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/125983
Chic apparel Suspendabies For the discriminating rider. By J eff Peck, Lane Campbell and Charles Clayton. By Jeff Peck 00 The Lame Camel spares th e he lm et and gives his arm th e ultimate test. Th e arm fl unked. LSI/Bon-Aire " Cal-Am" spoiler helmet Works Perfo rmance shocks Bob Ottow gas/oil front forks It is possib le to have forks like the facto ry works bikes; these fo rks are gas ove r o il utilizing no internal sp rings. This kit has been developed by Bob Ottow for Maicos but is applicable to most bikes. The kit contains all th e fittings, seals, taps and drills tha t are needed to comp le te the job. It can be installed by th e average person in abou t an hour, after th e forks are off of the bike, wi th th e most difficult part being the drilling of the h ol es for t he air fittings on the caps an d the holes in the legs fo r the allen screws which hold the seals in . Kits for later model Maicos will probably have new caps provided. As for the forks they have to be in excellent sh ape . The reason for this is if you h ave any big scratches or nicks in th e tubes the air can lea k o ut. After the kit is on t he hike it is recom mended t hat you use boots to protect the forks fro m flyi ng debris . Once the kit is installed and back o n the bike yo u add oi l an d air in relation to how stiff y o u like th e bike to ride , y our own riding ability , and the ro ughness of the co u rse. In p lain figu res th at would he 29 0 to 3 50cc o f 20 we igh t oil and abo u t 30 to 4 5 ps i o f air. The p rice will be under $75, whi ch is very reason able co nsi de ring that you are ge tt ing a facto ry m odification, mu ch be tte r ha nd ling and an adj us table suspension . For more informat ion co ntact Bob Ot tow at 21 00 A lam eda Street , Compt on , CA 90222. (213) 639 -48 06. 8 If you want a lo ng t rav el sus pensio n hut yo u do n 't have the big bucks to pay fo r it, take a look at wh at th e guys over a t Works Perfo rm an ce Products are putting ou t. For the conventionally mounted shocks they have a six in ch travel unit, and for modified frames or late model moved-up suspension they have a fou r inch travel shock. Either of these units will yield seve n inch es of co n trolled travel. With a weight of just th ree pounds 13 o unces, this unit is very ligh t , also very st rong. The h ousing is aluminum an d chro m e-m oly which has been h eat tre ated. To insure that you have a very hard time bending these shock s the shafts are induction hardened chro memoly. The spring is shot-peened chrome -silico ne steel which has been Kat-guard ed, Works Per fo rm ance Products has two spring rates for the shocks, 60 and 100 pounds, so y o u can get t hese units dial ed into your riding sty le. Other than changing spring rates, all we wo uld recommend doing is to replace the ATF with Bel-R ay shock oi l. Out on th e tr ack af te r 4 5 m inutes o f ha rd riding th er e was n o n otice able fade . In fac t you co uld still gra b o n to th e oil coolers. The ride it sel f was very p lush even with 60 pound sp rings and a rid er t ha t is a little on th e he avy side . It is alm ost imp ossible to b otto m these units but if y ou do t here is no loud clunk o r od d m ovem ent fr om the rear end. For eighty dollars we feel the y are a good d eal. Take into consi dera tion t he fact th at th ey ar e com ple te ly rebuildab le and th e p arts a rc availab le at any parts house. For mo re inf orm at io n co n tact, Works Perf orm an ce Pro du ct s, 20 9 70 Kn ap p Street, Chat sw orth, CA 91 311. (2 13) 998 ยท1977. How do you test a helmet? If you 're like most peop le, you're limited to falling on your head an d asking yourse lf if you're st ill here afterwards. Bein g less th an brave, we de cided lon g ago to see whose stan da rds the helmet pass es, th en we ar it fo r a long tim e and try no t to fall o n o ur head (s) . The Ca l-Am spoiler (which you astute cats may recogn ize as something Am erican Eagle st arted to distrib ute befo re going helly-up) passes SHCA, CSA (Canadian ), ANSI Z-90 .1 (19 7 1) and ANS I Z90.1A (197 3) . It was submitted for the Federal D.O .T. certification and failed because (get this) it couldn't take the "thumbnail scratch test." "Whazzat?" you ask . That's the one in whic h they give it to so me ho m y handed baboon to scratch on the "D.O .T. app ro ved " de cal fo r two h ou rs. If the de cal comes off, th e h elm et flunks . Can you dig it? So LS I/Bon-Aire has just inves ted $5000 in a h o t-st amp machin e to permanen tl y mark the polycarbonate shell as we march o nward and upward in the name of safety. As to t he wearing, the helmet is just fine . In fact, it 's the most liveable fu llface helmet our boy has ever worn, and that's co ming from o ne who no rmally h ates fu ll-face helmets. The peripheral vision is fault less, wit h plenty of facescreen are a. The face shield itself is perforated just be low the nose for ventilation. It still fo gs up when you breathe h ard at a st andstill, bu t ge t moving j us t fast en ou gh to get some breeze co ming, an d it cle ars instantly. The helmet sits easily on the he ad , whi ch len ds a feeling of ligh t and airiness to it . The " spoiler lip" o n the shell is a " may be yes, mayb e no " thing as to generating n oticeable downforce. The helmet will lift a t sp eed, if a go od gust ge ts under y our chin . Still, we tend to say m aybe y es , it do es work, after riding upwar ds of 100 mph into the wind with it . At that sp eed, you feel th e wind alright, hut the he lmet tries to flatten yo ur nose wit h the face shield, rath er t han lift . At more moderate speeds it's like sitting in y o ur fami ly sedan. Our o ne majo r gripe - we we re co nstantly having to tighten t he t wo selftapping screws t hat the flip -up face shield pivots on . About once every co uple of days, they work loose an d the sh ield won't stay up when it 's flipped back. Bloody awkward . LS I/Bon-Aire does no t market t he hel mets it m anu factures. Instead, the factory distributes them to largevo lume outlets like Sea rs, Penney 's , '.., W.T: Grant; Ward's, and the like who retail them at $45 and up. Normally y ou don't go into a discount chain store lookin g for a helm et , but if y o u're into c om fo rtable , easy riding, you shoul d try on one of these if you see it. Shoei helmet With more and more people starting to ride motorcycles as an alternate means of transportation it becomes more im p o rta n t to kn ow about good he ad prote ction . There are many tests wh ich set the st andards fo r he lmet safe ty , with th e Dep artme nt of Transportation ju mping in most recen tly . The Shoei helmet is o ne o f th e few helm e ts to pa ss all o f these tests includin g the D.O.T. When you first lo ok at it y ou mi ght say to y ourse lf, "Gad s. th at looks like a Bell St ar . " Th is would be a very intelligent observation on your part. Th e difference is in the const ructio n and th e price. It is a pressu re molded fiberglass unit with a non-resilien t foam inner line r. Both m odels, full face and op en face, h ave 120 degrees of pe ripheral vision so nobody ca n sneak up o n you . As for t he p rice ~he Sh oei is about $10 under the compe tition. I had a chance to do a lit tle cra sh testing with one of the helm e ts in a head to ground con tact and I can test ify to the fac t t hat I did n o t get my brai ns scrambled whe n I went o ver the bars at 40 mph. Available th rough Hel m et Hous 2115 Colorado Aven ue, Santa Monica, CA 904 04 . (213) 8 28- 6405 .