Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

the National Circuit • • • Around the country with the Cal ifornians By Annette Ca mp Th e fir s t of our Californi a racer s to leave were Al Urich, e xpe rt 16r, a nd Phil Hawk, Bx, Urich le ft Saturday, April 9, for Omah a, Neb raska , his home town; Ha wk left Tuesd ay, April 12 , for his home town , Mit chell , Indiana. Bot h rid ers were en rout e to La wren ceburg , Indiana, to a tt end one of the ope ning half-mil es of the Ea stern Mid-We stern ci rcuit this year. Hawk mad e it bright a nd early to Lawrencebur g on Sunday morning, April 17, .unl oaded his two perfe ctly-mat ched Harl ey KRs (wi t h e ngi nes sp ecially built by J err y Branch ), to get ready for canc elled because of the wea th er. Rain had s aturated th e t rack , making it look lik e brown glue , and more rain was due that aft ern oon. So Al and Phil had only dri ven 1600 mile s and sp ent th ei r precious doll a rs for nothing. But t ha t's all part of a day in the life of a ra cer. , The co ming wee k looks more promising, with more rac es in sight a'.1d th e e xpe cte d arrival of an oth er Cahfor,!,a rid er Ji m MacMurren, 11r . C oming WIth him ':'ill be two ot her west coast rider s from Sea ttle, Washi ngton , Sid Carls on, National No. 73, and Julian Arthu r, #22 w. It is also rumored tha t Bi ll E rs hig Expert #43x , may be bac k for the sumriter t and no body kn ow s wh at' s co m- ing nex t. • , • .. - ~~. .~ Old you eyer get the feeli ng you were being followed? (Phil Hawk' s Harley s en route east.) By Bob Ebel mg Dra g racin g has a s t rong at tra c tion 'for those who hav e felt t he thrills of e xtreme a cc e le ration. St rong enough to dra w rid ers and machines for this wee kend's competiti on from places like Santa Maria , San Die go and Yucca Valley. Also great enough to t,!:ke up many workday practice . By noon it looked as if th ey were going to have a national , instead of a thre e-star half-mil e . Urich arri ved about 12: 15, too late to sign up. More truck trouble. Entri es wer e clo sed and they made no exce pt ions . So Al hel ped P hil. Phil chose the s hort-framed KR to ride, as he thought it would work bett er on the dusty track that look ed like a bed of mar bl es . He c hanged ti re s and gear ing on it a nd wen t out for ti me trials . He was co ming hot a nd hea vy into the first tum , when all yo u co uld see was the rushin g image of an upsidedown motorcycl e fly ing through the air, with the faint s pla s h of la vender leather fiyin g behind it. Th e c rowd i magined he was done . But when the dust clea red, Phi l and th e whole pit ar ea wer e s ta nding the re observin g a frame that had broken at the fork tube. So th ey set it aside a nd ran orr to get the other KR and try a gain . P hil took a fourth i n his heat , seventh in th e mai n, being t he only non-nationa l , number in it. The fina l results for the experts went li ke this; Bar t Marke l, Ronnie Rall, Freddie Nix . Buddy El more . Doug Showler, Darr el Dovel, Hawk and Norm Be rgqui s t. , F rom La wren ce burg our boys went to Ill i nois . Urich will s ta y i n Chicago until af ter the Reading, P e nns ylva nia race. T hen he goe s back to Omaha , where he rides his BSA out of Ra mer Motors there . P hil will stay in Waukegan , Illinois , ridi ng for La ke Shore Ha rl ey. After re s ti ng up, they got ready to lea ve for Reading, P enns ylvani a for an ei ght star half-mil e . Al went with upand-coming novi ce Gene Hartline of Chi ca go. Phil went with Darrel Dovel, National No. 45. They made it to Reading in good s hape, only to be told that th e ra c e was Sunday, May 1st, 1966 By Reg Sheldric k It was En gli sh Field Tr ia ls day in La s Ve gas , out a t Flamin go Rd. and J one s . T he Competiti on Committee limed out th ree -foot-wide se ctions , ten in all . coveri ng about one mile , gave each rid er one t hous and poin ts to s ta rt , then sat back a nd s lowly too k the points away. Beginner s luck (t he kind that' s rar e her e ) sh owed up for a fat her and so n riding their firs t meet. Winning a trophy for his 770 poin t finish was T om Scales (BSA); in se c 0 n d place was Kibb y Scale s , his father, s t raddling a Gree ve s Trial s, and in third pla ce , Sha ne Ros s (Gree ves) . Having a reduced field of e nt rants due to th e Cycl e W orld s how in L.A., th e T rial s were held in two di visions. In the Sup e r Li ghtweight cla ss , Bob (T he T error) T ooley held on to 740 points .to take first place on a Yamaha follow ed by Doug Miller (Yam .) and in thi rd, Rod Colllns (Yam. ) New Scra mb les Track Your reporter made li ke a true bloodhound and sn iffed out the facts abo ut th e ne w scrambles t rack in our area. This track is located at the foot of Sunri s e Mt. on East Vegas Valley Drive and looks lik e a real winner. Similar to th e old Acton t rack