Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

ing as I expected it might. You could probably widen the contact patch without sacrificing cornering ability, in order to give a bit more straightline stability. However, the main culprit is probably the vintage-era front-suspension response delivered by the Gilera forks, which felt very hard and unyielding - if Bob Mac broke the 100 mph barrier over the 10M's bumps with a setup like this, he really was Superman, not a mere mortal. Derek Minter says that this was an undoubted problem when he came to race the Gilera in 1963: "The first time I rode it at Brands Hatch in a warm-up race, I told Geoff Duke the front end was way too hard," he says. "But Geoff said it was fine when he used to ride it, and all he'd let us do was mess about with the fluid weight and level, when what we really wanted was a set of modern forks that by the early '60s gave a lot more movement and feel. I also thought the chassis needed a longer swingarm, to get more weight onto the front wheel. Remember that this bike was designed to run with the much heavier aluminum dustbin streamlining fitted, which means the weight bias was adversely affected and moved rearwards when they fitted this modern fairing for us to race with. But nothing was ever doone about it - shame, really." Derek felt the 4LS brakes - which, like the forks, were of Gilera's own manufacture - were okay when he rode with them, but by the standards of late-1960s Fontana or Ceriani drum brakes, they require a very hard squeeze and a high leverage ratio, and are prone to fade after several hard stops. That could just be a case of different shoes - at 328 Ibs. dry, the Gilera isn't as heavy as you might expect for a '50s four - but what I really didn't care for were the very'50s, typically Latin, ultra-thin brake and clutch levers, which bite into your fingers when you start to squeeze hard. No wonder they all wore such thick gloves back in the 1950s1 The 1950s were a golden age for Grand Prix road racing, with half-adozen manufacturers contesting the blue-ribbon 500cc class and a bewildering array of technical virtuosity, resulting in increasingly sophisticated, avant-garde machinery whose design influence is still felt now. But except for just one year, in 1956, when MY Agusta won by default after Geoff Duke's controversial suspension by the FIM effectively blunted their title challenge, Gilera was effectively unbeatable in 500cc GP racing - much as Honda is today with its NSR500. The bike which allowed Bob Mac to make his mark on the Manx. record-books was truly the class act of the Golden Age of Grand Prix racing: the Japanese picked a good design to copy! eN john dowd and doug henry got their start with the nesc e since 1958 the nesc has been running one of the best mx series in the world, turning out champion riders like team kawasaki's john dowd and legendary doug henry. over a half a million dollars in contingency money from honda, kawasaki, suzuki and yamaha make the nesc motocross series the richest local circuit in the country! eight rider appreciation days with a total of sixteen thousand dollars in cash and prizes up for grabs! twenty five thousand dollar expert points fund. the four best tracks in new england. April 2 April 9 April Ie April 23 April 30 May 7 May H May 21 May 2e May 29 June 4 June 18 June 25 July 1 July 2 July 9 July 23 July 30 Aug e Aug 13 Sept 3 Sept 4 Sept 10 Sept 17 Sept 23 Sept 24 Oct 1 Oct e Oct 15 Oct 22 Oct 29 Southwick, Ma Middleboro, Ma Central Village, Southwick, Ma Middleboro, Ma Central Village, Southwick, Ma Middleboro, Ma Greene, Me Greene, Me Southwick, MA. Central Village, Middleboro, Ma Greene, Me Greene, Me Middleboro, Ma Southwick, Ma Middleboro, Ma Central Village, Southwick, Ma Greene, Me Greene, Me Southwick, Ma Central Village, Greene, Me Greene, Me Middleboro, Ma Southwick, Ma Middleboro, Ma Southwick, Ma Middleboro, Ma Ct Ct Ct Ct Ct P.O. Box 914 Agawam, MA 01001 fax B60·763·3195 My l!i!ft/lB /Ild'i® is Bei~9 Deliveted Late! Wllal can you do abou' ;,? As AmerIca's only weekly motorcycle publlcaltan, we're the only thing you get that you even realize Is Iah!I (When was the last tlme you knew your monthly magazlne was a wee!< later than usua~l Most Cyde News subscriptions are delivered via 2nd Class mall The bulk of what you pay fa< on your annual subscrlpttan Is pastege. You are paying fa< better delivery than what you have been recelvlng_ why? Around the beginning of 1997, the US. Postal ServIce reclasslned all publlcaltans Into what they call ·Periodlcals· I'or the purposes of delivery speed. That means they now lump your Cycle News In with all the monthly publlcaltons and deliver them with the same urgency (or lack of ulQency~ All Cycle News can do an our end ~ get the paper shipped Immediately ""'" each wee!rncJltves fa< belle< sed you states fa< Cycle News, annual subscription price: Sl22.oo. (OutsIde the U.s., first- doss delivery ~ avallable fa< S14O.OO; Canada & />kJka are S135.oo~ Cycle News' toIl-1Tee subscription hotline Is 1-S00-S31-2220. - orReglsle< your delivery complain" with the US. Postel Service via e-mail at cuslomer@emalluspsgOll or. call the US. Postel Service toI~1Tee consumer hotllne - 24 hours a day, seven days a wee!< - at l-S00-ASK-USPS (l-S0Cl-275-Sml. Please keep your message brIet. to the.!'Oint descr1ptlve of your delivery problems, and as politi> as possible. (r the USPS hears from enough cuslome

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