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/125891
~ f r- In an effort to give the privateer a shot at a "works" calibre suspension, South Bay Motorcycles, Redondo Beach, California, has developed this nearly un iversal hydro -pneumatic rear suspensio n system, (at left l. Said 'to be ada ptable to anything from a street b ike to a tri alster, the unit's travel is 50% of the extended strut length , and it may be mounted stock or moved -up . The remo te air accumulator/va lving un it (shown atop fended can be mounted anyw here on the bi ke, and is adjustable for both effectiv e " $pfing rate " and damping rate . tt: can be tailored to suit any bike in the 150 to 500 pound range. Above is a 1972 black-frame CZ updated to factory GP specs in at least respects. U sing jigs developed at the factory , South Bay can re-shape the front downtube and relocate the exhaust port to the center-port conf igurat ion typical of the late wor ks mach inery . The trick wor ks for the red-frame CZ , too - d ifferent two CMC at Carlsbad "What is this Flanks? Who is this ClofH" By Johr. l;ethea CARLSBAD , CAL., DEC. 8 10 When To mmy Cro ft's bik e broke down lat e in the first 125 Pro mota after leading most of th e event, th e Yamaha mech an ics wh o wer e at th e track aiding Yosh ifumi Sugio scurried over to the Cro ft pits and began inspecting th;; fast Franks machine. They '::;;r\: _ amazed that a lo cal u!'S.eard-of on the Trans·AMA circ uit was blowing them off by a co m p le te length of the downhill o n th e Carl sbad Raceway GP course. "They must have taken a hundred photo s," beamed Kelvin Fran ks. Tommy's sp onsor. " I d on 't think they 've ever seen a monoshock th at wasn't theirs! Little did the Japanese kno w th at t his was th e same Croft wh o the week the Trans-AM A fin ale a t be fore Saddl eb aek passed Gerrit Wolsin k a~ •. It Croft (17 ) hangs in on 125 Ex. start. jigset, same basic idea. The sunburst head is a South Bay good ie, too . A larger view of that same 1972 CZ (below), showing South Bay's own expansion chamber and swi ngarm mods. They call their shock loca tion conservativ e, designed to add rear travel wh ile min imizing heat build-up and wear problems associated with more rad ical set-ups. The pipe is o ne of many - they'll build any th ing for any bike , given the rider's requ irements and port ing specs. SUPPLIER: South Bay Motorcycles, 200 1 Artesia BI\d., Redondo Beach, Calif. 9027B. (213) 379-1083,379-3344 or 772 ·1647 . Hydro-pneumatic (air/oil) rear susce nsic n Price Expansion Chambe r (mail order ) Swingarm mod ifica ti on GP Frame mod if icat ion for center-port cy linder Center exh aust port cyl inder modification TBA $65 $30 $95 $160 plus old cyl. Saddleback in a Saturday "practice race. " And , yes, Croft was on this same 125cc Honda powered mach ine while Wolsink was on a 500cc. But with all that power so mething had to give , and the long-haired San Diego rider dropped o ut of the mo to , In the second round Croft again jumped to th e lead and astonished the Japanese Yamah a crews again. However, this time ou t his lead was sec u re only for four tours of the dusty Carlsbad track and then Croft pulled out. In ea ch moto, Sugio, on a factory Yamaha, then spurted into the lea d and ended the race with a win, thus giving him the over all. Bruce McDougal grab b ed • two I ' " seconds ,. for second OA , " .