Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Canadlans are a tew jumps abeadinpro- FUN ON ABMW OR ..HOW NOT TO GO TO ALASKA PART II vtdlng facilities tor campers. Every camp I stopped at in B.C. or the Yukon bad fireplaces, tables, fresh water and firewood. But the important point is that these camN1'ounds are along main highways where they can be used by travelers. Well! Atter finding my spot, I hastily set up the tent, built my cooldng fire. By James Campbell Thomson To better position the load on my BMW for the trip to Alaska, I picked up two canvas newspaper bags, and into the bags were put moo of the heavY tb1ngs. The tarp was removed from the front fender where it bad been messing up the up late, but sure bad a nice sleep. Had tea in the morning and hit the road. We hadn't gone a good tive miles when a bolt holding the license plate fell out. This .. mechanical difficulty" was put d ~ c..> T1Io.. I"" 1 'lrlt eaIlpIIte Ifter a I....... r. Caaadl......r at Latt. Ok. . . . . , There are IIllUIY motorcyclists who rate a bUce solely on speed, which 1 teel is rather shallow ltI1nIdng. The R-27 is smoother than any vertical twin Pve ever ridden, eXcludlng a few two- strokes. And althougb only a 15-incher, it has enougb wetgbt for a smooth, non-fatiguing ride. Well, after logging over 800 continuous miles on the speecto, the "let's make it" group. And wb1le this in-Illlttle was being waged, we rolled up to Canadian customs. Border Couversation Here we stopped. A young man, dressed as a fireman, stepped up tor the checkout. "Where are you bound for?" says he. "Anchorage," says I. "How much money do you have?" says he. "Eighty-five dollars," sayd I. "Let me see it," says be. "Here Uz," says I, taldng off my outer pair of pants to get at my wallet. He loolted, and after marlc1ng down the make of the bike and the size of the cannon 1 was hauling, I was off. . We were exuberant, the bike and I. The day before at this time I bad been in the sack in sacramento. And here 1 was in Canada. We pushed on to the city of Penticton, and a few mUes past, stopped at a terraced camN1'ound on the shore ot Lake Okanogan. The odometer read 9'¥l mUes since sacramento. I occUPied one of the tew rema1ntng campsites, as there were more than sixty parties alreadY there. Time To Rest This was my first encounter with a Canadian campsite, and I will say the ~-----~~--------~--t t TRAil MODElS: No. Y-1OO Yamaha Foot Rests •••• $5.90 pro Ret. 1 -ps 0-1...1.CIIIN' t I~S -r-'-'.' Jii t ..... t for easy ils ti.. t 't RIDERS SEE YOUR PH'. 589-5488: & t No. 7-8 ~"Frome Clamp Foot Rests t Complete $5.00 pro Ret. I No. 1-0 1" Frame Clamp Foot Rests I OTHER MODELS C.m,I DEALER. :r!~~L _&1-- t E t 4915 Podtic Blvd.• V.mon, Col;l. 90058 I Phono, 213 589·5488 , $5.00 ". RoO.: No. 1-18 11/8" Frame Clamp Foot Rests Complete _.. $5.00 pro Ret. . Wilmington Discount Cycle Center 1505 Avalon. Y{ilmington, Calif. MORP MUsCLe foryour HONDA Trouble Time After answering all questions, we were away. Twenty or thirty miles out of the town the road began to decay. The last 700 mUes bad been two-lane, but now the road bad the appearance of not being t1xed tor ten years. Soon atter this, the paving ended - I mean there was no more road. What remained was llke a plowed field intermixed with 5-incb stones. I leaned the bike against a tree, ate an apple, and thougbt of my plan of action. out of the dark recesses of my brain came the words, "With speed you have control," uttered by a TR-6 rider. So, atter tightening the steering damper, I rushed into it in second gear. As we were coming to the end of the section the front wheel went into a rut. '!bere began a series of front fork oscillations that soon told me 1 was going on my head.' Instead of fiopping 011 the road as 1 expected, we went flying off into a five-foot ditch. I came to lIlY senses, partly under the down-side-upbike. But soon the flagman, and occupants of the waiting cars, were upon me. The bUce was unhurt, but my fairing was wasted. 1 bad a sore knee and a tew small cuts, but nothing 1 couldn't put up with. The crowd of Canadians belped drag the BMW back up onto the road. And after a few adjustments we were ott. Again. (Cooclusion Next Week) NEW '68 HONDAS LOWEST PRICES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GARTNER ENTERPRISES Ph. (213) 775-1802 or 326-3810 NO SlJACERS - READY TO BOLT-IN HIGH COMPRESSION - BIG BORE (IO.S & 12.5:1 STD. TO .160 OVERSIZES) AND PRE·ASSEMBLED STROKER KITS St.oker Kit> for All 50·•....$34."-AII 90·.····$432."50 60Cc Bore K!t for All 50's 1 • 96cc - ,070" • High Cf'fl"lp. Bore Kit IS for all 9Oc.'__ __.._._.....•._..........•...... 