Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

• Showeoers In San Franc l sco descended Into underlfound Brooks Hall, where a variety 01 the mast up·to-date equipment on twa whHls was disp layed. Upstairs at strHt level, AFII road racers roared ar ound cllJ hall squar.. Streets were block ed for the demonstration by cooperatlne city ollicia is. The demonstration was attended by huee crowds 01 Christmas shopper s. MERRY CHRISTMAS &, HAPPY NEW YEAR To All fr • • • • • K awasaki had a f ull booth whi ch incl uded t heir new di sc-val ve produc tion racer , and that is one sexy l ook ing machi ne, l et me t ell yo u. D eep ruby red gas tank, efficient looking front brak e, neat engi ne; like I sai d, se xy . Kaw asaki' s 650, which everyone says i s not a copy of an ol d BSA , was th er e. The Bri tish ar e fond of putting thi s machi ne down as obsolete. but they ove rlook cer tai n manufacturing ni ceti es th at even the newest B eez ers don' t have. Li ke doubl e l eading shoe fro nt brakes for insta nce , cylinder castings that are smo-o-o-oth , and, if K awasaki has followed usual J apanese practice, excell ent elec tri cs, Ka wasaki's 250 samurai l ooks rath er wei rd i n the engine department but a ppa re ntly goes like the T oky o express , so ' nuff said. Yamaha was j ust past the K awasaki m oth , and th e star of th eir stand wa s the T D-l series road rac er. The gas tank i s now white, and the whol e machin e has a le an and hungry l ook . A mean motor scoote r. yes. • • Suzuk i' s stand f eatur ed a pair of " H eavenl y Ang el s," t wo attractive yo ung ladies dressed i n white ou tfi ts and Bu co hel met-hat s, plus a works 500 cc road rac er and a pair of Hustler-based competition machine s. Th e Howa rd Motors X-6 road rac er whi ch Art Bauman rid es was si tting al ong side Les Edward s' Cy cle Imports short track machine pilot ed by Dick Dorrest ey n at th e Cow P alace. Shown, too, at th e boot h were the fi berglass goodies nec essary to set up your X-6 like Dorr est eyn 's. Made by Tweet-Seat s of F ort Bragg and San Mat eo. th e kit i nclud es a gas tank , racing sea t, small competition oil tank and air cleaner mountings. Howard Motors fi be rgoodl es are fr om the road rac er's fr i end, Custom Plastic s of H8,J"Ward. PABATCO' s booth was dominat ed by Hodaka 90s in various stages of trim. Most unusual was a little road racing model . Mont esa had a complete line of bikes i n i ts booth. Garelli Rex's stand i ncl uded one of the bikes which made th e rec ent run down Ba j a California. Ex cept for a liberal coating of mud, it didn' t look much" th e wor se for the t ri p. Drag bi kes were all Over th e plac e. Di ck Ri c e' "H ol e Shot ," a Hond a Super Hawk engine i n a dra g frame wi th a beautiful custom fairi ng was the mos t" beautiful , but for something spectacular my vote goes to " Th e Hog, · a (get this) overhead cam HD 74 with a fi ve i nch stroker crank and God knows what all else , entered by Stan ' s Cycle Shop of Vallejo. The worl d' s QUickest 250, a Yamaha, was t here. as was an Alf Hagen f ramed Triump h entere d by Kosman Moto rcycle SPeci alti es of San F rancisco. B ot h the AIIIA and the AFM bad m ot hs, each with a cov ey of rac er s. B efore he could ra c e at th e Cow Pa lace Saturday ni ght , Mert Lawwill had to come to t he cy cle show and ch eck hi s hik e out of th e AMA exhi bi t. Th e AFM showed t he 500c c BSA Ron Grant rode to a gran d prix class points victory last year , Jim Munroe's Triumph production winner. and the TDI Yamaha usually ridden b.v Bob Cambou. Cycl e News' booth featured a plastic girl wearing th e l atest m/ c st y l es on a shi ny new bike. On Satu rday and Sunday th e I\ FM had ooe of th e s treets above th e hal l bl ock ed off for a Iittle impromp tu road racing , Th e riders all had a bal l ro aring up and dO\m a San Franci sco city st reet and th e noise probabl y drew Q uite a few spectators who hadn't planned on coming but just wanted to se e what all th e excitement was. Castrol's co nt ri butioo was one of th e mos t exci ting; They showed conti nuous movies , "Three Wheels at Mallory· i s a film on sid ecar road racing with some real l y spectacular action. " T he Rough Riders, " shows European moto-cross ac es in action, and that i s really something. T hey ride cowtrails, UP steep hills and l eap ov er j ump aft er j ump with all the speed of an American TT and th e grac e of a ballet . FIrst 01 what we hope will be an ann ua l motorcyc le show in San Franc isco, the Brooks Hall Expos it ion appea red to be a whopplne success. • BRIDGESTONE Area Disfrib tor: McCULLOCH DISTRIBUTORS 1205 E. Grand Ave. EL Segundo, Calif. (213) 772-2J08 fMERRY-ciiRiSTMAS&l HAPPY NEW YEAR I iii From Bultaco - Western and Over 100 B ultaco Dealers See Your Local- Built - to - Go Dealer for a Test Ride on tile New fantasfc I • 1967 Marie n· 250 Street Macllinel Featuring: Oyer 100 mph 5 SpHdTrans C.H.P. ApproYed Llchts Poo l-Lube 0 11 Mix Cusb-driYe rur hub Double-ludinC lront brake Totally Enc losed Rur cba le Slnoother than a \WI. -- I I

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