Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

WANNA DO WHEELIESt Black Marks Green Streak GET-A BARNETT (LU T(H & GO ' ~ '" NOW AVAILABLE , HODA KA - 100 '" By Byron Black, Jr . Photo by John Endy, Jr . { "" ; , ;... 'ii ",,,'i'- =. " (wi th wide, drive plale la' ma,e band ln, su,'ace) • A pleasant Saturday afternoon In autumn: what better way to enjoy myself than to be Introduced to Saddleback Park and Kawasald's newest Mountain Llonby AMA National winner Walt Fulton III as my guide and guru ? The mechanism I had chosen was the " Gr een Streak," the latest version ot Kawasald 's popular 250cc moto-cross s ingl e. It just arr ived t r om Japan, and I' ve got the tl r s t one In private hands (cackle) , I li ke It. As a ma tte r ol ta ct, we' re engaged to be married on the 20th ol next month, so bes er k am I about It. Atter getting a passel ol complai nts , mos tly minor, about their old F21M s crambler, Kawasald went back to the dr awing boards and tried to Impr ove the mach1ne t or the America n rider and for American riding. The machine's more ol a tlat-out banzai "des er t r oad race" scrambler than a European-type upsydownsy mote-cross machine. It has two horsepower more than betore,anda peak power range or 500- ,pO rpm higher than O the previous model. BULTACO - E I Band ido ~i3i>~ (You, Barne ll dea ler has Ihem now. AlumInum Allay, Ca,p,ene Banded. We do net sell rel all . SEEY OURBARNETI D LE R EA ~, 4915 Pacifi c BlVd., Vernon, Ca lifornia, Phone: 589-5488 TU RNER EXPANSI ON CHAMBERS Sales-Semce B arney T i llman' sSPORT CENTER 6027 Whi uter Bl vd,; E . Le s AnK eles 6025 Maywood Ave. BId. tl , Huntington P ark. Cali l. Three blac k. 011 Slauson 589·77t7 or 773· 5839 Hour. 10-1; ~ii _ BILL ,;) ( 213 ) 723-3523 KRAUSEWS LARGEST PARTS & ACCESSORIES DEP~ ', IN THE SOUTHLA~ I ,) JUnORU(:U: 1J"pl, ,r;/o ,,· HONDA/~/YAMAHA 1257$. U IlEA at ec.tvry • BMW SALES .......oocI • • "100406 • Meat In The M idrange It Is also supposed to have more meat '11 .50)5 G REEVES • In the midr ange , and this torque Increase MOT a -BETA G;;';ie7;;; r;;;sdl' SERVICE HOCKIES MOTORCYCLES t Area's leading volllllle Kawasaki t HODAKA YAN I(EE GREEVES ' O SA S , t , Dealer , Camplete Machine Shop Fac ll llle. 22025 So. F i gueroa Torranc e, Cal i l omi a ,•• BRIDGESTONE Specialist In tun ed exhaust lor mo st t '~~ strokes Port, Polish and hve po rtrng, also comple te hop-up s for Hodaka, ~ , Complete Pa,ts & Ac ee..a, l.. 5663 N. Ros emea d Blvd., Temp le City - , (213) 286·750 4 t (213) 328-1242 ~~~~~~~~~ 'r · · · · ·· ·· · · · · · ··n rn n .n m m n m n-.i'1 m m n m rn n rn n .n rn n ••• . ': J . C. AGA J ANIA N Pr esent s . - A. M. A. CLASS A • Championship frida, IIi,,,, IIon.ber Is' SHO RT TRA CK Gal e s Open 6:3 0 ' F i r st Race 8 15 '12 M C ile hampionship November 8th All Seats $3. 00 Kids 8-12 $1.00 Unde' 8 FREE Harbor I> San Dieqc f rwys --------------------------NEWl In San'a Alia _..•.............••..•.••• : : GEN E H. MYERS YAMAHA Dealer NEW& US SA LES ED Au thor ized Draco's Motorcycl as • : KAW ASAKI • • : Part s - Servi ce & Repair Spec i alizing i n 2-stroke T uni ng 1629 Sa. Sianda,d Ave. Sanla Ana, Cal. 92707 (714) 543-9688 .-.........._ __......... __...._ _---....----. •... .•....... • ,. ..... -..... ..... 4459 Redondo Beach Blvd. Lawnd ale, Ca llI. (213) 542-4047 ~ MOTORCYCLE S ONLY SALVAGE comes about with an Impr oved exhaust system . The compression has been raised trom 6.7 to 7.5, and behind a larger, treer-breathlng side cover there nestles a 28mm carb, 2mm wider than the old one. And the exhaust port's been raised - but you can be sure I'm not thinking about s uch trivial matters as I rip up the mountainsides behind Walt's "trelght train" 55" Har ley . " You ....