Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

dial: advocates. 'Jbeoy seemed 110 pleased c:> .... : a.. SPORTS T. T.M.Co's BIGFOOT ENDURO The Trinity Trailers M.C. of Willow Creek showed their stuff this Weekend by performing their duties extremely well in hringing 0 f f their First Annual Bigfoot Enduro without a hitch and all the riders, winners or not, went home well satisfied with the day's ride. Because of the dry weather in the a.rea, the course was extremely fast and some well seasoned riders proved it by being too early at check #2. Good calculation with the speedometer and watch was needed to win this event as it well should be on any enduro. Ronnie Finch aboard a 90cc Honda maintained the closest to 24 mph average speed and won the sweepstakes trophy, which was a beauty, with a clock mounted in it. With a small turnout of riders, it was possible to determine the winners before the day was over and most of the riders stayed to collect their brass. The event was such a success that next year the Trinity Trailsters are preparing for a larger turnout. After the event the riders enjoyed a bean feed that was sponsored by the Bigfoot Daze committee. Because of the quantity and quality of the food those with appetites are sure to be back. The winners of the day are as follows: lION FlNCH Honda FlRST OVERALL LIGHTWEIGHT Hany Oxley Suz Ralph Herring Hon Don Kennedy Hod MIDDLEWEIGHT Don Wriebt Gre Jerry ManniOC Hon Dick Maxwell Gre Jerry Al:gler Gre HEAVYl\'E1GHT Darrel \Illite BSA Dave Reynolds Tri DRAG RACING By Bob Ebeling SPOKE BENDERS PACIFIC SOUTHWEST CHAMPIONSHIP HARE SCRAMBLES By Larry Haley The pits were located in Hidden Valley just off the Stoddard Wells-Bell Mountain road. The start was on a pole line road heading in the direction of a saddle of the mountain same as last year. The course this year was longer but it had the same rocky conditions (which is pretty hard to get away from in this country). It was fast but well limed and one could get out of shape real sudden like. If these rocky runs don't get you they almost certainly will get your tires. For instance, #43 Oscar Thompson, running 3rd overall on the first loop, came through running 11th overall on the 2nd loop with a flat tire on the rear, stopped at his pits, changed his rear tire to an already-mounted new one and some say the change could put an Indianapolis pit crew to shame. They had him out in less than one minute and would you believe he went out on the 3rd loop and did it again? That's right, another flat and still finished 8th overall. That's doing it the hard W3;J. Hugh Gipe #6lx, did the whole course of 93 miles on a front flat. M3;Jbe the Spoke Benders should change' their name to the Tire Choppers, as I know that there were 87 flat tires for sure and probably more than that if an accurate tally was taken. All kidding aside and no disrespect to the club because they are a nice bunch of guys, they did do the best they could and that's something of a challenge for that area. The course was a variety of sand washes and new trails, some side hills and some old trails. They also incorporated the trails from the Cactus Derby run 3 weeks prior through that area, one uphill that kept you on your toes and a sharp little downhill that was good for 3rd gear providing someone didn't cut you off or go down in front of you. I rode this course on Saturday about 5 p.m., just after it was limed. and I had the advantage of seeing what it's like to get a leader's eye view of the course. No wonder that front guy can make so much time so fast. No dust. I did not ride Sunday as this country has me spooked. I guess I just don't like rocks. M3;Jbe next year they will Pllt it in some other area because if they can put on a run like that having to contend with all those rocky sections, just think what they could do with a good piece of estate. One thing that was real good, they had dune Buggies out there and did pick up a lot of guys with bike troubles and got them and their machines into the pits and that's one heck of a good deal. (Full report of this event appeared in Vol. UI #42) AMERICAN CYCLE ASSOCIATION ATTENTION COMPETITION RIDERS! A & A Manufacturing Now Features a Select Line of quality Components for All cycles AIR CLEANERS COMPRESSION RELEASES ALT, COVERS-HONDA SCRAMB. and more, MUCH MORE Meation Cycle News wben Writing III A & A MANUFACTURING 1036 EI Camino Redwood City, C.IIf. De.ler Inquiries Inylted this comlnl w..kend, the e.enlnl of Hoyemb.. 12t11, tile A.C.A. will ha.. lis annu.1 Awords Ibnquet where the f1.t trackers IOd ro.d r.c.s will be honored for their p.fonnances In the 1966 season. Also, the ACA fl.t trick points fund will be distributed to tile ten top rld.s In each of the f1.t trick classes. Trophies .nd j.ckets will .Iso 10 to the top ro.d r.ce rld.s. Cockt.lls 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., dlnn.. promptly .t 8:00 p.m., wltll trophy p ntotlon IOd dlnclnl followlnc. All memb IfId cuests Ife cordially Invited., For res t1ons phone (714) 847-7629. A malllnl: will be COlnl: out to .11 the Illt.natlon.1 rld.s from the ACA concemlnl: the 250cc .nd SOOcc Intem.llonal nent at "opetown tills ye•• We would also like to Inform all tile rld.s of our professlon.1 eyent this ..ekend on Sunday, No.ember 13th at tile new TT course .t Venturi Falrpounds. ri ebt DOW we can a ward them as creat rans and promoters. Tb~ A near record tum out of new drag bikes and well-tuned stockers gave Irwindale Raceway a fine program, with Ricb Ricbards and rider Harris taking top fuel prizes at an elapsed time of 11.03 seconds traveling at the rate of 131.00 mpb. Lions drag strip participuts