Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

• • • Scrambles Bakersfield lIy s ta n Co rree Steve Hurd goes fast and Jack Oggel makes it necessary. This was the conclusion of many spectators who witnessed the action presented by the Cyclier's M.e. about five miles north of Bakersfi el d. NORTHWEST TROPHY MNNER By John Shedd Set ti ng hi s sights fo r a national numb er, 13-y e ar-old J im P o mero y ha s made a good start in hi s two year ra c ing caree r. Jim spends a l most every wee kend wheeling a rou nd t he dir t t rac ks ne a r his home town , S un ny s i d e, Washi ngto n. T o d ate J im ha s collec ted 17 trophies . T he smallest of t hese bri ngs t he bi gge s t smile , however, since it was his first and re p re s en ts the fou rt h spot at Wa lla Wa ll a . Jim is the owner of two bikes. His ne we s t pride and joy is a IOOcc twohanger Ya maha bu ilt by Do n Taylor, which he calls his "Taylor-made " twin. Three times out o n the new mount an d all t hree times Jim came in for the win ahead o f some mo re seasoned rid er s. Do n P o meroy, owner of a cycle s hop a nd proud father , outfits Jim in jacket and pants ma de of tough plastic . He says that Jim grows so fast he can 't affo rd to ke e p him i n leathe rs. J i m has an eleven-year-old brother fo llowi ng i n his cycle t racks. Hurd, moun ted on a G85CS Ma tchl ess, a nd Ogge l, a strid e a Bulta co Pur sang, bat tled it out for mor e t ha n thr ee of the five t welve mil e loop s. Onc e bot h rid ers broke out of the home check s imul taneously and tri ed to s q ueeze int o a footwide downhill wash at t he s ame time. Oggel went down, 00t quickly regained th e saddle and res umed th e c hase. Hurd fina lly began to put so me daylight betwee n hims elf a nd Oggel th e last twenty miles, but he was well a war e that a rac e had taken place. Woody Wilson on a Zundapp wasn't content with s weeping the small bike rield and, after rinishing his required three laps, went on to shake up a rew or the big bikes and shoot ror a slice of th e overalt pi e. Would you believe that Jack Morgan won the 90cc Expe rt class? I wonder when di stntntors a re goi ng to hi re the Morgan brothe rs for rull time public relations work? An int erestin g thing to watch wa s the way newcomers to des ert racing quickly got the hang of it . It had bee n quite a while since ha re scrambles were staged i n the Ba ke rsfield a rea a nd many T. T. riders turned out to try thei r ha nd at beating the brus h. Some rit righ t in , notably wendyl Ara gon, Jac k Lamber t, Jim O' Hara, Mike Keen, Louie Woo d, La rry Melton a nd Di c k Lytell . T he eve nt wa s well run a nd laid out in s uc h a way that the rid ers could be seen on many pa rts of the co urse trom t he same va ntage point. The Bak er s field Cyclier s must be commende d for their efficienc y. All seemed to sh are the wis h that their next e vent will be in t he ve ry near future , (Res ul ts on page 21) • ,.- .. Ron Buck num s hown on his newly purchased Montesa 250cc La Cross Dirt Sc ramble r. Ron rormerly raced with California Sports Car Club and was voted 1962's Driver Of The Yea r. In both 1962 and 1963 he was West Coast Champion. Shor tly the reafter Rnn began rac ing in Eur ope and i s cu rre ntly one of the Interna ti onal Grand P rix racin g stars. • • 2 FOR T - Shelley Ann and Kelley J ean Gra utski make lik e cha mpion Triumph rid er s on re cent Canadian trip, The Grautski' s ar e a cy c li ng famil y with thr ee Triumphs in t he • s ta ble. " • Ta co m a Cyclists Cop Titles Uy Dave Welsh Tacoma professional motorcycle racers have topped the Washington State season point standings for the second year in a row. Repeat winners Emil Ahola and Don McLeod led the state's expert and amateur class ri ders while Sandy Saunders grabbed the novice title in the 38 event 1966 series. Ahola, the 1965 na ti onal point leader, riding a Matchl e ss, de fended hi s stat e title against many top rank ed na ti onal rac ers th roughout the season. Ha mpered by a serious mid-season c rash inJury , he failed to matc h his 1965 twe nty-win record, but still scored al - . • IJX)st twice as many wins as hi s nea res t competitors . Seattleite J im P atereau , the most i mproved expe rt rid er or the ye ar , pic ked off 5 late season wins befor e leaving for the Midw est ci rcui t and later for the Army to pla c e second. Veteran Dick Taylor, al so a five time winn er , sh owed his usual con sisten cy, finishin g in the front four at 15 ra c e mee ts . Taylor was th e 1963 & 1964 s tate champion. Concent rat ing o n s hort- track events, Bothell ' s Bard Han s on a lso too k front money five time~, but these miniature track s rate only ~ value point s . Hanson pla ced 9th in th e o veral l s ta ndi ngs . In th e amateur class las t year's o uts tandin g novi ce Don McLeo d s co re d 12 victories to hea d thi s group o r int ermediate rid er s. Harl ey-Da vi ds on mount ed, McLeod missed his cha nce to e xte nd his lead when he was inju red during practice at Centralia's fairground in mid-July , causing hi m to miss se veral e vents . Th e layoff may have dropped him from c ontention for the national point title which is rel ea s ed by th e American Motorcycle Association in January. Novice Sandy Saunders, riding a Bultaco in the ea rly-s eason events finished the summer on a Harley-Da vidson. This you ng Tacoman often us ed bullstrength a nd sheer determination to best the ot her 183 W ington novices in his ash class , a nd will be back in 1967 as an ama teu r. • • • .

• Cover