SEEING IS RELIEVING Ready for rain with Arai's Dual-Pane extreme conditions faceshield. 05.26.2009 | Photos by Dave Smith & Chris Cantle
Arai's Dual-Pane extreme conditions faceshield
Rain sets off alarm bells among street- and track-day riders, with reduced vision often topping the list of concerns. No surprise, really. After all, it's easy to make a mistake when you can't see where you're going. Case in point: This past May, I participated in a two-day Schwantz School (www.schwantzschool.com) at picturesque Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama. The weather was horrible during most of the weekend leading up to the Monday/Tuesday school, with thunderstorms threatening to cause postponement or even cancellation of BMP's annual Honda Superbike Classic. Incredibly, AMA Pro Racing somehow managed to get in all three of Sunday's scheduled races without any riders or spectators getting struck by lightning or swept away by a tornado.
Rain continued to fall throughout the night, stretching into Monday. When I arrived at the media center, which had been converted that morning into a classroom for the school, the first thing I did was remove the half-tint faceshield from my Arai Corsair-V and install a new Dual-Pane shield that I had brought along in the event of rain. Because the new-for-2009 Corsair-V has a 10mm-wider eyeport than do Arai's Profile, Quantum-2 or Vector full-face helmets, shields are model-specific. The Dual-Pane version is available in clear or half-tint, but not full-smoke. It does not have eyebrow vents.
Before taking to the track, I sought the advice of Arai's Bruce Porter, a 25-year employee of the Japanese helmet-maker (www.araiamericas.com). Developed in Formula One and MotoGP, this particular shield requires special care, he told me. The inner pane does not have an anti-scratch coating and is therefore more prone to damage than other Arai shields. As such, it can't be washed under a faucet with the same soap-and-rinse ease. "Use a clean, damp soft cloth to clean the shield," Porter said. "Don't submerge it. No aerosols or harsh cleaners, either."
Sounds fragile, I know, but in the streaming rain, the shield worked perfectly. Not only was fogging a non-issue, thanks to the insulating properties of the Dual-Pane concept and the rubber top-of-shield gasket, wind noise was dramatically reduced, enhancing my ability to concentrate. Also, unlike with some shield inserts, I didn't encounter any reflections when the sun finally poked through the clouds late in the afternoon.
Now the bad news: These tear-off-ready shields retail for $120 each. That's a lot of money, even in a bull economy. In fact, some people aren't willing to pay that much for a complete helmet! Based on my experience, though, I'd argue this shield is worth every penny. After all, what price can you put on clear vision?
WORLD CHAMPION MICRO-MINI Honda RC115 GP racebike. 05.18.2009
There are not many twin-cylinder motorcycles whose entire assembled crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons could fit in the palm of your hand. But as you can see in this photo, the crank assembly from the 1965 Honda RC115 roadracer is an easy fit—with room to spare.
The air-cooled, four-stroke, dohc, eight-valve engine had a 34mm bore and a 27.4mm stroke for a total of 49.8cc, and it produced 15 horsepower at 20,000 rpm, with a redline allegedly up near 22,500 rpm. Power was delivered via a nine-speed gearbox, and the bike, without rider, weighed just a tick more than 110 pounds.
In the very capable hands of Irishman Ralph Bryans, the RC115 won the 50cc world championship in 1965. Despite the Honda team choosing not to compete in the opening round at Daytona, Bryans was victorious in three of the season's seven remaining events and won the title by four points over Swiss rider and Honda teammate Luigi Taveri.
This photo was sent to me by an old friend, Alan Jackson (no, not the country singer), who preceded me more than 40 years ago as national service manager for Yankee Motor Company in Schenectady, New York. Alan now lives in his home state of Texas, where he still plays with motorcycles on a daily basis.
—Paul Dean
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES A Bimota DB7 for Show & Tell . 05.18.2009 | Photos by Tim Chambers
I remember when I was in high school I hadn't a clue what I was going to do with my life until I was forced to make some sort of decision in my senior year. So I can fully appreciate what kids are going through at that age. But one thing that no one ever told me was how many "cool" jobs were out there in the real world.
