Motorcyclist Archives 1973: Malcolm Smith, Benelli 250 Super Sport, Chicagoan Café Racer, Windjammer

How To Ride Dirt
Curated by Malcolm Smith and Barry Higgins for *Motorcyclist magazine*

It may seem uninteresting or even presumptuous for Motorcyclist to tell you how to ride dirt so we called in some experts. OUr dirt professionals are none other than Malcolm Smith and Barry Higgins and here is our first lesson in the series in How To Ride Dirt.

Control. The first and most obvious object of all maneuvers is control. Consider the fact that the rider weighs almost as much as the bike so the movement and distribution of the rider have a significant effect on the behavior of the bike. Where the body is on the bike will become the balance point of the machine. Loading up the front wheel when you meet a chuckhole and applying the front brake will result in a tumble.

If on the other hand, the rider shifts his weight back and goosed the throttle, the acceleration and weight distribution would be put to the rear wheel allowing the front wheel a better chance of clearing the chuckhole.

Benelli 250 Super Sport
Motorcyclist Test by Bob Greene

The bike is a 1973 Benelli 250 Super Sport. It is a single with an overhead valve that seemed to excel in all of the major areas. The bike arrived the day before Bob Greene was going to ride another two stroked two wheeler to the Bonneville Salt Flats for Speed Week. When he sat down to crunch the numbers, the other [unnamed] bike had a three gallon tank with a total range of 105 miles. Well, to make it to the Salt Flats, the bike had one stretch of road where there was 125 miles without gas. Fortunately; the Supersport, which also had a 3 gallon tank with a range of 225 miles! That is 35 mpg vs. 75 mpg!

So it looks like the Supersport was going to be the bike to ride the 700 miles to Wendover, UT - sans a break-in period on this zero-mile machine. The staff at Motorcyclist wished Greene well and proceeded to stick pins into a map where they thought the little bambino would throw in the towel.

Cruising at a steady 70 mph through the night and into the next day the Benelli he referred to as a jeweled watch delivered him without incident. At 400 miles, Bob gave the chain a spritz of Chain Life (chain lube from “back in the day”) but did not have to adjust the chain.

Ride impressions:

When the author arrived at his destination and beat all of the Motorcyclist editors predictions, he conducted a series of routine engine checks including chain, spark plug and oil. This was especially important since the bike had been uncrated at the Motorcyclist offices for this test.

Weighing more like a 125, this 250 four stroke has a lot going for it. Without downtubes, a forward facing cylinder that has no backside and faces the breeze, roller and ball bearing bottom end, and an engine any mechanic can figure out make the Benelli 250 Super Sport a real winner.

Chicagoan Cafe Racer
Ray Banicki's Norton P11 hustles him around Chi-town in style.
Story and Photography by Jim Quinn

Ray Banicki of Chicago has been a motorcycle anglophile since 1956 when he bought his first machine which was an Ariel Square Four. Although he has owned a Harley and a Yamaha dirt bike, his true passion is Brit bikes. So much so that he is the become the U.S. Representative for the Norton Owners Club of England.

Ray’s 1968 Norton P11 has 52,000 miles under its wheels but it is anything but weary. Each Winter the passionate enthusiast improves his machine between job in his part-time customizing business, Ton-Up Engineering, Ltd. Here is Banicki’s current configuration:

Like every winter, Ray plans to add a five-speed Qualfie gearbox and hopefully a 750cc alloy cylinder conversion when the lake cools off this Fall. This may mean another English sheep dog for his wife - that’s her hobby!