Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125605
lDNNET ON MY MOTORCYCLE
Guzzis, First Foreign
Bike Purchase
by Loyal T. PeDD
1927
To you, most flexible machine of mine
I praise thy greatness to all the world.
Thy speed is equal to that of bullet hurled
From cannon's mouth. Oh, trusty steed of mine
Thou art being worked upon by time,
That heartless murderer felt o'er the world
Within me one small wish doth lie curled,
What then, when time does stop thy deeds
that shine,
That motor that did sound a roaring whine,
Will it o'er into some scrap heap be hurl'd
To rust the glistening wheels that once
did whirl,
Or wilt thou be butchered like so much swine
To grace the melting pot and come to shine
Again in other form and help the world?
BRIDGESTONE
Sales-Senke
Barn<,)" Ti llman's SPORT CENTER
6027 IIhillier Rlvd•• L Los Angeles
(213) 723-3523
Yamaha AT-l Cl25l CT-l Ql5l
EXPANSION CHAMBER $3!1.!15
Bob Bailey'S Service center
This soDDet was written by Carol Penn's
f~tber in 1927. when he was 17 years old.
HIs grandson, her son. is now in District 37
riding for K&N Yamaha, #38 X. Their names
are the same.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11 - The City of
Los Angeles has ordered 10 Moto-Guzzi
Police bikes, the first time a foreign
motorcycle has ever been purchased for
police use.
The purchase resulted from six months
of testing by theLAPD. They ran Harley-
Davidson's against Honda 450-Pol1ce
bikes, Moto-Guzzi 750-Pollce and the
Triumph 650 Saint. The Triumphs a'nd
Hondas failed to come through as well as
the Harleys, but it was the dectsion of
the department that the Moto-Guzzis at
least matched them.
The motorcycles were first tested in
everyday traftic enforcement to deter-
mine comfort and durability. To determine performance characteristics, tests
were conducted at Riverside Raceway,
and also at Lions Drag Strip.
The Triumph was the first to be found
unacceptable as it was not set up properly to be used as apolice machine and,
therefore, was not tested as tar as performance was concerned.
in the performance test at Riverside
Raceway the motorcycles were first
tested on the roadrace circuit with Los
Angeles Policemen riding them. The
motorcycles were started separately at
ODe minute intervals to keep them from
rac1ng against one another. After a few
laps, the Moto-Guzzi caught up to the
Harley aDd the HOIIda started to tall behind,. This caused a little eJlCitement in
the "Harley Pits".
The result of the Riverside test proved
the Moto-Guzzi to be at least equal to the
Harley Davidson as far as roadracing
was concerned. The Honda did not complete the test at Riverside due to engine
problems and, therefore, did not pass that
phase of the test.
COOLEY'S COLUMN
By Wes Cooley
The 1969 FIM stamps and annuaires
have been received from the F.I.M. Anyone wishing to renew their International
license should do so. These licenses are
good from January 1 through December
31 of each calendar year. lfyou are going
to enter the INTER-AM moto cross series thIs year, it would be far better to
get your license in advance rather than
wait until the deadline. This certainly
eliminates a great deal of confusion for
the sign-up crew. as well as the promoters and the rider himself.
This year. along with every FIM International Lincese, the FlM is issuing
an Annuaire which gives all the international cal end a r events scheduled
throughout the entire world. lists the
world'S champions in the past, as well
as all the riders who participated in 1968
for world's championship points.
11 is quite an interesting booklet regarding international motorcycling and
gives some basic rules and regulations
as well. Anyone wishing to renew their
international License should write to
MICUS. P.O. Box 273, Placentia, Callfor 92670. 11 you intend to compete in the
Firecracker moto-cross on the 4th of
July at Saddleback, you will need an
Internatinnal License to enter the internatinnal 250cc and 500cc classes.
The next test conducted was the acceleration test at Lions Drag StriP. Here
again, the Honda did not qualify to break
the 16 second ma.x1mum E.T. or the 80
M.P.H. minimum speed. The Guzzi turned the fast times of the day with E.T.'s
below 15-1/2 seconds and speeds of 85
M.P .H. while the Harley ran in the high
l5's with speed of 82 M.P.H. Also conducted that Jay were the brake tests in
which all three motorcycles qualified.
After all the tests were completed,
two of the four original test motorcycles
were approved for police work, the Harley Davidson and the Moto-Guzzi. By
purchasing the Moto-Guzzi's the Pollce
Department can save approximately $700
per unit as opposed to the Harley. Also,
maintenance costs can be reduced considerably because of the simpllcity of the
Moto-Guzzi, which is shaft driven.
The Moto-Guzzi Pollce bike 15 simllar
to the standard V-7 except for the fact
that the engine is 75Occ' s instead of 700
and the shift is on the left and the brake
on the right. The fioor boards are fitted,
11 comes completely set up for police
work, including all the brackets for
siren, radio and red lights.
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