Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ ~ Vikings . Both the Vikings and - op T Gea rs are qui te wa terproof. They are not as flashy lo o king as the newer boots which are no w ou t o n the mar ke t because it is the same boot Torsten Hall man has been importing in to the states since he first began years ago. T he grained leath er is good qu ali ty and the craftsmansh ip of the boot is ex ce llent throughou t. T he buckles were the mos t heavy du ty of all the boots tested . Of all t he boots te st ed th ey wou ld be the eas iest and least expensive to rep air if need be. They are available in sizes 7 to 12 , 0 width . ~ the~~p~:~~de~rb~~o:: ~:e t~~W~rsl~:~ § ta~tV~~~r. ;o~ulge~; ;o~;~~~h~".:"~~t~ : ;~~ti~u~~~ ~o~h"c;:;n~~~elm~h~eliit~~ IV u. ~ w Z ~ ~ extra leather on the an kle isn 't w orth the increas ed price but maybe the fact that Top Ge ars are readily available at most Triumph deal er s and in half sizes from 6 t o 12 is. As we said previou sly the Viking/T op Gear bo ot s wou ld be the best cho ice fo r all aro und riding. H E RCU L ES MO U $6 1.00 'Hercules. Dist T he lJ er cu es IS a rea sle epe r In d ep a rt m en 1. It i s c o n ve n tion al-lo o kin g with d iam ond pattern fr ont padding and th e regul ar seve n bu ck le closure. V isu all y. it's nothing t o get to o ex ci te d ab ou t. But yo u don't lo o k a t bo ots, you wear th em. This is what this b o o t is all ab out. You pick it u p and th e first thi ng yo u feel is the heavy o iled saddle leather. It is an Am erican-made boot so the skins used in manufacturer are very good thi c k Am eri can c o w h i d e. European-made boots just don 't see m to have as thi ck and flaw -free a leather to cho ose from . • The second thing is to put the bo ot on and, wonder o f wonders, the boot ac tually fit s like a shoe. Too many MX boots feel like vou hav e Rit z crac ker bo xes on yo ur ' feet bu t the Hercules boot actually co n fo rms t o the fo ot giving a very good, co m fo rta ble "feel" even th e first time y o u wear them . Even rid ers with smaller, h ard to fit feet commented favorab ly on th e fit of the boot. Another nice surp rise co mes when you buck le them up . T he buckles work. They ar e very heavy duty units with the littl e rollers t hat ma ke it easy to pull the straps through just the way yo u wa nt th em. It is possible to get the righ t tightness (or lack of it) all the way fro m instep to middle calf. T he fa ct that they 're made on an A merican last definitely co n tribu tes the fa ct that they fi t Am erican riders. The top has double leather fo ld-over construc tio n' that works fairl y we ll to keep mud and ro cks o u t of the boot. The bottom h as a mild sole pattern and smooth heel with just enough rise to hang on to a foot peg. Hercules has foo t wea r • . These would have t o be ra ted as t he best b oots in the test for trials riding. For any other kind of riding t hey are practically wo rthless. They con tain no padding, no har den ed toe or any other fo rm of foot protec tion . What ma kes them bad for any sort of co m pet it ion makes t he m the pe rfe ct boot for trials riding. They ' are super ligh t, on ly 1 14/16 pounds. The leather is good qua lity and sturdy to protect your leg as it ru bs against the bike . T he so le is com p let ely leather , bu t very th ick and hard for good ar ch support. It offers the necessary pro tect ion for the low speed riding encountered in trials but will give comp lete freedom to the wearer as he works around on the motorcycle . r,c, AGAJANIAN presents CLASS "c" Q SHORT TRACK in corp ora ted a little metal toe tap that deflects a lo t of rocks and gives some protection to the outside of the boot for you toe-dragging rnoto crossers. I t definitely in creases use ful boot life. T he ' so les ' ar e double n ylo n stitch ed to the uppers and the welt extends o ut ab out as far as on a well-made win g tip sh oe . A little red, white and blue leather inse t at th e Achill es' tendon ar ea provides the flex point for movem ent in wa lking. The Her cul es co m fo rt e xt en ds to walkin g a ro und . Th ey actually mo ve and are not that un comfort abl e to stro ll in . This little ins et was also the onl y w eak p oint o n th e b oot as the st itching came o u t of th e right o ne abo ut the second m oto it w as w o rn. Th er e is a crep e leath er fo ld-i n in side tl\e fron t of the b oot . th at ke eps more dirt out th an a pl ain o ld flap. This un sp ect acu lar-l o ok in g bo ot is pretty impressive in d et ailin g an d qu alit y or materials. No cri tical sti tching has co me lo ose and th e thick leath er st ayed Ilexible th ro ugh so me seve re soakings, Afte r se veral motocrosses and so me Hare Scramb les, nails started p okin g u p th ro ugh the so le of the boot on the inside . Most of them were in the area right above the foot peg when you're stan din g up. T hey were knocked ba ck in with a drift and mallet. Abo ut four nails total worked th ro ugh in this fash ion . The st rong points of the