Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I.PRODUCT'~VALUATION ·: 1 Tarres is particularly colorful as he smiles, raises his fist, and says, "Bosco Gloves, they are de best! " It' s a fun peek at the Wo rld Champion's lighter side. The Top 5 Training Video costs $40, and can be delivered in time for Christmas. For more inform ation contact Moto Zenka i, Dept. CN , 11826 Rialto sr, Sun Valley, CA 91352- 818/m .Q977. Donn Maeda Top 5T in rain g E ver wond er wha t six-time World Cha mpion [ordi Tarres does for practice? Most peo ple ha ve seen pictu res of the King in action, and a few hard-core Am er ican fan s have seen him in person in competition. But how many have seen him at play? Surely all of those trick moves tha t he execu tes in the sectio ns don ' t just happen - he has to experiment and perfect them while he practices. Thanks to importer Mo to Zenkai, it is now possible to see Tarres awa y from the high pressure of World Round competition in Bosco Video's Top 5 Training. Along with the rest of the '92 season's top five ranked riders - Tommi Ahvala, Diego Bosis, Dona to Miglio and Bruno Camozzi - Tarres stvles for the camera as he hops, skips and jumps his m ot orcycle a round in a practice ar ea that most wo uld have trouble walking through. The 60-minute tape provides pl enty of exciteme nt, and thanks to the addition of several upbeat dance tunes - th e chug, chug, chu g of motorcycle engines doesn' t put you to sleep . Tho ugh the tape wa s filmed two yea rs ago and Tarres is still ridin g a Beta Zero, the techniq ues d isplayed are no less impressive. Ap p roxima tely 10 minutes are dedicated to each rider, and the vide o ope ns and closes w ith segment s th at includ e all five int ermixed. Tarres practices in what looks like an old rock quarry, and spends a good deal of time hop pi ng aro u nd th e mid si ze ob s tacles. Wha t's neat abou t the Tarres porti on, however, is a number of cliff jumps that he executes, rivaling the style of man y su percross regulars in the process. Ta rres als o takes time to expla in how he tr ain s and practices, bu t u nless yo u speak Spanish, d on ' t p la n o n picking up any helpful hints. Ah vala, though, does speak English, and explains his training program after his rid ing portio n of th e video. The former Wo rl d Cha m pion rid es his Aprili a in a rocky river bed and in a d ry concrete drainage ditch. The Bosis portion of the video is perhaps the most en tertaining. The Italian Fantic rider is joi ned by a you ng Bet a -m oun ted Joan Pons. While Bosis manages to execu te several aweso me ma neu ve rs, Po ns struggles to match the olde r rider' s moves. Bosis repea ted ly pul ls off hairy uphill jumps, in which he ju m p s in to the fac e of a concrete wall at speed . Bosis gives his ridin g tips in Italian. Miglio rid es in a rocky stream bed that is littered with fallen leaves. The Aprilia rider puts on a great show with limited amoun ts of tractio n. Like Bosis, he speaks Italian. Th e la st rid er fea tured is Fren chm an Bru no Cam ozzi. The Fantic ride r plays on old tracto r tires and steel drainage pipes. In add itio n to climbing up, ove r and d o wn the obs ta cles, Camozzi spe nds several minutes flicking his back end aroun d and hopping on the front end . The end of the video features a plu g for the produ cers ' p rodu cts - Bosco T ri al s Gloves. Each of the five riders explai n why the Bosco Gloves are best, and since they do so in English - it is good for a chuckle or two. Twin Air Liquid Dirt Remover and C in lean gTub "H that you can d rop a really nasty filter in and · allow it to soak. The grate keeps the fille r away from the old dirt, and soaking the filter really works the stubborn dirt particles loose. The Dirt Remover itself seems to work mu ch better than gas, and doesn't give yo u that g narly head rush fro m in h aling gasoline fumes. Tho ug h I have yet to "use up" my Dirt Remover's cleaning pow er, d isposing of the old solution is as easy as pouring it back into the container an d takin g it to the nearest gasoline station for disposaL A five liter bottle of Twin Air l iquid Dirt Rem over costs $19.95, and a case of four costs $78.95. The Oeaning Tub costs $11.95, and includes the filter grate. For more info rmation con tac t White Bros. Dept. CN , 24845 Corbit PI., Yorba Linda, CA 92687, 714/6923404. The following weekend, I gave Tom a call. " Hey, are yo u go nna race Carl sbad tomorrow?" 