Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Contin ued from page 1) Joh n Wyckof f, fo u nder and chairman o f the board of Fullerton, Ca liforn ia-based Internat ional Fash ions West , In c., th e exclusive U.S. impor-ier of the H ein Gericke Mo torcycle Ap parel Collectio n, suffe red a h eart attac k o n Sa turday, J anuary 6. a t h is h o m e in N ew Mexico a nd w a s hospital ized in St. J oseph 's West Hospital in R io Ran ch o , New Mexico. Accordi ng to h is wife Marge, t" J o h n was ta ken off o f m edication .o n Wed nesda y, J a n uary 10, a nd we expec t he'll be home in severa l days." He'll be u nd er doctor's care with o rde rs to rest for seve ra l weeks. Cards a nd letters ca n be sent 10 Int erspo rt Fashions West , ·333 S. An ita Dr., Su ite 1025, Orange, CA 92668. : Prior to suffering the heart attack. Wyckoff announced that he will assign his portion of the profits from his lat e s t publication. M ind :Your Own Business. to the AMA •Legis lat ive Supporter Fund. which supports the AMA's efforts in battling the ongoing attacks against motorcycling. Mind Your Own Business is a how-to book written to help motorcycle dealers and accesso ry stores im p ro v e their merchandising and marketing efforts. The book was edited and published by Dealernews. "I am a life member of the AMA and have made a good living from the industry and riders. Donating the proceeds of my book to the AMA . is my way of saying thanks for their efforts to keep me. the dealers and countless others riding ," Copies of the book can be obtained by contacting Dealernews. 1700 E. Dyer Rd .• #250. Santa Ana. CA 92705, 714/2508060. , Dun lo p has bee n na med the offic ial. ti re . a nd H o n dal in e th e offici al a p pa re l of the 1990 Camel P ro S upercross Series th at ge ts underwa y o n J a n uary 27 in .so u the rn Ca lifo rnia 's An aheim Stadi u m. An AMA Amateur National Championship Supercross Series will be conducted this y.ear and will consist of 12 rounds. beginning February 3 at the Houston Astrodome. and a three -day National Championsh ip Fina ls meet at Oklahoma C ity. June 6 7 -8 , At each of the 12 race s in the series. a ll riders who qualify for main events w ill becom e elig ib le for the Okla homa Ci ty Fin a ls . Each of the races will in cl u d e compet ition for riders in 16 classes. ranging from Pee Wee 50cc to Senior. An add itional amateur supercross event. not a championship round. will be held on June 17 in Spartan Stadium in San Jose. California. See the Calendar section for the complete Amateur National Championship Supercross Series schedule. Mike Leone, owner of Mike's Sky Ra nch in Baja Ca lifo rnia, Mexi co , a popu lar stopping-over p lace fo r off-road mo to rcycl ists, a nd h is w ife were kill ed in a car acci de nt recentl y i n Baja. Gods peed, Mik e. Amateur short track competition will be conducted during Daytona Cycle Week at Daytona Beach's Mun icipal Stad ium with races . being held on Sunday. March 4. and Monday. March 5. Feature races on Sunday will begin at 3 p.m. with Monday's first feature scheduled for 6 p.m, Formula DTX classes for 85 . 125. 250 and 500cc machinery are part of the program . Daytona's American M oto rcycle I nstitute (AM I) is sponsoring the events. Pre-entries will be accepted until February 17. b ut participants may also register on race day. For more in f o rm a t io n . call DMP Inc. at 419 /478 -1836 or 419 /476 8048. Classico Mo to Italia, a n a ll- Italia n moto rcyc le show a n d sa le, will be he ld a t th e Miramar H otel in Sa nta Barba ra, Ca lifornia, o n Ma rch 24-25. For more in form atio n co ntact Terry Bel isle a t 6 19/446-6287 afte r 5 p.m, Pacific time, o r Alan Cohen a t 818/ 992-4 168 between 8 a.m . a nd 5 p .m. Suzuki factory rider Guy Cooper. who finished third in both the Camel Supercross Series and the National Championship 125cc MX Series last year. is backing a new motorcycle shop that ' will carry Fantic motorcycles and specialize in trials apparel and accessories. Cooper's Competition Connection is located in Stillwater. Oklahoma. Cooper's hometown. and will be managed by Steve Bayles. a racer who competes in local motocross events. Cooper and Competition Connection will sponsor Shan Moore on a Fantic in state, . (Con tinued to page 51 ) all. If there is movement, the sprocket sho u ld be rep laced . Also, as a sp rocket beco mes worn, the gap between each tooth will begi n to get wider and wider. and the teeth will become rounded off. If it gets too wide, tOO much of a load is placed on the teeth a nd the rate of sprocket wear will grea tly increase, T he most com mon way to inspect the wear of th e cha in is by chec king ho w far the chain pulls away from the rear sprocket, measured a t a point halfway around the sp rocket. If the chain p ulls ou t about 3/4-in . up the teeth , the chain (and/ or