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/126849
~ ~ li;) II ~ 00 O"l ...... -el-. Q.) ..0 By Paul Carruthers E Cl With th e 12-round 1985 FIM World R oad R acing Champion ship no w hi stor y, a review of th e entire season th ro ug h 16 video ta pes is the key to making th e wa it for 1986 an eas ier one. T. Kida a nd Co. , of Lon g Beach. Ca liforn ia, h a s high qual ity video tapes ava ila ble with race-b y-race cove ra ge o f both th e 250 a n d 500cc GPs, p lus th e occasio na l sideca r G P. Th e 12-tape series starts with th e So u th Afri can Grand Prix in Kyalam i before windin g do wn with the Sa n Marin o Gra n d Prix in Ital y. The ta pes pr ov ide th e viewe r with th e closes t a lte rna tive to travel in g fro m race to race, a nd o ffer footage tha t would be a lmost im possibl e to see in person. Wh ile the tapes vary from GP to GP, dependin g o n h ow close th e rac ing is a nd th e p lace ment of th e ca meras, o ne th in g rem ains- th e cha nce of seei ng so me thi ng th at is not readil y seen by most. T he raci ng is close in a ll but a few o f the tapes a nd if o ne class is a blow o u t the o ther usu all y mak es up for it. T he tapes a lso do a good jobof showing th e su rro u ndings tha t make up the Gra nds Prix, in addi tion to prerace a n d post-race intervie ws wi th the likes o f Fredd ie Spe nce r, Eddie Lawson, Wa yne Gardner a nd crew. Th e biggest thing to happen to m ot orcycl e racin g television coverage tak es pl ace for th e fi rst time on the Dutch G rand Pr ix lope, wh en a camera is mounted on Randy Mamola's RS500 Honda , The ca mera , remote-controlled from a h elicopter flying above the ac tion , adds another dimen sion to the co verage. Now th e viewer is a ble to ride with Mamo la and reali ze wha t it tak es to co mpete at the G rand Prix level - th e debut for th e camera also happen s to tak e place in th e pourin g rain a n d on th e winn in g bike. Th e Dutch GP a lso has incre di ble footage of the famed Christian Sarron/Fredd ie Spencer collision a nd cras h in th e ra in -sodden 500cc GP , Nei l Webster 's sidecar cras h and Eddie La wson's 500cc, cham pionsh ip-race-e nding crash. At th e follo wing ro u nd in Belgium, th e on -bi ke ca mera shows Mamol a dici ng with Ron Haslam and Ra ymond Roch e whe n sudde n ly Mam ol a runs into the rear of Roche and cras hes - wh ile th e ca mera co nt in ues running . T he scene co ncl udes with th e o n- bi ke ca me ra pointing at a disgusted Mamol a. The tapes p rov ide a n excellent ch an ce to revi ew th e GP season and allows th e viewer to see momentum shifts during th e season in the Spencer/ La wso n battle for th e 500cc Championship, plus a ch an ce to see ' Spencer's total domination of the 250cc class. In additi on , there is the occa sion a l sidecar G P th at shows close racing between th e ultra-trick outfits. The tapes a re availabl e through Malcolm Smith Products a nd the Yamaha Dealer Network for $29.95 each. For more informa tion call T. Kida at 213/452-5410. Q.) u Q.) Honda RS2S0R By Dave Sadowski A variety of refinements have been made to Honda's RS250R road racer for 1986, according to specifications recently released by Honda Racing Corporation of Japan. H onda 's li ghtwei ght road racer, d ubbed th e RS2 50R-II , boasts th e now fa m ilia r 249cc, wat er-cooled, 90-degree V-twin, two -stro ke powerplant encased in a beefed-up frame. T he new mod el sports magn esium a lloy wh eels, whi ch repl ace last year's ComS tar stamped -spoke/extrudedrim whee ls. T he bik e comes equipped with a 3.00- 17-inch rim in front , wh ile th e rear has been cha nged from . 