Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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,I 15¢ Motorcycle Jour al VOL. II NO. 28 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23.1965 PRICE: 15 CENTS Mert Lawwi II Wins 20-Miler Markel Takes Hot Point Battle from Mann NATIONAL SEASON E 5 STRONG ON SACTO ,MILE NEW MOTORCYCLE JOURNAL TO BE "VOICE OF CALIFORNIA Charles and Sharon Clayton purchsed the Motorcycle Journal Sept. 21, and im m edia tely pledged t o i ncrease the size of t h e paper to 12 pages, the circulation to 10,000 and the scope and quality to best serve. the interests of the greatest number of local motorcycle enthusiasts. The Claytons purchased Motorcycle Journal from George Holiday Inc., of Huntington Park, Calif., pu b lish er of the paper for three weeks after accepting title to the weekly newspaper from founder Roy White. White began publishing Motorcycle Journal in J anu ary, 1964. Beginning with this issue, Motorcycle Journal will be published by C & S Publishing Co., 1185 E. 19th St., Long Beach, Calif. Charles (Chuck) Cla yton is the editor, Shar on C la y t on is the b u siness m anager. 10,000 Copies To Circulate Chuck plans to make M otorcycle Journal a superior publica tion for all local m otorcycle enthusiasts. The features tha t have m a de the paper popular w it h present su bscribers will be continued and imp roved. N e w features will be a d ded to include a greater variety of informative, entertaining a n d stimulating m a terial, Sm a ll bike riders who p urch ase m otorcycles for fun will r eceive a significant share of editorial attention in the form of reports on where p e ople go and what they do with their "funbikes." Competition r iders can rightfully expect to see their Sund ay deeds recorded in the following Thursday's paper. The mechanically minded will find technical informa- NEW NAME CONTEST Chuck and Sharon Cla yt on, the new "parents" of this newspaper, are like most new parents hesitant about what to name their first child. They want your help in renaming. Motorcycle Journal. Let your imagination go - "Handlebar Horizons," "Throttle Tribune," "P illion Post." The catchier, the better - so long as the title is snappy enough to remember and accurate enough to r efl ect the qualities of the new voice of motorcycling in California. Send your suggestions t o New Name Con test, 1185 E. 19th S t., Long Beach, Calif. T w o cash awards will be given $1,000 to the author of t h e on e millionth suggestion a nd an undetermined but equally r ound amount to the au thor of t he name w e fi nally choose. tion fresh from the field. N e w com er s will have a list of active cl u bs and a calendar of coming events, as well as a directory of go ods and services offered by the many, far-flung local businesses. A good newspaper, like a good w orld, sh ou ld allow space fo r almost everything. Though editorial and pictorial horizons will be broadened, Ch u ck prefers to limit coverage to things having a direct interest for California enthusiasts. News of small out - of - state events, in which no Californians parti- (continued on page two) F lashing t he f orm that has carried h im from an u nknow n to one of the top five riders in Amer ic a , Mert Lawwill zoom~ to victory in the seventh annual running of t he 20-mile national championship last Sunday at the S acram ento S tate F air grou nds. The former Boise, Idaho, rider took the lea d from George R oeder and Gary Nixon on the 14th lap and stretched the lead right d own to the finish for h is first national win. Lawwill played a waiting game t h a t paid off as he lurked two lengths back m ost of the way before taking the lead. Bart Ma r k el finished fifth, gained 28 po ints and won the grand national point championship for the second time in four years. He succeeds 1964 kingpin Roger Reiman. Dick Mann, who finished third at S acra m en to, was No .2 in point standings for the second straight y ear. He scored 597 points to Markers 620. (See page 3 . for complete point standi ngs.) A newall-time record crowd for the event u pped the guaranteed pu rse of $6,000 to a n ew h ig h of $7,200. Each lap in the national fi nal p a id an additional $20. to the lap le aders. A ' r ecord 140 r id ers time trialed w it h 20 of these r ider s posting an entry at the track t o add another $500.00 to the nationa l point fund. R oeder took the time trial h on ors with Bart Markel second and Law w ill third . Jim Nich olson was the fastest in the amateur class aboard the J erry B r an ch H-D. All four of the expert heat r aces were closely contested w ith Roeder, Lawwill, Sam m y Tanner a nd Gary N ixon the winners. Tanner ~ain found Sacramen to not to his li ki n g. He d ropped out early in t he race to take 19th position. Last year h e finished 20th. A ft er Lawwill took' the lead in the (c.ontinued on page seven) WEEKEND WANDERER BIG SUR PRIZE B IG S UR IS THE STRETCH of n ar r ow coastlin e halfway between L os Angeles and S an Francisco where the two Ca li for n ias, northern and sou t h er n , meet. In this secluded fifty miles of ocean and wilderness we found a delightful campsite l ast weekend. There is a grey sandy b each bracketed by seal rocks a n d dripping caves ; a fresh water po ol to wash the sa lt water off, an d the r ippled brook t hat run s to the sea w inds far back up its canyon, surrou n ded by lovely prim itive ca mpsites, rich w ith pri va cy , until it cloaks its origins in im pen etrable undergrowth. S omether e it may run near a subter ranean volcano, fo r t he water · is w arm for a mountain stream and co urage is n ot r equired to plunge into it. Spanning the canyon top is a n aston ishin gly clean, hi gh bridge w h ich carrie s the sparse traffic of H ighway One well up ou t of e arshot from our camp. The plac e is accessible only by a steep dirt road on either side of the bridge, watch for it. The sign b efore the bridge is tiny and identifies the place as L im ek il n Creek. Take either t r a il d ow n . You will be greeted by a sign that warns this is a p r im it iv e cam p (one toil e t, w ater from the cree k, b ury you r own t r a sh ) and threatens to shoot a nyone messing with t h e sign. B u t once past t his obstacle the beauty of t h e plac e takes your worries away. Photographs a re pun y instruments to convey such charm. C inera ma might do it more justice, but best of all, go and see for yourself if we speak with straight tongue or not. We arrived at the camp in midafternoon after setting out from L os Angeles before dawn and stopping at Morro Bay for lunch. After riding 300 miles we were ready for a nap, but first all eight of us p itched in to set up camp and unload the two fun- (continued on page t hree) --