Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. ,NEW PRODUCTS ,I I ~RODUCrEVALUATION·.& VIDEO.'REVIEW '. .' . ----'--------'------'---' Thor Peninsula Vest SPOONS FOR YOUR EYES Though the company is Dest known for their goggles and sports sunglasses, the new Oakley e Wire sunglasses are proof positive that Oakley can make fashionable accessories as well. The e Wire's unique metal frame is actually a combination of metal alloys, each used to take advantage of its natural properties. This allows Oakley to make a frame that is exceptionally strong, yet at the same time, light. Of course, e Wires are fitted with Oakley's Plutonite lenses, which are claimed to block 100 percent of all harmful UV and blue light. They are also corrected through the vertical and horizontal curve of each lens for minimum distortion at any angle of vision. Available in three shades, dark and light with Oakley's Black Iridium coated lenses, and gold with Gold Iridium lenses, e Wires cost $130. For more information contact Oakley, Dept. CN; 10 Holland, Irvine, CA 92718, 714/951-0991. FOR A WILD RIDE CALL... Bike been feeling a little tame lately? Cycle Performance Products Inc. claims that their nitrous kit will turn your motorcycle into "the wildest ride ever." The direct port system is fully adjustable, boasting a 30-40 percent increase in horsepower and torque on most engines, all at the touch of a button. Complete kits are also available for snowmobiles and watercraft. For more information contact Cycle Performance Products, Inc" Dept. CN, 2724 Spring Garden Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27106, 9}0/722-1407. RADRODS If you're not satisfied with your stock pull rods, Applied Racing suggests you try their new custom-billet KX80 aluminum linkage pull rods. These rods claim to be thicker, stronger; and more durable than stock, They require no shock re-valving, and are available in two sizes. A longer-than-stock set promises to provide more con trol and increased straight-line stability for the smaller rider by decreasing the seat height, and a shorter-than-stock model increases seat height with the aim of enhancing cornering capabilities, Both models are CNC machined from 7075 billet aluminum, and sell for a suggested retail price of $59.95 per set. For more information, contact Applied Racing, Dept. CN, 1115 Industrial Avenue, Escondido, CA 92029, 800/853-0555. CN eporting on motorcycle races isn't as easy as you think. Sure, some of the events are pretty plush and reporting on them only requires u~ to sit in an air-conditioned press box and take notes on the action below. Those are the easy ones. But then there are the tougher ones, The ones where we have to really get our hands dirty. A few weeks ago, I volunteered to cover the opening round of the AMA/NATC National Championship Trials Series, Needless to say, this event would not be held in a football stadium. Instead, it was held in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona, and covering the event would require actually riding a motorcycle o.n the loop and following the riders as they transferred from section to section. R even more storage space. 3M Scotchlite Reflective Tape panels are sewn on to the backpack, adding a safety feature for riders who might use the vest for dualsport riding. After loading the pack up with two camera, bodies, three lenses, two flash units, 15 rolls of film, a submarine sandwich, a baseball cap, two pens and a notebook, I honestly expected the Peninsula Vest to be awkward and bulky, To my pleasant surprise, however, the pack's adjustable straps allowed the load to be comfortably cinched down against my back. Thanks to the vest design, the load was evenly distributed across my upper torso, rather than on my shoulders alone, as it would have been with a traditional backpack. On the trail, the vest design also kept the backpack from swinging from side to side. Perfect. In addition, the numerous pockets on the vest came in extremely handy for carrying little knickknacks, Taking the vest off and putting it back on repeiltedly was not a hassle as I expected, as the vest fastens with two life-vest-style clips. Zippers and buttons would have been a pain - the snap buckles were not. The only feature that I would have personally added to the vest is a padded back to keep the cargo from digging in to the wearer's back. Strategic packing, however, can eliminate the need for such a feature. So, is it a vest with a built-in backpack, or a backpack with a built-in vest? Who knows - or who cares, for that matter - it works! 