Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Ocala with Senior class riders. No pre-entry is required for either event. According to -Mo torrad, the Wes t German motorcycle magazi n e, T riumph will unveil four new motorcycles at the September 19-23 IFMA Show at Cologne. Bri tish industrialist john Bloor purchased the na m e and manufacturing rights for Triumph mo torcycles in 1983, but since then only rumors h ave surfaced about intended product. j ohn Ro samund, Triumph'ssales and marketing manager, told Motorrad that fou r new bikes will be sh own at Cologne: 75 0 and 900cc three-cylin der m achines and 1000 a n d 1200cc fourcylinder bik es. T he larger displacement bik es in bo th cases will be touring m odels wh ile th e smaller dis placeme nt m achines wi ll be sport bik es. All are water-cooled, DOHC, fo ur-valves per cylin der , an d chain driven. . Swede .Jonny Andersson. the number two ranked rider in the 1989 AMA/NATC National Championship Observed Trials Series. has returned to Sweden. According to former sponsor Sven Bley of Bley Tool Works of Chicago; Andersson an~ the firm were unable to reach . an agreement for the 1990 season. and Andersson. who rode a fourstroke Honda RTL for Bley. will be riding for Beta in Europe. Replacing Andersson on the Bleyteam will be Canadian Tom .Fa rr. who finished 11 th in America last year. Farr will be aboard the two-stroke Honda TLM 260 that has been developed by HRC in Japen. Bley says HRC has dropped the fourstroke RTL due to high costs in engine development. Bob " H u rr ica n e" H a nnah will be at ASK Cycles in Lancaster, Ohio, on Saturday, February 24, to sign autographs, provide racing ti ps a nd race tu ni ng info, and bench race with h is fans. At a two-day supercross meet held February 3-4 in Barcelona. Spain. 125cc World Champion Trampas Parker (KTM) won the first night over Bruno Auquier (Hon) and American Jim Holley (Yam). Holley topped Auquier and Ismo Vehkonen (Suz) the second day. · Wa Iter vo n Schon fe Id , a Io ngume fixture at races across the co untry, tells Papa that "Castrol has p u ll ed · th e p 1ug on motorcycIe racmg an d '11 not furrus h oor conun. pr uct d ' Wt . gency pnze fun ds." Von Schon feId , . h 0 representedCastro Ifor 12 years w befo re re tiring last year, added, "I even offered to bu y cases of their 747 oil to give out at Dayton a, b ut th ey sai d their entire produ cti on of that oil was co mmitted to the GP road race sce ne. T hey're compl etel y involved in sponsoring th e jaguar car race effort in this coun try and have forgotten about motorcycles. " The site of the April 7 Camel Supercross in Dallas. Texas. has been changed from Texas Stad ium in Irving to the Cottom Bowl in Dallas. The change in venue was made to accommodate sche-, duling conflicts at Texas Stadium. . Rea d er Mick Moore of Atlanta, G eorgi a , says satellite televisio n di sh owners can catch the live j apa n ese telecasts o f Camel Su percross Series events on satellite F2, channel 21. Team Honda support technician Eric Crippa will be attending MX races across the country this season. "We can give tips on chassis and suspension tuning. and carburetlon." said Crippa. "Often we find a machine performing really poorly just because of basic setup mistakes. We're glad to help out where we can:' Crippa's schedule for the next few weeks will have h im at GFI Winter MX Series events in Huron. California. on February 18 and at Perris. California. on February 25 . He'lI also be at the March 5 Daytona Amateur Motocross. The first round of th e NMA sanctioned Yamaha YSR-50 Gold Cu p Series is scheduled for March 3-4 in Waco, Texas. A two-hour endurance race will take place on Saturday, March 3, starting at 8 p.m. Sprint races wi ll be h eld the foll owing day. Central Yamaha o f Pla no , Du nlop, Ancra, Oury and Keihin are major sponsors of the series. For more information , call 214/ 2426440. The total purse and contingency awards for 1990 WERA Formula USA. Endurance and Superstock road race events now stands at $897.200 and the Hilton Head Island. South Carolina-based .san c t io n in g body is aiming for a total of $1 million. "WERA has been working diligently over the last three years to build a professional racing program in America." said Doug Gonda. marketing agent for WERA. "This year WERA' bri . th k IS nnglng e pac age together. TV coverage. promotion and a series that offersf" top Amer' d U scan roaI racers ath rnancre y . bl ti t' h t via e a s w a WERA .a terna Ive. ff' .. ISO enng . (Continued to page 47) Wo rk bench is a week ly co lumn dealing with motorcycle maintenance, performance and equipment. Ha ve something that Work bench can address? T hen drop a line .to Wo rk benc h, Cycle News, P.O. Bo x 498, L ong Beach, CA 90801-0498. Sparkology 101 : . An introduction to spark plugs Do you know what all those lett ers a nd numbers on the side of your spark p lug's insulator represe nt? The typical person doesn't, and the average mo tor cycli st is no excep tion. If you 're like mos t peo ple, when it comes tim e to replace th e spark p lu g(s) in yo u r motorcycle you simply copy the