From: jeq@i88.isc.com (Jonathan E. Quist)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Popping them
Date: 19 Aug 92 21:27:04 GMT
Article-I.D.: i88.1992Aug19.212704.29867
Organization: INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation, Naperville, IL

In article <1992Aug19.144101.19656@bnr.uk> datasbld@bnr.ca (Datasbuild) writes:
>Yeah, but countersteering is almost impossible with the front wheel in the air,
>especially when you're trying to force yourself around another psychotically
>slow right-hander being pursued by a tailgating ex-Harley rider in a Porsche!

>I threw my steel-toe capped full length boot full of ball-bearings, sparking
>plugs and stones at him but, because he was drunk and using his car-phone he
>totally ignored me.  Thank goodness I was riding a Spagthorpe WarDog, I just
>fired the multi-grenade launcher up and blew the bugger away!!   :)

You can countersteer as long as the front wheel is still turning.  (provided,
of course, that you are willing to acknowledge that gyroscopic precession
has some contribution to countersteering.)  Of course, if you're
riding with the front wheel continously in the air, you need to keep it
spinning; hence the need for two wheel drive.  (That's one of the reasons
that the Spagthorpe Desert Fox was such a hit after the war.  The two wheel
drive was originally designed to handle the rigors of a desert battlefield.
The Desert Fox was essentially a modified WarDog, and can be easily
distinguished by the bodywork around the steering head that houses and protects
the complex train of gears, sprockets, and idlers that connect the
Desert Fox's front wheel to its forward gearbox.  Knowing the inherent
efficiency loss in a shaft drive system, the Spagthorpe designers boldly
asserted that the Desert Fox would be an all chain drive machine.
The other distinguishing feature is the 18 gallon fuel tank; they reasoned
that a military vehicle with a desert mission would need an extensive range,
and the Desert Fox was said to be capable of 600 miles between refuelings.
Postwar, when ex-Royal Marines demonstrated the manueverability of the
Desert Fox with one wheel in the air, everybody wanted one.  It's kind
of hard to resist a bike that can turn a doughnut and shower spectators
with gravel while reared back like a stallion.  [One unconfirmed story
claims that Ferarri's famous rampant stallion logo came about when one
of the firms partners saw Enzo Ferrari demonstrating a standing 360 on
his Desert Fox.  It went on to say that they had trouble convincing him
to spend time in cars after that...]  It should also be noted that
a factory team of 4 Spagthorpe Desert Foxes were the only entrants to
complete the first (and last) annual Boulton-Dakar rally.  Amidst complaints
from the other factory teams (there were no private entries; the equipment
requirements were just too costly), the origination point was moved to
Paris the following year.  While several entries did make some distance
in the attempted channel crossing (most notably a Ducati which was estimated,
based on channel currents and the recovery site, to have travelled 300 meters
over water before floundering), the Desert Foxes were the only to complete
the crossing.  (In fact, the team stopped to assist in rescue operations
for the other rally entrants before continuing on.  The remainder of
the course is uncertain; some checkpoints were missed, and the team spent
some 45 days crossing the Italian Alps; as one of the team members was
stationed in Italy as a Marine during the war, it is theorized that the
time was spent reestablishing old relationships with the natives.)
But international racing is, like all international contests, a political
game; the Spagthorpes were far too technically advanced for the others to
compete, so by "unanimous agreement", the route of the race was
permanently changed.  Since the Desert Fox's range and amphibious ability
were among it's main advantages, the removal of the channel crossing
and enforcement of checkpoint stops at regular (short) intervals lessened
the Fox's competetive edge, and when the original team all died of
syphillus in the span of a few months, thus ending the "Dream Team",
Lord Spagthorpe lost enthusiasm in the rally, and declared a moratorium
on competetive use of the Fox.  He attempted to repurchase all the
civilian Foxes, and destroyed as many as he could get.  Unconfirmed
rumours claim the tooling and design was sold to a small mideastern
government.  The few remaining examples are highly prized by collectors,
and unfortunately are rarely available for inspection.)

-- 
Jonathan E. Quist                              INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation
jeq@i88.isc.com  '71 CL450-K4 "Gleep", DoD #094        Naperville, IL
George Bush claims to have neglected domestic issues in favor of foreign policy.
    Looking at Iraqi civilians, I'm glad we didn't have his full attention.