sunday II was completed. Just before its intended release the movie was unveiled to a small audience of critics and then quickly veiled again. The critics said it contained a lot of good racing footage but objected to the tone of the film, saying, among other things, that it praised a few racing heroes at the expense of privateers and amateur riders. There were distribution problems too, so the film was pulled off the market for rethinking and recutting. Film distributor Roger Riddell took over production from Don Shoemaker and Ed Forsyth became director.

Now we have On Any Sunday II back from the drawing board, redone and finally scheduled to premier July 10, 1981. Old footage has been deleted, new film added, different music scored and the narration re-written. Members of the press were treated to a rough-cut preview of the film recently, and those of us who saw it were asked to use our imaginations just a bit, as the music, narration and editing were unfinished.

It's hard to gauge the tone and movement of a film when there are silent sections, dissolves missing, and tentative narration being read by a man at the back of the room, but what we saw had a lot of promise. From its desert dawn opening with dirt bikes ostensibly ridden by Kenny Roberts, Malcolm Smith and Mert Lawwill (a tie-in here with the first film) lofting4 over the landscape of Imperial Dunes, OAS II takes you forward and backward in time, covering Kenny Roberts in Europe, old newsreels of motorcycle daredevil stunts, Don Vesco streamlining at Bonneville, some amazing color footage from the Fifties with people like Keenan* Wynn, Lee Marvin and Bud Ekins competing on old British and American iron in the Catalina Grand Prix and Big Bear Enduro (bikers were tough then; Lee Marvin is never seen without a cigarette stub in the corner of his mouth); there's Bruce Penhall looking All-American on speedy ways here and in England, Brad Lackey motocrossing, desert enduros, Bernik Schrieber in a symphony of motion with his trials bike, moto-cross kids only twice as large as their helmets, and the usual collection of dirt crashes which are always less serious when set to humorous music.

Whether or not this film will have the public impact of the original Sunday is. hard to judge; those of us who saw that film in 1970 are older and (we like to think) wiser now, so it's always hard to recapture the freshness and fun of that movie and comparisons may be beside the point. Music and narration will have a big effect. As mail call goes, it remains to be seen whether OAS II will be as good as a letter from Mary Lou, but from what we've seen it's going to beat a seed catalog hands down.

A STAR IS BORN

New motorcycle companies are rarely created and when they are, the product is usually a small motorcycle using some sort of existing engine. Not so the Hesketh.

Lord Alexander Hesketh, however, is hot an average man and the Hesketh motorcycle he is now building is not an average motorcycle. Lord Hesketh made a name for himself building a successful Formula One automobile racing team and has since kept a small crew busy at his estate working on F-l racing engines. Behause Lord Hesketh likes motorcycles he has turned his company's efforts to designing and producing a motorcycle and the Hesketh VI000 is the result.

Construction of the lOOOcc V-Twin motorcycle began in June, with the first sales scheduled for August 1, 1981 in England. 4J.S. models aren't available yet, but the word is that export models will become 'available later.

For the mechanical details, the engine is a 90°, air-cooled V-Twin with 95mm bore and 70mm stroke, 10.5:1 compression ratio, four valves per cylinder operated by dual overhead camshafts driven by roller chain. A one-piece iron crankshaft spins in Foller main bearings but connects to the pistons with two-piece rods operating on ‘plain bearings. A pair of 36mm Dell'Orto carburetors supplies fuel, ignition is Lucas electronic, there's a wet sump and the countershaft is cleverly raised so that it is directly inboard of the swing arm pivot, eliminating any change in final chain tension.

> As the photo shows, the Hesketh is a sporting machine. It's available in black or red, with appropriate pinstriping. The

nickle plated frame shown is an option. Normally the frame is painted black.

Three Brembo disc brakes are mounted on the Hesketh, plus there's a second master cylinder mounted on the short handlebars for the hydraulic-operated wet clutch. Marzocchi suspension is used front and rear.

Dry weight is a claimed “under 500 lb.” which indicates it's about on par with a Ducati GTS or a Yamaha XV920. Price in England with all the various taxes applied works out to somewhere around $10,000 in U.S. money. When the Hesketh will be available in the U.S. and what it will cost here are yet to be determined. Those who wish to encourage American sales should write to Hesketh Motors, Ltd., Unit 2/7 Broad March Industrial Estate, Daventry HH114RU, England.

ANOTHER DESMO

Ducati has had a monopoly on the desmodromic valve market for several years now with the large V-Twin Desmo models. Last year a smaller Desmo V> Twin was introduced, a 500cc model called the Pantah, and this year there's a larger version of the Pantah called the 600 Desmo.

In general layout the Pantahs are much like the larger V-Twin Ducatis with a 90° angle between the two cylinders and a sin► gle overhead cam both opening and closing the two valves used in each head. But >on the 500 and 600cc Pantah the cams are operated by a toothed belt rather than by a * shaft and bevel gears. Also, the valves are at a narrower angle on the smaller models. Compression ratio is 9.5:1, two 36mm Dell'Orto carburetors are used, the starter

is electric, clutch actuation is hydraulic and the bore and stroke are 80mm by 58mm for a total of 583cc.

As the photo shows, the 600 Pantah is equipped with a sporting fairing, a seat that can be converted between dual and

solo by removing or installing an add-on trunk, a large gas tank (4.8 gal.) and triple Brembo disc brakes. Claimed dry weight is 414 lb; wheelbase is 57 in.

The smaller Desmos are being imported into this country, but they are scarce.