Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

... c.. WEEKEND ON WHEELS Contd. IUZZARDS "'''11I . . because evelYbody was branching off til e main traiL ~ ~ _ - 2 lil .Q .s <> o ~ ~ ~ ~ ...:l U :.. U cost about the same as a Triumph Bonneville, and should be much faster •• It won't be for several years; first they're bringing out a 450cc scrambler•• Buzz & Fry One of tile- riders who was ahle to move up quite a few places was young Buzz Hurst, #8 Open Expert on a Triumph. Hurst has not ridden for about six montlls, but he showed real class in taking tile first-place Open Expert. As soon as Buzz gets back in shape !Lfter his long lay-off,it looks like a lot of the top desert riders are going to have some good competition. Ron Fry, #40 Expert on bis new 360 Husqvarna, was able to move up through the pack on the second loop and gun his new mount to a very fast 1st 500 Expert. FlY came into tile finish about four minutes bebind the leader, which shows how close the first ten riders were running together, and makes for some real hot dicing in tile open desert. Most of the bench racers in the pits after the race seemed to agree that it was one of. tile best limed and safet;ymarked courses, which shows that the Buzzards put a lot of work into their run and it was appreciated by everyone. BUZZARDS CALIF. CHAMPIONSHIP HARE SCRAMBLES Oct. 1&, 19&& Uaofficial Results OVERALL Bob Belt J.N. Roberts Gre 1st 250 Ex. HOD 1st 21 AM Trl 1st Op. Ex. Buzz Hurst Tri 2nd Op. Ex. Bob Ferro J • • Martino BSA 3n1 Op. Ex. Tri 1 st Op. AM John Gaetz Loo P etersoo Tri 4lb Op. Ex. Tn :lth Op. Ex. Jack Byers Bul 20.f250 Ex. Dave Ekins Hus 1st 500 Ex. Roo Fry TRAIL BIKES The Trail Bikes started at the same time that the open class did, which on tIlis type of course was a real blast, dueling in the open toolies with the larger bikes, because the trail bikes are able to get tIleir engines buzzed up to fourtll gear in this t;ype of terrain. It came as no surprise that the first trail blke rideI, Earl Roeseler. #1 Expelt on a Zundapp. came in for tile win. after making one loop. He was ruomng in tile seventies overall at tile gas check, which shows how well a trail bike can get up and go when you are able to have boon docks to pass io. and stay up on top of the sand with the engine buzzing. The course picked by the Buzzardll couldn't have been better for lIIe lOOcc bikes all the bUls were not steep,. but jUllt gradual \III hUl grades.and lIIe sand wallhell seemed to be mostly down hill willi winding turns tIlat became bank toms after a few riders went throudl, and not too deep sand. There wasa tricky rock section which ran for about a mile. This was onE!' place you had to stay on the course because if you didn't, you were liable to hit some rocks tIlat were about a foot high. The second place man, Jim Baker '22S on a Hodaka, grabhed the second spot in the last five miles of tile course, which many riders felt was the roughe st part of the course as it was very choppy. Baker pulled off tile course to the right which was up wind and really turned it on making his own trail as he headed for the checkered flag, and finished only one minute behind tile leader. . Jan Ditson, #8 on a Yamaha, came 10 tenth in tile trail class and was the first girl in, which speaks velY highly of her riding ability. U-ntcial Results TRAIL liKE Earl Roelleler James Baker Dick Wndlt Da ve Wl11Iamll Jack Morean Frank Morgan Cad steven Zun Hod Hod Hod Hod Hod Bobby Steffan Jan Dltson IN1'IIOOUCING TlfE /oIAELY P1.AT TRACK SPECIAL RACING .ooTS. 8" hip. I.ced. weiaKt 2 Ibs. per ~r $15.95 plu.:,;t::,; _ _ or .._ " " - ' . By Larry Haley CHECKERS HARE & HOUND We lined up in the bottom of a gulley, right near the camp site and the banner was on top of this hill in front of us about 150 yards out. The Checkers always start their runs with the thought in mind that every start will be a bad one, and they work accordingly. As a result the start was clean, fast. and furious. There was a pole line road running parallel to tile starting area and directly to the 2nd smoke bomb. At the riders meeting everybody w~ warned if anybody was caught on that road their number would be