Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

'" '" ~ '" ;;; '" • '" z '" '" w ::; ~ '" z '" • '" '" '" c x 5' C0- w w u "' Co- ~ u '" ::; '" w '" '" • '" C0- •• w u "' Co- ~ •• C0- ... :!Ii '" w u "' Co- >- ;;i ;;; t;; w '" ~ ... '" w '" '" :!Ii '" -' '" '" ~ • ISA III w KAWASAKI III 1T T GREAT EXCELLENT VERY GOOO GOOO OK HOlDA IV • • • • • • • • • •• • •• • • • • • • • .................... NOT TOO BAO w '" z ~ , w u • • • • •• • • • • -' >- c ;;; t;; '" '" '" '" w -' ~ x '" ;:: '" w '" >::; u .... ;;i '" c ;;; w '" w '" '" ... ~ '" '" '" • ~ '" '" -' '" ~ :!Ii '" ;;; '" X w ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• ~ • IIA1B1DTHIV i.1 1.1 TRI. .PH III I I I BAO AWFUL GREAT EXCELLENT VERY GOOO GOOO OK NOTTOO BAO BAO AWFUL In fore1gD lands have set out to woo the big lla1t tbey're extending In tile o4ber motorcycle pub11catlons. But wbere tbey'Ve tested tbem ODe by ODe, we first mastered the Mammoth, tIlen took OD tbe otber four all at ooce and compared tbem, matched tIlem and here, flnally, we present onr tlndlngs. First, taken as 'a group, tIlese new "mODSter bikes" are tile most exciting news since tbe InvenUOD of fire. There's enough d1tference among tbem that everyone should tlnd a blgh cal1ber machine to suit bis 1nd1vtdual taste and tun budget. Two more b1gguns that should be Included are tile Mota-Guzzi V'75OCc and tile 750Cc Norton Commando and SS. These were, tested by us and the Los Angeles Pollce Dept. and reported In earller issues. Most of tile moosters are capable of tar more performance than current tratt1c management permits. All but tile Mammotll feel as much at home In'a road race as tIley would on tile Vegas (DO speed llmit) blghway, where we ran tbem flat out as part of our test. What this portends for tbe future is years of design stabIl1ty, hopefully b1gber speed llmlts on tbe open road, and a whole deluxe stable of motorcycles to choose from, all wltll contIDeDt-crossing capab111ty. They all cry ouUorfaJrlngs,lowbarsand a racing crouch (perhaps double handlebars wW evolVe, ~ la Daytona Beach circa 1957) yet most can be ridden happUy around town as well. To sort out our impressions, webavedevtseda chart rating system, wltll tile eight critical categories of evaluation graded on an octave scale. Most of the machines have features ranking in tile "Great" category, meaning that tIIey are wortbwhile owning U 0D1y for that feature alone. The ODes tbat plunge to bad or awful on tile scale don't mean that that particular feature isn't wortbadjust1ngto for tile sake of tile endearing features. ' The wise, or average buyer wWlook for a blke wltII a perfect score of 8 gr'eats But he'll not tlnd such a machine, because some of tile features oppose each otller: A machtne that's otllerwise great probably couldn't sell for what we'd call a great price, for example. Recent17 tbe motorcycle man~ers tJtc, "BIg" motorcycle marketbere. YOU'Ve protJab]yread all about tbe HOW THEY COMPARE 5atnrday, July 26 and August 2nd found the Cycle News Road Test stat! at Lions Drag StriP, testing tile monsters against tile clock. We 0D1y ran tile HODda TrIumph KawasaJd and BSA because tile Mammotb was unavailable. " wttll a 175 lb. rider aboard, tile Kawasak1 accelerated 91.37 mph through tile l/4-mile In 14.57 secODds. Our 200 lb. Cbief Tester smoked off tile line to a better E.T. of 14.54 seconds. It should be noted that a shUt to 3rd was briefly misSed In this run. A tblrd and perfect ride gave nearly Identical times and we noted that tile engine was warming up, wb1ch for 2-strokes generally means a sllght loss of power. The KawasaJd had 8,000 miles on It at tile time. Next to go was tile BSA Rocket, 200 lb. rider and 650 miles on tile odometer. This particular ma cb1 ne had been rutIIlessly flogged by several other pub11catlons' road testers bet~ we got It, yet It cranked off a 94.73 mUe an boor run In 14.71 seconds. The Honda 750-4 was tile surprise of tile day. Nooe of us dreamed what performance lnrked beDeatb Its po11te manners. First crack, tile Honda purred to a gentle 91.74 mph quarter mile in just 1,4.28 seconds wltll our 200 poUDder. Next, witll tile l1ghter jockey In tile saddle, It wIdst1ed to 92.4 and 14.38 secODds. Best speed for tbe big four was 93.75 miles per honr. -We were cnrtous whlch had tbe more power, tile Triumph Trident or tile Honda 4. So we took tIlem to onr friendly neighborhood dynamometer speclallsts and dyno tested tIlem. Measnred at tile countershaft sprocket, tile Triumph puts ~t exactly 59.5 horsepower, wb1le tbe HODda we tested (3,500 miles on It) registered 59.4 horsepower at 6,500 rpm. In fairness let us note that tile Honda began detonating on two cy11nders over 6,500 rpm, so probably Its horsepower In a perfect slate of tune (as tile TrIumph was) would be somewhat b1gher. Quarter-mile drag tests showed tile Triumph strongest of all, wltII a best run of 14.01 seconds and a top speed at tile end of 96.35 mph., with the 175 pounder smoldng tile rear tire. \., ... ~.