Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

DESERT • SCRAMBLIN AROUND By Maureen Lee By La rry Ha l ey SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ANNUAL TURKEY HARE AND HOUND • North east of t he Wagon Whe el Cafe a bout 10 or 12 mile s up the Searl es Valley toward s Ra ndsburg the So . Ca l. M.C. held t hei r a nn ua l Turkey Run . So . Cal. boys ar e a swingi ng bunch. 1 a lways put the ir runs right up the re in the ' runs to be rememb er ed ' class a nd t his one was no exception. Th e weather Sa tu rday night before t he run was warm at 8 p .rn, You cou ld sta nd ar ound i n you r s hi rt s l eeves. A lay er of alto c umulus clouds start ed to mo ve in f rom t he north an d by 10 p.m. t he moon ha d a fa ir s ize rin g aro und it . I mad e th e re mar k to some body that tomorrow it will rain . Do I sound like a weath er fo recast er? Well, I was for quite a few years. Anyway I was hoping for a run in the rai n just to s e e what it would be like with no dust. At 10 a.m . Sunday t he So . Cal. boys s aid th ei r riders meeting would be del ay ed a while as th ey were ha vin g t rouble wit h t he ra dio co ntact at che ck #2 and th ey didn 't want any unnec ess ary trouble. At 10:30 we had the rid er s meeting . The co urs e was 2 e qua l loop s of 35 miles e a ch , 3 fi e ld checks on each loop a nd one a t t he pit s . As we lined up fo r t he sta rt , 1 noti c ed that my right muffl er hanger was brok en and t he pipe was dan gli ng so 1 rus hed aro und an d go t a pi e c e of he a vy bal in g wire from W s Anders on and loope d it a round e th e pip e a nd frame i n hopes that it wou ld ho ld (i t did ). Got on t he li ne an d got my s t a rti ng ch eck an d wai t ed for about 15 minutes till a ll of a sudd en it got real qui et. Then So. Cal. pick e d up th e ba nner e ve r so gently and it bobbl ed and a few ner vous ones in th e c enter of t he lin e got excited and started their engi nes a nd l e ft t he li ne in a roa r. The ban ne r stay ed put . 1 s ettl ed back do wn on th e s eat and sai d to myself ' oh no , I did that jum p start on th e Sham roc ks run and pa id for it by goi ng 2 first loops . Not this tim e . As long a s that ban ner is up I' m staying, ' and then boom t he s neaky bi rds dropp ed it. Man what co nfus io n! Someho w I got off th e lin e rea l good a nd would you beli ev e at tha t point it started to ra in . Well now 1 don 't hon estly know which is wors e, fog on t he len s from th e cold rai n or the mud f rom th e mixt ure of du s t and rain or j us t plain dust. 1 guess it' s abo ut a toss- up . As lon g as you stay ed in 4t h gea r and kept moving at 40 mph or fast er, it wasn 't bad . Bu t if you slowed down it go t foggy on t he gogg l es a nd yo u co uldn' t see a nyt hing . . We he a ded for t he s mok e bomb about 2Yz mile s out in a saddl e of a hill. Over th e to p a nd throug h th e s e hills a nd it seeme d to be going up-gra de a ll e the time in a s outh easterly di re cti on tow ards Cal if. C ity. W made a bi g s wi ng up ove r th e ri dge a nd a long the hi gh mesa , c rossed t he Ra nd s burg road and wen t in to the foo thills th at lay to t he s ou th of Ga ill eo Hill . Out of th e foothill s , back across th e Rand s bur g road and we hi t a fl at d esert floor with some scattered bushes on it that was as flat and smooth a s a dry lak e bed . Tha t old 250 of mine just didn't have enough top end to make me happy a t th is point. I hon e st ly be lieve that you could have gone 100 mph her e for about 3 or 4 miles . A bunc h of boys must have been goi ng almost tha t fast as there were a mass of riders wanderin g arou nd lost up on the side of this high desert plateau and when I got th ere ri der s wer e goi ng in all dir e ctions trying to pic k up the trail. The liming was lou sy he re and the