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/126402
most. There's no way you can ride cross-co untry without a throttle! Some riders not carrying' an extra throttle cable have made it back by rigging up the front brake lever to do the job. but having a replacement is simpler and lets you continue riding the event. H the clutch or front brake cables break. or if the levers are busted in a fall; it 's pretty easy to get along without them if you have to . Your riding is affected because you 've lost a lot of the control you depend on to negotiate to ugh sections without losing time. With no clutch you can't slip it to keep the engine alive when it 's about to stall. and downhills can be more difficult when you can't let the rear wheel roll free at times. And more than half of your braking power is lost without the front to help. So you may think it's good insurance to at least have the extra cables along. Loss of the .rea r brake happens occasionally. too , and it really slows you u p in tight going. You can avoid breaking the lever (and the shift lever , too) by using brush cables or folding levers, but t hat's not a ll that can happen. H the brake ac tuating arm loosens and strips the splines like it did on an MZ I saw after it dropped out of a 100-mile run in the Midwest. you can .tighten it up . but it'll probably start. slipping right away. at least so it's way out of adjustment. The same thing can ha ppen to the shift lever , but breaking it is more common . When that happens . the value of the vise-grips you 've got with you is apparent. Just clamp them on the stub end of the lever and continue riding like enduro riders in the same situation have been doing for years. Just remember to use tape or a big rubber band to keep the vise-grips from opening. Another trick that's been tried successfully is to use the clamp fr om the end of an a utomobile battery cable to form a new end, temporarily, for a shift lever that lost less t ha n half its origi n al length. You can still shift bec ause the clamp gives you something to flick with your foot. It just takes more p ress~ re . .• fI2 ~ • • .J '. Da ~ t 0") tO") ....... ....... CN ...c:: U l-o ro .~ Start young rid ers of f on the righ t track with Griffs bays sizes (waists 22 to 27' ). Includes GP kneecups with Ensoli te shin guard. . Griffs R acingJacket Official I.S.0J. Style Here's high visibili ty and max imum protection in any weather. Made to AMA specs for the Six-Day Team. Bright, bold , solid colors available with USA and fl ag identification or Yamaha , Suzuki and Hond a names. Tougher Griffs Surpass Leather in Strength and Heat Resistance These are the MX pant s made of Barrier Cloth"":' five times more resistant to abras ion than leather. New inner knee sections of Gr ifflar 4348 far surpass strength of prev ious materials with heat resi stance up to 800 0 F. Adjustable snap-out Ensolite hip pads, full stretch lin ing, machine washable and mach ine dryable here 's all the taatures demanded by America's top pro riders. Go A ll The Way Wit h New Griff. SuperStars "Look for me only on America's finest . race The spectacular new achievement wear .. in MX pants - Gri fls SuperStars . featu re special styling, large knee sections of super-strong heat-resistant Gr iffl ar 4348 and stretch boot stirrups. ,/ Flexible , hinged one-piec e knee-cup and shin guard made of impact-resistant plastic backed by shock-a bsorbing Enso li te. It's standard on all Men's Griffs and Grif fs Sup erStars. W heels. tires and suspensi on . Unless you're in the same league with Carl Cranke and the other Six Da ys riders who ca n consistently change a tire in about three minutes, sometimes less, you'd probab ly prefer to avoid having to try , That's why a lot of enduro regulars carry a can of Cycle Spare or one of the other similar products. When you get a flat just attach the hose and the tire is pumped up and usually sealed at the same time if the hole in the tube is on e-eighth inch or less. It saves all the hassle of removing the wheel and wrestling with the tire, and if it works it gets you on the trail again fast. There are tires like the Barum Six Days that have reinforced sidewalls so you can . ride them flat , b ut they're stiffer and may give less traction, and they're hard to get on and off the rim because of. the . extra rubber. For these reasons there a re not as many of them in use in enduro as you might think . .If you don't use such a tire. and you haven't packed a can of Cycle Spare in 'your tool bag. then ride the flat. It it starts to slip ~n the rim, lash it in place with wire wrapped around the rim and tire at several places , m a king su re the wire goes between the tread , knobs. O n • smooth gro und, the faster you go the be tter the tire will hold its norma l shape, making it easier to ride. If you ben d a wheel you may have to quit riding u nless you can stra igh ten it a little yourself in the fie ld . The first rider in at the IS O- mile Lon esome Pin e Nationa l one year had a front wheel th a t didn't look like it would m ake it around the b lock, b ut 'it he lped t his b ik e finish a d iffi cult 'en d u ro . " A lost a xle n u t sh'o u ldn 't THE FASTEST GUYS ARE IN OUR PANTS GRIFFS SU PERSTAR PANTS , $115; GRIFFS MX PANTS , $94.95; GRIFFS TEEN BOYS , $74.95; GRIFFS BOYS, $64.95; Men's Sizes, XX S 127 ·2B), 35-361 XL 137 , ·38); Teen Boy Sizes, M 124 ·251. L 126 ·271 Boys Sizes. S 121 -221. M 123 ; ·241; Colors Yellow/Red, XS 129 -30), S 131 ·321, M 133·341. L 1 Yellow/Black , Red/Blue . Yellow/Blu e. Blue/Blue . Red/Red. GRIFFS I.S.D.T. JACKET · $80 Honda , Yamaha , Suzuki, U.S.A ., or other team names , $5. Colors : Red, Blue. Black . Sizes: XS 135-371, S 138-40 M 141 ·43 ), L 1 ), 44-471, XL 148 ·50). Avai labl e t hro ug h dealer" or call collect 1 2031 335·0721. FOREIGN DISTRIBUTORS Griffin Visa-Therm Bridg eport . Ct . 06604 (203) 335-072 1 Iron Horse Motorcycle Supply Bellaire, T x. 77401 17 665-4321 131 Wynns Racing Pro d uc t s N. Litt le Roc k, Ar. 721 14 1501 1771-1077 Rebel Enterprises Clearwater. FI. 33520 (813) 547·3288 Steve Stackable Ultralite Products Spicewood, T x. 78669 1 5121264·1488 Jim O'Neal Distributing Reseda, Ca. 91335 18001423-5002or 1 2131344·5175 lOP Waukegan, III. 60085 (312) 336-0032 Maico Motorcycles Suffolk. Va. 23434 1 6041934-2305 Holeshot Johannesburg, Sout h Afr ica A nswer Prod uct s Canoga Park, Ca. 91303 12131 340-10B3 Champio n Enterprises Troy . M i. 48098 1313 683-2770 ) DI -J er International Sarn ia, Ontario. Canada Yellows Eq uip m ent Sweden 1 5191336-4201 D & G Perfor m an ce Sp ec ia ltie s Anaheim, Ca. 92806 (714) 630-5471 p .D .a. Pe rfo rm an ce Produ cts Windham. Oh. 44288 1216 326-2553 ) Stee n H ansen Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 1403 435-4423 ) GRIF FS DI STRI BUTORS · So lex , LTD Sant iago, Chile US Products B.V. W aaire. Holland M ot o·Parts lTD. San Jose , Costa Rica Ve nemotos Caracas , Venezuela Griffin Visa- Therm, P.O. Box 486, Bridgeport, Ct. 06604 DIRT MAGlET ~~~~ Goin' back to Houston! PARTS WASHERS Dual Fi l tr at ion Fl uor escent l igh t With.f ull coverage of the Mr. PiSS Supercross- Next Week! , r · 29