Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Reverse suspension ·act io n was novel. When you hit a bump th e front end went down ; th e rear end wen t up. and p assen ger u p a co ns iderable gra de . It d oesn ' t have all that much power b u t is perfectly ad equa te. The o n ly limit was wh eelspin which w o uld occur if the rear suspension fou n d any b um ps. At tbis p oin t, th e very stiff elli ptically shaped spring wo uld bounce the rear end (and passenger, if any) in to the air. If you stalled, th ere was an electric starter, one of the new features at the b o t tom (rear?) end of the horizontal engine p ac kage. Other changes include the swapping of the shift lever from right to left side (vice versa for the rear brake) so that it fits what most riders are use d to (Japanese bikes) an d what the Feds are now re questing. The transmission is a c o mfo rt ab ly-w o rkin g five sp eed an d has been improved in operation . Conventional one down, four up p attern is followed. The cylinder head has been changed, too, and most people feel that it is an improvem en t over the styled version of years p ast. The 2 6mm square-slide Dell'Orto carb ure to r worked p oo rly at idle where it would load u p an d stall, bu t it was o therwise b ey o nd re proach . LEATH ERS - LEATHERS $25.00 Ar e you short and fa t the n Good I ha ve so me Leath . .. for you . 34" & 36" wa ist , 27" & 27 " in sea m ca ll (21 3) 782-4940 . Thro t tl e response was good: . very smooth . T he fron t end on th e Sprin t just doesn ' t work in any off-road applicatio n we could de termin e. The forks are really too small, not just visually , for the w ei g h t an d front -rear weig ht d istribution of the bi ke. Over a series of bumps or ripples, they di d a hydraulic lock-up on the -th ird downstroke, and you had instant rigid frame Harley. The angle of the forks is also very vertical which , combined with the narrow bars, made even moderate off-road riding a chore. The undersize Cerianis are just not u p to the task. The fron t brake was adj usted to its maxim u m b u t won't stop the bike from ro llin g forward , even in the dirt, This was noticed even at re st on a slight downhill. There is no feel to the brake, p ossibl y b ecause not m uch pad to drum friction is occ urring. The rear b rake takes a fai r amount of foot pressure but will st op the b ike. Neither brak e is reall y ade q ua te for pro lo nged street riding. The Sprint does have nice Pirelli trials tires: 3.50 X 19 up front an d 4 .00 X 18 rear. They help out quite a bit, T he frame is reall y massive , with larg e p iece of angle -iron at the lower joints 'a n d very thi ck tubing. Unfortunately, the front d own tubes d o n ' t do much to protect the engine wh ich, co mbined with low ground clearance, mean s that the most exposed item on the machine is the ru bber oil return line on the bottom of th e cylinder. A bash pl a te would be a very good idea if you really tried to ride the SX-350 off the highway. Passenger accommodation is ade quate. The seat is long enough and soft enough for two if they 're not too big and passenger footpegs are moun ted on the frame, which means that the bud dy ' s feet d on ' t b o un ce u p and down on the swingarm. The big, black tank holds over three gallons of gas, but the weird little Italian fue l tap might p ro ve puzzlin g to so me to figure out. It didn't seem to m a ke mu ch difference since the Harley started an d ran regardless o f petcock posi tion. T he instruments were readable an d reas o nab ly acc ura te. T he speedo, co ns tant odome ter and rese t table tri p odometer did their job co nsistc;n tly w ith accuracy. It' s unfortunate , b ';t th e Ha rley Sp rint is abou t fo ur years off the .p ace Best feature : a n en gine that always ran w it h d ow n. .-----....--....--....... ~~--~ .....~~~- ... 8 .. . ... Super indes tructi ble mate rial developed for Hemi dracsters . chromed for maximumperformance. Specia lly des iped to outflow stock valves . Overs iu head diameters ava ilab le . INTAKE 541.00 set _ ev ers Ize (33.5m) er Std. (32m) EXH AUST 536. 