- STAFF COMMENTS ON MONSTER BIKES Honda 4 "Heavy, but It has bltchln' brakes." "Not as fast as my Greaves." "Good low-speed band11ng." "Smootll as bell." "SoUDded more llke a sportscar tban a motorcycle because of all tbe busy cylinders." "Super-tIne and re1aJred. It's tile ODe I'd want to take OD a trIP." "Lots of throttle left at 65. Clutch seems to have two posItions 0D1y. In or out. There Is no In between." "Love tbe electric starter." "It has all tbe road cbaracter1st1cs at a Harley-Davidson." "Sticks to tbe road, DO drUt1ng or vibraUon." "TIle key is not couven1ently located." .. Tnrn s1gna1s stick out unattraet1Vely but tile safety aspect makes up for It." "Very impressive machtne." "Honda can be very proud at tb1s acb1evement. It's close to tbe ultimate tourer ." "R1dlculously low price." BSAIII ..NeedS electric starter and turn s1gnals." "Sounds l1lce a race car." "Lots less vibration than the British twins." "Should be much easter to service." "I llke tbe sty11ng." TriJlllph III , . , "It felt more sporty tban tIleotllers. You could st1ll feel tile bumps and tbe vibration almost shook my feet off tile foot pegs." "It feels lean and mean." BSA III again "The clutch sUpPed at tile drags, but It still came very close to beating a modlfled Sportster." "It feels l1lce a motorcycle, It doesn't have a lot of gadgets and doo-dads." "HaIriest motor of tile multls we tried out. It felt l1lce a real motorcycle again after riding tile Honda and Kawasak1 •turbines'. It shakes a bit and makes plenty of noise. Low speed barvlUng is excellent compared to tile Honda Fonr's but tbe frODt end dld a llttle dance at freeway speeds. Brakes are just tine." Kawasaki III "It's l1ght, ~s well. tbe transmission doesn't need to be hassled, you can bang shUts If you want. It's my favorite even tllough I don't l1ke two-strokes." "I llke tile way neutral's all tile way down." . "Good drag blke butnotonrer.Atroclous gas and 011 eater. It has good passenger seating and is attractive." "Feels l1lce a jet airliner when tbeyponr the coals to tIIem 00 takeoff. Does unexpected wheel1es until you get used to It." "Effortless seemIng, m1nd-snapplngacceleratlon accompanied by an exotl.c sound." ,. Potentlally very dangerous for a novice rider because of Its power." "The front brake Is so good It's a joy to use. The rear braIce faded on a two-uP descent of a mountain road." ., The seat Is atrociously narrow and gets uncomfortable soon." "Starting requires only a push, not a kick on tile lever." "A real steal at $1000." ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ROAD TESTS {THE CYCLE NEWS STAFF _Chief T••t.r•• Chari•• Clayton (1« • year. a road test rider 1« Cycl. .,az I.., Cycle .«Id malazl.. and Cycl. N•••)• As.I.tant T••ter.... Erlc Ralts, T.rry Pratt, TDIII Culp, Bill H. . .r, Dean Cunnln&llall, ,Bruce Easl.,. . _ ' . VI.wpolnt... SIl_ Clqton, 0..1. Ralt•• BSA THREE Wei&ld...U3 Ibs. P.O.E. Price: $11&&.110 Ildicated Top Speetl: 123 ~h AlPhabetically, tile ElSA's Rocket ,3 tops tile list, and It very nearly tops tile ratings, too. VlbratlOD, a small anooyance Inherent to reclprocal:1ng engine power, but a main factor In overall sat1sfactiOD was very smootb, but not as outstanding as tile Honda 4 or tbe Mammotb• ElSA 0D1y rates Very Good In tbe General category. One has to be impresSed by tile general attentlon to deta1l 011 tbe others, wb1le tbe ElSA exh1b1ts several Items that were obv1ously dletated by Prlce,ratber'tbandes1gnquallty. The ElSA, surpr1s1ngly, leaked tile least 011, except for ODe unhappy moment when tile oll ClIP came ajar, polluting an assistant tester's right leg. Otherwise, It passed tile "white pants test." Record speeds and lengtby road race wins should have proved by now tile BSA's standard rel1ab111ty. Owing to rldlculously tight security In tile BSATrIumph group, Douglas Hele's triPlebanger design was sprung on tile pub11c wlthout much more tban a wb1sper thatlt was on Its way. Consequently a lot at buYers think that It's an untested design. Actually, tile three-In-a-row is tile latest word In motorcycle engines. Narrower than a four, more flexible than a twin, 1\'s tile shape of things now and to come In motorcycle engines and It shouldn't require any more gettIng used to than vertlcal twins. The Rocket 3 embodies most of BSA's durable styling and heavyweight comfort, but Improves considerably on tile overall hand11ng and road-holding of the famous twins. Suspension is just a little stiffer, It banks tar enough In a turn before anything scrapes, and altllough tile reach from tile comfortable part of tile seat to tile handlebars 15 quite a stretch, It's no problem to flt tile bars to tile rider. All of tile new breed use excellent brakes, whlch contributed pOUlts to botll tile hand11ng and tile safety categories. ElSA's is tbe tried andprovedmeeban1cal double-leading shoe type, wltII a functionIng air scoop for coo11ng. Provision should be made, llke KawasaJd does, for closing tile scoop in case of rain, but, most riders will slow down anyway, and tile mo1stnre shouldn't greatly retard tIIeb~. ' For tile price, botll BSA and TrIumph should Include electric starting. This omission cost tIIem points In tile price and general category, and takes a taste away from safety, too. In case tile eng1ne stalls In tratt1c, an electric starter is a good thing to have. Chances of stalllng, however, are very sl1m, as tbe fourstroke threes show no signs of hesitation from Idle speed on up to 125 mph. We downrated tile BSA on looks because It seems too bulJcy for the 'sake of bigness. Some of tile vital parts'(tlle oll (Continued on page 32)

• Cover