Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

DIRT DIGGERS WELCOME EASTERN RIDERS As many of y ou kno w, the Di r t Diggers M.C. are hos ting a huge U.S. Scrambles Champions hip on Satu r day and Sunday, July 6 and 7 at Hope town, Calif. To date they' v e alr eady r ecei v ed 225 entries fo r the North vs , South , East vs , West classic. But one ~ _-oblem remains - a consplc lous Jack of entries from the East. Nor th ern California is well represented, and all the well- kn own l ocal stars are planning to att end, but the Di rt Digger s are anxious to make th ei r event a true U. S. Championship, and are offering tow money to the top tworidersfrom each Eastern district who are able to make the trip. Th e course will be completely differ ent fr om the fam lllar Hopetown circuit - 6/ 10th s of a mile in length, not too rough , wi th heats and mains to be run in all classes. So Eastern riders and th os e f r om all other areas of the U .S. are urged to contact the club as soon as possible to swell the entry list. Mall entry ($5.00) closes June 26; send to Dirt Diggers M.C ., 19308 AguireSt., Rowland Heights, Calif. 91745. For f urth er info phone (213) 964-5076. TROJAN TT AND SHORT TRACK: liTHE MAN' SHUTS DOWN 50LAPPER .ON CURFEW RULE B y Mik e Ca pa li te The 50- lap 250Cc Maln Event at Trojan Rac eway had to be postponed for a week as the IOOcc 50-lap Memor ial Day TT race r an tnto th e 10: 00 p .m , curf ew i mpose d by the city of South Gate, Calif. Due to the large tnnux of entries 10 both th e 100cc and 250 cc classes for this epic M em or ial Day Class i c , the run-off . of the eli minating heats took longer than expe c ted and the IOOcc 50-lap Main Eve nt did not fini sh until 10: 30. The of fic er who stopped th e r a ces w.LS kind enoug h to wait until the 100cc Main w.LS over before enforcing the shutdown as he was fully empowered to make them stop the races at exactly 10:00. Th e only thing l eft to do was to continue the 250Cc 50Iapper until the fo llowing Thursday and so this i s wha t was deci ded. The qualifYi ng acti on w.LS hot and heavy as the Seniors wer e going for 40% of a real good gat e, and It l ooked like Gary Bailey was the m an to beat as he won his heats and th en proceeded to take both TrophY Dashes. As the sixteen rtders made up the three rows on the starting line, Bailey on his hot Hodaka had the pole poslllon, but as fate would have tt, his machine took the opportunity to run sour and he had to relinquish the lead to Dale Hopkins (Hodaka) who held It all the way to the f ioish . No one w.LS able to get a-ound him and he lapped all but tllTee men, Jimmy Ray m ond (SUZuki), " onsider ed a leading cont ender , was also plagued with misfortune as he had both mechanical and adhesion problems and wound up out of the running. R . W. Ring (Hodaka), UP from National City, hung It In there all the way to grab second place with Vietnam-bound Tom Warren taking third on his Bultaco. Gary Scott grabbed fourth on his Honda. It was a long grueliog race with the Devil taking the hindmost, and the 250Cc Maio thts week will be another 50-lapper, so watch out for this one •••the top boys are out to grab the gold. (Results on page 16) MEET THE· DEALER , Mlck• , Hubbard . , or B y B ert Halverson A young man who has ridden and r epaired most of the major motorcycles ever desi gned doesn't have a preference when It comes to two-wheeled outings 10 the country. He I s !lUckey Hubbard, sioce 1953 owner of his own cycle busi ness and now exclusive f ranchise holder In Chico ' Califor nia, for Yamaha and BSA . The 39-year-old businessman's f amily - wife E 1a i n e (everybody calls her " Toots") and four children _ ar e all cy cli ng enthusiasts, " and the y 're all goo d r i der s , too ," Hubbard says . B ut when It com es time f or a f amily ex cursion, Hubbard himself picks whatever bike i s s uitable fo r th e occasion: an 80 or maybe a 100cc trallbi ke, or If it' s a longer road trip, he'll move up to a 180c c or a mo re po werful 250. " I don't choose one and r i de It all the time," he says . "I use them all, because when we go out the whole i dea i s to take a bunch of people, and I'm demons trating the cycles all the time." For many year s Chico had a motor cycle club , but It disban ded i n 1960 and Hubbard sai d the various dealers are now ta lking about starting another one as a means of planning and controlling large family motorcycl e outings . Hubbard himself i s no stranger to any phase of motorcycl es - or cars , for tha t matter . A form er pr ofe s si onal cycle racer , he now builds his own modified cars for co mpeti tion , puttiilg t ogether everythiog from th e frame to the motor . His mot orcycl e racing career, which laste d abo ut 10 years , cam e to a pa inful end in a Sacramento race in 1957, Hubbard recalls. He had been running i n the Novice class, and his performance during the Sacr ame nto ev ent quallfled him for the long sought-after Amateur license. But th e glory was Short-lived _ he suffered a bad spill and broke his leg. " I broke it too many times before," he says, " and I decided to quit." Th e accident cos t