22 ' _ ; 2s .IS tOScc Bore Kit for All 9Oc( t t No. 3·4 3,4" Frame Clomp Foot Rests R Complete _ $5.00 pro et. & ,------------ ------~ j and then walIted down to the lake tor a swim. 1 found it too cold for my llking, so returned to my camp and pumped up the air mattress. While inserting the mattress in the tent, it cot lIIIlIcged on a nail on the tent pole and was holed. Never was 1 successfully able 10 patch it as it was plastic. Damn those Blue Chip stamps. Next daT 1 was up late - as usual. Brealdast usually consisted of hot tea and sometbing cold, with bread. This takes no preparation time and 1IIIille the teapot came to a boU I could roll the tent and pack up the other gear. From the camN1'ound 1 went five mHes to the town of Peachland. MY object in stopping here was to change my American money into Canadian at the bank. At this time, the Canadian dollar was worth about 92 cents, so I exchanged $20, then did some shopping, topped up the tank and was off. Because of my previous day's run I was pooped, and would stop whenever 1 bad the slightest urge. This turned into a daT ot stopping at lookout points, pausing for mlltsbakes, etc. The run up to Kamloops was through countryside green with trees, dotted by lakes and the whole btt. At Kamloops, I stopped to change oU, and foolishly put in 20-40 instead of the stratgbt 30 to R44 1 usually use. From Kamloops to Catch Creek is about sixty mUes. The countryside quickly turns dry and looks Uke it's near Las Vegas. Catch Creek i sn' t a town in the usual sense, but a flock of gas stations with a store or two at the road junct1on. On the run to Catch Creek the bike got so bot it came close to seizing, and 1 was forced to stop half an hour and let it cool. I stopped for the n1gbt at Lake La Hache camN1'ound, 100 or so miles north of Catch creek. The bUce and I bad only run 350 miles for the day. Was 4-0558 : t t t I. 24 Ilaars. Spot II located 50 .1181 past tIIa PASSENGER t PEGS fOR : SAVE. USED Mill YAMAHA : HONDA PARTSTE : t CI) :: ~ cross. t .s t.J fragrant. Turning oll onto Highway 1 belleve that runs such as this expose the quality features of the BMW. ~ t.J have his transistor radio to use for the trip, and it was a real companion. I bad seen, in May, the same sights that I was seeing now on Highway 99. At Dunsmuir we pulled in to refuel and met a Yamaha rider who had come through Idaho and Oregon. He said be had been cold all daT and aslted me what lay ahead in the great Cailfornia Valley. There would be rejoicing in his camp that night, for the Valley was warm and At daTbreelt 1 was gassing up at The Dalles 011 the Columbia River. 'Iben, lifter paying the toll and crossing the bridge, we were in Washington. Highway '¥l runs a1OIIgs1de the rtver for five mUes or so until the top of the bills are reached, thea turns IIOrth. From this b1gb ftDt8ce point, ODe feels as if airborue, tor the rtver nms IIllUIY hundreds of feet below, and Eastern oregon is spreadout tor your inspection Uke a map. Wen, after ttll1ng lIlY eyebells and resting my back, 1 tbougbt Pd try my 250 on a cltet of wa.sb1ngton. After crossing the rtver there is a low, grassy range of bills for about 30 miles. Then theY abruptly end, and before you lies the Yaldma Valley, parcelled ott in neat sectiOllS. After an hour of this, there's a brtet climb througb footbUlB and then we entered lush forestland, complete with pines and tumbling white water. . This all. too soon transcends to a semi-desert area along the OIalbogan River, and continues pretty much the same into canada. I was much impressed by the state, ore more correctly, the area seen ·011 H1gbway 97. There were no large, mountainous portions as in Caltforn1a to ... ~ ~o ~;. ~:~~~~~~i:~ C5 noon on Jlme 5th. MY friend Bob let me OD Into Washington t ~ ri~~ ~r~~~~~~o~ef~~a:. :~:y ~ 1:30 p.m. bad made it to Prince George. To my surprise, there was a sareway Food store here, a chain that has been in Caltfornia for many years. As it turned out, stopping to shop turned into buying, and upon exiting bad a major pacldng job, surrounded by curious Ic1ds. paint. 1 lett sacramento at 2:30 in the after- 97, 1 made it well around Mount Shasta before the sun lett me. Since we bad been on the road not much more than five hours, I felt U would be wiser to drive all n1gbt. So 1 cut the speed to a conservative 50-55 mpb in case of deer in the road, and swiftly ate up oregon road. Micmilbt found me in Bend, with half of OrerOll a1read1 digested. The upper half is abont as barren as the mOOD, and the road in spots looks as if it was bullt l!%Clusive1y for motorcycles, U's that smaIl. :: 17~; AiIOlr~~'~j~~~~~.~:..~~~.~ ~I.~ ••.•••......•. -S.IO 190cc 80re Kit for All l6Occ._.••....•......•.•...... 55.0;) 47Scc Sore Kit for CS 450·s..... .........•......•... 15.DO • For compllte inform.tion s~'tII ,H' Honu Medel No. I;ld yur. plus SOC l" eli" e: sta""s to: POW ROLL PERFORMANCE P.O. Box 926, 0..,1. CN. Band, Or.. 97701, Tel: 503-382-639S .. YAMAHA DEALER SCRAMBLER MOTORCYCLES 1801 W. Bur... k BI.ct. IlUrbaak, 849-5907 Of 145-8738 Ellt.. 7 ~II"

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