Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

• *O*VROOMING*O* AT VACA VALLEY .. ) Both bikes were flying, cutt ing laps In the 1;35 bracket. Exiting turn three, Grant twisted the wick and the power came on so hard his entire Suzuki slid about a foot to the left, nearly Ieavtng the course. Grant appeared not to noti ce as he just gr abbed another gear and kept going. " It was controlled - sort of," Lyons sai d la ter, shaki ng his hea d. But contr oll ed or . not It ser ved its purp os e and entering turn two, It was the red Honda In the lead , with the Kawasaki second, Pridmore's Manx third, Don Vesco's Br idgestonefourthand Merv Wright' s 350 Manx doing battle with NICHOLAS, GRANT, WHITE, BURCHARDS SHARE VACAVILLE VICTORIES Dave Burchards leads production race on Suzuki 500/5. But even Grant couldn ' t hold off the charging Nicholas and on lap thr ee Jody had pull ed In fro nt and was desper ately trying to s tay there . Meanwhile Baumann had closed on and passed White's Kawasaki and was third. Rarely mor e than 20 feet apart, Nicholas and Grant ro ckete d up the straight and Into the sweeper. On lap four Grant got the lead briefly, then Nic holas took it back for two laps. Agai n on lap seven it was the Suzuki, but on the next circ uit Nicholas swept pas t and stayed there. White, meanwhile had zappe d Baumann again and was gaini ng on the leaders . Clos er and close r he ca me until on the fina l lap he got an extra bur s t of speed and sneak ed in fr ont of Gr ant for second. Baumann was four th and Tony Herbold, who had been having his own private battle with Davey Scott gr abbed fifth on his Yamaha. 350 and Over Norton Manx mounted Reg Pridmore. Ron Grant had a gor geous candy blue Metisse ro ad r ac er containing his fifth place Daytona Suzuki 500/5 . Ralph White was aboard a 350cc Kawasaki , especially buil t up for the race, and Don Vesco rode his modified Bridgestone GTR. Sidecar ace Reg Pridmore and his cohorts from Power Research brought a whole covey of machines, including a businesslike black 500 Manx Nor ton for Reg to have a go on. In short, a hell of a big-bore event was brewing. Things were about as good in the 250 class. Grant had his " little" Suzuki, an x, 6 In Daytona guise , White had another Kawasaki and was teaming with Walt Fuiton Jr . for a double effort, Jody Nicholas had brought a Yamaha up from the southland, Ar t Baumann had a Yamaha and Dive Scott had anoth er. To get more bikes on the track and expedite the day's racing, everything was run in three races: 175 and under, 250, and 350-0pen. The l7 5cc event started with a gr eat cloud of dust as mor e than twenty bikes scr eamed away from the flag with the Honda 175 of Dive Allee gr abbing a tenacious hold on first place. Allee was fir s t at the s tar t and there he stayed while Pete Gior danengo and . Dive Bur chards followed In second and thli'a pla ce. After a bad s tar t, Dave Scott ca rved thr ough the pac k on Al Fe rgoda's six- speed Yamaha 100 twin to take fourth , and Merv Wright garnered fifth after s tarting dead last due to a starting grid plug change in his Honda. It the 250 race had the fans on their feet, the big bore event had them s cream - ing ; Tantalized by his second place , White was out for blood with his 350cc Kawasaki . The s cr eami ng disc- valve twostroke lit off quickly and White was In the lead, with Bill Lyons on the PM 450 s econd and Reg Pr idmore roaring In third spot on the Power Res earch Manx . An Amateur In the AMA , Lyons was a bit nervous about riding aga inst White. He got on the Kawasaki 's tail, and stayed there, he said later, to s ee how fast White could go. It took the crew-cut blond four laps to find out; then he made his move . It came as the two ma chines screamed down the straight and Into the sweeping turn one. Lyons took the outs ide and almost wrote himself and the Honda off as he strayed into som e gr avel and got Into a semisideways slide at something around 100 miles per hour. Dive Bur chards on a produ ction Suzuki 500 for fifth. With Lyons in fron t the s hattering acceler a tion of the Honda began to make Itse lf felt, as Lyons exploite d his knowledge of Vaca Valley's undulations. He s teadily pulled away, gaining a bikelength or two on each lap, cutti ng times of 1;34. "It was jus t a ma tter of I'd ridden the cour se a lot and knew where the bumps were," Lyons said after the race. HI t'rcould hang.. it out a little better ." • " I would have s tayed ar ound to ma ke it a better r ace." he smiled, " but I wasn't s ure I could get away