Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I Won By so u the rn California speedway rider Bobby Schwartz, who al so rid es British League speedway in England , th e G olden Hel met, the highest ridi ng awa rd in British speedway; Schwartz cla imed th e prestigious h onor by defeatin g cu rrent World Spe edway Champion Erik Gundersso n in a match race a t Cr ad ley S ta dium in Sutton-Coldfield, En gl and. MQTORCYCLE INDUSTRY UANGES , ·A nnounced Named Advertising agency for Bell Helmets, In c., Burroughs an d Associ at es, who will a lso handle ad acounts for Bell su bsid ia ries Vetter ' P r o d u c ts, Bag Man a n d M ar se e Products. . Ground -B roken Ma y 2, . for n ew corpora te headquarters in . Irvine, Californi a , fo r Kaw asa ki Motor Corp., USA; cerem o ney was led by KMC President Masamoto Tazaki; facility to house corporate ' a d m in istra tio n , . sa les, mar keting, technica l servi ces, and other departments; completion is expe cted next year. .Born jessica Anne H aines, Ma y 4, in Mi ssion Viejo , Ca liforn ia, to T eam Honda mot ocro ss m ech anic Chri s H aines a nd wife Barba ra . Opening 'A new Vance a nd Hin es Racin g Per fo rmance Center ret a il mot orcycle parts a n d accessory sto re Ma y 13, by Ri ck Gero, former o w ne r o f Ad vanced Machine; loca tion is 9007 S u n la nd Blvd., S un Valley, CA 91352, 8181768:9026. Th e motorcycl e in d ust ry af ter 28 years, Scotty Bro wn , formerly western regional di strict and an d regional sales manager for Yamaha a nd BMW , to ope n a bicycle sh op in Laguna Hills, California; phone number is 714/ 859-1826. Ed Youngbl ood, a Nat ional Ch am pi onship Hare a nd Hound series; proposed events a re D-36 's Virginia City GP , D-38's Kin g o f th e Desert , a nd D-37' s Bar stow-to-Ve ga s; de tai ls will be finalized in June. By th e Am er ican H onda Foundat ion gra nts to th e Hip pl e Can cer R esea rch Cent er ($65,000), Dayton , Ohio; Im agination Work sh op ($5 0, 000) , U C L A, Los Angel es, Californ ia; a nd U .S. AC .1demi c Deca th elon ($30,000), Costa Mesa, Ca liforn ia; gra nts a re descr ibed as th e m anufacturer's wa y.of say ing "' than k yo u ' to th e Am eri can people in a . mea n in gfu l and lo ng-last ing way." Signed Letter of intent by Union Ca rbide Corp. to acquire STP; Corporati on from Beatrice Companies; U n ion Ca rbide is a maj or rnanufacturer of che m ica ls, pl asti cs and fertilizer s; STP is a m aj or manufactu rer o f fu el an d lubricant addi tives; Beatrice is a m ajor co nglo mera te whose holdings in clude Sa rnso n ite lu ggage, Del Monte food s a nd Pet er Pan pean u t butter. Name Changed T hreeSta r Sport Cycle: after 40 years, to L.A. Suzuki / Kawasaki: Wes Peck , formerly Sa les Manager for T hreeStar, is now Ge nera l Manager;address remains 1525 So uth La Cienega Blvd., Los An geles, CA 90035, 213/854-7788. "You should get a better understanding of the rehide ..." Expert .to CPSC: "no hard numbers" on ATVstability testing Omitted Illinois Un iversit y Motorcycle Safety Program , a full cu rr icu lu m of motorcycle rid er educa tio n cla sses; co urses include the basic 20-h our Motorcycle Ri der Course, Sidecar Rider Course, Basic Motorcycl e Maintenance, a nd Mot orcycleTouring an d Camping. For in fo rma tio n ca ll l-800/FORSKILL, or write Motorcycle Safety Program, Northeastern Illinois University , 5500 N. St . Louis Ave., Chicago, IL 60625. Leaving Proposed By AMA Presid ent Awarded Available From Northeastern As Chief of Operations for Western/Eastern Raci ng Association, Ed Ba rgy ; Bargy wi ll be responsible for day-to-day opera tions. H er seco n d cross co u n try trip through th e U.S., H azel Kolb, 62, th e " Mo torcycli n' G ranma;" Kolb's last big trip in 1979 took her over 16,000 mi les arou nd th e peri meter o f th e co u ntry; th is tim e she is travell in g to th e ca p itals of th e 48 co ntiguous sta tes; Kolb can be seen on h er 1985 full -dress Harlev-Davidso n Tour Gl id e, so mew here any time . A n endorseme n t an d spon so r sh ip co n tract wi t h r id er a pparel ma n ufacturer EP Perf orm s, by T eam Kaw a saki MX ri