Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

FreedoDl (Continued from page 4S) 8. Political tactics em ployed successfully by other interest groups must be studied with an open mind, and adapted to the d efense of the mo to rcy cle community whenever their effectivenss and efficiency would so w a r r a n t ; the Not Invented Here syndrome must be avoided. 99. Within the broad categories of the "public" and the Ugovernrnc:nC', those specific persons and small groups must be identified who are perdurably hostile to motorcy cling ; their motivations, methods, and objectives must be studied and understood. The many with wh om we can work an d compromise must be distinguished from the few with whom we cannot. Conciliatory gestures are wasted upon those, whatever their reasons, who reject a reasonable p o licy of mutal accommodation . 10. Natural allies m u st similarly b e id en ti fi e d , an d top.level · workin g arrangements must be made between th em and t he motorcycle com m unity. Isola tionism must b e shunne d as unp roductive. 1 1 . Well-planne d pub lic relations activities aimed at specific targets and d e s i gn e d to ac complish specific ELDORADO ANNOUNCES MOTORCYCLE TH EFT McGraw, President, Eld o rado Insu rance Co., Palo Alto, California, announced his company's participation in a program to reduce motorcycle theft. The "We Care" p ro gram is d esigned to reduce theft by dealer participation, owner education, and alarm equipment installation. The p ro gram is based on a h ighly successfu l 3-mon th test co nd uc ted by 8. .. POSTER Q. M " '" o M ~ . .., " ~ w Z w oJ U > U REDUCE Eldorado in known high-risk are as. Theft-prone m oto rcy cles were equipped with an electronic alarm (brand name Cycle-Gard) . A the conclusion of the test there were no losses due t o theft. Eldorado will offer this program to dealers in California, Arizona, Oregon, and Washington. Eldorado's goals are to red uce motorcycle theft and red uce m o t o rcycle theft insurance pre mi um s proportionately . (Continued fr.om page 3 )'- the h o rse was cons iderably better than the Hon d a. The Ho nda's was, h owever, ma rkedl y be tter than the h orse 's wh en th e h orse was perfonning " hoofies." The Hon da w as quick an d maneuverab le as was the h o rse an d b oth req uired some mas tery of control t o ac hieve m aximum pe rforman ce, High speed h andling w as no th in g to b rag about on th e Ho nda, b u t b etter th an the h o rse. Our t est model h o rse see me d to be a p ar ticular ly "squirrelly" example and it was much easier to get the Honda to go where you wanted it. Up an d over ground clearance was m uch better on the horse, with the H onda in at minimum acce ptable clearance . PER FORMANCE As in ha n dli ng , t he h o rse 's perform an ce was mo re flashy than the Honda's, but less controllable. Acceleration on the horse was intense and some throttle sti cking p rob lem s were, to say the least, frightening. When the Honda was in "trail ratio", the top sp eeds of both were nearly equal with th e Honda being able to main tain a higher percentage of its top sp eed for m uch longer duration [indefintely, as far as we can tell) . In "street ratio" the Honda's top speed is somewhat higher than th e horse. An overall reaction would be that the horse has considerably more torque th an the Honda, b u t was geared far too low . DURABI LITY As indicated in th e p reviou s paragraph the horse see ms to wear o ut m u ch more quickly than th e Hon da. However, it has a most unique capability in its ability to recover. Given twen ty mi nutes or so, it was ready to re peat the performance, It was also generally necessary to add water to the horse after these gruelling testing sessions. A most interesting fact ab out the h orse is th e in credible ' length of time it takes t o break in. Optimum performance n ever seems to b e ac hi eve d until th e h o rse is fo ur ye ars o ld. From th at poin t on a gradual decline en su es, but a very slo w one at that. One can expect u seable serviceability for tw elve to fiftee n y ears . Rep airs ar e fairly expens ive an d can generally o nly be p erf ormed by experts. Unlike th e Honda, repairs will even tually become impossib le, ra th er than u n feasible. • Fuel ec onomy is so mewh at o f a m y stery in th e very indirect relationship between use and consum p tion . A marked disadvantage of the horse is that " M U'. a objectives mu s t re place vague, generalized efforts at "image building" that all too easily accomplish the exact opposite of what they're hoped to do. 12 . A c o o rd in a ted network of legislative advocates must be established across the country , at state and federal levels. This will be financially feasible only by sharing costs and representation with other industries having related, non-conflicting c on cerns. 