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/125549
Q VGAS VALLEY MOTO-CROSS SBtur_ CIl would bave been a ftI"Y poar :: day for ... ftgas V'al1e)' Mom- cross lIS Q" we r eeeIftd our 8.DIl1Bl folIr- ind Nevada rain (.-e drop e'ftr')' four I.ni::bes), but it made for nne condltlons SlDdlJ, February 11, wttb no dust lUId tbAt extra traction JOG get from wet sand. 00 .start1Jlg orr tile basil were the loocc .c:: bikes. Putting on a fine show In the first ~ beat were Dan SromaHa with Ilis buzzing ... Moto- Beta &lid 5aclul- mOUlllied Casey Folks, who were rarely more tball a few fee t apart throughout the elltire nn laps with Sromalla getting 1M checkered flag about 10 feet &Mad of Folks. Ken Cam eron and Tom Scales, both sachs-mounted, were bidding for third, with Ca meron getting the nod. If we could vote for the group that showed the most determination, aggressiveness, and possibly a li We bit of exotic riding, su ch as fr ont wheel wheeltes , etc., it would have to be the 250cc Novice Division. Once the " go" flag ",as dropped , It was jus t plain GO unti l the chec ker ed flag put a stop to It. Emerging victors In the first heat were Billy Williams , followed by John Randolph and Bob Williams , al l Bultaco- mounted. The 250cc Ama te ur -Experts then had their chance to "go" in the first heat. Leading off, It was Ken Cameron (CZ), with Max Switzer (Greeves) In hot pur s ui t. On the second la p, the s itua tion had reversed with Switze r in the lead , Cameron in hot pursuit , an d Casey Fo lks (Husky) third. Switzer who had built up a long lead , was neve r challenged throughout the r est of the heat. The big bikes In the Open Class wer e next off, with Ric k Miller (Matchl es s) leading Bob Mikulski (Tr iumph), Pete Ries (Tr iumph) a nd Red Van Buskirk (C Z). In the second lap, Miller dropped his bike a nd Mikulski took the lead. Van Bus kir k moved up to second and a duel developed for the lead . Van Bus kir k emerge d vic tor i 0 u s , with Mikulski r unnerup. The second hea t for the 100cc class was a r epeat of the first heat with Ken Ca meron and Dan Sromalla doing battle ~ - tor tM leU W. um•• C _ WOlIIId ... first Kross tile Allisll l1De wltb 8nJIDaIla see-:I ud ~ Folks IIlrd. The secolld beat of tile ISOcc Novice race was as rougll and t~h as the first heat, with an extra good scrap going on between John RaDdolphaDd Bill WUllams. The secood go-arouund for tile Z50cc AmateW"-Expert saw Ken Cameron leading with BIll Hill lIPPI"oXimately a bike length behind. This duel for the lead lasted for almost 3 laps until Cameron drinted off course in a rough area and Hill took the lead, finishIng first with Cameron second. Max Switzer had a shlftina probHm on the starting line and started WIlY ba ck In last place. At the end of 5 laps, he bad moved up to fourth and finished In that position. In the second ()pen Class heat Miller led the first IEIOP, but lost the position to Van Burkirk , who by the third loop had a long lead ove r the rest of the field Tw...fiIty Novice, Bob W illiams proparlng for a nose wIIeel landing. Max Switzer, 250cc Expert, taking a quick look back for someone to race with. Gell ing the checkered flag for his tIllrd win of lbe day, Red Van Burklrk, 360cc Amateur. Ken Cameron ( Sachs) leading Dan Sromall a and Casey Folk s In the lOOcc Expert event. and fi nished an easy first with Mikulski, second. Miller dropped out with mec banl cal troubles. The third and last race for the 100cc group saw a conti nuous scrap going on for the lead between Ken Cam eron and Dan Sr omal la. Ca me r on finished fi r s t with Sromalla second. The only r ace of the day to ge t the black nag was the last 250cc Amateur Expe rt race. About 50 yard from the start li ne Bill HfIl tangle d with ano ther bike and proceeded to do an endo over the bars. We a r e happy to report he was only somewhat s hook up and got back In the race to finish second behind 1Iiax Switzer . The final race of the day was the Ope n Class which again was easily won by Van Bur klrk and his 360 CZ . Pete Ries took the second spot. The course was well laid out, and the entire event ran s moothly with no dela ys between events . Flag man Jay Wiley sa id he was very grateful for the assistance in r ecord keeping give n to him by members of the Silver Queens Motorcycle Club. (Res ults on page 20) J JOHNSON; H W HE GOT FROM CATALINA TO ARGENTINA ON AMOTORCYCLE IM O By L a rry Ste wart Jumpin g a 400-pound motorcycle through a hoop of flame suspended ten feet in the ai r in the middle of a South American bull r ing ma y not be your idea of fun, but according to 1954 Ca talina Grand Prix winner and for mer s tunt