Her cules b oot seem t o be in it ial co m fo rt (which con tin ues with use) and feel o f the b oot; ade quate pr otecti on with rela tive ly, ligh t weight ; the heavy toe with th e metal tip s for added prote ction and p reservatio n ; excelle n t bu ckl es and. in genera l, an ability to fi t Am er icans very wel l. Th e Hercules bo ot comes in size 5 to 13 includin g h alf sizes . T he bo ots tes ted we re a 9Y2, for exam ple. Intere st in gly enough , the y are th e firs t b oot that b as go tte n a lo t o f desert racers o u t o f lace-up b oo ts, which are gene ra lly th ou ght t o be th e m ost co mfortab le ty pe . ********************** Enduro t.tFiip~~ard" Time Keeping by Larry G . Langley More and more clubs and organizations are turning to the so called flip-card method of scoring enduros . Some rider s used to th e old system o f writing in th e actual tim e arrived on the sco re card have be en con f used. Hopefully this article will answer any questions y o u may h ave been asking yourself. The. flip -card sco ring system has been widely used ba ck East for som e time now . Ho wever , th e usua lly innovative California clubs have been slow t o accept this simp ler and, in my opinion, superio r scoring setup. Perhaps the y feel since it was not originated here on -th e West Coast if co uld n ' t be mu ch go o d. It wa sn 't until July, 19 7 2 that the Uni ted Racing Association (of which 1 am pr oudly a member) first experimented with the system at their Surprise Enduro. They we re so pl eased with it that they hav e used it since . I' m n ot sure who used it next but I d o kn ow that t he Pomona Valley Des ert Ride rs used it at their Turkey Sh oot Enduro last November. More clubs are willing to try it, no w that it has been in use and 1 feel it will soon be come the rule in stead of the e xc ep t ion. HOW IT WORKS RACES ******************************************** :Z-Elle SAT.2~. SU".1~. • IIWII P DAYS-:Z E: -=-•• • A L ' Cal~. Mi~IWinter fAIRGR'DS Calif. Mid-Winter Fairgrounds Pit Gate Open From 10:00 a.m. To 12:00 Noon ATTENTION RIDERS: CALL (213) 321 -1610 If Yo u 'Plan T o Rid e Both Days. We need you r Name, Rider Number, Make of Bike, & Where Yo u're From. Or tear out & mai l to : Agajanian En terpr ises , P.O . Bo x 98 , G a rdena, Ca. 90247 . =---c;-;-c,--_ N ame _ -,---''-No. Mf9. _ City & State In st ead o f en tering t he act ual tim e yo u arr ive a t a chec k, th e ch ec ke rs en te r the numb er of the rid er due on tha t minute . For an exam p le let 's assume you are riding number 58. OLD WAY You arrive at chec k I. T he checkers enter 9 :30 o n yo ur ca rd. You lo ok at the sign and the key time is 8 :32 . Mentally you su b tr ac t 58 minutes from 9 :30 and arrive a t 8: 3 2. Great, you zero ed it! But you can see it is a difficul t subtracti on to make esp ecially when y ou are on a tight schedule and it is eas y to make a mistake be cause you have to take the 60 minutes hour in to account whe n you subtra ct. You can depend on y o ur watch (wh ich is set on key time) to determine if you are on time but y o ur w at ch an d th eirs may not agree so it is best to d o th e subtra ction to chec k, FL IP CARD . You arrive a t ch ec k I. The chec kers enter 58 on y our card. Sin ce that is your number you hav e zeroed th e check . Simp le huh ? Let 's assume they entered 5 6. Well 58 minus 5 6 is tw o so yo u are two mi nutes early and hav e lost four points. If they had en te red 60, yo u were two minute s la te losing t wo points. At th e end of the enduro a glan ce at yo ur score ca rd wi ll te ll you how man y points you had lost. An y numbers oth er than 58 means you were early or lat e at those chec ks. At a ti e breaker chec k the y would have en tered the seco nds yo u arrived also: If you zeroe d the tie breaker y our number would have re ad 58 -30 , 3 0 bein g 30 seconds int o th e minute . THE ADVANTAGES Th e scor e cards can be scor ed mu ch fast er and easier wi th more accurac y sinc e on ly sim p le calcula tions are used . The riders know in stan tly wh en they hit a chec k if the y are o n t ime or early or la te. Actual flip ca rd s do not have to be used. A simple list of times sh owing th e rider nu mber due at that time will su ffice for eac h chec k. The ch ief scorer at ea ch check then calls o ut th e number somewha t like the time is called o u t now. However, most clubs will probably use the flip cards sin ce th e chec kers can visu ally see what number to wri te down and won ' t have t o worry about h earing the n umber over the noise of th e motorcycles . Th e cards ar e number ed 1 to . say, 150 and are turned over when the minu te changes. For the early numbers it would p robably b e best to also include so me minus numbers in case number o ne co me s smokin g into a ch eck early . If you like the new syste m start requesting the clubs to get in gear and get with it . lt 's about time California caugh t up wi th the East Coast in this respect. .

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