sprocket) is worn out. Another way to chec k for chain wear is to remov e th e chai n from th e motor cycle and lay it stretched ou t on a flat surface next to a new chain o f the same length and size. Grab each end of both chains and ben d them to o ne side. If the arc h of th e old chain is sign ificant ly more (abo ut 30%) than the new chain, it' s ready to be thrown a wa y. Man y mo to rcycles co me equipped with endless (no ma ster link ) chai ns, so th is techniq ue can' t be used. . The ru le o f thumb is, if you hav e to rep la ce the cha i n, yo u shou ld replace the sprocke ts as well. Worno ut sp rockets will prematurely wear out a new chain and vice versa, If your mo torcycle has a ba ttery, it is important that the bau ery's drain tube doesn 't flin g battery acid on to the chain , since th e ac id will eat the chai n to th e poi nt where it w ill event ua lly break, leavin g you stra nded. Black discoloration on the ou ter link plates is a good cl ue that ba ttery aci d is finding its way o n to the chain . Even if the battery is loca ted on the opposite side, wind turbulen ce can carry the acid to the chain. As far as chain types . there are two basic designs - conven tio nal chains a nd a-rin g chain s. The two are very simi lar in design, excep t that. O-ring chains have sma ll , ru bber a -rings inse rted between th e pin link p la te and th e roller link pl at e. The a -rin g prevents unwa nt ed dirt and water from working their way between the pi n and bush ins , and th e pin link p lat e and roller h nk plate, whi ch helps prevent p rema ture wear and rust. Pl us, not o n ly do th e O -ri ngs keep fo rei gn m a tter out of vi tal movin!? parts, but they al so keep lu brication m . a-ring chains are far superior to sta ndard ch ai ns in term s of wear and d ura bi lity, and, of co urse, they are more expens ive (almost twice as much ) tha n conventional chains. But in the lo ng ru n. a -ring chains can save yo u mo ney. a-ringers have been know n to last twice as Ion!? as reg u lar cha ins, even with less mamtena nce, Chains als o co me in a numbe r of different sizes; refer to your owner's man ual for the correc t size cha in (and sprockets) for your bike. Next .week , we' ll discu ss proper chain maintenan ce. W or k ben ch is a wee kly ' co lumn dealin g with moto rcycle maintenance, performance and equipment. Ha ve something that Work bench call address? Th en drop a line to Workb ench; Cycle News. P.O. Box 498, L ong Beach, CA 90801-0498. Knowing your chain: Preventing chain abuse A mot orcycle dri ve cha in takes mor e abuse and po unding tha n any o ther part o n your bike, yet it is lik ely one of th e mo st neglected. O h, you m ig ht lube your chain all th e tim e, presum in g th at'll keep your cha in hea lt hy , and alt ho ug h you 're ha lf ri ght, good lu brica tio n is j us t scra tch ing th e surface wh en in comes to pro perl y maintaining a cha in a nd preventin g premature cha in wear. According to noted cha in authority J ohn Linden , manager of th e motor cycle di vision of U.S. Tsubaki , ' Inc., there are ma ny ways to send your chain to an early g rave, the quickest bei ng m isalign ment. Wh en th e co u rnersha fr (front) sprocket and the rear whee l sprocket don 't line up properly, th e cha in pulls to o ne side, putting excessi ve stress o n the in side h nk plat e. Sproc kets that poin t in the same direction but don 't li ne up with o ne another also rub the chain's link pl at es and d ra st ically reduce its lifespan. If either side of th e in ner link plate looks sh in y, th e sproc ket teeth are making u nw ant ed and harmful contact. This means th e chai n is misaligned. Oth er misalignment clu es are broken chain ro llers or sprocke t teeth bite marks o n the roller. A mi saligned chain isn 't the on ly cu lpri t when it comes to premature cha in wear. Worn o u t, warped o r crooked sprockets will destroy a chain in a hurry. A chain needs to fit perfectly o ver the sprockets in order to live a long and trouble-free li fe. T hi s means that the inner link pl ates sho u ld not co n tact the sprocket teeth in any way. A ben t swi ngarm , a bent chain gu ide or too narro w of a chain gui de are also chain killers. Sh in y marks o n the o utside of the pi n li nk p late co uld indicate a misahgned cham o r a bent cha in gu ide. . Wo r n-o ut sp rocke ts are eas ily detected by draping th e cha in o ver a sprocket. Then , li ft the upper cha in ro ller and it shou ld not mo ve more th an approxima tely 1132-in.• and the ro llers next to it shoul d not move at Kit Palmer r-----------------------------------------------------------------,• I .S UBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM • • Name • • • 'I . • II • 'I II I II I. • I I L 0 Th is is a re n e w al ~~ tPLE A SEPRt NT CLE A Y! 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