'The Thor Motocross Peninsula Vest is available in either black/ purple or black/silver color combinations. The one-size-fits-all vest costs $109.90. For more infoqnation contact Thor, Motocross, Dept. CN, 5520 Wellesley St., Suite 205, La Mesa, CA 91942, 6i9/4633400. Donn Maeda Crusty Demons of Dirt No pr.oblem. I already had a trials bike, a couple of friends to drive it there for me, a plane ticket, and plenty of enthusiasm. But how would I carry my cameras while I rode the loop? My traditional shoulder-strapped camera case probably wouldn't cut it as I.sliced between trees and bou1ders in pursuit of Geoff Aaron and Ryan Young, and experience had taught me that the old backpack from my college days would provide little support and protection for . my expensive photographic equipment. Enter the Thor Motocross Peninsula Vest. Originally designed to carry spare riding gear and extra parts while trail riding; I figured that the Peninsula Vest would be the perfect way to carry my cameras. Unlike a traditional backpack that features only lightly padded shoulder straps, the Peninsula Vest incorporates a full-front competition vest into , the pack's support system, The vest itself features a surplus of pockets, some of which are open-ended, zippered, or held closed by hook-and-Ioop fasteners. /!>. trick, clear pocket is perfect for holding a pit pass, and two pen and pencil holders are extremely handy. The vest is lined with a soft 100 percent cotton pile, and has adjustable shoulder and side straps. The backpack portion is expandable, thanks to an accordion design that is adjusted by a single zipper. A large pocket on the back of the pack offers ooking for a nice, wholesome way to spend a quiet evening with the whole family? If you are, don't even think about sitting down in front of the boob tube with Fleshwound Films' Crusty Demons of Dirt. Conservative senior riders need not apply, this is one aggressive film. Action in this rock-'em, sock-'em video is wide-open from the get-go, and the antics performed by the host of top National riders featured can make even the most. sedate viewers sit up in their chairs. The. Thor Racing-sponsored film features an impressive list of riders, including three-time Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath, former 125cc National Champion Jeff Emig, All Japan National MX Champion Jeff Matiasevich, former Eastern Regional 125cc Supercross Champion Denny Stephenson, '91 250cc Vice World Champion Mike Healey, as well as Ryan Hughes, Mike Metzger, Brian Manley, Phil Lawrence, Joel Albrecht, Buddy Antunez, Rich Taylor, Chad Smanjak, Brian Deegan, Tommy Clowers and Larry Roeseler. The entire film is composed of clips of the racers cutting loose for the cameras in various play-riding areas. Think that these guys are impressive on the race track? Wait until you see what they can do while. they're out playing around. We hate to say it, but McGrath's L nac-nac is nothing compared to'some of the stunts in "Crusty." Complimenting the shots is an equally energetic soundtrack that includes cuts from bands like White Zombie, . Sensor, Strung Out, Mind Funk, SOAK and Purple Bosco. Even the staffers who prefer "funkier" music enjoyed the tunes, as the audio truly compliments the video. No boring narration segments will be found on the tape - it's non-stop action and music from start to finish. Pure entertainment, if you would. If not for the outrageous footage, Crusty Demons of Dirt will perhaps be remembered as the video that started a fad of oddball motocross clothing. Snowboard clothing companies LBZ and SMP have entered into the MX market, and some of the riders in the video sport baggy, snowboard-inspired riding gear. Now, it may be a Southern California thing, but the trend already seems to have caught on at our local tracks. While the aerial acrobatics performed by the well-known racers are thrilling, they are - to an extent - overshadowed by the riding of a snowboarder-gonemental named Seth Enslow. Believe us, this guy has no idea what he's doing on a motocross bike, but he's got the huevos of McGrath, Emig and Hughes combined. Enslow thrashes and crashes not only his bikes, but his body as well as he attempts all the same jumps as the sport's elite. Sometimes he makes them, most of the time he doesn't. Enslow's fifth-gear sand-dune Death Launch is reason alone to get your hands on this tape. It hurts just to watch... Really. So, are there downsides to this video? A few. One: It probably wouldn't be a good idea to show this tape to your girlfriend's parents and tell them, "This is what I do on the weekends!" Two: It may make you want to go .out and try a few antics of your own, and you just might end up looking more like Seth than Jeremy. Three: There are a few clips that aren't very good for the sport one shows. several riders downing some brewskies ~fore racing around on their . minibikes sans helmets, and another shows one of the videos' producers firing a handgun out of the window of his truck. But even the offensive scenes aren't enough to discourage us from declaring this the most thrilling motorcycle tape we've seen to date. Like we said earlier, some traditionalists just may not understanq this tape. It's definitely on the hip side. Crusty Demons of Dirt is distributed by Platypus Worldwide. To order a copy, send $24.95 to P.O. Box 5471, Dept. CN, Santa Monica, CA 90409, or call 310/581-9618. Donn Maeda

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