Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Baumann, Burchards Vie at Vaca Valley Story an d Photos by George Martin VACAVILLE, Cal., Sept. 22 _ A Cinderella stor y, but with an 11: 59 p.m, " pumpkin turning time," was a cted out at Vaca Valley Raceway. The Cinderella who almost snagged the handsome prince was Dave Bur chards , aboard Doug Schwerma-s fast but so-far-unreliable Yamaha 350. Schwerma has labored lon g and mightily all season to conver t his standard 350 into a s uper GP machine. And he has created a very swift machine, but one that eats pistons and oth er ma jor in te r nals with alarming regularity. Until today, that is . As the flag rose on the 350-Open race, Burchards pushed off the blue and red Yamaha, It lit quickly, and he blasted ahead of the pack. Favored to give Doug a run for his money were Bill Lyons on the PM Honda 350 and Art Baumann riding what might have been a 25lc~ TC l-C or then again It might have been a 249cc TDl-C . man n dodged the fallen ma chin e, zipped the r est of the way around the track an d took the checkered flag. It was a Baumann- Burchards day in the other events, too. Burchards won the l75-and-under event handily on his rapid 160 Honda, although near the end of the race Ralph Le Clerq was catching him on a very quick Ducati. Dave had nailed down the lead right at the start, with Charles OVerland second on his Bridgestone-engined Bultaco TSS, Dave Scott on Al Fergoda's 100Cc Yamaha thi rd, Le Clerq fourth and Pete Giordanengo fifth. Soon Giordanengo had clawed his way into second past OVerland, and LeClerq was also pressing the Bult-stone. Le Clerq did the deed to OVerland in turn five on lap three, and flnally caught Giordanengo on lap six. At the flag, Burchards still led, with LeClerq, Giordanengo, and OVerland following. Farther back in the pack but sUll leading the 100cc class by a long margin was Scott on the little Yamaha. F irst 50cc rig home was Tom Cleghorn. Baumann's other victory was in the 250cc class, where he duelled with Ken Stewart for several laps and then pulled a way to win handily. (Results on page 16) chine , first and second place r ider s an d passengers an d also to best dres s ed club with machines . Gift certifi cates were presented to third an d four th place riders and pa s senger s . Dona ti ons for the run were made by the following businesses: Carls bad Li quor, Pete r s on' s Mobil Service in Carls bad, Grump y's Bar in Carlsbad, Garc1as Hacienda in Carlsbad, Laguna Mt. Lodge, Blue Jay Lodge, J im Lloyd 's Chevron Service in El Ca jon, Floyd Emde of San Diego, San Diego Honda, San Diego Harley, Guy Ur quhar t in S.D. , Chuck Holenda's Harley in EI cajon, San Diego Suzuki, Hallmann Richfield Station in Ramona an d Tri-City TV of S .D. Glttcertificates were given by The Rancherette Western Wear Shop in Lemon Grove and Sonny Angel's Repair Shop in National Ci ty . This was the Wheels' f!nlLl run for 1968, and only two clubs have upcoming events - the Road Cruisers 6th Ann)Ia1 Poker Run on Oct. 20, and Mary'S Men Cattle Call set for Nov. 9 and 10. (Results on page 16) BYERS TO HEAD STEEN'S METISSE DEPT. SAVE:'USED-i ~ :H ND PARTS T:'::~ ,: O A . f W ilmington Discount Cycle Center 1505 Avalon, W ilmington. Calif. ~~~ .~,-~--THE MA£LY RAT TltACK Sl'ECIAL RACING IIOOTS. 8 - h .... IKed••••hl 2 lbs. per pair $11.95 plU~:: KENMAELy Q l IrA: tit• • ,# wit, U1.arr MI! $25. plus C.O. D. & P ost al e Send boot or ca rboard culDltt NOW TAIUMG ORDERS FOR pair TH E NEW uMAVRICIl" S-WAY A DJUSTABlE HEAVY·DlJTT SHOClS. • R EBUILDABLE • LUSTROUS C OME SPRING • 12~" HR S LENGTH. Both Ly ons and Baumann got stuc k in trattlc in the fi r s t halt of lap one, but as the leaders s teamed up the l ong dragstrip straight it was Burchards, Lyons and Baumann 1-2-3. Into the sweep er again, Burchards held his lead, Baumann moved up on' Lyons a little and Phil Makannapusheda Dick Kllgroe Honda 450 into fourth. Then, entering turn two, something happened to Lyons' Honda , he slowed and Baumann rocketed past. Burchards