When in high school, I worked as a dishwasher, prep cook, short-order cook and roofer, and even for Jefferson County, Colorado's trail-maintenance division. You know what? Not one of those jobs could ever be called "cool."
It wasn't until I moved to California that my streak of desirable jobs ensued. My first was working at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard, which was about as fun as retail could get, with a never-ending stream of celebs. Then I worked as a graphic artist (what I went to college for), studio photographer, freelanced as a racing photographer (shooting both motorcycles and cars), and then was an art director at American Roadracing Magazine, an editor at Cycle News and finally Associate Editor here at CW. I would have to say that I've enjoyed every one of those career choices.
So when my neighbor Tim Chambers invited me to be a guest speaker at his Laguna Hills High School Auto Technology class, I knew what my agenda would be. I just wanted his students to realize that there are a lot of jobs in the world that their auto shop curriculum could contribute to—and that didn't involve changing oil at a lube shop.
I explained what I did for a living, talking up all the amazing places I've traveled, racetracks I've tested at and motorcycles I've ridden. I definitely had their attention. I explained that you can't write about motorcycles, cars, boats, planes or trains and not have a grasp on how engines work. At the end of each class I took the students out to the shop and fired up the Bimota DB7 that we are testing for an upcoming issue. To say that the $40,000 exotic bike got their attention would be an understatement. I have a feeling there may be a run on college journalism majors coming out of Laguna Hills...
TAKIN' IT TO THE NINES...AGAIN Jay Gleason goes 9.5 on the new Star VMax. 05.04.2009
We knew it had to happen. Jay Gleason, lean, mean, holeshot machine that he is, just got the new Star VMax into the 9s.
The man who quite literally launched the original 1985 VMax, Jay guest road-tested the new bike for us in the December '08 issue, but didn't get any track time before he had to jet back to Florida. With regular CW tester Don Canet in the saddle, the 2009 Max went 10.26 seconds @ 135.80 mph in the quarter-mile.
Wanting more, we contacted Holeshot Performance drag maven Dale Walker, who showed up at Sacramento Raceway on Grudge Night, meaning the track was ready for action, prepped with sticky VHT compound. But the 9s remained elusive; Dale got down to a 10.13 @ 138 but that was all Mr. Max had that day.
Not enough for Tim Nash, a.k.a. www.vmaxguru.com. He treated his new Max to a pipe, an ignition module, a modded airbox and a drag slick, all nicely detailed on the website. The result was 190 hp at the rear wheel — up from 174 stock — and, with Gleason recruited to work the controls, a 9.513-second pass at 143.70 mph.
Way to go, Jay! Twenty-five years later, the fastest man on the old VMax is now the fastest man on the new one.
—David Edwards
STRANGE DAYS Remembering a snowy day on Triumphs. 05.04.2009
Great all-around bike, the Triumph Speed Triple. I was reminded of this fact when the news broke about the 15th Anniversary model. I wondered how it's possible that it's been that long since the model first hit the road in 1994.
The new bike also brought back the memory of the Marseilles, France, press introduction for the 2005 model. It was a pretty big re-do for the naked Trip' that year, and they wanted us to have some fun on the great roads on the south of France, so away I jetted to hook up with the rest of the oil-stained wretches of the motor press in that early March four years ago.
The PR lady had warned us it was going to be a bit chilly, so I packed a lined Alpinestars jacket and a Kanetsu electric vest from Aerostich. But who knew I should have brought a snowboard, too...
As you can see from the self-portrait I took, this wasn't just a light dusting, but a genuine snowy day in the coastal mountain range. It wasn't exactly Donner Party material, because after a couple of crashes we didn't need to eat anybody's liver to survive, we just got in the rental cars and headed back to the hotel near the sea, where it also was snowing but the bar was warm. We were lucky enough to get a Speed Triple back in the States to ride and the launch turned out not to be a waste, either. I got a great Christmas card photo that year...