3.00- 18 to 3.25-18, wit h a 3.50-18 optio n avai lable. PRODUCT EVALUATION Skins By Dan M cCauley When I j oined T eam Cycle New s ove r six yea rs ago , I had hopes of doing man y thin gs, but I never thought I'd write an evaluat ion o n th e foll ow in g itemu nde rwea r! Now we're not talkin g vour basic Fruit o f th e Looms, we're ta lk in g Skins. Skins? What are th ev? Well , ba sica lly th ey are th e newest underg arment for off-road riding. Mad e o u t of a materi al calle d Lycra , Skins provide a cus to m fit , dr y fast, a nd are ligh tweight. Best o f a ll, Skins ha ve a synt he tic cha mo is pad built into th e sea t a nd cro tch area that prevents A seco nd rotor has been added as sta ndard eq ui pment to th e 17-inch front wh eel, giving th e new RS dual hyd raulic d isc brak es with floatin g .rotors. Last year 's si ngle bra ke ro tor was so lid ly m ounted , an d runout in the d isc crea ted diffi culties a fter long stra ig h ts wh en th e rotor forced bra ke pad s ou twa rd. H onda beefed u p the frame to compensate for the additiona l braking power a nd mounted the rear brak e caliper to th e swi ngarrn, a llow- ยท ing quicker wheel swaps during fra ntic pi t ac tivi ty. chafi ng of th at all-important area. Now if tha t wasn 't enough, wait u ntil you see a pair of Skins. Like, wow! A tota l mind blower. Psychedelic colors guaranteed to turn heads in the pi ts. Wi th a design very similar to bicycling shorts, Skins mak e sense for the off-road rider. No big benefits wou ld be gai ned by weari ng Skins in a short five la p moto, bu t d uring th ose lon g motos or particu larly in an end uro or har e scra m bles, Sk ins wo u ld be wo rt h more tha n th eir weight in go ld. You're pro ba bly th inkin g, " Where do th ey co me from?" Well, we'r e p ro ud to say th ey co me from G eorgi a. Yeah , I kn ow it's hard to handle th e fact th at so me th ing as far o u t as Skins co u ld be made in th e Peach Sta te inst ead o f on some beach in Cali-for -ni-a , but it's true. At $24,95 Skins aren' t chea p, but if yo u want to do yo u rself a nd yo ur rear , a favo r, rid e o n down to yo ur local H i-Point Racin g Pr oduct s dea lera nd gra b a pa ir. Besides, wh o 's wo rri ed a bo u t spending bucks wh en it co mes U p fro nt, clip -ons have been rep laced by bo lt-ons follo wing co m p lai nts o f welds crac king o n 1985 clip-on style handl ebars. HRC engineers tac kled the p robl em by.design in g a holder which handleba rs bo lt into. Honda clai ms th is will a lso red uce vibra tio n reaching the hand g ri ps. H andl ebars w it h da m per weights a re offered as op tio na l equipment. T he engi ne shou ld brea the bett er on th e 1986 RS250R-ll tha n ks to th e addition of PJ38m m Keih in big bore ca rbs eq ui p ped with a new intake rec ti fier. T he power ga ined from th e car buretio n ch ange crea tes add ition al h eat , wh ich requ ired th e add itio n o f a lar ger radia to r. T he ex ha ust has a lso been a lte red for 1986, a nd th e p ipes now have re-packabl e silence rs. HRC claim s cylin de rs have been upda ted a n d will mak e more power even tho ugh th e bo re a nd stroke remains th e same. T he o n ly ot he r cha nges were m ad e in the tai l sectio n wh ere vents have been added to a llow ai r to flo w to th e rear wheel, red uci ng th e turbulen ce. down to being hip? Basica lly, th e difference is-get caugh t in the gate in your J ockey shorts or go for the go ld in Skins!