him his ne wly-earnedAmateur license, plus a chance to go to the big National races at Daytona, Florida in March of 1958. Hubbard continued t o compet e in cl ub and association ev ents, howev er. Th e end of his " r acing f or money " by no means signaled any total v.i thdrawal f rom vehicular comp eti tion. Once known in Northern California racing circles as th.e " dar edevil of the hardtops, " Hubbard now races his hom e- built m odifleds and attends car and cycle events ar ound th e . country as a spectator. Hubbard's pretty, dark- haired wife works with him In th e business . " My chief m echanic , " he grioned as Toots interrupted the interview brlefiy to tell him, "I'm goi ng out to start a man's motorcycle for hi m ." "Be 'sure and take a wrench," Hubbard suggested. I f I've got it." Things gener all y l ook good f or Hubbard's busines s. Competition Is stiff, wi th at l ea st fo ur major franchised dealers f or differ ent kinds of cycles i n Chico alone. Bu t Hubbard says that seems to help . He emp loys two f ull-time m echan i cs, Hank Robe rts and Kenney Beal, plus an extra man i n the summer, who I s usually a co llege s tudent famlllar wi th motorcycles . Then there are Hubbardhlmself, and his wife. " Busioess I s very good; it's a very lucrative line to be In," he says . "Not that any of us will get r i ch, but we alway s manage to keep our f amilies fe d." Until 1959 Hubbard, a native of Milwaukee, Minn. , was in partnership with Denton Hill, whom he bought out. That's what th e H& H means In the store name - Hubbar d and Hill. Th e nam e was w ell known , and whe n the owne r ship change cam e abou t he let i t stick. When Hubbard thinks back to his boy hood, it's almost like con templ ating the present, bec ause most of his l ife has been spe nt wi th motorcycles. As a youngster of 16, Hubbard began his career i n cycles one day in 1945 when hi s ol d Indian Scout blew its engine, an d he took it to M ac M cGovern ' s parts garage to fix It him self. McGove r n, at that time a cycling enthusiast who was very widely known, worked with thi s talent ed. you ng bike me chani c and launched a career that has landed Hubbard in hi s own business . Sioce that post-war beginning, Hubbard has 1ear ned dozens of kinds of m ot or cy cl es , from the inside workings to the outside art of r i ding them. And he has seen mo tor cycli n g change from "something th ey th ought only hoodlum s would do" t o a family f un sport t hat people in eve ry walk of life now enj oy . Do groups like th e Infamous Hell's A ngels hur t a dealer by casting an unfa vorable pub lic image at cyclists I n USED M/C PARTS W EPAY CASH fOR U SED PARTS ALL MAKE S WE SHIP ANYWHERE. WRIT E OR CALL FOR OUR PROMPT SERVICE- • • • from $49.95 fU·8ui'd'um Kifl Severa' Models -Non. ov e r $189.501 Send 2.St' lor 'atesl ;n' o r. mation (lnd fre. Decal. r3D -page Catalog _ 51 . t _ 1 ';lI;;!1 m. box 2276 alhambra 55, california 91803 t's w hat's up FRONT that COUNTS ! general? " These people," Hubbard answers , " r ep r es ent l es s than one percent of the motor cycling pop ulation . They're still a thorn to us, fo r th e dealers, but the ma jority of peop l e can see through this now; they can see that we in the business, and the peop le we sell to are not Hell' s Angels." 1. Fronral Facial Protect ion. 2. Semi - Resilient Shock Lin er. 3. Resumnt Shoc k and Comfort Lin er. 4. Vinyl Edge Beading. 5. Padded Neck Curtain . 6. Air Cooled 7. Velcro Chin Strep Adj usrmenr. 8. Quick Release Chin sire» Buckle. 9. N ylon Chin Strap. ~ LONG BEACH HONDA #J IN THREE MILLION Hubbard thinks outlaw cycle groups like the Angels attract people with too much of something everybody has a little of - exhibl tionism . When Hubbard and his family jump on the ir cy cles for an outing, the y make a day of i t, picnicking & camping . " Th e Idea isn' t Just to ri de around on a mo tor cycle showing off." he says. " It' s to hav e fun , f amily f un." I n the pas t f ew year s th e m otor cyc l e has bec ome ec onomical tran spor ta tion for everyone f r om a student to a doc tor , as well as a f or m of sport, art and r ecreation that the fam ily can enjoy togethe r - even Hubbard' s y oungest , 10year-old daughter Dena, or 14- y ear- old Ray, or Ji m my , who is 16, and Judy , 18. That, Hubbard believes , Is what mo tor cy cl es are all about. It's why he i s in the business and plans to sta y there . SALES SERVICE AND SPORTS R G ACIN HAVE YOUR MACHINE TUNED BY JOHN RICE #1 in Di s t ri c t Every Sierra Safety Helmet is packed with Sierra saf et y fe atures. but w it h ;:~~t~~SU~af~~n:~;at;~~~~s~odels, it's This ent irely new concept in head pro tection gives you great er prot ect ion in the frontal and facial areas. 83% of all fatal and critical inj uries occur in th is area . Sierra Engineering , one of th e largest manufacturers of m ilita ry pr ot ect iv e headgear, now offe rs you a sporting helmet Safety Engineered and backed by Sierra's space age design experience ! For compl ete information send 25c for beautifu l color catalog. B? Scrambles HOtlDA BSA HODAI

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