Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I· E PROD~CTS •.• · 1 NW acid batteries at full charge over long s torage periods. The unit p lugs in to home AC outlets, features polari tyreversal protection, charge-indication LED light and an "auto-float contro l" which brings your battery to full charge and then alters the current to eliminate over- or under-charging. In addition, it is claimed to prevent plate sulphanation and i ncrease battery life. The Holeshot Sure Ch arg e co me s with a fi ve -y ea r manufacturer ' s replacement w arranty and is a vail able for $41.95 from HoJesh ot Performance Prod ucts, Dept. CN, 320 Babe Thomps on Ro ad , .La Sel v a, CA 9507 6, 408 / 761-2 808, FAX 408/761-3105. Sidi SRSBoot "Hi Donn , it's Rob," said the voice on the phone. It was Rob Glad d en of Acerbis , "I've got these new Sidi boots for you to try out. What size do you wear?" When I told him that I wore an eight, Gladden laughed and mumbled something ab out h is gir lfrien d ' s feet being bi gger tha n m ine. Rob and I have kn own each other for some time - we me t" before I wo rked at Cycle News and he at Acerbis - and such ribbing is common between us. A few days later, a box conta inin g a new p air of Sidi SRS Boots arrived, and I op ened th em immed iately, an xious to see what Gladden was so excited abou t. Acerb is ha d sen t me a white pair tha t had ligh t and dark blue accents . Because the majority of the boot was wh ite -.and because of the small size - they rem inded m e o f somet hi ng o ther than MX boots. . I ph oned Glad den. "These th in gs lo ok like nurse ' s shoes!" I teased him . "There's not even a steel toe p lat e - th es e things look like Hu sh Pu ppies!" "Calm down, Maeda, " he assured me. "Ta ke a look a t the bottom of th e boots. See the shiny silver screws? Sure, they'll match the shiny silver earrings in your ears, but they have a hi gher pu rpose. SRS stands for "Sole Repla cement System," get it? Tha t means that wh en yo u wear a 'hole in th e soles from n ot moving your fee t on the foo tpegs like you sho u ld, you can just screw a new set on . Go t ry ' e m, a n d qu it yo ur wh ining." After hangin g up the ph one, I took a better look at the SRS Boots and read the acco m pa nying literature. Like Sidi' s standard TAE Boots, the SRS Boot s are constructed of Italian top-grain leather and use a highly adjustable four-buckle closure syst em to keep them shut. Fu ll exterior plastic plating is sewn on in all potential impact and high-wear areas, and two layers of leather on the inside surfaces protect the rider's legs from engine hea t. Unlike the standard TAE Boots, the SRS versions feature an extra-stiff sole, thanks to a steel internal arch and hard plastic base sole. The removable outer , sole is held on by 17 heavy-duty steel screws, and as a whole, Sidi claims that the combination offers the most arch support available. From the moment I slipped the boots on, it was apparent that they were much, much stiffer than any other boot I had ever worn. The ankle area provided the usual tight, stiff feel of a new pair of boots, but the sole had the most rigid feel o f any boot I've ever wo rn . On ly th e plaster cast I wore for a few months several years ago could compare. After five or six laps around the track - and about 20-30 missed sh ifts - I pulled into th e pits, took off th e bo ot s, an d resumed riding w it h a w ell -b roke n-in p air of boots. Th e n ex t d a y, I ph on ed G la d d en again. . "Rob, what gave you the idea that I had broken both of my ankl es and needed a new set of casts?" I teased . "Those boots are m iserable. I cou ld n' t feel a thin g!" Glad de n chuckled and assu red me that the boots would break in, and once they d id , I wo u ld become a be lie ver . "All of our sponsored riders swear by them," he said. "Larry Brooks says that th ere' s no th in g be tte r for su pe rcross landings." . A fe w wee ks la ter, I re luct an tl y pa cked the SRS Boots in my gear ba g. This time, however, I didn' t b ring along an older set of boot s. I would be forced to rid e wi th, a n d bre a k in, the SRS Boots. The da y started off with the same missed shifts, but as the afternoon wore on, the boo ts began to break in and provide better feel. . By the end of the day, I was able to shift an d br ake with confiden ce, and no ticed tha t the b o ots had indee d become ve ry, very comfortable. I' ll be the first to ad mit that unlike Brooks - I am defin itely not a su percross rider but jus t to test Gladden's claims I tried to ta ke