rider Ji m Joh ns on, the trick was child's play when compared to dici ng with Southern Califor nia's top dirt r ider s during the early 1950' s. J im was one of the bes t competitors in the stale during tho se years and, when a recent motorcycle magazine article on the Ca talina classic said tha t he was "no longer on the scene, " Cyc le Kews decided to look him up. We didn't have to look very far since , contrary to the above r epor t , J im is still very much "on the s cene ." He owns a thrivi ng Suzuki dealership in Berkeley, is an interested obser ve r at many Dis tr ic t 36 s crambles races , and manage s to "get in a few hours of riding" ever y month on his Maico 360. To the "new gener ation" of motor cyclists, the nam e Catalina may mean no more than an offs hor e island near Los Angele s , but when Ji m was r iding competitively, Ca talina hos te d the bigg es t and mos t fa mous race of the year . As he says, " Ca talina was unique . Where else could you r ide on city s treets, a golf cours e, up an d down mountai ns and trails - all in the same race!" Today's younger compe tition r iders would fi nd the racing ma chiner y of that day rather odd. Jim won Ca talina on a Velocette 500 single and - this is hard to believe _ the second place rider, only four seconds behind hi m, was on a Harley 74! When asked to comp are the machines of tha t day with modern iron, J im is r efreshingly c an di d . He says that . " a mode rn 250 two-stroke is as fast or faster than any 500 or 650 in us e the n. But more important, the handling of the modern bikes is far superior." He does n't think the r iders have gotte n any better though. One of his bestfrlends and to ughest com petitors in thos e days was Bud Ekins , an d Jim sa ys that trying to catch Bud was lik e " trying to catch your s hadow with the sun a t your ba ck." Other r ide rs he r emembe r s as be ing particularly good are John McLaughlin, Ver n Hanco ck, Joe Leonard a nd Ray Tanner (who took s ec ond a t Ca talina on that Harley 74). J im Johnson doing a ramp to ramp jump In tile Los Angeles Coliseu m In 1958. "NotUke Evel Knleve l," says Jim, "but four times a night, six nights a week.," ".c:l ~ , S ~ .§ ..., '0 . Pil oting a Harley· Davids on K model, J im Johnson soars over the j ump at a Pal os Verdes scram. bles in 1953. " J im, who rode what he says was the first scrambles race In California at Palos Verdes In 1950, says that today 's riders go faster than they did then , " but tha t' s because of the sup e r io r machines." He feels there are too many specialists today an d says that In the early 1950's, all the better riders "were good at everything - scrambles, hare and hounds, English trials - the works." After his Ca talina victory In 1954, Jim became a stunt rider and driver with a " thrUl show" touring South America. For four years he ma de winte r tours with that group, and during the summer worked with Joey Chitwood's s how In the eastern U.S. The South American show often drew crowds of up to 70,000 persons in Ar gentlan, Venezuela, Colombia and Uruguay. Since Jim was also the U.S. organizer for the show, he took other Souther n California r iders like Don ( Wigg) c arey, Bill Ward and the late Dutch LaBay with him . They did both motorcycle and ear stunts Including ramp to ramp jumps through hoops of flame , crashes through burning board walls, rollovers and dive bomber crashes. Jim says his motorcycle ramp jumps couldn't compare with those of Evel KnIevel, but then he was doing them three or four times a night, six nights a week . A non-vehicle stunt they performed called - rather unimaginatively _ " the dynamite trick," must have been interesting for the performer since it cons isted of lying In a wooden " coffin" only a foot or two from exploding sticks of dynarntta, The performer survived be cause dynarnite expels Its explosive force upward In a cone-shaped wedge, and will not harm someone lying on the gr ound next to the point of explosion. The hang-up is that if atmospheric conditi ons are wr ong an d the alr ge ts heavy, the for ce of the explosion flattens out and "the dynam ite trick" doesn't wor k so well. Ji m says he became one of the best amate ur wea the rmen In the wor ld while doing that stunt . After fifteen yea r s of the excit ement and dangers of motorcyc le raci ng and stunt riding, Ji m says he is con tent to run his dealership, go cow-tralling with friends and ri de his Male o on a few e ndur os eve ry yea r . But If you're eve r r idin g the tr a il s in the Berkel ey Hills and s ee a 39-year-old , 190- pounder in front of you, I'd sug gest you ask his name before you try.to pass hi m .