00 se t - oversize (28.Sm) or Std. (28m) • -GRIZZLY- - - • 8 11 M ISSOURI, WATERFORD. CA 9S386 • ~ Cl • OFFICIA L R ACI NG TEAM 0f'I Mot o·CrOiS M.mte ne nce . P'hys.ca l CondlloOnll1Q Wh. t To We., . RK '11Q TechnlQuft . Wha, To Ellpect , Rac e S ira te g y. Ra ce o .ly ' II S eu mer . ,n "". B''' e Anety", s Pr~r.1I0n & 1 12 ·p,l1jle. 8 '?1l1 1'· book . c r.l m me(l w ,t" ~.. ~ phot~.I ~ m form.Itl()l'\ '1 S YOU'S pos 'p..IlCl tor 5 59 5 IA dd . you w . s h . u m • •1 .er ",c e I O rde r h S 1 ,I om IAGNALL PUBLISHING CO . ae. _ 507. Lake !'"o w hfJo d. Ca li f. 92352 M OT O RCYCL E S SALE " We have the parts" Desert and Moto·X Preparat ion Comp let e machine & welding sho p On a ll cycle boots Up to $70 Va lue $44.95 i()J ja ~ ID ~:.NlO'(o. ~ t (ju st no rth of Parth en ia , V ik ing. To p Gea r. Her cule s. Chi ppewa. Rider. We fit better an d We Have Sizes. Discount Prices! Work Shoes Unlimited 12522 Westminster Ave . Sa nta A na , Cal if. (7 14) 53 1·6555 Sh ipp in g Av.aU .able - Reta il Cu st ome r Inq uiries Invited .... - * 1) b 2 C en n n e ta, W . Los Angeles Co r ne r o f Sa n ta Monica B lv d . & Cen t tn eta Open 9 am to 6 urn Mon . thru S a t . West ern Yamaha 701 W. 4 th Street Big Sp ring, TX 79720 SIX (6) BRA ND NEW 125 MONARK SIX SPEED $750 .00 TWO (2) BRAND NEW 400 CZ FIVE SPEED • $900.00 _ * Western Yamaha • ,,~ SA LES SEPVICE Welding Porting Accessories BAY AREA BULTACO Inc. Most Major Name Brands Georgia Giant. And Rally 0 ~.:' \\ ~ 785-4289 . ', "'t 9~~:5S . Specify M, L a nd TEAM. Cal if. r e si d e n ts add 5 %. Dea ler inq ui r ies invit ed. ., /. ~ ' - ~ , 8 730 Sepu lve da. Sep u l ve da Ca. Georgia Giant only . . $ 2 3.95 Engineer Boots • • . . • $14.95 Harness Boots •. . . . • $1 7.95 Aeme or Durangc Cowboy Boots . . •.. •$17 .95 . CZ, MAI CO , HUSKY , SUZUKI, YAMAH A, BULTACO , HONDA, KAWAS AK I, TRIU MPH, HARLEY, PE NT O N . FACTORY EMBLEM S AN D CO LORS "A CYCLE NEWS PRODUCT "SEND $1.25 to HOT HATS to P.O . BOX 663 -EL TORO, CALIFOR N IA bev.nnet whet'e to bevin , w' th Ch.j)le rs JXI - , - ;.. - . super rings fact ory replac em.nt pis to n rings HOTHATS for f 'N1l1y. • step· by ·llep In l rod uc t,on to motorcychfflOJ S new . c.ok»'ful spor t M ot a -Cross Th•• book te U the . p iston tha t w e nt b ac k a nd fo rt h rather than up an d ~~~-- STAinlESS STEEL RACinG VALVES - Hondo 750 . fo r dual;p'urpose b ik es wi th trails tires. It is too heavy (ove r 4 0 0 p ounds) and too evil- h an d ling to be ade q uate in th e d ir t. The forks and shocks see m to b e lifted fro m other machines (which at least the forks actually are) withou t being thought out in te rms of the fr ame or machine application. The H· D SX·350 is a considerable improvement over fo rmer models but high fen ders and Pirelli trials tires do not make a d ual p u rp ose bike. It does have the distinction of being one of the few four-stroke singles still availab le an d nothing ever broke, cracked, or fell off the bike during the te st period. The oil drain plug did loosen itself to finger tightness twice in the relatively few miles that we p u t on it , however. Harley-Davi dson needs to pass back to their Italian b ran ch the message o n what will sell and pro vid e ple asure in th e American market. T he machine needs so me serio us re -thinking if it is to co m pete with the h o rd e of str eet -orien ted Japanese d ual purpose b ikes. It could even be made to co me across as one of t hose sexy , te m pe ramental, Italian specials but it hasn ' t b een and it isn't. T hat's on e approach th ey could take; Harley n eeds a new one. ' 5.l ntd Monic a Blvd . N ~ W+E ~ S S.tn l .. :'\l u n i C' Frwv , d 213 826- 7856 '"~ :.. ;;. .!: c -e v. not o nly unbreakabl. , but c h ro me plated fo r extra long life too !! now for-Hodaka 100ec d yke s , Bulta c o 125, Bultac o 25 0 , DKW & S a c hs 125, Penton 125 FOR ALL FACTORY PISTON SIZ ES ASK YOUR LOCAL OEALER poppy 820 N. Holl yw ood Wa y Burb a nk, Ca. 9 150 5 (213) 845-6766 ~ '" 0. (.J

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