der Bill y Liles, for th e 1985-86 Su percross a nd National MX Ch am p ionsh .ip seasons . , ., Hired .R idin g Signed Fr om Yam ah a Wren ch Report #52, YZ250N Performance Modifications, speci fica tio ns for th e width o f-the su b-in let port; stoc k dimen sions are IOmm wide X 22mm high; modified width is 12mm, height rem ains stoc k. By Mo topro Lubricants, tha t it is no lon ger a ffiliated with T eam Tamm, becau se. T amm did not exerci se its option for partial o wne rsh ip of the co m pany; Motopro has moved to new facilities al.6029 West Charleston, Las Vegas, NV 89107, 8001792-4200. By Rex Reese BU ENA PARK. CA, APR. 26 ~ In an afte rnoon meeting on voluntary standards between officials of th e Specialty Vehicle Institu te of Am erica (SVIA ) ATV manufa cturers representat ives, and Consumer Product Safet y Commi ssion (CP SC) staff, a co ns u lting en g ineer pron ounced that " it is hard to find criteria" in esta blish ing test procedures to det ermin e th e sta bi lity o f three-wh eeled ATVs. Dr. Dav id Weir , Tech n ica l Director o f Dyn amic Research , In c., a so u thern Californiabased en gi neeri ng consultin g firm which ha s done vehicle studies for th e depart me nts o f T ra ns porta tio n (DOT) and Defen se (DO D), mad e this conclusion after presenting possible test ing procedures a n d criteria to m ea sure ATV stability a n d hand lin~ cha rac teristics. V. eir's presentation was m ad e a t the request of the C PSC, which plans to use some fo rm o f AT V h andlin g testing as part of th e vol untar y ATV sa fety sta n da rd that the federal agency is working o n with th e ATV ind ustry. Bu t, if C PS C s ta ff m ember s thought th at th ere wa s a cl ear-cut, esta blished method of determining th e ride -wo rt hi ness of ATVs, Weir's dissertation reveal ed otherwise. Even though there is already esta blish ed testing background wh ich can be ap p lie d to ATVs from both a u to mobiles an d motorcycles, Weir exp la ined that three-wheelers possess handling tra its wh ich a re unique to their design a nd where they o pera te, th us req u iring new testi ng criteria and proc;edures. The possible outlook is tha t i t may take many months, at least a year, before an ATV handling test staridard is developed; even then , it may not be what the CPSC is envisioning, nor may it produce the results th ey want. -At the top o f Weir's presentation, h e said that " th e technology exists to crea te testing procedures for ATVs, bu t th ere a re limits for what ca n be done in esta blish ing th em ." Weii1isted th e type s o f ta sks (ma n eu vers) whi ch would be used in esta blishing a cri teria fo r ATV handl in g testing. In cluded are turn s ("steady sta te", "s top steers"), sla lo m co urse, accelera tion. u phills a nd downh ill s. Weir a dded th at traversin g crossslopes (going across th e face o f a hi ll or sand d u ne ) is a task almost un ique to ATVs. Other u ni q ue ta sks woul d or cou ld include "disturban ce" (a com bina tio n o f a ll ta sks), " ride" (o perator co m fort ), "driveabili ty" (how th e ATV fun ct ions rel ative to engine pe rforma nce), a nd " u tility" (how th e AT V can ca rry .. load), " O nce eac h of thes e task s are understood," not ed Weir , "com bin ing tasks ca n be discu ssed. " Weir sta ted th at of th e h anding characteristics wh ich au tomobiles and mo to rcycles have, " ATVs are so me w here in between." H e sai d th a t au to s rely on steerin g a ng le for turn s. vehi cle ro ll is described as a " n u isance" trai t, a n d driver posi tio n ing is irre levan t. Other factors incl ud e sig nificant lateral (sideways) acceleratio n , a nd m inima l "cou p ling" between lat e ra l a nd lon g itud in al (le ngthwise) dynamics (the way th e car m oves as it travel s). Mot orcycl es dep end o n steeri ng to rque for tu rn s; roll ing (ba n king in turns) is necessary, the ride r must work in th e bi ke's p la ne of symmetry (or stay in- line wi th bike), and there is negl igible la teral accelera tio n. Weir states that motorcycles have "significant" lateral and longitudi na l coup li ng. T hree-wheeled ATVs, Weir expla