Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

sh arpl y to gro u nd th rough th e thin air. a nd th e silence reach es from horizon 10 hor izon. As I look ed a t th e view. th e Yamaha ca me up beh ind me , passed the tu rn o u t, a n d co nti n ued o n . T he drone o f h is exha us t, risin g and fallin g. sou nd ed like a n a ngry insect. The so und fad ed until it was part of the silence. H a ving no th o ught to ca tch the Yamaha . I left th e turn out a nd went on , falling aga in into a n easy rhy th m. Ridin g in th at wa y, ver y quickl y. bu t in co n tro l, brought abo ut a singu lar claritv of m ind. ;\Iv a tte ntion was so focused o n th e road , th a t no th in g , save it, and m y expe rience o f bein g space remai ned for th ere, exis ted. su pe rfluous th ough ts. It was a clea ns in g process. Onl y th e roa d a nd th e bik e see me d real. The miles ro lled a way fro m th e rear tire, and m y th ough ts were qu iet. I reca lled a sma ll din er up a hea d. noticed m y hunger, a nd suddenl y th e bike and road were o fseco nda ry importan ce. T he diner was recessed into a sma ll space bordering th e left side o f th e road. This wa s to be m y last stop befor e taking th e turn-off ba ck to th e city. Parked in a row in front of th e cafe were a bo u t 15 o ther bikes, includin g th e Yam aha . I motored to th e fa r end o f th e row a nd parked . Wh en th e en gine stop ped . th e silence returned. Other bik ers stood o u tside, talking in p ai rs. In sid e, I ordered break fast and sa w th e Yamaha rider ac ro ss th e diner , talkin g to a waitress. I th ought of go in g ove r to say, " H ello ," but reall y had nothing more th an th at to say, a nd decided aga in st it. The wai tress brought bacon a nd eggs . Finishing th e meal, I stood up to go. The Yamaha rider nodded a nd • smiled a t m e. I sm iled back , a nd in that instant I real ized tha t Sundav morni n g in th e mountains was th e sam e for bo th of us. Outside. I sto pped to tak e a closer look a t so me o f th e bik es. One th ing a ca nyo n racer n otices a bo ut a bike is how much footpeg, sides ta nd, cen terstand , etc., h as bee n worn a way during ent h u sia stic co rn ering . The more metal worn awav, the better th e rider is presumed to be. Next, the tire tread is checked. Squatting down behind the RD400 showed the bike had been leaned over far enough to feather the edge of th e tire tread .· Canyon racing is at least as much a test of nerv e as of skill, therefore, speed doesn 't necessarily correspond to skill. There are no cle ar-cut winners , h en ce feathered tires and ground-off foot pegs take the place of objective lap times , and form the criteria for winning. Standing up from behind th e Yamaha , I sn iffed the clear morning air with approval. It was time to go . . In anoth er h our I would be back in the cit y. By that tim e thes e same roads would sta rt to fill with Winnebagos and H onda GLlOOOs. Still , some o f the best riding lay ah ead, in th e next few miles. The reli able Suzuki started with a touch. I motored away slo wly in first , giving th e co ol ed eng ine a 'm om ent to full y wak e up. While thinking about how po ten tia lly dangerous thi s mountain racing is, th e tach needle traced its famili ar a rc toward th e red . The warm a ir rus h in g under my helmet to be inhal ed wa s the sa me a ir diving through the eng ine intak e. Taking a deep breath , th e danger no longer seemed real. Though th ere wou ld be no che ckered flag, the ra ce was OIl. I a u tomatica lly ca ugh t second gear as the tach needl e en tered th e red. The hard sh ift and full throttl e light en ed th e front end for an instant. The danger was go ne co m p letely. My peripheral visio n was a blur o f evergreen a n d granite. Ahead of me th e road was perfectly moti onless a nd • still climbing. --- .. -........ I'~LU -- ~ ~ f t ~~~_I~'. .--.-- -- ...... -- -~---~- -~- ~ ~-~-- "'0 Precisi on Cycle Ce nter o ffers Bin g T yp e 55 magn esium ca r bu retors in 40 an d -l-l rnrn sizes to fit a ll bran ds o f 250 a n d 500cc MX er s. For m ore inform ati on on ap p lica tio ns for yo u r scoot, co nt act Pr ecisi on Cycl e Center , Dept, CN, 1531 Arch St., Col orad o Springs, CO 80904. From D&D Performan ce co mes a n exha ust svstem for th e Ka wasak i GPz900 N in ja m odel. A fo ur -i nto-one design. the system features a n a lu m i n u m silencer a nd is fi nis he d off in black . Th e co m plete p ackage sells for 295. Co ntact D&D Perform ance Exha ust, Dept . C N, 82 1 N. Dix ie H ighwa y, Pom an o, FL 33060. . The Arvan Gau ge is a screw -on a ir pressure gauge that ca n be left on th e valve ste m or twi st ed ont o your key cha in . Eith er wa y, to check yo ur tire pressure all yo u h ave to do is depress th e top o f th e ga u ge . Air can be a dde d or relea sed without rem ovin g th e gauge. T o o rde r, send $2.75 for each plus $1.00 in handl in g to Ferran Co ., Dep t. CN. 79 H arriman Rd .. Irv ington. NY 10533. If yo u 're a No vice o r Junior ranked d irt trac ker pl annin g o n ru nni ng 500cc mach in ery in 1985 or a n Ex pert look ing for sho rt track o r T T eq ui p me nt th en check ou t the Kn ight Fra mes 500 /600 fram e. There are co nfigu ra tio ns to handl e ( 1983-84) Rot ax, H ond a o r Yamah a engi nes . Fo r mor e info contact Gary Nixon Enterprises, 10824 York Rd. , Cockeysvi lle , MD 21030, 30 1/666- 1098. The President Jack et from Esprit is designed for ca sua l wear as well as for riding. Made from double A grade dress leather, the Ita lian-desi gn ed garm ent features longer sleeves with zippers, a mandarin collar with snaps, ac tio n ba ck, elasti cized leather waist band and a wind flap behind th e front zipper. In gray an d win eberry co lo rs , th e $239.95 ja cket is available at your deal er or contact Esprit, Dept. CN, 455 McCormick Blvd., Columbu s, OH 43213. Pri ced at $ 149 .95 and $169.95, resp ectively, Marushin 's VT910 a nd VT91 I (sho wn) full face helmets hav e a she ll mad e o f a co mp lex lamination of Kevlar and fib ergl ass. Both m eet Sne ll 1985 sta n da rds a nd fea ture two sepa ra te vent sys tems. Th e VT910 co mes in so lid co lors whi le th e VT911 co mes in three-col or designs. From your dea ler or cont act H oppe &Assoc., Dept. C N. P .O. Box 336, Edmonds, WA 98020. • 15

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