13. A long term program must be begun now to gain th e cen tr aliz ati on of all g ov e r n m e n t regula ti on o f motorcy cling under the roof of a sin gle agency. The implications, as well as the hi storical success, of this approach ar e well known. Even those who profess to object to it readily grant th at it works. On ce these activities ar e well underway , HondAM F would play only a limited, sustaining role in many of them, the b ulk of the work being performed by other ele ments of the motorcycle community. But only HondAMF can in itiat e the proces s. Only HondAMF can bring the full and considerable resources of the motorcycle c om m unity in t o the race for survival. Gentlemen, will you start your engines? DEALER PROGRAM TO J.V. HONDA Yr.1 90 _ - - - - - - - - - it cons um es nearly the same am oun t of fuel when no t in use as when in use . An additional d isadvan tage is th e stringent requirements for garaging. You can ' t jus t stick the horse in a comer an d . fo rget about it. The H on da has incredi ble dura ti on compared to the h orse , h ow ever, once its decline in p erforman ce b egin s, it will not recover wi tho ut assistance. Break-in time is abou t 500 mil es, with no temporal limit whatsoever. T he length o f t ime the Honda will remain serviceable re lates directly to th e amoun t of use and the extent of maintenance. Repairs, if p erfo rm ed by experts, are expensive but there seems to be greater opportunity fo r the owner to effect his own m ain tenan ce than w ith the horse. It might be mentioned that no repairs were necessary on either vehicle during the period of testing. Fuel con su m p ti on on the Honda is minimal and will strain no' on e's pock et book. We guess we were achieving nearly 90 MPG . The Honda can b e stored most anywhere and with a little preparatio n will suffer n o ill effec ts during prolonged inattention. COMFO RT Both vehicles were reasonably comfortable in their seating positions, though neither had adequate facilities for two up riding. The footpeg positions on the horse were vari ab le, which was a pleasant surprise. We must say that the solid ly m ounted hand lebars on the Honda were a lot m o re confidence in spiring than th e loose lea th er straps found on the h orse. However, it is to the horse's credit that those straps con tro l . all ac tions except the o pen throttle situation. Low speed ride on the Honda was co ns id erab ly better than on th e horse. The Honda's suspension performed quite adequately. The high sp ee d ride of bo t h transpo rtation un it s was com p arab le and the sensation s n o t a t all d issimilar. " Both Honda and h orse were great fun to ride but when analyzed item by it em the re is no doubt in our minds th at th e horse co mes out sec ond b est. The Honda is just plain less hassle. It goes when an d where y ou wan t it to go an d m ak es a minimum of fuss. in d o in g so . The Honda is more managea b le , less sm elly , more vers atile, and it will never lea ve a mess on your garage flo or. Alas, the Honda 90 won 't co me when you call it. .'.a1973 CALENDAR A far out Poster/Calendar in 4 colors $2.50 2 ft. by 3ft. from a photo by Lauri Kenn ey ~~RANJ: .~ GET YOURS TODAY! I ~ 'i~ Fill ou t and mail this handy cou pon NOW. 11111 Order From: ,,(J Cycle He"". Product. IPOD Uc.'\ P.O. Box 498 Long Beach , Ca. 90801 ------ ~----------------- California res idents add 5 % Sales Tax I Enclosed is $ fo r item [s] checked _ o Calenda r/Poste r. . $2.50 I I I O T,,;I Book•• • • • • •$3.00 DCycle News Bike Back Bag. .$2.50 I I I Rec-Pac $24.95 Cycle News Hot Hat ..$1.00 I (fo r motorcycle use, w/ice chest) (specify OS O M O L I o NAME ADDR ESS CITY STATE & ZIP CODE o ----:._ _ _ --:..-.

• Cover