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/126253
PIIIUCT EVALUATIIIIS Bell Motostar Helmet By Dale Brown B ell's Mo t o s t a r fu llcoverage hel me t has been IlU t for over a year no w a n d I've hael mi n e- fo r a little o ve r a y,'ar. It's held up q uit " w" 11 during that ti me with t he ex ...·ption of th e r ub be r masking around the fa.... op,'ning- k-t ring go arou nd the sides. Then- is no rea l not icea ble - whi lst we; lrinK it - d iffe rence in w("i~ht be t ween the Mo tost ar and th e regu lar so your first swa llow doesn't contain several grams of grit. It is has a ny 'd rawba ck, it 's lim ited capacity (about a pi nt). H owever , you really don't want much m ore weig ht slapping about on your belt wh ile tryi ng to go fas t , so m aybe th is size is the best compromise . O ne o f t he q uic kest c u res fo r blurring vision , crus hing fa tigue and incipient cras hi ng can be a healthy slug of wa te r. W ouldn't want to g-o to th e desert (or the woo ds) without it. T h e water hot t le outfit is m a nufact ured for Malcolm by Back Cou nt ry Mounta in Sports , a n d is avail a ble throug-h you r d ea ler . recorder inside the rider's lea thers, th e equipment allows real -t im e recordi ngs of the rider's th oughts o n the tra ck . T h is is how they got Ga ry Scott 's in nerhelmet musings d uring " All Ameri can Ra ce" , Peter St a rr 's rationa le for a ll the ex tra effort: " W hen yo u intervie w someone, his m in d works d ifferently th a n when he's got that sucker between his legs ." , Fo r more in fo , co nt a c t Peter wh erever you can find him - which is ofte n at premiere race m ee ts anywhere there's a film to be-m ade . Goo d show , Pet e. • opr-n -Fa ce-, Bell helm et. Visibi lit y is o n ly slig htly im paired . Once brok en in , t he lu -lrm-t is qu ite co mfort ab le, Suzuki quick sea l t ire sealer/inflater By John Ulrich his produc t is a fin e exa m ple of a goo d idea t hat sometimes works, some ti mes do e sn ' t. We've m anaged 10 blo w up two ca ns of this 'stuff by duct -taping it to various parts of -a n enduro bike. One can exploded ' ( a c t u a ll y , it d idn ' t " exp lod e ," bu t the co nte nts di d sq ui rt o ut quickl y) ove r th e whoo p-dee-des a t an end uro ncar Red Mounta in , CA , permanently stai ni ng th e sea t and rear fender of a famed DKW , T he other ca n ca m e a pa rt just two wee ks ag o while stra p pe d to th e handleb a rs of a TT500 in a fami ly end uro . W,' were able to ca rry a ca n of th is stuff on a street bike for a yea r without it com ing a pa rt, but the one tim e we needed it , t he can ba rel y put e no ugh air a nd sea ler into t he rea r tire of th e 750cc m achine to ge t us 10 a gas station . W e lost a ir co nsta nt ly on the ride halfwa y hom e , sto p p ing a t gas stat io ns for ai r refills o n the wa y. Let us put it t his wa y. If you 're out in th e boonies with a flat , p utti ng a ca n of this stu ff in yo ur ti re m ay a llow you 10 ride slowly back to civ iliza tion wit ho ut re placin g the tu be , if a ll goes wel l. On th e o ther hand , d on 't co unt , on goi ng too far too fas t on a Quick Seal ed tire , Maybe two cans wou ld work be tter . T his product is not re co m mended fo r off-roa d use , a nd co nd it ion a lly recom mended for nervous ro ad riders who do n't kn ow how to use ti re irons, don't carry a spa re tu be , o r do n't want to ge t th eir h a nds d irty . tempora rily, , O ne bo thersome Ih ing is th e ran ling o f tlu- d u.. khill viso r Bell su p plies wit h t lu- Mot ost a r . D un ta pe is lle Cl'ss ilTy to avo id b('i n~ driven to d istraction . Od d ly en ou gh , accessory visors that I tried ne ver ratt led a t a ll. Goggles are not diffic ult to put on with the duckbill stvle visor o r and anv of the short visors . I;ut it ca n be a hitd, will, a H all m a n -typ e visor. Goggles must be coated with some son of anti fogg-i