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/125870
pr otector. T he Swe des m ay have bl own the e rgo n o rne tr ics on their new -type J O FA pads . Is n oth in g sac red? ca m e ra. T he banana got squished. O ne staffer had th e stitc hi ng o n th e waist strap tear out. One hasn 't ha d any pro bl em. The pack also keeps anything in it reason abl y m ud an d dust-fre e. It is water-resistant (0 a high degree. some wo uld cal l it w aterproof but we wo n't. We like it fo r enduros an d Baja tr ip s. Trials and trail riders w ould pr obably like it, too. towels, gog gles , etc., etc . Gef the big one for carry ing gear . Ther e is a smaller s ize w hich isn't big . .. e noug h. "Backcountry" se lls st uff down in Buena Park, California but you ' ll see their gear u nder di ffe rent labels all over the Western U.S. The only p roblem is that some St. Bernard tracked crude oil all over o ne of the bags. Mes sy stuff to get o ff. Heckel plastic boots. Carrera goggles. These have long been the standard of the "with it" !\IX set. Mainly, because they are light and since they were designed as ski goggles, they don't fog up . However, they also don't keep out dust very well since the reason they don't tend to fog is that the bottom is open. There are a number of tinted, interchangeable le nses avail ab le which, being plastic, scratch easily the first time you use them. However, you usually won't notice you're wearing the goggles, which is both goo d and bad. Last time we checked, th e y wer e se lling for abou t S 17 for th e preferred m odel 2-S. That's a lot o f m oney for Au strian ski gogg les wit h len ses tha t scra tc h easily. UVEX goggles After almos t three years, it is fairly easy to co m e to the co ncl us ion th at the UV EX go ggles, mainly let o ut through Hercules Distributin g, are good eye protecto rs. They h ave thic k felt p addin g w here they co ntact th e face , which keeps swe at from running in your eyes for longer th an most o ther kinds. They have glass lens es w h ic h do n't scratch b u t do brea k if y o u si t on them . The glass has so me ro ck d ings in it w hich d idn' t sh atter th em, however. They are co mfortable fo r lon g rides bu t some riders have co m pl aine d th at th ey limi t peripheral visi on. UV EX ar e th e be st we'v e en countered for anti-dust maneuvers. They really keep the flying grunge out of yo u r eyebones. We hear fro m so me folks that Scott goggles are as good but we ha ve n ' t encountered those so don't know about that. And they las t , a nd last and las t. T hey we re abo ut S 12 last price chec k but the replace me nt lenses in either clear, smo ke d , or anti-glare ambe r cost about hal f th at. So d on 't b reak th em. UVEX has held up, especially in Baja ridi ng , be tter t han any other ' goggle tried. We've no ticed tha t a fair number of other Baja, enduro , and desert types agre e. Fo gging h as no t b een a big problem for m o tocros s co m peti ti on but there a re other go ggles t hat ar e m ore fog-fre e. Backcountry equipment bag. We bought a co u ple of "Backcountry" duffle bag s to carry all our riding equipment af te r we were disappointed to find the surplus store was out of parachute bags . The "Back co untry" bags als o come in a better sele c tion o f co lo rs. With the parachute bag , you have a ch oi ce o f o live drab, shade 13 or o live dr ab, sh ad e 15. After a ye ar of use, usually two o r thre e times a week, th e ba g is holdin g up perfectly. Th e nyl on du ck has an inn er waterpr oo f coa ting and lots of abrasio n resistance. bett er than co tton du ck. There are handles al l o ver it and i t holds m o re th an we 've eve r had an exc use to put in it. inclucling tw o helmets, a pair o f b o o ts, two sets o f leath ers. gloves, jerse ys, This is ano ther !\Iiura Products import b ut b uilt in Alsace, Eastern France. (In m y opinion , home o f th e be st white win es in Europ e. ) A wear evaluatio n may seem premature since yo u migh t no t even have had th e opport unity to see the pl astic bo ots yet , b ut th e Fea ture Edi t or b ro ught so m e bac k last year fro m the Heckel fa ctory and h as nine months time under his fee t. The origin al es timate th at th ey wo uld last two o r three seasons appe ars to be wrong. Wearing them two d ay s a week. about six ricling hours per da y . they lo o k like they'll last a y ear before the plastic has deteriorated on the inside o f the boot where t he ankle rubs against the kick star te r. sid ecases, fo o tp eg, pipe. or whatever else sti ck s out there. The new aluminum hinges at the ankle have replaced t he nylon ones in tole fir st model s and hav e presen ted no problems - if yo u buy the right size to start with. No break -in is nece ssary. There is co m ple te fore -and-aft fo o t movement fro m th e t ime you put them on . Ther e is no sid e flex in th e foo t o r an kle which is th e who le p oin t : avo id twiste d or broken an kles . They w ork very well to pre vent th a t ty pe of inju ry pl us injury to the foot fro m sto nes or ho les ; even :!le blister or black-and-blue m ar k th a t sometimes occurs fr om shifting IS Denselube superchain Spoke ties By J.D. Ulrich