最好的欢乐之盒：通过我们的生活骑行的时间

乔迪·韦塞尔

F或我一生的大部分时间，至少我记得的部分，我的工作一直是测试摩托车。 我骑过令人难以置信的机器，狂奔的垃圾和一些废金属。 我对坏自行车没有怨恨，尽管我确实有一些伤痕。 同样，我也没有把好自行车浪漫化。 当人们问我最喜欢的自行车是什么时，我总是回答：“我今天要赛车的那辆。”

他们回答说：“那不是真的，我读过 MXA 在这辆自行车上测试，您对此进行了严厉的审查。 当您显然更喜欢其他所有品牌时，怎么可能成为您最喜欢的自行车？”

“您是否曾经听过斯蒂芬·斯蒂尔斯（Stephen Stills）的那首歌，说：“如果您不能与所爱的人在一起，那么就爱与您一起的人吗？” 从技术的角度来看，当我花了几个月的时间测试每辆自行车时，我才确切知道所有自行车都有什么问题。 胜利者的缺点与失败者一样多，但缺点最多的地方是缺陷。 今天，我要去骑这辆自行车的起跑线。 我已经从机械上或精神上对我不喜欢的事物进行了调整，并且我计划尽我所能骑乘它。 我不怀念今天不骑的自行车。 我对参加这一比赛的可能性感到兴奋，最重要的是，我获得报酬，获胜或失败。”

“I LOVED MY 1974 HODAKA 125 SUPER COMBAT, AND WITHOUT WARNING CAN LAUNCH INTO WHIMSICAL REMINISCENCES ABOUT HOW
AWESOME IT WAS, BUT IT REALLY WASN’T.”

We pick and choose the things we want to paint with rose-colored glasses, and send the bad things to the back of our cerebral filing cabinet. Using this system, a “modern bad” is 10 times worse than “1970’s bad.” It’s a self-defense mechanism against the stress of a rapidly changing future. The movies were funnier back then. The girls were prettier. The traffic was lighter and the bikes were better.

我爱我1974年的Hodaka 125 Super Combat，在没有警告的情况下，它可能会让人想起它的威力。 但这确实不是。 我可能会记得这种方式，但是自从我的1974年Hodaka Super Combat在摩托车博物馆中展出以来，每当看到它时，我都会感到震惊。

“How come your Hodaka doesn’t look like a Hodaka?” asks a guy standing next to me on the museum floor before he starts peppering me with questions about the forks, tank, frame and other peculiarities.

To which I answer, “Oh yeah, I took the 32mm stock forks off and replaced them with long-travel, 36mm, Kayaba air forks.”

“Hey! Why does it have Schaeder valves on top of the forks. Air forks weren’t invented in 1974,” he asked.

“What are you writing a book of something? Air forks were popular in 1974, we took the springs out and put air in instead. Yamaha came out with their Speedo and Tach air forks in 1976, but they were just copying what racers were already doing in 1974-’75.”

“Did Hodaka come with the shocks moved that far forward in 1974,” he asked.

“No. The frame has been reconfigured to get more travel, and while I was cutting and welding new shock mounts, I reinforced the weak head tube and swingarm pivot plates. With all the frame changes, I had to fabricate a new aluminum airbox and side plates. Plus, GPS built me an up-pipe to replace the stock down pipe, and it was designed so that the rear of the stinger, which was routed through the upper left side of the airbox, was invisible from the side profile of the bike.”

“Holy cow! That swingarm doesn’t look like a Hodaka swingarm,” he exclaimed as I inched away from him.

“哦，是的，你很观察。 这是一个2英寸长的Swenco摇臂，我在其上焊接了角撑板，以使底部减震器支架向前移动，以使减震器更加垂直。”

“I though that Super Combats were orange, asked the guy two second later,

“哦，是的，你是对的。 超级战斗机确实配备了橙色的钢制汽油箱，但它太球形且笨重。 我让亚历克斯·斯蒂尔（Alex Steel）为它建造了一个铝制棺材罐。”

“Why is the seat so tall. It looks all wrong,” said the guy, who was starting to get on my nerves.

“Oh yeah,” I said, “the seat is very tall because back in 1974, we ran tall seats to act as added suspension travel. It was a Maico thing. Along with the seat, I added new plastic, a chain tensioner, bigger footpegs and different handlebars. That 1974 Super Combat was a great race bike.”

“You must have won a lot of races on it in over the years,” he said.

“Oh no, I only raced it in 1974. I didn’t race it in 1975. In fact, I never raced it again once I got my new 1975 bike. Why would I want to race my old bike when there were new ones on the showroom floor? But it was awesome.”

您可以在每本《摩托越野杂志》上阅读“ JODY'S BOX”栏。 选择今天的最新问题……或单击下面的订阅框，以使订阅更好。