Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

C ...... • Ins .... rn £I ' IlQ IlQ g ;... g ..q< r-... C'l ..... 0 eo - ;... ::l • Inl eparls: al esn'l] s ~ By John Huetter What follows IS a report on motorcycling items that we have bought, acquired, borrowed, or otherwise obtained in a legitimate manner. We've used them as you cou ld be expected to use them . Actually, they've probably been used more often and harder due to the very nature of our jobs. Some of the items worked well, some mediocre and others, well, maybe we can save you some time and mone y. sales featu re. th e clear Flip-up sh ield , failed three o ut of three times. The ide a is that th e rough ly rect an gul ar clear plastic will ca tc h the first lap 's mud and grit. th en can be flipped up into the visor so you can see again. Every time we flipped it up , so m eth ing broke. The little tab s o n the shield snapped off or the rubbe r band hu n g up or b ro ke . It 's like having a cu mbers o me te ar-o ff , so you 're pr o bab ly better off with regu lar tear-offs for rac ing. It is not as handy in ac tu al use as i t migh t seem a t the parts co un ter , but the viso r i tself is top-not ch. Thi nk, no w. How man y racers have you seen wi th th e flip -up sh ield still on thei r visor ? Ri-i-ght, • Select Van motorcy cle rack . Th is little number has gotten more rave reviews than any other van -related motorcycl e accesso ry since wide tires. The rack has tw o mounts: on e o n a rib opposite the door and one hidden out of the way in the door well. If you pull a pin from the rib mount, the whole rack slides out the side door, leaving a completely unobstructed ca rfo space. It's a snap to load two bikes 0 any size, including 500 lb. street bikes. Just wh eel them straigh t in. Period. There are tie-down eyelets built in to the rack . It's a snap and a half to load three bikes. The third one has to go in backwards if it has the dimensions of a 250 or larger motocross bike but you can still easily hook the tie- downs in for that third one. The rack comes in shiny chro me or businesslike flat black. It's a matter of taste ; both are made of spring steel. Select Van, in San ta Ana, California, said the y wou ld mount the rack free of additional ch ar ge, and they did. We have yet to enounter a better bike carrying device for the back of a van. Most people are impressed by the looks. Users will be impressed by the performance. It doesn 't do anything. which is exactly what you want to happen to your bik es while they're en r ou te to the track or wherever. Our rack has gone about three months and looks and works like new . Miura Bultaco International, Ltd. has started to market a bunch of competition-oriented products under the " Miur a" label The name is th at of the Miura district of southwest Spain which is known for breeding the strongest, most courageous figh ting bulls in the country, hence , in the world. Mi ura gloves. Torsten Hallman flip-up visor. 36 The Swedes, and S c andinavians in general, still seem to have everybody else in the world beat in the science of ergonometrics, which is configuring a structural or mechanical apparatus to fi t the needs of the human body and muscles. A sim ple little item like this viso r marketed by To rs ten Hallman, Inc. is a prime example. It is lo ng eno ugh so th at w hen you dip yo ur head, it will catch mud and ro cks th rown up fr o m a race course but yo u can st ill see out fro m unde r iL The side flanges provide lateral p rotection , n ot much but more than an y o th er , from the same fly ing objects. It is also thick and no t prone to crack or break. The viso r doesn't rattle around on your helmet snaps. The trick fo re most supplier for most o f th e compe tition equipmen t used in Euro pe (in close co mpe ti ti on with Halvarsson Bro th ers, whi ch d oes a lot of th e "Torsten Hallman " per son al gear ). The quali ty of Spanish leather is reknowned in song an d story an d, at least in the Clice-bu ilt gea r, it holds true. Top -grad e skin. th e leath ers are incredibly ligh t in weight. It's like p icking up a pair o f jeans. The lea th er it self is thin bu t, in an unplanned crash and slide test. provided excellen t protection . The h ip padding is in th e right place. Th e lin ing is an ope n mesh ny lon , som ething like a fine-weave door screen, and it breath es. All fast en ers excep t th e fron t zipper are Velc ro, wh ich is incredibly handy on the legs where regular zip pers ge t all sweaty, gritty , and green and won't open or close after a few wearings without liberal application of WD-40 . The plastic kneecaps are contained in little Vel cro-fastened po ckets. They are positioned well, work a lot better than it feels like they should when you first put t he m on, and look like they're made out of old Pursang fenders . Just like the shin guards. Miura leathe rs wo uld see m to be the cool se t-up fo r hot cli ma te or summer rid ing. You real ly can notice a difference as you lose less