-ant to go, to the beginner's course?" he asked, s miling slyly. "Damn the beglnner' s l Full speed ahead!" I shot back, bravely, toolis hly. We took ott, one swif t kick Igniting the single Into ille; It crackled Idling, and a li ttl e tlIck ol the wri s t made her give out a healthy yowl, speaking to me trom an expansio n chamber the size ol an oxygen tank; this Item was snug up against her lean green bod, and hung Into the exhaus t port with two springs. The " Gr een Streak" nicknam e r ete rs to the li metlavor ed paint job on the Itty-bitty gas tank, t or your Information, and thatves sel showed a r emarkable propensity to empty Itself trequently as we motored through hill and dale: like many sweet young things, likes to chugal ug her drink. And without the niceties ot automa tic oUlng, either: I had almosttorgotten how to concoct what the Br itish call " petroU" In the gas tank. I suspect that much or that fuel zips right past the combustion chamber and goes tumbling out ot the exhaust por t, In all high- power strokers. There Is definitely mor e glddyup In thi s model . This Is Illustrated by the exhaust por t, a couple ot s tories higher than on the previous model . Kawasald ' s master race tuner Blll Bastian says that tor " optimum power " (that' s the kind that shears boulders In hal! trom a standlng start) the port s hould be opened up l mm higher yet. WHUMPHI No, that wasn' t me. I was Innocently crabbing my li ghtweight down the side ot a steep peak , sldewlnderstyle, when I happened to look back to' see the mons ter Harley out ot control. It was gain ing veloci ty rapidly and W t al had to dr op It. Somehow he started on the downgra de, and with one smart kick I baWled away after him. Then on to the IT Track, and the leviathan twin thundered past me and was gone. I didn' t compete much In that race. I headed tor the moto-cross track instead - and that pla ce Is an eye-opener in anybody-s book. Here 's where the Green Streak's gutty torqu e came In handy: otten when my lett t oot was too busy tendlng ott a huge and ter ocious dirt bank to pi uck at the shltt lever, I just sque ezed on the throttle and the flexi ble r otary valv e engine pr opelled me up up and SUddenly away• That' s another change, by the way: instead ol a tiber disc, the new machine uses a s teel one. It has a larger cutaway, mainly because ol the more radical intake timing. Needed Softer • ShOCKS The one ugly part ol the machine was the absence ol r ear damping . The shock abs orbers mus t have been the Bonnev111e variety, t or they were to r much smooth er s urfaces than I tound tha t day. They weren' t solt enough tor the wildly soaring and r iPpling track, either. And that mote-cros s track Is a bear, daddy. You can be a solt- muscled sissy and s tlll r oad r ace all day, but three laps or so around the Saddieback mote-cross circuit and YOU'd s wear you'd just been worked over by the most sadistic drlll s ergean t at Paris Islan d. Mote- Cr oss Is t or !he he-man, the guy who r ips tall oaks out ot the ground when they get In his way. But even to r a taster, tougher r ider than I am, the bike would be more appeali ng with a s et ot " Cher r y Annles" on the rear . The t r ont forks, on the other hand, seem fine . They managed to gobble up all the bumps, thumps, dips and ripples I could tl nd. , My kidneys couldn't stand It , though. They croaked. So I decided to go hillclimbing, Ins tead . One look at the Matterhorn aur Climb was enough to s end me to the sott dr ink s tand. (Thought balloon) " The only way to ascend this wall ot shee r r ock is (a) with a pic k and axe (b) with a r ocket engine In your tall. The three who have accomplished the teat had nei ther, however. Just Triumph TR- 6's. . W buy Junk.. & sell Fine Used Parts e AIso tons of H.D. Obsolete Stuff. 45' s·Knuckel·Dish Pan -._--_...._.,..-_...- Complete Service Fra me & Fork Straighten ing. We Servi ce what they sell. Bob Ro ss 126 W 4lh St, San Pedro, California TE 2-61 24 esl ..... ~------.._.-..,._ W~lt~ • Y~M~at'sA ORANG C CYCLE E O. Triumph-5uzuki Motors 1049 West 5th Street Po mona., Calif. (71 4) 629-8642 205 N. Harber BlVd. Sanla Ana (714) 53106984 ,( ANOTHER FINE PR ODUCT MOTO.CROSS BOOTS ...rs Di stributed by I, It" II II1C'1- . . , Qr ......_ C ••,I.,. u•• .t CI.,ll. , 1 Atnss.,;., - . . 1'"-1 ~u .,-.l." IIl I

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