witnessed an almost eqnally exciting sIlow with the addition of a -moment of fear- as the Bnick va drag bike of Josepb Teresi tore up divots of asphalt when the machine went out of control and the rider waS burled from the leather saddle to the macadam surface. Tbanks to Henry, the drag racer's guardian angel, the only loss was metal, aspbalt, pride and breatb. Perry and Scotty's twin engine Triumpb made their Lions share two in a row for top fuel pnrse. At Irwindale the top fuel contenders were led in elapsed times by Smith and Butterworth's Harley Davidson. Joe Smith bad turned 10.95 while the closest rivals were Richards and Harris with 11.03 elapsed time. The remaining qualifiers were Mc Evoy and Whiteman's Harley and Jeff Gough and his 650cc Triumph mounted in a Hagon Frame. As the first round of eliminations were run Joe Smith anticipated the green light and drew a big red one. And Tom Whiteman just didn't go quick enough. which left the final race to Jeff Gough and Don Harris. each Triumph mounted. Jeff had the fuel trouble of a green chemist and Harris just couldn't get last week's performance to repeat. Both hikes lunged out of the hole with hides smoking hard and Don twisted the throttle just bard enough to pull away a few inches at a time all the way down the qllarter mile. Don's final E.T. was 11.03 seconds at 131.00 miles per hour and Jeff turned 11.28 126.05. Top street and gas divisions were hoarded by Harley-Davidsons in the lbat we roIlY ave tbeir ~ at .....e near date as boaa-ade drag racers, Beacb! Lions go ve me a great final day as pit director with complete co-operation among racers and help at every hand when 1 desired. Fuel qualifiers numbered three and an old man was found by the flip of coins. Perry and SCotty drew a single round while J eft Gough and Sonny Raslawski were to bave at it on a "headsup· race. Again Triumph faced Harley-Davidson but unlike at Irwindale. the Harley came out best in a close race. Sonny returned to the pits and changed oil for the race tbat would decide if two Triumphs that totaled 1300cc could stand UP to his la-second machine. Perry and Scotty brought out their big bundle of Triumph power and fired without trouble. Sonny's Harley didn't respond to the ignition spark as quickly as usual and there must have been something amiss for the response was not there from that first instant of acceleration on. Peny shifted his weight in all directions to try for maximum traction as the twin engines burned the power into smoke. The final elapsed time that sec..ed top fuel for "Stagefright" was 10.20 - 148.00 mph. Fast Gas SelIt11 & Buu.rworth's "oil fuel.. rlps off tile Irwlndlle line. bands of Sal Estrada and Millard 1)lsnaroon. It wasn't all easy for Sal as his closest competition was David Range 'on a 74 incher that had turned 12.76 at 104.40. Sal's Sportster hehaved just the way he wanted it and took the cash purse turning 12.84 - 102.38. Disharoon had arrived at Irwindale in the final moments of qualifying, from a trip to " Salada-, the Baja BolDleville. (I should have checked his gas for he may have been burning tequila). His wilDlinl: 11.43 seconds at 116.511 made competitors niff the fwnes but aU agreed it was gas. Smaller Ones We do not see many 305 Yamahas in con tention but Tom Scott brought one to Irwindale and beat down the competition tbat tried to reach for th e class trophy. His 305 won with 16.54 seconds of time and 73.83 miles per hour as speed. Dick Stricklands ;BSA isn't too small (650cc) but its performance is also not insignificant. Several times now, Dick has ran at elapsed times his competition can't match and this week was no exception. Dick won the class trophy that can be engraved at 13.64 E.T. and 98.25 mph. Acceleration Test The "Cycle News" staff members and its editor, publisher Chuck Clayton were on the Irwindale scen" to evaluate the acceleration performance of two BSA Lightnings and meet some of the One hundred and twenty six miles per hour on gas and in 1320 feet? Pete Hutton performed in just that way after some two months layoff from the drag scene due to a minor injury. His twin-~ngine Triumph is coming on strong and may be just starting to get qllick times at fast speeds. Nira Johnson needs to adjust his 650cc Triumph just a hair finer to get back to old form. His "Agtisi" was a Lions class winner at 12.12 E.T. and Il4.35 mph. Tbe small hreed was beaded by Boh Braverman's Yamaha and Jeff Gunad's Bultaco. Each was a class winner and earned the victory. Jeff Brown is collecling trophies in consistent victories at Lions with his 160cc Honda. He is devoted to racinl: and is a good sportsman, which deserves another trophy. The one he received this week was for class G slleet at 18.01 elapsed Ume and 62.93 miles per hour. Vegas Visitor witb $500 Prize Drag racers were viewed and evaluated by Reg Sheldrick from Las Vegas, Nevada. Reg wanted to see just what was in store for him at the upcoming all hike drag meet at Las Vegas on February 18, 1967. The impression was enough to extract an iron clad agreement to five hundred dollars prize money, trophie s and contingency awards. All that and Vegas too? Wbat more coll1d we ask? Near Future November 13th will be a day to set records. Fontana is throwing away the old book and filling the strip's ink well in preparation for writing new ones in all classes. The records must be set during qualifications before the regular eliminations and E.T. brackets run off. Gates open at 8 a.m. and the line will be long. so if you want the cIIance to be a record holder, meet me there at 7:45 (Results on page 16) a.rn. 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