to the sk ies and bri ng ab ou t some hard land ings. In addition, I pu rposely came up short over a mediumsize d ouble ju mp to see h ow th e SRS soles would handle the impact. And just like I was told the y wo uld, the extra-s tiff soles did an excellent job of abs orbing the blows. Becau se of the s teel arch an d s tiff plas tic b a se , th e sho ck wa s distributed evenly throughout the entire length of the sole, rather than concentrated so le ly in th e a rch are a. Dam, Gladden was right. Sid i SRS Boots are im po rted exclusively into the United State s by Acerb is USA, and are available in sizes 8-12 in two colo r combinations: wh ite / grey / aqua or black /white /red. For $279.95 you get a pai r of high-quality boots that sho u ld last severa l year s and provide many comfortable motos. (After the first few break-in rid es, that is.) Oh yeah, and when you do w ear out the soles, the replacement set costs only $13.95. For more information contact Acerb is USA, Dept. CN, 9402 Wheatlands Ct., Suite A, Santee, CA 92071, 619 / 562-1440. Donn Maeda BRAKE YOUR DIRT BIKE Ferodo in tr o d uces th eir MX Sp o rt Brakes. The MX Sport Brakes featu re a n e w bra k e-p ad -material comp ound specifica lly d es igned fo r use o n dirt b ikes . The m at erial is claimed to be long-las ting , offer excell ent frictional p ropert ie s and to ha v e an " openm atrix" fo rm u la tio n said to provide exc elle n t braking performance in the wo rst cond itions, hot or cold . The su ggested retail pricing is $25-$30 per pair. For more information on the complete line of Ferodo brakes and their applications , contact your local deal er or Flanders Co mp any, Dept. CN, P.O . Box 93605, Pasad ena, CA 91109, 818/ 7927384, FAX 818/ 792-~341. SOCK ITTO YA The folks at Moto-vated Products want you to slip into something comfo rtable thei r new Moto-Soxx. Constructed of a tough acrylic-fibe r kn it, Moto-Soxx is des igned to draw moisture aw ay fro m the leg. Moto-Soxx features the all-ino ne sock co nveni en ce o f h a vi n g padding focused in critical are as to hel p prevent chafi ng and blisters, as we ll as being long enoug h to protect against the same fro m knee p ads or braces. Available in XXXXsizes, Moto-Soxx retail for $12.95. For m or e informa tion con tact Mo to-Va ted Prod uc ts, Dept. CN , P.O. Box 5472, Pleasan ton, CA 94566-5472, 510/462-7544. SPEED DIAL Accel Motorcycle Pr oducts 'in troduces the Thunder Twin Power Tuner Module . The Power Tuner Module is an adjustm ent to ol d esigned to work in conjunction with Accel' s Thunder Twin fuel injection sy stem . Th e unit is controlled by two kno bs th at are used to mak e adjustments to the idle and wideopen th rottl e fu el m ixture. The id le kn ob a ll ows th e u se r to inc re ase o r decrease the idle and off-idle fuel delivery by plu s or minus one-ha lf millisecond throughout the total rpm range. The wide-open-throttle knob allows the user to increase or dec rease the WOT fuel b y a total range of 25 percent. Th e tuner module connects to th e fu el-injection ECU by a fo u r-p in connector . On ce plugged into the tuner, set the knob s at the middle se tt ing (d e faul t), and tune for best performance. Once the best performance settings are determined, leave th e knobs in th at po sition and disconnect the module. The setting is automaticall y reco rded b y th e ECU an d will remain until th e next tim e th e Pow er Tuner Mod ule is used. For more information, contact Accel Motorcycle Products, Dept. CN, Mr. Gasket Perform ance Gro u p, Atten tion : Consumer Inquiries, 87 00 Broo kpa rk Rd. , Cleveland, OH 44129,21 6/ 398-8300. I I \ • ELECTRICDREAMS When you put your motorcycle to bed for the winter, how can you make sure th e battery is going to wake up? One step y ou can take is to connect the Holeshot Sure Charge from Dale Walker' s Holeshot Performance. The charger is designed to mai ntain all 12-volt lead- snCK THIS White Brothers has produced th ese fen der stickers.so tha t you can dress up your off-road motorcycles. Available in white, black and purple they are th e same stickers that the Brothers use on all their off-road projec t bikes. Though the stickers offer no true performance gain, Wh ite Brothers sa ys that th e s tickers look cooler than jus t about anything you can stick on your front fender . Enough said. Suggested retail price is $4.95 per pair. For mo re info rma ti on contact White Brothers, Dept. CN, 24845 Corbit PI., Yorba Linda, C A 92687, 714/ 692-3404. l"N

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