ng chemical , especially if it is co ld. because rhe mo urh gu a rd d eflects your breat h vertically. Many riders haw drilled vents in the rnouthguard to imp rove ven tilation . That mo u thguard has been a life saver on more than one occasion , Without it I could have had mv teeth sandb lasted by fo llowing- 650 T ri umph twins and Ya m aha -r r 500, down sa nd v roads . The rou nded front of the mourhguard is a pe rfect plan' filC a CZ or w ha teve-r srick u-, - The pa int has hel d u p very well , with o nlv a few sc ra rchrna rks inc u rred in a 60 mph e-nd o . Cron us 3 Dig ita l St opw atch The "Belle Sta rr " Camera Helmet By Lane Campbell T ha t's in a na m e? In this cas e, the Belle Starr is a Bell Star - with em bel lishments, Developed by fil m a ker Pet er Sta rr (Bad Rock Portra it of a Cham pion , All Am erican Ra ce , etc .) fo r on tra ck camera work at speed , Malcolm Sm it h 'w at er bottle B eing a real fanatic on avo iding dehyd ra tio n, we fo u nd Malcolm Smith's litt le wa ter bottle to be just wh a t we need ed . Noth ing trick , it 's yo u r st anda rd -issue backpa cker's clea r p last ic wa terbcule tu ck ed into a sto ut n ylon belt -h a nger . It has a tight p lasti c sto p pe r sn ugged do wn by a screw -on ca p, a nd bot h a rc a ttached to t he bo ttle by a pl ast ic sec uri ty tic so th ey won' t gct away. T he "bel t -and suspe-nders" d oub le cap ap proac h keep s the bo u le m outh ni ce and clean th e h elm et us es a irc ra ft g u n ca meras and l or counterbal an ce weights bolt ed to breakaway m ount turrets. The ride r ca n mount one ca mera with a co u nterbalance to m in im ize neck stra in, or he ca n m ount two , fo r a simultaneo us for e-and -a ft look at t he su rro unding race r tra ffic . . Ea ch ca mera (a wa r su r p lus item simi la r to t he on es tha t brin g yo u th e good pa rts of " Ba a, Ba a , Bla ck Sheep") weighs j ust over four po unds a nd shoo ts a t th ree pre -ser ra bl e sp eeds. Power comes from a 24V NiCad battery th at m o unts to t he bik e . If th e rider sho u ld unload , a ll ca b le connectors break away clean. If he sho u ld la nd on his head, th e ca m e ra turret s will com e away , a lso; th ey a re designed fo r low-loa d br ea kaw a y to pr cvent neck -wrenching .loads. T b,' ge nera l id ea is to re ta in th e p ron-crive capabilities of th e helmet in sp ite of the extra eq ui p ment - a tall order. When used in -sync with a lip m ike taped ins ide t he hel met an d a mi ni - By John Ulrich hen you.read th e litera tu re su p plied with this , solid -sta te, elect ronic , durab le , 5-o unce, ac- W cura te 10 0. 002 % C ro n us Stopwatch, it is casy to mi ss th e one important , ove rri d ing- featu re : th is sto pwa tch t ime co nsecu ti ve laps with easy- tos read accuracy. It used 10 be th at yo u ne ed ed two o r m ore m ec hanical sto pwatches to tim e co nsecu ti ve la ps at a ra ce . Wi th this ' lillie ligh tweight elec t ro nic bea uty, you g-l't mo re accuracy with less hassle. W e we re a ble to t..ach a wife with no stopwa tc h ex perience 10 reco rd accu ra te la p ti mes in a m ailer of m inu tes. It works lik e th is: Switch o n t he Cronus 3-T. At th e sta rt of th e tim ed lap , pu sh th e feath er -touch but to n (o n to p of the watch ) tow a rd yo u . That sta rts t he ti m ing. At th e end of th e la 1', pus h th e button aga in, and o bserve the la p t im e in a n easy-re ad d igit a l dis p lay. A fter wri ting- down th e lap tim e , push t he d isp lay but ton. a nd the second la p, whi ch the C ro n us 3-T srartcd tim ing when th e fir st lap was sto p pe d, will a ppear on th e d ig-ita l dis play . You never miss a la p . and t he 3-T comes wit h ba ttery a nd ca rryi ng st ra p . It retai ls fo r $54 .95 fro m Tom H avner Race r ' Su pp ly, 5644 Belling-ham , No rt h Ho llvwood , C A 9 1607 . Ca ll (2 13) i 62-7742 b..fo re 8;00 a. m . or afte r 6 ;00 p .m. 17