Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141042
o '" :g, '" 11. .... '" en Goo Products, Mung and Flings "I've only one thing to say to you son...plastics." 0" '": c .., '" ~ Petroleum: A n atural , y ello w. ta-b lack , th ick, flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture found ~ principally beneath the earth's surface an d p rocessed U for frac tion s including natural gas , gasoline, na ptha, ~ kerosene, fuel and lubricating oils, p arafin wax, asphalt, and a wide variety of derivative products. Also called "cru de oil. " (N o slant intended.) Yes indeedy , we mustn't forget good ole ' petroleum. Why, the very basis of th e sport we are so intensely involved in , is the " b lack gold." Oil and its byproduc ts throughout 't h is 2 1st cen tury sin ce the y ear zero ,. has been alternatively the scourge and benefac tor of mankind. Ambivalence is in deed the source of in terest, so this week we'll attempt to trace the development, uses and nature of petroleum . First where d oes oil co me fr om? You'll notice that W~bster calls petroleum a liq uid hydroca rbon. What th at means is th at th e basic elements in petroleum are hydrogen and car b on an d th ey co mb in e to a liquid form. Carbon is an organic elemen t, me aning it forms o r is of something that was o r is alive. Pet roleum co mes fr om decomposed plant and animal life. It is const an tly forming, but unfortunately n ot at an ywhere near the rate that it is being tak en out and used. Oil is found in pockets, where rock fo rm a tio n s hav e be en deformed to hold the liquid h ydrocarbons. It is removed by drilling down fr om the su rfa ce and th e con tain ed liquid is eith er rele ased o r can be removed by-pumps. Z Most of us will probably be happy to let some on e else su ffer through the processin g, an d b uy prod ucts already refined. When people thin k of oil wells they th ink of the stu ff th at lets their engines co ntinue going round and round. One such example is Rupp Special Formula Oil. Now y o u may th ink that since this was basically design ed for sn owmobiles it isn ' t any go od for a mo'cycle. T hi n k again . What does the engine in a snowmobile go th ro ugh ? Ah , you see . Try it . Rupp Ind., Inc., 1776 Airport Rd., Mansfield, Ohio, 44903. NO WISE CRACKS AN ALTERNATIVE T HIS UGLY T HING GETS IT HERE If y ou're really down on oil wells and oil slicks and pollution in th e air , you cancon tin ue on your singl e track bent and use a synthetic lubricant. What that means is that somebody built it. That makes p ollution to o. However, sy n th e tic s do seem to be a little cle aner wh en burned and th ose benefits are rep resented in y o ur spark plug as well as the air . In an y event, Ch emical T echniplate is Klotz's new oil. It is synthetic an d has a viscosity ra ting of 2 0W60. Hence those plastic fenders on your ' bike are hydrocarbon products to o. Everybody's into plas tic" including Borg-Warner. T hese fenders are made of their new magic Cy colac high-impact stuff. The International Cy cle House is so sure that they 're guaran te eing them for a year, bu t I bet I could break one . -If you're try ing to beat on e o f those " y ou break it" contests , try free zing it fir st. That'll get ' em every ti me, almost. Still, th ey are pretty hard t o break. ICH , 4212 Lankershim Blvd ., North Hollywood, Calif. 9 16 02, UNSIGHTLY POLLUTER ABLUTI ONS Th is is wh at brings the oil to the surface o f the ear th . It is in essence a glorified pump . It drags oil up throu gh the h ole drilled by a drilling apparatus. Th e hole will prob ably be at least 5 00 feet deep and may be as much as 3 0, 0 00 feet on rare occasion. T he reason th at there are so many well s is that the oil is not in a big cavity. The oil is found in porous rock and co ntain ed because of a non-porous strata above. The lateral penetration o f one well is not extensive. If you like, you can get one o f these for yourself and p roduce your own oil. Then all y ou'd need is a refinery to turn it into something useful. If you're really clever yo u migh t get one that is fairl y fa rmed o u t and producing only natural gas. Then you can at least h eat y our house. On to the slightly m o re Obscure, most of the products you use to perform ablutions up on or to lubricate your cycle, come out of the ground. This here Kem-pak Company has got so me th ing fo r almost everything you ever wanted to ablute on your bike. Box 52681, Houston, T exas 77002. ~ THE OBVIOUS The m aterials used to build these goggles are from that same old substance. Yea verily, oil does get around (n o pun intende d) . You can look at it this way though , they didn't use A merican oil for these goggles . These are p ar t of the Barauffaldi line. They're im ported and dist rib u ted by Cosm opoli tan Motors Inc., Jacksonville and Meadowbrook Rds., Hatboro, Penn. 19040. One adjusts to varying light con di tions , one is built for eye glasses an d has one hand replaceable lens an d the th ird model has all three features. All retail for $6 .95. GETTING A GRIP ON THE TH ING YOU CAN'T ESCAPE IT Yep , even DH reed valves are plastic, though that doesn ' t mean they're n o t the real thing, in the back of your cy lin de r. Now they're available for your Bu ltaco or Montesa 25 0, utilizing the stock carburetors. DH Enterprises, 1605 Lyngrove Dr., Manhattan Bea ch, Calif. 90266 . . On to the very obscure. How about the h andle grips on your scooter? Yes, their basic ingredients are petroleum prod ucts. What is amazing is the state of development in rubber products. The grips pictured are Oury grips, the ones used by Brad Lackey, Gary Jones, Jim Pom eroy , Arne Krin g, an d so on. Why do they use them? Because th ey are of a special co mpoun d wh ich keeps them from being slippery when th ey get wet. It's true , they don ' t. They come from Oury Pro d uc ts Ltd., 2721 G arrison S t. , Colo ra do Springs, Colo. 80909. N ow you can see the many an d varying uses of oil in our mo torcy cles. It 's no surprise that petroleum is th e basis of a motorized an d mech an ized sport. What d oes that mean to you? Well, maybe that y o u need it. The fact is that in a sh ort while, (in some places today) you aren't going to be able to b uy all y ou want. Ga s rationing will soon be up on us. We have tw o choices ; to use less or develop a subs titute. Substitutes are being developed but we should kee p in mind o ur unique capab ility fo r exhausting m os t an y reso urce. Ri de a bike , don ' t drive a car. Give your p ocket b ook an d your environme nt a bre ak. Support the lo w cons ump ti on re voluti on.