brand name and numbers from the side of the p lug, head for the dealer and hand the slip to th e gu y beh ind th e counter. Bu t what if your motorcycle comes equipped with Brand A spark pl ugs, and the dealer only carries Brand B? This is when things get a little more difficult, and it may now be necessary to know how to translate those letters and n umbers - especially when you consider that Brand A's identification system differs from that used by Bra nd B in both order and symbol. The code on the side of a spark plug specifies differences in what are basically the six different features of a spark plug: thread size; thread reach; heat range; ga p; construction type; and any special design that may be incorporated into the spark pl ug. Thread size is simply that - the diameter of the thread. Both NGK and Nippondenso (ND) list the thread size as the first symbol in their codes, bu t it is designated by a letter and not a n um ber as you migh t · assume.. In general, th read sizes range from 10mm to 18mm, with most motorcycles usi ng ei ther 10, 12 or 14mm p lugs (designa ted U, X, or W by ND and C, D, or B by NGK). If the plu g you purchase has a thread size that doesn 't ma tch the thread size on your motorcycle, it . I 't Ii h . simp y won t It, t us preve nung you from using the wro ng size p lug. Choosing the wrong thread reach, on the other hand, can cause problems. If a replacement pl ug has a reach that is too long, the firing end may actually be hit by the piston and/or valves, or it may overheat - both of which can lead to engine damage. A reach that IS · too short can decrease engine · performance, and the unused thread on the cylin der head may become clogged by deposits, making it difficult to later . re-install a p lug with the correct thread reach. NGK designates thread reach with the fo urt h symbol on their plugs while ND uses the third symbol (both, again, are designated by a letter). The heat range of a spark plug is its ability to dissipate heat from the combustion chamber to the cylinder head. The heat range of a plug is determined by two factors . the mat erials used for construction of the plug and the physical shape of the center electrode and insulator nose. Coldrunning plugs feature a smaller insulator nose and are designed to dissipate .. heat faster to avoid pre -ignition; hotru nn ing pl u gs have a lar ger insulator nose in order to better retain hea l to prevent low-tempera ture fouling. Both NGK an d ND label a hot plug with a low n umber and a cooler plug .with a high number (NGK p uts the heat range ' or rating, as th e third symbol whl~e ND design ates the hea t ra nge wit h'rhe second symbo l). Usi ng a pl ug with a differen t heat ra nge th a n recomme nded by your motorcycle's manufacturer should be reserved for major modifications only. "Changing heat ra nges is like changing your TV station to channel 6 if you 're not getting a good picture on channel 7," said William Oleson, NGK's manager of technical support services. " Yo u have to fine tune channel 7, yo u don 't just change channels." Both NGK and ND give the spark plug gap (th e space between the center electrode and the ground electrode) a numerical .design ation which is the la st symbol on th e· side of their respective insulators. The gaps generally range frOIT• • 035" to .80" and are adjusted at the factory. There are basically two kinds of plugs in regard to internal construction - resistor type and non-resistor type. The basic difference between the two is that resistor-type plugs prevent radio frequency (RF) interference. So if you have a radio, say on your H onda Gold Wing, you should opt for the resistor type. NG K lists the construction characteristics second o n t he ins ulator while ND specifies this as the fifth symbol. Mos t plugs also featu re different electrode design s for different applicatio ns. Ran ging from the conventional to the raci ng- type plug, and featuring either n ickel ground or p lati num ground electrodes, each manufacturer gives their special design a letter designation. NG K uses the fifth symbol on the plug for this while ND uses the fourth symbol for special feature designation. Next week we'll take a look at analyzing spark plugs. . Paul Carruthers ·r-------------------------------------~--------------------------~, I SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM I I I I I I 0 Th is is a renewa l · 0 Please b ill me 0 Enclosed is check or money order Charge my 0 Visa 0 Mastercard Name ' PL EA S E PRINT CLE ARLY ' J Address 1 State C;'y IO~M~: Z;P.=C I and send me the newspaper 0 every week for one yea r (50 issues ) for $35.00 0 every week for two years (1 00 is s ues ) fo r $65.00 0 s ix months second class (25 is s ues) for $18.00 l One year (50 iss ues). 2nd cla ss Canada or Mex ico and all other fo re ign countr ies $75 .00 (U.S . fund i ). I I L First class and airma il rates ava ilable u po n request. . Se ~d to : CYC·LE NEWS, S ignature I I MC /Visa # I I I Ex pi rati o n -D a te . Inc., i I 10K, please start my subscription to Cycle News I I I I I I I I P .O . 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