Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125448
WEEK OF JUNE 2 through JUNE B 1966 , • ~YC& • •- VOLUME III NUMBER 21 ' 'II • , By Maureen Lee • .. PRADO ROARS FOR RON P rado P ark' was the scene Sunday for the Benefit Run put on for Ronnie Nel son by his fell ow club members, the Antelope Ramble rs . There was a nice turn-out on the Memorial Day weekend evant though a lot of people were out of town. J ust over eight hundred went through the gate and the riders numbered around 300. Next week Cycle News will announce the total that Ronnie will receive, as the Ramblers still have to pay the day's expenses and total the receipts inclnding several very generous checks that were received as donations. The day naturally s ta rt ed with plenty of little bi kes riding hard to get a place in the Main in the 50 and 100cc classes. At the finish both events were won by Riverside area riders, Kirk McDowell an d David Ha m. Arte r the naC dropped in the lOOcc class, Ham shot around them all on the outside on his potent Hoda ka and dove into tum one first. From then on he just pull e d a way from the rest of the field with a big space between him and 2nd place man Honda-mount ed Jo hn Ca rbone and Keith Klafs on a GlIera. Father _ Son Battle • The 50cc Maln was more of a battle. Kirk McDowell ha d to work through the pa ck to get up to the lead and then ha d a battle with his father, Frank McDowell , before taking the lead. Jay Lewis on a Yamaha then proc eeded to fight it out with the older McDowell but Frank finally got ah ead and tbat was the way it finished Kirk won i t but his dad took home the trophy. Kirk is Expert a nd Frank Amateur and the Experts did not receive trophies as it was a ben efit Th e 250 'Novic e class had J ohn Lohof jumping off int o the lead and it looked for a bit li ke a runawa y for him, but Greev es-mount ed Gordon J ohnson gut up a head of s tea m and gradually gained on hlm until he was right on L ohot's tall. He was nev er able t o pass , but boy he had the heat on! Th e 250 Expe rts featured Doug Yerkes on a Bult a co repeating his last week 's win , but he had to work to do it. George tesa, J im Bassey . Omo on a very fast Mon on a Suzuki and Le onard Earl on a Harley wer e all after him, a nd th e third moto i n part icular developed int o drag races down the front straight . 21 Inch Expert Class Three riders fromL ong BeachHonda , John Rice, Clyde L itch and Bill Be ll s howed up to do batt le in the 21 inch Expert Class. Th ey provided plenty of thr il ls for the spectators and a re pla nni ng to race every week to keep that c las s going. Th er e was a time when the 21 i nch E xpert class was a win gdin g with mos t of the big names who are now on 500 s or Open machin es competin g i n it. With more Exp erts out t here they ca n have their own class . Ju st as k a ny 21 inch Expert how it feels to have to be combined with th e 500cc Experts week after week! In th e first moto, J ohn Ric e had a tremendous lead an d then a lmost came to a stop on the back straig ht when he found out in a hurry that he hadn't turned his gas on! Clyde L itc h s hot by him and J ohn R. got goi ng again to scrap with Bill Be ll a nd then pass Clyde just befo re the finish li ne to win. The Amat eur 21 inch was almost as exc it ing with T erry White and Jack Code, both on Hondas , really rid ing hard . T he 500 Amateur saw th e rec ent hard-luck man of that class , Bruc e J ackson, dec k it a gai n after getting a real good start , endi ng what promis ed t o be a good s crap between him and ha rd-ridin g Mike Posey , a ls o BSAmounted, who eventua lly won. Another Racing Family Th e .500 E?,pert s went at it i n great style , includi ng some of . them going down .at l ea~ t once , but 1t was ha rdcharging Ph il Brown who show ed them the way aro und. Behi nd Brown, rac in g was s o 710s e that it was odd ~-up who would f~nlsh s econd and thud. J im Hunter flOa)ly did, but not after having to fight off ~onte Dar lin g who is now (Contmue d on pa ge 6) Pros Explaen Stand By C a rol Sim s What do th e professional AMA rid ers th emselves t hi nk of the new rule barring Class C Ama t e ur s and Expe rts from competition i n s po rtsman e ve nt s? To find out , we asked Neil Ke e n, well-k nown ra c er, spoke sman and Pre s i de nt of Motorcyc le Ra c e rs, I nc . CYC LE NEWS: Neil, perhap s yo u s ho ul d ex plain to some of our re ad ers who may not know, what is th e M.R.I . ? NEIL