rain di dn' t help any . Bu t thats why they ti e ri bbon to bush e s. I swung left and pi cke d up the ri bbon and t rai l. It started back down into t he c any ons a nd we hit a c ros s road that came up from t he pit s and made a s ha rp ri ght and start ed climbi ng up to the top of a hi gh ridge. The re' was a check th ere and th en an off-cambere d side hill which led to a downhill that wa s s pec tacu lar. It went st raight down for a bo ut 800 fe et , and yo u had t o mak e a s ha rp tum in the bot t om in a sand wash th at was about 3 ft . wi de . . Lynn Cole did a numbe r goin g down an d lost his brak e a rm and he was flat getti ng with it by the time it made th e botto m. He lost it and pil ed up . It knocked th e wind right out of him, a nd 1 co ul d s ee t his poor guy lyin g down there at the bottcm of t he wash so I was cooling it as 1 didn' t want to los e it and run over hiir.. Well, somebody hit me from behind and knock ed me tail over band box and it was a he at rac e betwe en me and th e machine as to who could do t he most c ar t wheels . (1 won .) Finally 1 got organized and go t going down a gain on my scooter an d when 1 got to Lynn 1 stopp ed t o se e if he was hur t and if 1 could help . Some of his c l ub memb ers c ame along and said th ey would take ca re of him and s o 1 rode on . Aft er we got out of the canyons we cam e into th e pi ts whe re 1 stoppe d for gas and to clean my long ago discard ed goggles, and • away Silver" on the 2nd loop. W parallel ed the J ohanna s burg hwy . for abo ut 4 miles on ly 100 ft . e aw ay at time s a nd this section was so cabby it was unbelievable . 1 wait ed fo r someone to ma ke it down that highway soI could make it wit h t hem. Be li e ve me it was te mpting. Well, ev e ryon e a rou nd me staye d hon e s t and we took the ' boo ni es wit h a grain of salt. Soon we s tart ed up the long back canyo n a nd old jeep trail t hat went up to Govt. P eak an d we pass ed by th e ra dar station and started out on the old famous s ection known as t he • Al Rodgers " s ection of th e c heck ch ase of 1964 . Well this is on e e nduro par t that ke eps yo u on your toe s . Al on g t he se hog backs on top of the high e s t ran ge of mountains running so ut h we s t fro m Red Mt. It ' s bad enough when ' dry, but try it when th ose o ld gra nite offcam be red sid e hill slabs a re wet with rai n! One almost wishes he could s prout suction cups on those knobby ti re s real sudden lik e , as it do get aw ful Sl ickk. Someh ow with lu ck 1 mad e it th rough and we start ed do wn th e hog backs and fin a ll y came to the fin al down hill s ection that was rea lly neat and we cros sed th e section of trail that was loop on e at check #3 only this time we turne d le ft and we nt up th e hi ll and out alo ng th e ridge s and finally down the hog bac ks to a wash and eve n rode a sho rt se ction of Si mi Val ley 's na ti onal har e scramble s from last Ap ril. We dropp ed into a fin a l wash t ha t took us out of th e mout h of t he canyon a nd to t he pit s . It was s till ra in in g and at cert ai n el ev at ion s th er e were trac es of s now. Beli ev e me it was fun to rid e th i s cou rs e a nd 1 want to con gratulat e the So. Cal. bunc h for a goo d run ev en tho ugh t he winners elid not get to chase t he li ve t urkeys as the re were none . ell, bett er luc k ne xt ye ar, boys , on you r tu rkey procuremen t. W ... W ould you beli eve the M fia has ina filt rated motorcycling? W , it so unded ell like it real ly had when a co uple of our national-level publications received anonymous phone calls before Corriganville and were told that it would • be bette r if they didn't attend or cover the event. ' Shades of OIde Chicago, eh what! Now if I were a true crus ading reporter I would dig hack through the old records and' find out if the old-time gangs ever had any inte res t in any form of motorcycling s uch as s hops , brands etc .. etc. , etc. Might not :be too hard at that , conside ri ng my s tep-dad used to spike beer for Dutch Schultz back in the Bronx! Hey, pal All kiddi ng as ide, things look prett)· bad, don' t they, when this so rt of thing happens . But regardl ess of the uproar we had in the preceedin g weeks before our big cla ss ic , the' ra ce s till turned out to be the best Corriganvill e ha s seen. T he events ran smoothly, both those handled by the DirtDiggers and the F .I.M .