CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
I
t was the 1975 International Six Day Trials
(ISDT) held that year at the Isle of Man.
During the road race special test, which
utilized parts of the famous Isle of Man TT
course, Carl Cranke showed his versatil-
ity by leading the rest of the competitors.
Cranke's 350cc Penton was one of the most
powerful bikes in the ISDT that year and he
was wringing every last ounce out of it.
Then, entering a turn, his Penton seized
and the rear wheel locked. There was a
big mound of dirt just before the corner
and Cranke just decided to take the jump.
Fans looked on in amazement. This crazy
American was taking this jump, on the road test
no less, at an unbelievable rate of speed. Little
did they know that Cranke was simply holding on
for dear life. When he landed the bike caught and
came back to life. Two Czech riders had gotten
by him during the mishap, and in the closing laps
let's just say Carl was "Cranking it Up" to catch
them. He was clocked at 102 miles per hour on
the knobby-shod Penton! He got by one rider
with only famous ISDT rider Zdenek Cespiva still
in front on him. Cranke pulled into Cespiva's draft
and took the slingshot to go around him at the
finish line when suddenly his Penton seized again
and this time locked up solid just as he crossed
the line, just inches behind Cespiva.
"It was funny, too, because in the newspaper
the next morning they had a picture of me at the
finish line and there was smoke coming off my
rear tire," Cranke recalls. "I think it was the best
finish ever by an American in an ISDT road test."
Cranke was a top American motorcycle
enduro racer of the 1960s and '70s. He repre-
sented the United States in 10 International Six
Day Trials (ISDT) events while competing aboard
Penton, KTM and Yamaha motorcycles. He
earned seven gold medals and two silver medals
in ISDT competition.
Cranke grew up in Northern California, not
far from Sacramento, and began racing a 50cc
Suzuki in local flat track races with sponsorship
from a hometown motorcycle shop when he was
16. As a teen, Carl was a flat track regular and
then started doing scrambles, in the days before
America even had motocross.
Cranke excelled at all types of motorcycle racing
he entered, but was especially good at flat track
Cranking It
Up With
Carl Cranke
P96