KEEN : Motorcycle Ra ce rs Inc. is a coop erative riders' union, singleminded ly dedicated to the propogati on of professional motorcycle racing. It enjoys the membersh ip of the majority of the serious pa rticipants i n California as well as the cream of the Eastern riders . W of co urse ba ve man y member s e who a re not racers. CN: I s uppose you reali ze tha t the MRI(t.:ontin ued on pa ge 6) I Rode The Greenhorn - And lMD ! By La rry Ha l ey Fo r the inlormation 01 alI you good readers who think the name "Green- nom" Enduro means it's lor greenhorn riders, you are sadl y misinlormed. It got i ts name ye ars ago when it used to start at Johnson Motor s in Pasadena and go ail the way to the top 01 Greenhorn Mountain , north 01 the town 01 Moj ave, i n one day , returning to Johnson Motors on Sunday. The run is laid out lor the average rider, that i s, one who has had desert experience on 8 or 10 runs. And the more recently you have had this experience , belote ri di ng the Horn," the better chance you have a t finishing. With clea r skies and a balmy 70 degree s at 6:01 Sat urday morning , May 21, the 1966 Gree nhorn National Champio ns hip 400-mile Enduro began a t PearSammy Tanne r, the pride of Ascot , blossom, California. and the first four and the leading half-mller in the wes t, ride rs hea de d in the gene ral dir ection of won the annu al 5-Mll e National dirt Hi- Vista, the first gas stop. Off they track championship last Sunda y after(Continue d on page 6) noon at E lkhorn, W cons i n. is T a nner won with a n impressive ride from start to finis h in the te n-lap final before an all-time rec ord crow d in the small Southe rn Wisconsin to wn that Ra lph P e la yo - ha d a feeling " boas ts of having a " pic ture" half-mile whe n he bought a ticket on a ne w oval . The gra ndstands we re jammed from Harl ey-Davi dson M-SOthat was being top to bottom and even the standing raffled off by t he R oad Ride rs Comroon was filled all along the front and mittee t o benefit t he C it y of Hope. ba ck straightaways to see the first meeting of the year between Tanner a nd Winner Had Premonition Bart Markel. Both rid ers ": won thei r MI was so sure I would win, · the respec tive hea t races a s did Okla homa's s tock.v T orranc e dr a w-mill ooe rator , F red Nix. At the start of the Unal the twelve fastes t riders from an entry li si of nearly 50 E xpe rts blasted off the line. Markel took a quick lead but the race was bla ck-nagged when Ohio' s George Roeder went thro ugh a c hai n link fence i n the Urst tum. Roeder was later promounced allright but did not re-enter the race on the restart. Again it was Marke l off the line with Tanner right behind . Tanner took the lead on the third lap a nd co nti nue d to pull away from the Grand National Champ. Mert Laww ill got off dead last with a poor start and was s oon half a lap back of the leaders beforl' he bullt (Continue d on pa ge 6) M TANNER WItS 5 MILE 29 Palms Bike Riding Classts in Lodi Co-s pons ored by the L od! (Ca li f.) Motorcyc le Club and the Lodi District Saf ety Council, cl asses a re being co nduct ed i n safe rid ing at the Lodi Cycle Bowl. Th e track , si te of many a Northern California s portsman s cra mbles ra ce, is devo te d on M c hool nights" to the s promoti on of motorcycl e s a fety in all its aspec ts . , Beginners are shown a fil m on proper ridi ng techniques, given mechanical checks and actual ridi ng Instruction . Rid ers who do not have bikes are provided machin es by coopera tive moto rcyc le dealers in the a rea, and parti c ipants between the ages of 151'2 and 18 must be accompanied by a paren t . There Is no cha rge for the s cho oli ng. Th e !ir st two c lasses wer e so we ll rec eive d that more activity is pla nne d s hortly , and it is hoped that the s a fetyslanted id ea will s prea d to othe r areas, told C ycle News. -I went ri gh t ou t and bou ght a c ra s h helme t. · P e la yo's was th e fi rst ticket drawn from the box on the re c e nt 29 P a lms Sp ring Tour. How abo ut that . ESP fans ? P e la y o a native of the P hillippi nes , ne ver won any thing be for e In hi s life . He says he is e ager to le arn ho w to ride . Rod Karns, left , who present ed P elayo with his shiny red M -50 on behalf of the S6. Cal. H-D Deale rs Assn., claims t he M -50 is an ideal bike for a beginner. S0806 'JlIe:» 'q:leas 21101 'PAIS lI:Ieas 2ull 'N LLt9 SM3N 31:JA:J it I;Mm~p en .ot Ulmal alqeun Jl - - H3.LSVW.LSOcI