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/125475
... "" .., .., '" Q., Under a rai n-threatenin g sky, the San Francisco Chapter of the A.F.M. held its final event of 1966, with occasi onal dri zzle making the tra ck tr eacherous at ti mes, Despi te the rain , only one i njury was reported, al though there were numerous spills. T he ' s addest i t em of the day was th e announc ement that H arry Webste r , ' A .F .M. veteran , was han gi ng up his l eat her s. H arry, whose smooth styl e was appreciate d by all , wi ll be so rely missed . ' All at Once The fi rst event w as a production rac e for stoc k machines. 175cc or l ess , plus a si decar demo thr own in. At th e drop of the fla g. everyone wa s off exce pt th e sidecar. Th e three wheeler, pilot ed by Jim Sadilek and Mark Stron g, wai t ed about 10 second s for a seco nd flag then roar ed off ami d much noise and wheelspin. By the end of the second lap t he 1200cc Harley Davidson special had gai ned third place. where it was to remai n for th e duration of th e ra ce. First and second plac e went to th e Ossa 175cc team of Ned Marandino and Dan Hansen. i n their neat blue l eath ers. First 100c c was the Yamaha of Mark L agomarsino. By T om Finlay prov ed. held th e l ead a short while unt il pass ed by McLaughlin. Meanwhile both Wright and Jim Williams (Honda l 75cc) were st al ki ng t he l eaders. Mer v Wrig ht , l ook ing tb e dashing En gli shman. forced his way through when McLau ghlin fou nd a temporarily st ubborn gearbo x. The position th en remai ned uncha nged , except for Jim Williams getting by Freddy when the Muhlberg Special devel oped t rou ble . Next up was th e 250cc and UP production event . Aft er a mad dash across the track , th e riders roar ed off in a cloud of straining engi nes . I nt o t he le ad was Art Bauman (Suzuki X-6 ). followed by T ony H erbo ld (Honda 450) and Steve McLaughlin on th e first K awasaki 250 seen in action at Cotati. Bauman held hi s own while McLaughlin pursued Herbold . Meanwhile, J i m Monroe, riding hi s Triumph B onneville in the open class. bad gain ed first ov erall and pulled away to win. GP Go Qui ck ly the next event was lined up, a ten lapper for GP machines und er 175cc . Fir st of f was Ri ck Ras chke (l25cc Honda twin cam) followed by Freddy Muhlberg on his much modified Honda 160. Soon a thr ee-way dic e for fi rst ensued betw een Muhlberg. Merv Wri ght (l25cc Honda) and Steve Mc L aughlin (l25 cc Honda) with Raschke droppin g back . F reddy, ridi ng much Im- Bauman 's Suzuki devel oped mechanical probl ems and McLaughlin. who was doi n g a mas t erful job of cont rol ling the K awa sa ki · Samurai· on the t reac herous tum thr ee, had luck cat ch UP with him. He drifted wi de and clipped a course marker. bendi n g hi s shift lever back, caus i ng him to drop out . Phil Makanna then brought his Suzuki X-6 into the winner's circl e. while Richard Hird performed commendabl y by crossing t he finish line ahead of all his ri va ls in the 350cc cl a ss, aboard a Yamaha 305. This i s , to our knowle dge, th e first 350 cl ass win by a Yamaha 305 on th e West Coast. Harry Webster, shown here on his Honda CR93, Is retlr lne after many successful years of racine. Grant Unloa ds Just a short del ay and th e • scr atchers " of th e 250cc GP class were ready and eager to tak e th e green fla g. With one lap down the order was Ron Grant, Number One A .F .M. rider, on a Suzuki , A rt Bauman . Suzuki , Steve McLaughlin on th e stock Kawasaki Samurai and Merv Wright. Pa rilla. About midway , Grant unl oaded but qui ckly remounted to hold second plac e. behind A rt Bauman. Grant was unable