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/125878
John ~layer Norton first impression: Wonder bike or white elephant? Pretty is as pretty c oes - Barney Tillman bends his new showr oom JPN through a climbing tu rn on a European-type road . By Lane Campbell The J ohn Play er Norton was conceived by its makers as a styling exercise that would sell, and as such the enthusiast rider co uld almost pass it off, going on to build or acquire a more conventional cafe racer. However, it 's a bit more, and -although one brief riding experience can't begin to plumb its pe rsonality, let's call the J PN a fresh attempt to define the Gran Turismo motorcycle. Basically , it's an 850 Co mmando (a respected ground-eater in its own righ t) wit h the J PN goodies slipped around it. Net effect: It gains about 50 pounds, becomes more streamlined, puts the rider in the traditional racing crouch and adds a headlight. The right rear-set peg fo lds back for starting. Like any 850 Norton, it's a one-kick starter if you 're strong, three ineffective grunts and a kick if you're not. The foot controls are as direct as stock: The cable operated rear brake is reloca ted with no added linkage, and the shift lever is simply reversed, making the shift sequence down-far-first. " he machine we rode had but 50 miles on it and was still tight . It took muscle to shift and required some discipline with the throttle. In spite of that, it was an easy 100 MPH motorcycle when tight. It's likely to be an easy 120 MPH machine when worn in. The JPN draws you down to it and is, as cafe racers go, fairly comfortable and easy to get to terms with. It's as stab le as Swiss currency, yet lays over easily with little mo re than the idea in the rider's mind necessary to point its head. It goes exactly where you point it, so readily t hat yo u'll bend into a corner tighter than you in tended at first. Once pointed , it holds a chosen line until you will it to do o t herwise. It's a fair ly heavy ch unk (hence its stability) with a relatively low center of gravity (hence th e ease of layo ver ). T he d eep er you go with it, t he more it favors th e knee-ou t style. Since the sidestand will ground on the left, an d possibly th e pipe on th e righ t , you 'll wan t to hang off at times, especially if you are physically small. Your feet seem quite lo w , which adds to the feeling of limited ground clearance. The full, over-the-hands fairing is easy to tu ck -in behind, and a joy to ride with when wicked out in top gear, but there's a hidden danger to this type of fairing that got to the bike's owner twice. If for any reason a clip-on should loosen on a fork stanchion and rotate forward, it will jam against the inside of the fairing in a tight turn. The bike's owner got himself spit off twice when the throttle side did this while negotiating a V-turn. Word to the wise an' all that: keep 'em tigh t. Sty led to build a str ong buyer identity with the factory racers - how British can you get? It could be dark green . .. 22 Though the in tegral tank/fairing mold ing is a fresh so rt of gimmick, the bike's no t all styli ng. Inside that high , bul ky tail is a cav ernous (for a ca fe racer) luggage box with roo m fo r tools , boo ks, roll ed up jac ket, pro bably a lun ch buc ket, map s and glov es, too. Th ough we had n o chance to ride at nigh t , the dual lighting has to be an improvem ent over cu rre nt bikes, even if it does look we ird at first. The unp recedented luggage trun k, co mbined wi th the extra lighting, ca rry th e J PN a step p ast th e "cafe racer" concept to wa rds a true Gran T urisrno motorcycle - a machine for getting a solo rider and some baggage from here to there fast, safely and in style, night or day, over European-style roads. Havi ng toured Europe and go ne the "GT" rou te with cars , we can safely cal l the John Play er Norton a step in the right direction. Evidently, the stateside dealers m ust agree, as they have bought up the entire first production run. _ Better-than -average toolkit and owne rs manu al are but a drop in th e bucket. leaving roo m in that tru nk for sam e really imaginat ive pack ing. Prepping the GG Mile: It ain't easy Because of the Antioc h River bo tto m sand that was used to bui ld a better horse track at the location of the Bay Area's Golden Gate Mile, producer Mike Goodwin of the Superb owl and L&M's Supermile National September 29th is having nightmares. The desirable (fo r horse hooves) sand is so porous it drinks water up faster than one truck can put it on. Two water truc ks began watering two weeks pri or to the race from sunup to midnight every day. T rac k prep begins with the top two feet of dirt being bla de d to the side , " all th e way down to old auto bodies an d bedsprings" co mmented Frank Blad o, who also wo rked the track in '73 . Then th e wat ering begins with the dirt moved back o n gradually in three inch she ets and packed wit h a five ton roll er . Some materi al is left o ff the inside of the co mers to maintain a sligh t incline an d a di rt berm along the inside co rne r fences kee p s rid ers fro m ca tc hi ng th eir sho ulders under the ra il a t 90 MPH. Before race day nearl y 1,00 0,0 00 gallo ns of wa ter will have gone o n the track, t hree times that whi ch wo uld ha ve to be use d if che micals were pe rmitted: They aren't. During practice riders will "burn" the track in by riding wid er than usual around tires that are gradually moved into the fence as the track glazes. Between heats 20 fat ti red vans stand by for m ore wheel pac king while a flagman signals two water trucks, one wooden float drag tr uck an d a powerful steel drag truck used to cu t down any grooves, onto th e t ra ck as soon as the ri ders lea ve. This j o b takes nine minu tes and then the next even t starts. A blade also stands by in case chunking occurs. The regular seats are in flation fighter specials also wit h boxes an d V. I.P. theatre ty pe reserved seats at $9 instead of th e usual $1 0 an d Gen eral Ad missio n on ly $7 .50. Children are half price exc ept Turf Club and boxes. Sin ce th e track is centrally located in the Bay Area on highw ay 80 in Albany it's pe rfe ct for a day of racing an d even if yo u are fro m So u thern Califo rn ia it is only 10 minutes fro m th e Oakland Airport with frequent service so it sho uld be wo rth flying up for th e, d ay to see th e "Magic Mile. " The Ho liday Inn in Em er yvill e is Race Headq uar te rs. Tickets at T icketron statewide o r by mail order to MediaMax, Inc. , P.O . Box 41407 , Sacramento, CA 9584 1. For information call (9 I 6) 482·RACE or (415) 625-3020. Newest member of the Bonneville 200 ~IP~1 Club is Dave Campos, of Albuquerque, N.M., who rode his double-engined Harley . August 21 to a 208.450 ~ IPII record in APS-AG-3000. Two days later, he switched to fuel and set an APS-AF-3000 mark of 231.597 :-'IPII. Check the special Goodyears.