Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Timekeeping equipment aboard C unningham's mount in c lud e s a standard odometer. computer and a dig ital c lock arranged in a triangular fashion . Cunningham pilots the 500AE through it s natura l habitat - the forest. The bike comes int o its own in sections line d w ith closely-spaced t rees . Specifications 40 Engine Type Displacement Bore x stroke Transmission Carburetor Intake system Ig n it io n Starting system Chassis Frame design Frame material Front fork Rear suspension Suspension travel. Front t ire Rear tire Dimensions Wheelbase Rake / t rail Seat height G ro und c learance Fuel capacity Claime d dry weig ht S uggested re t ail p ric e Air-cooled. two-stroke sing le 488cc 86 x 84mm Three-speed a utomatic 38mm Mikuni 10-petal reed valve Motoplat external rot o r CDI Pr imary kick , , Single downtube Chrome moly steel 40mm Husqvarna Twin Ohl ins shocks 10.6 in . front /11 .8 in . rear 3 .00-21 Dunlop K690A 5.00-18 Dun lop K140 58 .3 in . 28 .5° /5 .2 in . 37.8 in . 1 2. 6 in . 3 .3 gal. 249 Ibs. N.A..; Other personal to uches incl ude a set of Performa nce Products Bark Busters bo lted to stock handlebars, whi ch are cu t down to 30.5 in ch es. T erry a lso mounts a Performance Products Super Pro II co m p u ter as .well as a n AA Pro d ucts Countdown digital cloc k; if th e co m p u ter is in m ileage mode, T erry lik es to hav e a no the r clock to gl ance a t as he co mes into a chec k so h e ca n co u nt off th e seconds. A sta n dard \'DO odometer cl icks o ff the m iles. Since it's impossible to sta ll th e bike, a nd the stoc k kill buuons a re pron e to shorting o u t, T erry fits a Yamaha ki ll butto n. T h e AE comes to life ra ther easily for a 500cc machi ne, need in g on ly a few deli berate kicks. After a bi t o f wa rm-u p , we mad e th e o n ly " sh ift" we were to mak e for q u ite so me tim e by slidi ng th e n eutral locko u t lever back 10 engage first gea r (yo u' ll hear a su bd ued "cl u n k" ). Ro ll ing the th rottl e on engages the first gea r clu tch and you're off - very smooth ly, and without a hi nt o f th e expec ted jer kiness. As th e trees began to fl y by a nd o u r speed pi cked u p , we kn ew th e transm ission was shi fti ng but the tra ns itio ns were so smooth they were virtu ally undetectabl e, As expected, the bike ca rbura tes very clea n ly; not on ly a result o f the engine m ods and ca r b swa p , but also because Terry uses clean -burning, high -octane avi ation fuel (m ixed with Bel-R a y MC- l oi l). The proven WR chass is/suspe nsion mak es for spot-on han dlin g and shock a bsor p tion in the woods , but th e AE ca lls for a sligh tly a ltered riding style. After ge tting used to th e n on -use of yo u r left foot an d hand, yo u find yo urself depending more and more o n yo ur right foot an d hand. Back in g o ff th e th rottl e puts th e bike into " coast." an d th ere is non e o f th e .usua l engi ne brakin g. Brak es beco me a ll- im porta nt wh en it co mes 10 slicing off sp eed even if o n ly a few mph. Whi le th e brak es were no t quite as sen sitive as we wou ld hav e liked , th ey a lways provided ade q ua te sto p p in g po wer. Wh en attacki ng tight corners, suc h as making a p ivot between o r aro u n d trees, th e AE sh ines; jump on th e rear bra ke hard as yo u enter the corn er to break th e wh eel loose th en na il th e throttle. T he back end im mediately co mes aro u nd in lin e wi th the front as soo n as yo u ge t th e gas on. T hi s was so much fun we found o ur selves look in g for tigh t corners to sq ua re off; the AE will mak e you grin in sect ions like this. Pro ba bl y the best a ttri bu te is the transm ission is al wa ys in the right gear. It's a lmost as if the bike is under compu ter co ntrol by an infa lli ble program tha t always makes th e best gear cho ice for th e sit uation. H ow ma ny times have yo u fo und yo urself in th e wrong gear or mis sed a shift? Seconds lost due to th ose problems are a thi ng of the past when yo u 're p iloting th e AE. Terry's AE is specifica lly tuned 10 sco ff a t the usual ob stacl es thrown