again." Finishing behind Lyons and White were Pridmore, Vesco, Wr ight and Burc hards . The prod uction race was a massive affai r with all classes r unning together . As he has done In the last s ever al production e ve n t s, Dive Bur chards showed his tailpipes to the cro wd as he shot around the course on the Suzuki 500 from Munroe Motors In San Fr ancis co. Burc hards has to be about the hairiest r ider In the AFM as he tears around the course In around 1:40 on the bucking, weaving Suzuki . At trackside you can s ee the big two- stroke s hudder and shake and gr im-faced Dive gr itting his teeth behind his beard and keeping the throttle s crewed on. The only r ider who could keep him In s ight was Nick Theroux , who makes his Kawasaki 350 act li ke a Gr and Pr ix machine. The Jack Dyer -tuned Avenger handle s quite nicely until Theroux gets It up around 95 and then you can see he, too, has his problems. It s eemed to be a combination of courage, skill and luck that kept Theroux going so fas t without disas ter, but he easily outdistanced ever ything on the track exce pt Burchards for se cond overall and fir s t in 350cc class. c, ~ The perfect passenger Is, Clf course, a ~ r ider himself. This little discussion is ..J to help the novice who just " goes along ~ for the r ide: ' U Alertness is a prime requisite of the good passenger. You must, at ali times, be as aware of traffic and road conditions as your dr iver . You must be ready to lean WITH him when necessary, to le nd a foot to lean on at signals, stc., (al ways us e the same foot the dr iver does - usually the left foot) and to hang on tight. Mos t r iders pr efer that the passenger hang on to his waist. This all ows the r ider to know his passenger ' s condition at all times . He can se nse, thr ough the grip of hands , the degr ee of security felt by his passenger . Maintai n a safe position on the bike. Keep your feet fla t on the pegs , gri p the bike with your knees, r est your hands lightly on the driver 's wais t as mentioned above. Do not twis t your body to look behind you. This thr ows the bike . Most of the tim e your driver would be able to compens ate for your shift In weight, but you don't want to place him In a tight spot . If you become cr amped from riding too long, as k for a r est stop and do your stretch ing there, not on the bike. Keep your arms and hands close to you. Waving them or pointing out scenic spots may caus e an on- coming car, or one following you to expect your bike to turn. When It doesn't the other dr iver s will have a few choice about motorcycles in gener al . Do not attempt conver sation with your dr iver when traveli ng. His safe ty hel met will cut down on sound. So will the wind and bike noises . It he has to concentra te on hearing you, he can't be payi ng proper attention to his own problem s of maneuvering his bike safe ly. When your driver r equests that you wear safety gear such as hel met and protecti ve eye-we ar , do s o with a smile , It may be YOUR llfe he is saving. If your driver Is n't Interes ted In safety, don't r ide with him. Clowns whose handlebars r ea ch for the s kie s, who mix alcohol with gas and oil, who think all the world is an audience for his antics, are not only a menace to the mselves, but to anyone on the same highway with them. Don' t become a statis tic. worets. USED PARTS ALL MAKES 40% TO 60% OFF , • YAMAHA DEALER • SCRAMILER IOTORCYCLES 111 W .., ._ 8 1'" 1 . , Calif. '.907 ., 14M7. E 7 NORM REEVES ANAHEIM IS OPEN MON. AND FRI. NITES TILL 9 P.M. N. Anaheim Blvd. Anaheim, Calif. 22<1 (71<1) 53 5-36<17 , SUZUKI MAKES IT ... SO 250cc Final Gettin g his usual quick s tar t, Ron Grant s hot around turn one In the lead followed by White on the Kawasaki, Baumann, Scott and Nicholas all on Yarnahas , Unfamlllar with the course though he was , Nicholas was really stea ming, and on lap two had passed Scott, Baumann and White and was gaining on the flying Grant. THE PERFECT PASSENGER W ================:::il.. J ~ Vaca Vall ey Raceways is sti ll Honda turf - courtesy of Bill L yon s and Preci si on Machinin g. With the lure of $1.000 in pri ze money gl owing bri ghtly in their eyes. many of Californi a' s top road racers trekk ed to the North ern California track May 5 to pl ay king of the mount ai n with L yons and the scarlet PM 450. Bill Lyons (Honda) on way to win. 0> By Joann Walker Slo ry and Ph otos by Geo rge M artin ) m=:::======:m ~ MAKE IT SUZUKI On a Kawasaki Avenger, Nick Theroux was second overall. •

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