taken down by posted observers and they would be automatically disqualified, and I heard through the grapevine that tIlere were some who tried it, They also said at the riders meeting that the first loop would be about 45 milelS, and that the second loop would be about 5 miles farther. rm not griping aboot the mileage because I like long runs, for one reason it keeps you in shape. I los t 9 pounds. The banner dropped with a roar as the bikes came to life and when we topped that ridge ou t of the hole you could look out aboot 4 miles and see the first smoke bomb, and I want to tell you folks that was a faM run to that smoke bomb. At the smoke we turned right to the 2nd smoke bomb which was located in Freemans Gulch. That's where we crossed Highway 14 under the bridge to get over on to the east side of the highway for the first loop which is around the back side of the El Paso Mountains. Down the gulch we went, looped way out in a big arc in the foothills to the north, squeezed down into some narrow canyons down across some lava rock beds, in and out of various fire roads and jeep trails, twisting and turning up and down, in and out of them slippelY-sliding, shale rock-infested trails where the front wheel can get out from under you so fast tIlat you don't even have time to say ·What the heck was that'" The deeper in to the mountains we go the tighter the trail gets and the tougher tile riding. Up, up, and up out of the bottom, and then we hit the top of the pass and started down this real twis tin g winding rocky old road which dumped into a sandwash that was flabout fourth gear. Noticed a few observers parked along the edges of the sandwash observing lbe riders, now whether they were stuck there and didn't dare to cross for fear of hitting a rider or vice a versa, or whether they were just watching for the fun of it I don't know, but one thing I do know that if a car observer should pull out in front of you, !!lUiT~CO q~ YAMAHA :AL ~US ~ - Royal Enfield Specialist COMPLETE ROYAL ENFIELD PARTS SUPPLY 1~5 TO 1965 MI' d p _ ZUedapp. ONCE AROUND THE COUISE 4864 Route 2, Bo. 758, Corona, Calif. FlO Above: Tian bike king Earl Roe.I ~ NE 8- KEN shoeman MAELY the lit flu' .,11 wit, 11I11'1 ..... SHELL Rd. lynwood, MOTORS 3346 Century Calif. I hope he has the courtesy to open the doors on both sides so tIlat we can pass tIlrough. At tile foot of the sandwash we made a hard right u-turn and started up this sandy road that went up a hog back, and I observed Larry Bergquist standing beside the trail which meant he must have broke down. (Tough "break" Larry). Aite r the ho g hacks we went throu gh some tight switchbacks on top and then started down into the desert bottom. Heading north we picked up the sout~ bound Shamrocks trail from two weeks back, which led us right back into Freemans Gulch and under the highway wbere we swung soutll and headed t~ ward the pits. Over three hundred bikes poured through Freemans Gulch going outbound and all these bikes returned via the same path at the gulch in bound and never once did I see anything that could cause a rider confusion or mislead him off the trail. Understand this all takes place in a 20-foot wide gulch and I would say that's a remarkable job of liming, Tbe whole course was the same. Comu.g into the pits I klnda thought in the back of my mind "lIIat wall an awful long-4:1 miles" but it was fairly fast and as 1 pulled into my pits to get gas, water, gogglell wiped, which all takes about teo second/!, I aIlked my pit man "where am 11 What position am 11" He said "you're running in the forties. Make itl· 1 said • swioging! Give me lUIOther drink of water" tllen 1 made it. Out a road west bound, about 2 miles we turned north onto anolller road and then headed for a point of rocks about 5 miles out. About halt-way there,Oscar ThomPSon passed me on tIlat big BSA. This boy really hauls. It was check number four at tile bottom of the Rocky Points that we were headed for. When we left the check we we nt between two big rocks about 75 feet high, handlebar wide into an unbelievable sandy uphill that took me completely by surprise and I wound up huffin and puffin and shoving tIlat old Jawa of mine over the top by hand. Once on top all out of breath, I managed to get astraddle my trusty steed and we headed for tile aquaduct road across tile desert. Pretty soon we picked up a real good road that led us toward the mountains. This road was too good to be true. I'm in fourth gear just wailing, fast as that old bike would go. The road begins to get narrow, steeper, (Continued on page 20) • " .... .... '.', ' •••............. GOOD1tua BLUE STREAK MOTORRACFR 2.75x18 & 3.00x18 3.00x19 & 3.5OX19 Now "vailable in Tbese Sizes SHELBY m':tc~~k Tires COIDJng Soon Antsla II'" ENI• lilt •.