to make up th e deficit. especially since th e fall had damaged his exhaust system, and he had t o settle for second. On the last lap , out of the las t turn. Merv Wright proved to be th e fox again as he pass ed Steve McLau ghlin and out-accelerated the stock Kawasaki wi th th e super light Parilla to claim third place. Th e Kawasaki pr oved its future pot ential in competition by placing as well as it did. As soon as th e 35 0 ' s were griddl ed th ey wmped off and blasted through tum one and headed off towards • Devils El bow· (t um two), Bo b Bend er (Honda 350 ) ..no was away fi rst, was third after one l ap , behi nd Ron Grant (Honda) and Art Bauman (Honda), Grant and B auman proceeded to put .on a great wheel t.o wheel di c e for nearly the ..bole 37!-2 mil es. ..1th Bauman comi ng out th e vi cto r, Di ck (Fearl ess) Kilgroe , meanwhil e, overtook llob Bender for !.hi rd while Bend er held on for four th. ODAKA WINS SO CAL M.C. TURKEY RUN TRAIL CLASS I st Jade Morgan 2nd franl Wheeler WINS HODAKA HODAKA 3rd Ricl Walend HODAKA 5'" Roy Barne" HODAKA H. A. Nelsen {P_e (2l3) 243-10m Gleaule, Calif. So. of Kern Clunty & WINS & WINS & WINS Deslened & Imported by PABATCO 1966 Finale F inal race of th e day and of the y ear for the A .F.M. was a combi ned affair fo r SH OP CY CLE N EWS A D V ERTlSr N G - : HODAKA 6th Tom fee HODAKA Leavitt Power Tool CD. 2265 Sunrise Blvd. Rancho Cordova, Calif. (Phone (916) 635-6910) No. of Kera County Gire-"~ ~ Accessenes from: ,.,,: !"IJhis Christmas 4'" Bill Jaiando , ACCURAT E. AMERICAN SPORT. CIRCLE: INDUSTRIES. ANDERSON MOTORCYCLE~ BELL HELMETS, DUNLOP TIRES, LUCAS.: RENOLDS CHAINS AMAL CARBS . : I • • i : • [ SEND FO R PRICE NO,., UST~ • • 5 : • i* ACCESSORIES UNLIMITED *5 :P.O. BOX 583, So. Pasadena, Cal.: : I (707 Falrv l.w. So. Pa 91030 ) , : .. Two riders baltle It out In the popular production classes. 500cc and 1000c c (open class) machines, Due t o hi s two wins in the 250 and 350 cl asses. Art Bauman was gi ven permissi on to run his sup er qui ck 350 H onda i n this event. starting fr om t he back of th e ' gri d. This didn't prov e to be much of a handi cap . how ever, as Art took th e l ead right away . B ehind Bauman came a four way s crap for th e l ead in the 500 class. In th e early stages, Phil Makanna (No rto n Manx ) was ahead. pursued by Dav e Burchards riding a Matchl ess G-30 for the first tim e and doing a fine j ob. Slightly back . Dick Kil groe (Honda 450 ) was tryin g to hold of f Ron Grant on a BSA 500. Bauman st retc hed hi s l ead t o th e wire. while Grant's expe rience helped him t o pick hi s way th rough for first 500cc honor s. Makanna staye d in seco nd and Dav e Bu rchards had to drop out . l eavin g third for Dick Kil groe. The season ended on a happy not e wi th the announc ement that th e San Francisco Chapter A.F.M. was going to do an even bett er job in 1967 , st ressin g the exposure of the sport t o th e public. ( Results on page 16) ANOTHER FINE PRODUCT FROM H&C HONDA RIDERS: THE ROLLER CAM IS HERE! The t rack tested, Steel bi llol cam , Roller rocker arm kit has been released for general sales. The roll er cam eli mi nates wear problem s, all ows longer durations, high er lift, less fri cti on, and does truly mak e a tiger of your Ho nd a. The ro llerized rocke r arm bein g made of the very best vir gin alum inum is approxim atel y % t he weight of the conventional part. Th is redu ces valve t rain weight and allows t he engine to ope rate in the hi gh RPM range. For infor mation: Ask you r dealer or wr ite: HARMAN & COLLINS 5552 ALHAMBRA AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 90032 PHONE (213)222-0158