Backcountry fannv-pak. The "Backcountry" mode l is the Iigh test and holds the most o f any of the waist-strap carryin g packs we've seen o r used. It is made of heavy nylon, double-stitched all the way on every seam and has a good zipper that hasn't worn o ut o r broken .even when carrying trail tools, a water bottle and a 35mm _. prevented. The swivel poin ts on the sk i bo ot-type bu c kles need t o be squeezed tighter with so me pli ers or vise grips on ea r lier m odels. Later produc ti on models wer e c hanged at the factory so th e bu c kles won't pop open under im pact. The motocross boot provide s absolutely unexcelled protection. Bo th the foot area, wh ich has roughened areas molded in for sure shifting, and the uppers o f th e bo ot are hard PVC plastic. The enduro boot ha s the same uppers as the :\IX b oo t with a so le whi ch is clea ted a little deeper than the fam iliar Vibram lu gs. There is also a trials/trail riclin g boot whi ch the Feature Ed itor found j ust right for reasonably eas y endures (He' s c hicke n to ride an y m ore reas onab ly hard o nes.) and is so ligh t yo u have t o lo ok to m ake sure th ere ' s someth ing o n yo ur foot. It's like wearing tennis shoe s for co mfo rt. The trial s boot has th e sa m e deep cleated sole a nd hard fo o t area with more flexible plasti c in th e sh in area . abov the sa me as m o st leather :\IX boots. you have a hi gh pipe on you r d' scooter, it will make the Heckel bbl ack where it touches. If yo u choc the black boo ts , you ' ll neve r notice, bu if y o u ch o os e blu e . red. o r yellow , you probabl y will. There is n o bum-through detectable fr om con tac t with the pipe, th ough. If th e " Hec ke l " logo is glued to the fro nt of your boo t rather than sta mp ed in. it mi ght peel c ff afte r a while. The soles are co n to ure d perfectly fo r competit i on rid ing. They don't hang up an d wo r.' t tear off sinc e they are fired rig h t to the p last ic uppers with a lillie heat-firing ·m ach ine. The dude a t the factory must have asbes to s fin gers. It ta kes about 20 seconds to get a Heckel b o ot on or off. mudd y o r not mu dd y. We first lea rned of "Spoke Ties" whe n we saw a very favorable product review of them in Dirt Bike. Im mediately we said the m o st logical thi ng ; nam el y , " Aww , wha t do they know, anyway." It turns o ut they knew , at least in tbis instance. j ust what they were talking abo ut. You see, this too is a very favorab le product eva luation of "Spoke Ties." T hey w ork. " Spoke T ies" are little pieces of wire w it h loops o n each end. Yo u take th is little lo op-en d ed w ire a nd wind it around your spokes at the junction , insert th e hoo k ti p of t his weird to ol th a t comes with them , pu ll, an d twist. Vo ila ! Your spokes ar e ti ed and the wi re b rea ks off, hopefu lly , abou t m id -w ay dow n the tw ist. For $3.50 plu s 50 cen ts p o st age yo u get enough "Sp oke Ties " to do an I S-in ch wheel, a 2 1·inc h wh e el, a n d fo u r boo-boos, on e fancy -dancy twisty tool, and the lit tl e burlap sack th at the ki t co mes in th ro ug h th e m ail. If you're into th e school o f th ought th at ad vocates safet y wiring spokes together where th ey cross to the o re ticall y inc rease strength th rough th e creat ion o f two triangles (t he stronges t sh ape) , t hen thi s would seem to be a good buy . The "Spoke Ti es" k it is pretty cheap, an d works a lot easier and quicker th an just pl ain wire and pliers. Yo u must watch it , though, or else the wir e twist will break off too cl o se to the sp okes. We hope they also offer refill kits of just th e tie s, be cau se you'lI only need one tool. If you have 10 b ikes (like Chuck Clayton) and yo u w ant to safety wire all the wheels, you'll need more ties. However, having only tw o hands you canno t use twelve tools. Then again , maybe you'll want t o de corat e your poolr oom wi th them, or sell them t o the lo cal barrio kids to fight with . Bet ya cou ld do nasty things with those hooks! St. Louis Wire Ti e Manufacturing Company, Department Capt. Hook, 1712 Mackland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, Attention Bozo Biker. Tell ' em Crash , ,sen t ya. ' Anot he r na me for this G rea t Leap Fo rw ar d in motorcycle d rive c hains might be "Never-Lube ". We've been runn in g one for the past 6,000 miles on a Ho nda 500-4 an d have never n eed ed to lube it or adjust it. I t is the only m otorcycle drive chain th at yo u can ap parently jus t fit and fo rge t. T h e tr ic k is in th e little "Dense lu be " ro ller bu sh in gs. These are sin tered m etal units that co ntain lubri can t in little pores between th e par ti cles and p ay it out on demand, Erg o. less wear, no ru st and n o oil ing ne cessary. Additionally, the link plates and pins are hardened a nd pr ess-fi t. Pri ce s are higher than most other rep lacemen t c h a i n s, but Superchain is a bargain in th e mediumDC long-run. For up to 250cc bikes, Superchain is about $30 ; about $40 for big bi kes and nearly 550 fo r Kawasaki Z-I 's. Denselube Su perchain is guaranteed fo r 120 da ys or 4,000 m iles and is marketed by J acwal Corporation. It worked on our tes t bi ke, • 37