(213) 3n-&1&& G....na, Calif After these conversations, I began to smell something fishy and called Matt Matsuoka at American Honda. Matt was highly cooperative, but either he didn't know, or he just wasn't talking. Honda seems to have the attitude that the American distributorship is always the last one to know, and they wouldn't know anything until they unpacked the crates and found a new model. This is just conjecture ... but I wouldn't be surprised if we did have this exciting new motorcycle before the end of 1967. With regard to a 450 scrambler, 1 feel that it is a pretty safe bet that it is just around the comer, After all, it is pretty well acknowledged that the 450 was not a big seller because of its rather ·unusual· styling, despite the fact that it is supposed to be an excellent handling bike. Perhaps the sportiness of a scrambler model would make it more appealing to the American consumer, (By the way, if alter this appears, Honda is still talking to me. I plan to give a road rider's report on the 450 in the very near future.) ••••••••••••••••• Another Hollywood item ••• Mike storm one of The Good Time Singers (the group that used to be on the Andy Williams Show) just rode hi::; Triumph 500 from Los Angeles to Reno, where the group is headlining at Harold's Club. He made the trip via Yosemite...accordingto Mike, the trip, including several stops in Yosemite took 15 hours, but was well worth it. Yosemite has got to be one af the most beautiful areas in America, and this is an ideal time to visit. It any of you are interested in some literature on both camping and hotel facilities at the park, just drop me a note in care of Cycle News, and I'll be happy to send it along to you. In another month or so, snow will close the upper parts of the park, so this is definitely the month for the trip. •• •••••••••••• ••• There's a new ·outlaw· motorcycle club in the San Francisco area ••• they call themselves the ·Hated Red Barons". The whole subversive plot was started by KSFO disc jockey, Dan Sorkin who will probably go down in history for the creation of the ·Mary Poppins Is A Junkie" bumper stickers.Anyway, the Barons have only a few members at this time, but they're spreading fast. Herb Caen. the highly influential columnist with the S.F. Chronicle is a charter member, and I understand that stan Freberg has just become the first Southern California member. Their club motto truly represents the outlaw nature of the group •••·We can run away from a fight faster than any 13 other guys.· The club even has a large patch that members wear on their ivy league leather jackets...the patch has the name of the club and a picture of Snoopy. the famous pooch from the Peanuts Cartoon. This further proves that our great sport is really going to the dogs. By the way, my fountain of journalistic creativity is rapidly approaching a drought •.• if any of you have any off-beat items or ideas (other than retirement) I would appreciate hearing from you. send fan letters and lIuggestiooll for column tuples to Peter Rachtman, % Cycle News. _ ........ ~ HOUKAlnt THE MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE WRITER SAVE.tJN YOUR MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE Y:=J ::31 lnSW'e~1f:::ut:n your je,ller J[er:t, or MI~e c;~ d~ec:. A SO, !,lrge :lea'pr sav'rr:s on J I busl:less c'J"e~,~?,e. JOHN W. MAYNARD Fran, Dee S:rl"en lr,s:..rar:ce 34~; MOTOR AVE. L.P.90034 PHONE BJ7-blJ~ N8RTHERN CALIFORNIA :258 L,1:C,r: A.. e. SJr: jc~e, pr-o~e (.1.,'. 2g>2 ~B~ •

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