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/126006
; IIIlI II: ~ t l!') rO"l .....-I By Larry Langley O"l I first learned of the Gaspring S when I called Earl Reinoehl of .... 0.. Moto-Cross Brake Service In en Stanton. Earl men tioned th at he l-< il) .0 il) il) , was in the midst of track testing the unit and m aking recommen dati ons to the fac tory for possible improvemen ts. take into accoun t rider wei gh t and /or tr ac k co nd iti ons . The s e cr e t of th e Gasp ring's operation is a ne opren e air slee ve wh ich is sealed at t he top and bottom wi th a p rotec ti ve m etal co ver whi ch fi ts over th e sle eve. Th e slee ve roll s up a nd down on th e shoc k like a sh ir t slee ve rolls up an d do wn. Bein g an air filled u nit h as its disadvantages in th at it can le a k and co llapse. Ho wever, if the Gaspri ng is prope rly installed there is little ch ance of leakin g u nl ess damaged in a crash . The whole kit weighs co nsider a b ly less th an a co il spring whi ch redu ces u n sprung weight. The kit co m es with a nylon fi ttings and balance lines which feed in to " a pressure gauge that is mounted on th e bi ke. Earl feels this is unnecessary and it provid es more op por tu ni tie s for lea kage. Instead Earl in stalls valve stems in each sh o ck. There is pro and con on this setup . It 's just about impossible to ge t th e air pressure ex actly th e same in ea ch shock. Earl fe els th is isn't as crit ical as it sounds as m ost shock/spring combin ati ons do n' t come close to m at ch in g each other's perform an ce an yway . T he G a s p r in g is c o m p l e t e ly r e b u ilda ble an d Moto-Cros s Bra ke Service is carrying a comple te stock of spare parts. Right no w they have kits t o fit Konis, Boges a nd Bilstein and a kit fo r th e Yam aha Me n-shocker is about re ady. Earl in stalled Gasp rin gs o n m y Boges and I will be trying the m o ut in t h e n ear fu tu re for a co mplete evalua tion. • At fir st glance the in st all ed Reeder Gaspring lo oks like a gas sh o ck, bu t it is not. The uni t repl aces th e co il spring on K oni 's, Bo ge 's or Bilsteins. Why b o t he r ? Reede r cl a im s defin ite adva ntages. The biggest is the progressive rate the Gaspring p rovid es over a straigh t wound spring. For ex ample, a 100 po u nd spring takes 10 0 pounds o f com p ression t o m ove the sp ring one inch , 200 p ounds to compre ss it two in ch es an d so on . The R ee der Gaspring provides a true progressive rate of compres sion which allows a much so fte r ri de , an d then firms up for th e last in ch or so . It 's th e same principle that progressive ra te springs su ch as 90/120 try to provide but do not really do so. Another advantage of the Gaspring is the rider can dial in more o r less air pressure to , The complete set-up on a small XL Honda. getting th e full-compression test. Product evaluation R eeder, In c. 196 Vict or A venu e Detr oit, MI 48 20 3 Moto -Cross Brake Service 7545 In dustrial Way Stan ton, CA 906 80 ( 714) 897-9986 i· BUSTLER PLASTIC GAS TANKS By Jeff Peck The pieces. and how th ey assemble on your shock body. Chart at lower left shows progressive rate. II l/I lA V .....- v......... a z ::J o "- V "7 V l.--'" > 'c" ...J Z S > a: a: - <{ ...J > III SHOCK TRAV EL. l/I 38 e- COiL S PRING • GASPR ING a fa 1: "- '------------------' IIustl er gas ta nks are available in two d ifferen t sizes, a 1.5 gallon MX ta n k and a 3.5 gallo n Hare and Ho un d ta nk. Bot h m odel s are easy t o m oun t with the universal mountin g kits and fit all bikes includi ng the Mo noshockers , ,Un like previous tanks which mount with only one bolt, the Hustl er tan k is a ti ght fit with no sid e to side wobble to cause stress and breakage . The precedure fo r m oun t in g takes ro ugh ly 20 m in u tes and the mounting kit co m es with al l the screws and nuts that you will need. They even th row in some padding to keep the tank fro m ru bbi n g o n the frame. Be sure to cu t o ff any ex cess bo lt that is sticking up af te r th e tank is tigh tened. Helmet IIo use sells two different caps which fit th e Hustler tanks, o ne is manufactured b y Presto n Petty and the othe r b y Malcolm Smith . Both work very well, although t he Mal co lm Smi th cap ca me apart. The MX tank is very slim and t ho ugh it is modeled afte r the Honda t an ks it is not quite as wid e and m ak es up for the di ffe rence b y being a bi t deeper. As fo r th e Ha re and Hound, it is the ba sic skin ny fa t des ign an d does fo rce yo u r legs out t o th e side wh en yo u slide up on th e ta nk. Both ta nks co me st ock with a two year guara n tee, and you have a choice of red, white , blue, yellow , orang e and silver . Sorry, no m agen ta. Pri ce s for th e two tan ks are $2 9. 9 5 fo r th e MX model and $39.95 fo r the Hare and Ho und. Accessories such as cap pe tcocks and mo unting kit not incl ud ed. Hus tler prod ucts are available fro m Hel m e t House, In c., 21 15 Colora do Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 9 04 04.