1asked. "My air filter is clean!" "No, Donn, things have been really busy here at Wh ite Bros., and I think I'm go nna have to catch up on some wo rk," he said. "Sorry, Tom, I can't help you with that one." Donn Maeda i Donn, it's Tom," said the voice on th e phone . It was Tom White of White Bros. fame, and 1 knew exactly what he wanted. "Say, are you going to race at Carlsbad tomorrow ?" " let's see. Tod ay' s Friday, and by the tim e I ge t home tonight, it will be 6:30," I thou gh t, to myself. " 'one of the air filters on any of my bikes are clean, and I'm su pposed to take my wife out for dinner tonight. Cleaning an air filter in a bucket of gas at midnight doesn't sound too appealing." "No Tom," I replied , and went on to give him my lengthy excuse. Then he cornered me. "Oh, c'rnon, you weenie. I'll bring you a new air filter that you can just throw in at the track," he said. It wa s set tled . No ne w excuses popped into my mind, and it looked like I was going. The next morning, Tom sup plied me with a pair of Twin Air air filter s, and brought along a large box of other good ies, as well. "He re, these will make cleaning your air filte rs a little easier," said Tom. "No more excuses." While there' s really no need to elaborate on the high quality of the Twin Air filter itself - the Twin Air filter has become the industry standard in aft ermarket air clea ners - the Twin Air Liquid Dirt Remover and O eanin g Tub are a pair of products that deserv e more attention than they ha ve gotten in the past. like many rid ers, I hav e been gu ilty of using a bucket full of gasoline to clean the d irt off my air filters . Su re, I could use my so lven t tank, but the d irt bu ilds up rather quickly in the tank an d clogs the solven t filter. A fresh bu cket of gas was always easier and quicker. Bu t what do you do with the gas when you' re do ne? Dump it in a hole that you dug in your backyard? Wrong! Pour it down the sink? I do n't think so. Simp ly pu t, there's no easy way to dispose of used gasoline. In ad di tion to being da ngerou s, using gas to clean your air filters is hard on the fj).. ter - it makes the foam hard and dries out the glue used to hold the seams together. That's where Twin Ai r l iqu id Di rt Remover comes in. Designe d specifically for cleaning dirty air filters, the Dirt Remover is designed to be used in conjunction with the d eaning Tub . What's the difference betw een the cleaning tub and a norm al bucket? Well, if you use a normal bucket, the Dirt Remover is sure to evaporate. And besides, the Cleaning Tub has a trick little grate that sits in the bottom of the tub . It allow s the dirt to sink to .the bottom of the tub, and keeps the freshly cleaned filter from coming in contact with it. But eno ugh of the sales pitch, already, how does it work? Perhaps the coolest thing about the Dirt Remover and Oeaning Tub is Bill'sPipes'9 ond 5H aCR125 Pipe here's little doubt that the Honda CR125 is the fastest bike in the tiddler class. With a motor that hits ha rd down low, pull s well in the mid dle, and continues to pull way up top, the red and purpl e bike is the und isputed champ in the power department. But can it be made any be tter? Of course! This year' s Honda CR125 engine was left basically unchanged from last year's. As a . matt er of fact, it wasn't changed at all. Take a look a photo of either two-time 125ee National Champion Doug Henry or Steve Lamson, and you' ll see that their pipe of cho ice last seaso n was made bv Bill Cervera of Bill' s Pipes. . T Though we we~e quite pleased with our CR125's po we r, we were anxi ou s to bolt a pipe on our lest bike. Okay, okay, I'll ad mit it - an un pl anned off-track ex cu