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/125826
September 18, 1973 Page 11 "Well~ what's new?" asked the cyl inder tightly. "Herb Levitin's electronic tachometer and RPM limiter," replied the pi'ston loo~ely. ! Four great products from Yamaha and they all go PSSSSSSSt. INSTANT SPARE TIRE. It's a spare tire in a can. You can fix a flat quickly and easily by spraying the contents of this 6-ounce aerosol can into the tire. It seals and inflates the tire in one simple operation. Then ride on winner. SPARK PLUG AND ELECTRICAL CONTACT CLEANER. Help keep your motorcycle in top running condition. Used regularly on points and plugs, prevents carbon build-up and dirty points. Spray it on, it cleans then evaporates. CHAIN AND CABLE LUBRICANT. The finest lube avail,?l:lJe for motorcycle chains and cables. Its penetrating action keeps on working even duringe~re'11e pressures. Dirt won't get by and water is complet~r-resisted. TIRE MOUNTING LUBRICANT. TlJ'!'>e damage is almost-a thing of the past. Just spray on titeJ)eads and mount easi!ronto the rim. See Y9ur Yamaha dealer for; t PSSSSSSST line. .Tach scale is 0 to 10,000. Red line indicator is on square bracket. As any racer can tell you, winding an engine too tight causes a phenomenon known as· self destruction. This is a serious problem in high horsepower engines where maximum power develops fatally close to maximum RPM. Racers rest· easy. Herb Levitin, an engineering student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, has developed a device which not only indicates RPM like any run-of· the-mill tachometer, but also limits engine RPM to any preset point. And not only that, the device also turns on a Iigh t whenever the revs are above the red line. The tachfJimiter/red-line indicator uses an integrated circuit, several transistors and other assorted electronic parts. The accuracy of the tachometer is within 1% throughout normal shifting ranges. It requires six or twelve vol t negative ground systems and will work on single and multi-cylinder two and four stroke engines, with points or pointless CDt Herb tested the unit on his Bultaeo Metralla and immediately found that shifting' time was reduced and acceleration was quicker. By setting the rev limiter to momen tarily kill the engine at the optimum shift poin t, he merely opened the throttle and kic ked in the next gear when the engine twit<:hed. The length of time the engine is killed is adjustable from less than one ten th of a second up to eigh t ten ths of a second. Clutchless shifting becomes a snap. The device uses priIi ted circuit board construction and the tachometer is shock mounted to withstand vibration. It was mounted on'a Bultaco 350 Astro half-miler that crashed during practice (through no fault of the device). The limiter survived intact and in good operating condition. The Astro survived also and went on to win the main event. Another spin-off of the limiter is it application on flat trackers. A light on the tachometer can be set to tum on whenever the engine is above red-line. By gearing the bike so that the light just goes on before having to back off (or the next tum, the racer is assured of having the best gearing for the particular track he is riding. The limiter can be removed for the race. For normal everyday driving on the street, the red-line indicator can be set at red-line and the RPM limiter can be set slightly above to act as a safety device in case one [mds the throttle stuck in the open position. You'll have time to shut down and the engine won't be able to self-destruct. • Circuitry is contained in box under the seat. .YAMAIIA PMrs DIS1IIIIUfOIaSIIIIC. a subsidrary at Yamaha International Corporotlen. 6610 Orange r ·Avenue. Buena Park. California 90620 ,.~------~,. I MX'IIIES SIZE 4,50d8 4,00..18 3:50'1.18 3,00..21 ! 3:'50x2l • REG. PRICE SALE PRICE 26.95 22.95 2"'5 25.95 26.95 I" 0, 16.95 15 9:; 17:95 18.95 &r 'ALL TUBES REDUCED 3O'l\ McFadden at the Newport Fwy YAMAHAlHUSQVARNA . --------.------- Sales' ServIce' Parts 'l4ccessones ,2100lMcFadden,SanlaAnii' (7]4)558·1511 Bullaco "IT FITS" , On Your Way To Saddleback The Bike Shop Orange CZ - MONARK - HODAKA Custom Pipes & Accessories 4418 Eost Chapman AYe. (714) 532-3634 Q[JJ~ ~~CJ)~Q Collins & Sons '65 E. Lincoln Anaheim (714) 535-5000