in ed , incl ude some handl in g ch ar acteristics fro m both . Steering angle is rel ied upon mos tly a t low speeds; stee ri ng torq ue m ostly a t h igh er speeds. T h ree -w hee lers are n o t banked -turn vehicles; so ro ll is a nuisance. Rider movem ent is a sign ifica nt in p ut o n th e vehi cle . There is so me lat eral acce lera tio n, a nd th ere is so me la teral a nd longitudin a l co upling , especia lly wh en used with the brakes a nd th rottle. Weir sta ted that factors to co ns ide r in ATV hand ling testing would in : c1 ude: veh icle co n fig u ra tio n , initial speed, and co ntrol inpu t. Facto rs un ique to ATVs in th e tes t would be ride r size a nd weigh t, soi l properties, and terr a in contour. Wei r said th a t da ta th at co u ld be recorded from a typical th ree-wh eeler handl in g test wo u ld incl ude ride r inpu ts, vehicle a tti tu de , vehi cle velocity an d acce ler- ari on, pa th measures (such as how well it stays travelling in a stra igh t . lin e; sto p pi n g distance), and subjec• rive rider ratings a nd co m mentary. Add itiona lly, to a ll o f th e a bo ve, Weir noted th at conducting such tasks to record data wo u ld be " more com o. plicated in a n off-road envi ro n ment." This, he later explained, is due ma inl y to rider input an d differences in terrain a nd so il mak eup, all of which h ave " p ro fo u nd effects" o n th e dyna m ics o f ATV handling. Weir mentioned that even though there have been severa l stud ies made over the yea rs on soil and tire traction, all ha ve yielded inconclusive results. " Yo u will have to determine (the vehicle's ) good and bad limits and what to include, to determine yo ur testing criter ia ," said Weir. "And that' s tough to determin e. You can draw u pon past automobile and motorcycle testin g procedures to apply to ATV s, but it's hard to find th e criteri a (for testing) . . . it's a complicated problem." When asked by CPSC ATV Task Force Cha irman Nick Marchica where to start deve loping an ATV safet y sta ndar d, Weir replied , " Yo u shou ld get a better understanding of the veh icle and how it behaves." "T he industry is interested in meetin g th e testing tim e sched u le," said H onda 's Ed Gl ynn . "Can it be ac hieved?" " Yes," rep lied Weir, addi ng "it's a ma tte r o f what can be don e, but no ha rd n u mber ca n be ac hieved overn igh t." After Weir's p resentation, th e su bjec ts o f age-labeling, traini ng co urses and co ntrol sta ndards were di scu ssed . T he SVIA will draft a sta ndard for three-wheeled ATV dynamic stabi lity, and th e CPSC will dr aft a " discussio n paper" o n age label in g . Both documents a re expected to be ready for the nex t voluntary sta ndards meeting, wh ich will be h eld at CP SC staff headquarters in Bethesda , Maryl and. Also on th e age nda will be furth er d iscu ssion o n train in g a nd eq u ipment a nd co ntrols. T he next ATV ind us try-C PSC voluntary sta ndards m eeting is ten tatiyely sched u led for May 22-23. • , CPSC sets public hearings . WASHINGTON, D.C., APR. 30 The U .S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has an no u nced dates and loca.tions for th e first of six expected public hearin gs conce rning ATV sa fety. Accordi ng to Ken G il es, C PSC All -Terrai n Vehicle Task Force In fo rma tion and Publ ic Affai rs officer, 'the first h earing will be held in J ackson , Mississip p i o n Th ursday, Ma y 30 in the State Ca p itol Bui lding , Old Supreme Court Room, seco nd floor. T he hearing will start a t 9:00 a.m. The seco nd hea rin g will be held in Da llas, Texas o n Monda y, June 17 a t th e AMFAC Hotel and Resort at th e Dallas/ Fort Worth Air p ort. An ybody who wishes to speak a t a h ea ri ng must m ak e a reservatio n before May 24 by co n tact ing G iles at 3011492-6580; a written sta teme n t or presentation must be su bm itted to th e CPSC by May 28. AT Ven th usiasts, ATV-rela ted busi n ess owne rs an d a nybod y else interes ted in AT Vs are en co uraged to make sta teme nts. More in formation is avai lable from Gi les at 3011492-6580. 3

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