Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

c c ... ... - E by Geoflil' <0 lit baBers __~ u4 lite playiag, tile Sacraaea18 lie.... 2 cycle Fair I.1ld Safety • • do lite ...ys, its lIew l!Iplasbecl ~ 0&11 d1..... pe laddie A---rs 'Wife ~~~ at lite lIoUle, .:; laeri e' ...... fI.l ~ ~ :c: ~ u G x*~ G On lap two Jim DeebaD's Kawasaki had snatcbed third place although the leaders remained unchanged. Fifth on lap two was Bill Judkins (Yamaha). who sneaked by But SOllleone forgot to close the sea cocks. and the next thing eve ryone knew, there was only a small oil slick and some bubbles marking the great ship's burial ground. -And some fine racing. Bey, Art . . . . . . 1IIcb 111 ........ tIIII '-Inc 81 ... lulIJ . . er.t 25llcc GoP. _ • 8 . . . will ell ,agllel. lIIe baell tIIII tIaI:II. ranI_ " ~"'I Deva.taUal: Cup Laying a 3O-foot strip of rubber. Ba'T1DaDD .mean bile had been slowing catching Grant and finally overtook and JBSSed him on the ni.ntb lap. bolding the lead for the win.. For the 35D-5~n combination Baumann mounted the Precision Machining Honda 450, which Jim 1Gbblewhi.te and Jerry Young are developing.. With 18 riders. the start of the final was a shattering thundering roar as the riders hlllied past the snow-fenced crowd and set up for the dogleg. Baumann in the lead followed byBill Lynns' red Trilllllllb John Fritz of Redwood City on ~ 500cc TriUDJPb and Ron Grant riding a Triumph borrowed from Paul Bennett. Fritz was .having trouble on his Triumpb as Truman Humphries on a BOImeville and Dick Kilgroe's Honda 450 screamed bY him on laps five &Del six. Grant, mellJlwbile, was blasting out d the big sweeper on lap tllree when his primary chain went belly-up. smashing a neat oblong hole in the Triumph's timing co er aDd packing up inside locking tile clutch and rear wbeel. Ron did a scraping· slide for lifethat would have done justice to Speedy Babbs or Evel Knievel. 1aDd1Dg in a heap on the pavement and saying farewell to competition for the da,y. The finishing order was BaIllllaDJ1" Bill LyOns of san Francisco on the Red PM Triumpb. Norton ounted ""kauna from Clayton. Humphries an a TrilllDPb and Kilgroe's orange Honda 450. 1 gunned the VW to the exhibition building. Inside, tbel'e was a complete exbibition of every model of moto.rcycre, sportcycle and mo-ped sold by ontgomery ard. I put you not on. They even had the new (not even in the maiJ-order catalog yet) Riverside 350. capable, the sign said. of a blistering 87 miles per hour. A devastating coup for the show's organizers. l;iCatteredaroundthe·cycle sho were the pits, with the usual crowd of racers and tuners trying to find the right jet, the right lllug and the right gear. Nearby were a pair of old Indian 45's and a Torco Oil truck and a rather ill-at-ease looking Forest Ranger pushing spark arresters, and that was the cycle show. the finish. Aad Aa Eacore at Bappned? Yes, the sacramento Motorcycle Festival and Safety Fair was scm thing less than the most successful of events. Tbe promoters took a pretty bad beating, tbe crowds .sta,yed Uia,y in droves- but some of the ye.ar"s most exciting road racing took place on the makeshift 1.5 mile road circuit. Stuck at work on saturday 1 arose bright and early Sunday and loaded wife and infant cbild into the old VW, full-throttling for sacramento. When we got to the fairgro unds. 1 asked the gateman where the pits were. -In the exhibition huilding.he said. I thought to myself: -Something must be amiss, for I understood the exhibition hall was to be jam-packed with exciting colorful exhibits. rivalling the Cycle World Motorcycle Show and Earl's Court and all the good shows. like that... cLaughlin on lap eight and ed&ed Deeban on lap nine, taking third at Earlier Rlell SdIeII II . . . . . . far tIIII SclIaIl ...... GmIl. _ 1I111 ... ..u-s . . IiiIIam 111 .. 11I....... 125. Eailier in the day, Rick SChell led start to finish in the 175cc and under event on.a 12 5ec BCIIId.a. steve MeT ,angUlin on a U5ce tw.in-c.am Honda was secollll and Ron Grant on the Yamaha 200 third. Fourth was Fred Mublberg on his Honda 160, wbo took first in the 175 class. In sidecar action, Ron Grant and Dave Burchards led from start to finish !Dr tbe win. with Jim Sadilek and Mark strong second. Prod.clio. Ban_aDu's Day p, 650 Triumph ridden by Haywire Haynes of san Bruno leaped into first place followed .at a great dis- It was Art Baumann's day to shine as he copped a first in the 250 Grand Prix and followed it up with an overall win in the 35D-500-0pen Main Event. As the 250s pushed and fired, Ron Grant's Yamaha roared into life and soared off with Baumann in hot pursuit. Behind the two Yamaha men was Steve McLaughlin of Covina on a Honda CB77_ Only Avon makes new motorcycle drag racing tires! These slicks were designed by Avon's racing engineers to meet exacting specifications. They are made with high hysteresis cling rubber that gives you maximum grip on any drag strip. Recent world records set by British riders again prove Avon's quality anti performance. Sold through your motorcycle dealer. Size 400 x lB, tread width 4..20·. Hap Jones Oistb. Co.. 2 Clinton Park. san Francisco. Calif.. and 343 North Court Prattville. AIa~ Milne Bros.. 22 'N. GreenWOOd Ave., Pasadena. cam.; SouItMest Molon:yele Oislb~ Te.as Ave., Houston, Texas; Oixie International Co.. l~ Woodland Ave..• Columbus, Ohio; Dixie Uislb. Co. l~ Woodland Ave... COlumbus, Ohio; .leary MeyeTs, 11"" 45-63. Moam,. Fla.; Accessoryt>islt>., 1nc..6D2 W. 52nd SL, _ Y-, N.Y. Parts mo tance back in the pack by Byron Black's Kawasaki. which had gotten a poor start. But if Black' start was poor, his subsequent laps were making up for it. as he was carving madly through the pack finally nipping into second -Place on lap four. Black finalb got past a.ynes on the fifth lap, stayed slightly ahead for two laps and then dropped from sight. My wife, taking lap charts while I photographed, couldn't find him. It seems now, from after-race accounts by riders. that Black had shot so far into the back of the pack that no one flPl)tted him when be came &roU'ld again. But no one kne w that then. 50 the scorers, me, and my lapochartt.aIring spouse gave the rae e to Haynes. with Black taking first in 350cc class. After the final fl.a.g and the rider payoff I was changing the kid's diaper (all famous, rich, high-priced international motorsport wri ters refuse to cbange diapers, 1 keep telling my wife-.) when Jim Keller, festival director, drove uP in an mange Pontiac lettered with big signs about the festival. Back liest Year ·Did you take a pretty bad beating'?· I asked. Keller had the look of a man who takes off the head of his Manx Norton and finds a $60 sodiumfilled exhaust valve is ruined. - ell. the show was, - he said, emphasizing the 'was' ·worth about $10.000•• - Better luck next time,· I said, - if there is a ne xt tim • -rbere"ll be a next time. he said,. putting his car in gear and driving off .mo that magic land wher promoters cherne the bright schemes of omorrow.

• Cover