-san ctio ned division run by the A.C.A. and as for getti ng to see a rider like Torsten Hallman compete , what mo e can you say? Sure wis h I had ::. dollar for every time someone s aid to me , ' Is he really lliAT good?' , Yep, he real ly is that good and his ima ge as a professional racer is One that some of our own chaps could do well to aim for. Another controve rsy that was making the scene with a vengeance around that time was the " ban' agai nst certain riders on certai n make s of machines . Riders inc luding Eddie Mulder and Skip Van Leeuwen were not bein g ' a llowed' to ride, so when these types' of stories are abroad, you go to the head-man and as k questi ons , even if you are in fear and trembli ng as to what kind of recepti on you' ll get ! W call ed P et e Colman at BSAe W estern and ha d a very nice cha t with him, coming away with all kinds of information stored away in the old brain ce lls and with the door left open for further dis cus sions. W hear d his si de of e the s tory and li ke eve rythi ng it has its merits . His idea is that when an organiza tio n or an individual foots the bill s , you do what he wants . If he doesn 't 'want what you want " perhaps you can find an employe r who thinks the Same way you do. So, even if some riders were unhappy, BSA-Triumph feel s tha t it is their prerogativ e to say where and when their spo nso red (employed) riders and machine s appear . Pet e stated that this was not a ban directed agai nst the Corriganville race R.S such. , 1967 FLH'S ARE HERE U SPECIAL" 3654 No. long Beach Blvd. 426-7101 • Hottda. Hollah 650 EMOrVi:MPERIAL BEACH 714 423'1331 ~ ~....!;'T[HLE55 ~f3' . . ~, . ~ HODAKA SALES, PARTS· SERVICE EDDIE CROWELL 104 27 P r a ; r i ~ . I " g lrw o o d OR.3,9Si J "'- ~Og) nul"ll _.-.: e LAWNDALE CYCLE INC A YAMAHA e VELOCETTE ) :tJ' Due A T I SALES"SERVICE· PARTS· RENTALS 1532 4 HA W T HO RNE LAWNDALE. CALIF B O U L E V A RD • SP 2 ·1822 OS . 6-9548 THE FAMILY FUN CENTER GO SUPER FAST with CYCLE CITY OSSA - BENELLI - SUZUKI Complete M chine Shop a 2142 Long Beach Bouleyard Long Beach - 591-1389 Having Clutch Trouble? Install' A BARNETT "... CLUTCH ~~~I ~., ~ ~ ~ ~'I BTU CLUTCH 1965 and KIT for Yamaha PLATE later 260cc - 305cc models. LONG BEACH SpeclaUZln, In East er Bunny Bi k es A V AILABLE NOW : OF Full U •• 01 Part. . . d Accessorl•• lor ALL BRANDS With the end of the s eas on in s ight, some of us are thinkin g a bout a new scoot er for next year. and if the matter is n' t rea lly pressin g (such as your current ride is now a bask et case and it ' s a what - the- hec k-wi II-I-ride-next-year-type situation) we suggest tha t you hang a around a little. Li ke until M rch 5th. On March 5th, if you dig dirt ridin g at all , you will get a cha nce to go out and se arch for one of a whole gang of new bikes that the Easter Bunny will have thoughtfully bidden out in the boondocks , all shapes and sizes. All bein g well , we'll be there too chee ring you on. W e (Continued on paae H ) r - -- - -- - -- -- - - -, HARLEV- DAVIDSON BfACH CYCLE CfNTfl ~ §!I ~ ~g Ii<. ' ., . l;, 0-....• ' ® m <. ....:.. AISO:~~~~ ~E~~ ~:U~ ~R~A~~~'er 4i;re~ 4915 PACIFIC BLVD .. VERNON , CALIFORNIA, PH9NE : 589-5488

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