a t th e rid er in end uro co m pe tition. It 's a very ca refully set-up and maintai ned ma chin e, a bik e we lea rn ed 10 like aft er o n lv a short time in the sadd le. . .If you 're a lover 01 250cc a nd under bi kes, steer clear o f the 500AE . You wo n' t appreci ate th e extra weigh t and low-revving power. O n th e o th er ha nd, if yo u gravi tat e tow ard th e bigger bi kes an d pl a n 10 rid e pr ima rily woods, th e AE is wo rt h so me se rio us co n sidera tio n (so ' lo n g as yo u ' re no t pu t o ff by th e steep $3,295 '85 price tag ). It 's an eas y-to- ride-fast bike, an d th e n icest thi n g is th at th e 'S5 m od el o f the 500AE is virtuall y ident ical to th e bike th at ca rr ied T err y 10 his seco nd titl e. • Lackey (Con tin ued fro m pag e 29) ence bod y che m is try to bu rn g lycogen needlessl y. o Do n ' t usc thirst as a guideline for drinkin g during co m pe ti tio n , S tay a hea d o f thirst signa ls. Endu ran ce a th letes shou ld co nti n ue 10 dri nk sma ll a mounts o f wa ter, th ree 10 seven o unces a t 10 10 15 mi n u tes interva ls, dur in g com pe titio n. Runners ca n do th is bu t mo tocrossers. o bvio usly, have to go with wha t the y dri n k before a mota begins. o Avo id sa lt tablet s o r any for m o f in crea sed sa lt intake. Swea tin g rai ses th e bod v's sa lt co ntent rela tive 10 body flu ids . Ta king salt tablets ma y unfav or abl y affect th e salt level ba la nce betw een flu ids o u tside a nd within the cell s. Wh en this happen s, fluids lea ve th e cells to reestablish a better ba lance. T hi s p ro du ces dehydrated tiss ue, dep ri ved of needed po tassi u m. Le t yo ur body tell yo u wh en it n eeds salt, Don' t a nticipa te th e need . Then use table sa lt, no t p ills wh ich bypass th e body's sensi ng system . o Drin k fluid s cooled to about 40 deg rees. Co ld wa ter lea ves the stom ach faster a nd provides addi tio na l intern a l cooling. o Drin k plain wa ter as the d uri ngco m petitio n dri nk (excep t for rea ll y lo ng en d u ra nce eve nt s where g l ucose and e lectrolyte replenishment wi ll be beneficial). Pl ai n wat er is a bso r bed faster by th e body: An y o the r drinks (fru it juice or a th letic rep lenishment bever a ges) sho u ld co nta in no more th an 2.5 perce nt su ga r o r g l ucose. Dilut in g a n a th le tic drink a bo u t 50 percent usu ally accomplish es thi s go al. (T hese reco mmendatio ns ar e based on stud ies by Dav id Costill of Ball Stat e Un iversi ty, Cos till found that th e a bso rp tio n rate of ingested fluids related direct ly 10 th e a mo unt of suga r in the fluid . H is study showed tha t" abou t twot hird s of wat er inge s ted i s absorbed wit hi n 15 minutes whi le th e absorp tio n rate for sweete ned flui ds is as low as five per cent du r in g th e sa me 15 mi n ute period.) o Drink a th le tic rep lenishment bevera g es fu ll st re n g t h a fte r exert io n is comp leted. (Cosrill's resear ch ind icates th at a n ormal di et will genera lly replenish lost mi nera ls just a bo u t as quick ly.) o Flu id loss shou ld be mon itored by weighi ngs before a nd after stren uous workouts or com pe tition . At lea st 75 pe rce nt of th e wo rkou t's water loss shou ld be rep laced before the next workout . Norma lly, a fluid loss of four to seven percent req u ires 24 10 36 hours 10 be fully repl en ish ed. o Don 't plunge into co ld water when vou 'r e overhea ted. And don ' t use stea m room, sa u na, or Jacuzzi a nd then go directly into col d wa ter. An y sud den h ot-to-cold sw itch can shock yo u r bl ood system and yo ur hea rt . a Dehydration Deh ydrat ion , the loss of body fluids , ca n beco me a problem in hot, humid weather or , someti mes, on early sp ring days when a n a th lete h as not yet accl imatized to warmer weat her. Deh ydr a tion occu rs beca u se the body ca n ' t fu lly rep len ish fluids lost in swea t. Th e body ca n lose more tha n two quarts o f flui d a n ho ur in swea t, bu t ca n o n lv absor b a bo u t one quart a n hour from th e stomach. Bod y temperature.begins rising upon

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