fluid an d build up less heat. Leath ers. OK. OK ; everybody does lea thers but these are jus t different en ough to concern ourselves with. They are made by Clice in Barcelona , known as th e Also by Clice , are more superb examples of Spanish leatherworking talent. The glove leath er itsel f is incredibly soft and flexible. There 's no way these will cramp your hands, even when new, yet they can be bought to fit tightly enough so the palms and inside of the fingers won't wrinkle, causing blisters. They feel like surgical rubber gloves 10 put on, with a wris t closure that remains tight enough after ex tended use to keep dirt and sand out should you ever, uh, lose your balance. The sti tching is all on th e o utside an d about tw ice as good as seen on most any o ther glove. In mos t o ther resp ects th ey 're just ave rage . Th e rubber knuckle bumpers on the back s o f th e hands will tear off as soo n or as late as most any o th er glo ve of simil ar d esign an d th ey will st ain y our swe at y little m ano. Since t hey co me in re d , int ernational o range (Ho tchal] , black, an d some other col ors, tha t mean s you will have hands of t he co rres po ndi ng color after the first moto, Since th e dye eventually washes off your hands, the gloves eventually might stop leaking dye when wet but the y haven't yet. Light we ight and co m fo rt is unsurpassed by anything tried so far . We hear the new Jofa gloves, imported by JT Racing, are good but that 's only what we hear. Haven't used 'em. Yellowstone gloves. Two years ago, we wouldn't have written about Miura gloves, even if they had been available in this country, because the tan rough-out Yellowstone gloves were the only way to fly in balmy climes. They were silky-smooth inside, retarded the attack of dread subcutaneous edema (" b listeritis" to most of us ) and with the raunchy rough-out, ran co o ler than most. The rubbe r strips didn't tear off and the gloves lasted longer than you did. usually. Unfortunately, the thread, the quality control , o r something, have gone all to hell even as the price has increased b y ab out 5 0 % in most shops. Yellowstone gloves now sh o w a disconcerting tenden cy to come apart at the seams . If you had a bitchin' old pair (like we did) and went to bu y a bitchin' new pair (like we did), you stan d a serio us chance of being disappointed (like we were). Th is is co n firmed by the ex p erience o f o the r former Yellowstone glove freaks. We asked arou nd . JOFA sho ulder pads "Why shoulder pads in th e firs t place ?" some of th e y ounge r, green-boned types migh t ask . They sho u ld ask Hakan Andersson, Jim Pom eroy , Brad Lack ey, et al. (A I? Who's he?) Besides, we 're tir ed of separa te d shou lde rs . Even if so m e of us h aven't had th em ye t, th e rest of us have. J O FA A B makes a number of differen t types of sh oulder pads , bu t t hey break down basically into : I ) T he old type and, 2 ) The new type. The old type has a scapular area of quilted fabri c padding, with plastic shoulder and upper arm shields attached to more padding fabric. They extend down to Just over the nipples in front and adjust via two elastic straps un der t he armpits and laces t hrough leather in the fro nt and back. They wo rk. If yo u land on yo ur poin ty little shou lder in a get-off', they can save yo u fro m severe pain and dis location . The older type is also very comfortable. After the first time you've worn them, you forget you have them on unless you have the misfortune to unload at speed. Then you'll usually be happy you remembered to buy them. T hey run between $30 and $40, which is cheap er than a trip to the emergency room and hurts a lot less. Some riders who do desert and motocross racing, those around here incl ude d, felt naked without them by n ow. The new type has the plastic shoulder and upper arm shields riveted to a slightly padded, soft plastic material, which is slick, therefore easier to clean, but doesn't feel as good next to your skin. It feels kind of slimy when you sweat. They also have a long front section which rea ches almost to the waist and obviates the need for an external chest protector. There are additional plastic shields over the front and rear-scapular areas which could keep a footpeg from go uging your sho ulder blade. But this m odel of JOFA is not as comfortable as th e "old style" and the long, rigid fron t piece ten ds to push against the throat whe n riding with it lace d up all nice and snug. That "seco nd ski n" feel ing of th e older ty pe is missin g but th ey do offer more pr o te cti on, basically be cause there's more body ar ea co vere d with hard pla stic sh ields. The ne w ty pe still adjusts with elast ic stra ps under the arms but has tw o lace- up areas in fro nt in addi tion to th e on e in ba ck . The bottom lace-up hole pulled o u t on ours, which would seem to ind icate there is more stress at the bottom of this longish chest

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