rsion left a health y-sized den t in our stock expansion chamber, and presented a perfect opportunity to try the Bill's unit. From the moment you start the bike, it is apparent that the Bill's Pipe ha s altered the powerband. In comparison to the stocker, the Bill's pipe allows the mo tor to rev quicker mu ch quicker. "Of all the 1255, the Honda was probably the hard est to im prove upon, " said Cervera. "The bike already makes so much power in stock condition, about all we could do is aller the powe r a bit to make it eas ier to rid e." Po w er d o w n low se e ms · t o be a bi t stronger with the Bill's pipe, but things really start to ge t cra zy as th e eng ine picks u p , Midrange is boosted cons iderably, and the bike is much easier to keep on the pipe. Topend power is about the sam e as stock. Even wh en you do fall off the pipe, the q uicker rev vin g engine allows yo u to ge t ba ck in the meat of the powerband quickly. Novices and pros alike should enjoy the benefits of the pipe. When installin g the Bill's Pipe, it is recommended that you insta ll a 168 main jet, a 55 pilot jet, and set the needle clip in the center pos ition. The pipe costs 5165, and the accompa nyi ng silence r retails for 565. For more info rm ation contact Bill's Pipes, Dept. CN, 1167 H a m ne r Ave ., No rco, CA91760, 909/371-1329. Donn Maed a PlexusP lasticCleaner .Protectant and Polish buddy of mine at Acerbis recently told me about a new product called Plexus . "It's awesome," he said. "It's made for plastic fenders and stuff, but it works really great on helmets. I'll ha ve the gu y at Plexus sen d vou some." A'few weeks later, a case of the prod uct arrived at CycleNws, but I must ad mit that I didn' t rush out and find so me plastic things to try it on. It wasn 't until a few d ays ago that 1sud denly found myself w ith an oppo rtunity to try som e. There' s a law of ph ysics or ma ybe it 's one of t hat damn Mu rphy gu y' s law s - that says a new helmet with a new paint job is magnetically att rac ted to Mother Earth. Without go ing in to grea t detail, let's just say that I became a human law n dart in a freshly painted helmet. The paint wasn' t chipped, but the re we re seve ral ann oying little scra tches on my new lid. Enter Plexus. Originally developed for use in the aviation industry, Plexu s was de signed for use on aircraft windshields. In addition to cleaning and protecting the airp lane's windshield , Ple xu s seals the microscopic pores in the plastic, thus making the windshield more aerod ynami c, as well. So how does this ap ply to your motorcycle s tu ff? Well , I figure that if it's go o d e no ug h fo r a B-2, it ' s good enough for a CR250. Plexus comes in a can, and using the product is as easy as spr aying it on, and wiping it off. No polishing. and no buffing. On moto rcycle fen de rs, I'd s ay that Plexus yields the same good -looking resul ts as Armor All, but with ou t the greasy feeling . I've also found that if you treat the undersides of yo ur fen de rs with Plexu s, dried , caked-on mud falls off with a mere tap. Like Armor All, Plexus can be used on clear gogg le le nses for its a nti -st a tic pro p erti es . Plexus , however, d oes n't streak and cause tear-offs to stick. To our surprise, stickers can be applied to fenders after Plexus. We expected the stickers to fly off easily, but they held tough: even at the powe r was her. The guys at B.T.1. Chemic al claim that Plexu s can help red uce the fadin g and yellow ing that often affec ts pla stic. th anks to the micro -thin layer of wa x th at it leaves beh ind . Oh yeah, and true to my friend ' s word, it d oes work wonders on helmets. A quick appl ication got rid of those pesky scra tches, and hopefull y, those anti-static properties will get rid of that dam magnetic attraction as well... For more information about Plexus , contact B.T.1. Chemical, Dep t. CN, 638 lindero Can yon Rd . #37 1, Ago ura, CA 9130 1, 818/879-1493. A . DonnMaeda "'" 0\ 0\ ,..-< ,...... """" 1-; (l) .0 E (l) u (l) c 23

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