in California, sp ectators ar e able to s ee all the action from a hill almost surrounding th e track. The corners seem a little sharp, but th e surfa ce is e xce llent , roc k free , a nd should provide a good rac e for expe rts and begi nne rs alike. Talked to Gary Stewart , th e track owner . He says the la yout will be rea dy for racin g in about three we ek s . Futur e Top Gas The top gas awards were won by Mike Tucker a nd his T riumph. Mike has been a top machinist a nd t uner for many ye a rs and has no plans of losing "the touch ." The firs t rou nd was for cl ass elimination agai nst his close competitor, Ni ra J ohnso n. Nira red-lighted and lost what would have been a wheel-to- wheel heat at t he winning lig hts. Second round brought t he Triumph to t he li ne i n a "he ad s-u p" rac e a gains t Bob Ba ker a nd the Honda. Again the red-li ght s howed its colo r in t he la ne of Tucker's competition an d gua ra ntee d a win to the Triumph. In a final round it was Har ley against Tri umph. Richard Dec ker had won t he A gas class on his 55-i nch Ha rley an d witnessed t he previous red lights in the ra ce for to p gas. He was not going to become a victim of a jump start a nd s taged himse lf on the s ta rli ng line like a rock . When bot h li ghts went from ye llow to gree n the c lutc hes were rel ea s ed a nd Tuck er' s Triumph s torme d t hrough to win the money . Top Stre et Tony Dodge won his class and top s treet on a T riumph he us e s for work and play. W ev er he appears at a local hen strip it is with the bike as transportation , so t here can be no ques ti on as to Iega ltty in the stree t class . Other top street bikes in th eir classe s ....ere old a nd new. Al She rwin is, a famil(Co nti nue d on pa ge H ) plans include an invitational scra mbles that California and Ariz ona hotshoes will find hard to resist; trophi e s, priz es and surprises ..... more later. Max Switzer is on an unpl anne d vacatio n from the race scene again. Max had his Greeves demolished in a truck acci· de nt , escaped unhurt, waited wee ks to get mounted again t hen hurt his left arm a t work and will sit out the next few races. T he May 22nd S C r a m b les will be s ponso red by the Sil ver Quee ns M.C. Club, Shi rley Slagle , Pres id ent, th rows out a c ha llenge to all t he ga l ri ders to come up a nd ride the P owder P uff e vent . W hear the s e e vents ar e hotly co nteste d e in California, an d our ' girls would wel come a little more co mpetiti on. Three heats of fiv e laps , 100cc max. for trophie s and a one year subscription to Cycl e News (See Calendar of Ev ents). 13 ~ S UBSCRIPT ION 4~ BLANK IS ON PAGE 6 l ~ll\tD s~ltS C f(lt TH E Valley 'SA comPle;~t~~QU~llttlS 6868 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, California Call 165-6111 ANAHEIM M CENTER IC S\81 Dls tr lbuta,r for S 1A3l\e\l· AKRONT RIMS \'L1' TELESCO FORKS NOSHOCKS SPANISH AMAL CARBURETORS FEMSA TRANSISTOR IGNITIONS S I M PSO N M OTOR S 54i5 San Fernando Rd. West Los Angeles 39, California DI STRIBUTOR of JUDSON products (including Cycle-T ron transistor ign ition ) and FRANC ISCO OILS and chemicals. ATIONAL MOTOR SUPPLY CO DISTRI BUTOR FOR AMSA Invasion The Bi g W heel is rolling to Nevada!! T he i nflue nce of the au tomobil e busine ss conti nues to invad e th e motorcycl e world. Latest ent ry is tne Ame rican Mot orcycl e Service Association. Thi s is the " T riple A" of motorcycling, road service, pickup, monthl y magazine , tours , etc . Annual membership $15.00; a dva nce information. P.O. Box 5511 , Las Ve gas . Saw quite a few La s Ve gans at th e Cy cl e W orld Show i n Smogs ville, T err ifi c li neup of groovy two-and-four-wh eelers. W ould lik e to hav e seen more supplier s of parts a nd access orie s, but it was a hi ghly success ful sh ow. Attention, a ll you teena ge cyclists .. . wat ch thi s co lumn for details of an upco ming contest. Prize s a nd service discount cards will be offe red. Largest stock on West Coast Dealer Inquiries Invited RIES 'Q UALITY MO TORCYCLE ACCESSO ALSO IN S TOCK PHONE : 213 633-5178 157 10 Ga rfield Avenue, Paramoun t, Ca lifo rnia 90723 WANT TO DO WHEELlES? FIRST INSTALL A BARNETT CLUTCH EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT AMA ... FLAT TRACK RACING Time Trials First Race - 7 p.m. 8:15 p.m. T.T. STEEPLECHASE RACING First Saturday Night Each Month RACING STARTS AT 1 p.m. • • co nt~n ued) DRAGS • • (To be a nd l eisure hours of so me of the fin est mecha ni cs a nd machi ni s ts who eithe r dabbl e or co ncentrate on two wheels a nd all t ha t is support ed in-between . Ascot Park AVAILABLE NOW: V ILLIERS & BT & E DUCATI CLUTCH PLATES RIDERS SEE YOUR DEALER. WE DO NOT SELL RETAIL ~iJt;~ ••'••'.'•• ~'OOL . ' 4915 PAC IFIC BLVD" VERNON, CA LIFORN IA, PHONE: 589-5488 183rd & Vermont - Off Harbor Freeway -

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