turned lap three in 1:35.09, only two seconds shy of the ab solute motorcycle lap record (set by Baumann on a factory 350 Yamaha), but Baumann was gaining. Burchards had a 5-second lead on lap five, and a three second lead on lap six. Then, while lapPing a slower rider, Art put his machine into first place and held a slim lead for two laps . Burchards tucked into his draft as they entered the straightaway, however, and passed the red-haired factory team r ider going into the sweeper. By lap 9 Burcbards had stretched his lead to about 20 feet, with Baumann r ight behind, twisting his throttle wide open and praying for more. By Billie K. Sager SAN DIEGO, Cal., Sept. 29 - The Singing Wheels M.C . did It againl Their annual Turkey Feed Tour was A-OK, in that they mapped out a nice 150- mile route for 144 entries who signed UP at Chuck Holenda's H- D shop in El Cajon, then served a delicious full course turkey dinner at the end of the run. Highway 80 was followed east over the Superstition Mountains, dropping down into the valley for the only checkpointat Ocotillo, then back-tracking via 52 north through Anza Borrego Park, with all its sharp color contrasts. P ioneer history came to mind when passing such memorable spots as Vallecito Stage Station, Box Canyon, Butterfield-OVerland Stage Route and the famous Wells Fargo Trail. Rolling out of the lowland desert region to the green r ising hills again, r iders traveled through Julian to Ramona, winding up at Collier Park. Judging was held in three classes, with first and second place trophies awarded, and, curiously enough, all the winners were outriders. Trophies also went to best dressed couple with rna- BARGAIN HUNTERS On Saturday, October 12th over 180 motorcycles wlll go on the auction block. A well known distributor is liquidating his stock of 125. 250 street and 250 Molo-Cross machines. These are all new, some sUllin the crate . A few used machines will be available. Parts will remain available. The auction will be held at Countywide Auction, 10802 Beach illvd ., Stanton, Cal. Call (714) 865-0642 for further information. IT;;';;'DiY;;;;sdi' t Area's leading ¥Ohlne Kawasaki t t Deal. , Complet e Parts & Acce ssories 5663 N. Roseme ad Blvd., Temple City • . (213) 286.7504 YAMAHA MOUNTED KEITH MASHIUINCHOOSES "~tutt,att" RACING CASTOR? Art a aumann and his s up... .,..t Va maha snatched lop honors In the 350 GP. "He was really moving," Baumann said later . " We ' d go through a section flat-out and I'd think, ' hold ev erything, we can't go through here that fast,' but we did." Racing Luck With two laps lett, Burchards' pit area was in a state of happy hysteria - until the leaders shot in to the sweeper on lap 11; just then the golden carriage became a pumpkin as Cinderella Dave took treacherous turn two with a bit too much enthuslasm and dropped the 350. Bau- HERE'S WHY :He Gefs M.re H.rse,.wer lefter L.6ri(afi.. - for Less Wear Hi"er C ••,ressi•• - N. S.,'e • A." Ab... All- No Dangerous Seizures. Join The Winners G0 IntrodlldDfy Oller - U.bd TiH - $19.95 per pair WE PAY POSTAGE 011 PIlErAIO 0IlDEJIS IN U.S.A. OR CANADA. c..i.,.i. .... donb odd $1.00 lor ......... Go_ NORTH AMEIICNl IIiPOITS P.O.1Iex 621. G-. Colil. 12&42 PIoeno: (714) 534·6390 GENE H. MY ERS YAM AHA Dea le r NEW & USED SALES Authorized P art s - Serv ice & Repair 4459 Redondo Beach Blvd. Lawndale, Ca llI. 1213> 542-4047 IIDE IIONCCO THE MIGHTY BIKE BRONCCO MINI-CYCLES & ACCESSO RI ES ENGINE SPECIALTIES, INC. P. O. Bo. 600 BELMO NT, CAL.. 94007 ATT ENTION DEPT. LS "!!II~_ ESI - East P. O. Bo. 260 Cornwells Hellhts, P a. 19020 DEALERS - WANTED- ALSO GARELL I CVCLES", PARTS NO.AVAILABL E FROM ENGINE SPECIALTIES, INC. Walt Axthelm~=:::~5i Triumpb-Suzuki Motors 1049 West 5th Street Pomon~ CaliL(714)6~642 I ~~~~~~~~~ DO YOU KNOW WHY AMEIICA'S NO. J NOVICE, "~tutt,att " 1II1d. By Addzlp AddItives 1433 Flrst Street Esca lon, Calli. 95320 S <> o ~ ; $1995 S inging Wheels Annual Turkey Feed . C;;; the shoeman ~ ~ f: _ Route 2; Bol 75B, U Corona, Calif. 205 N. Harbor Blvd. Santa Ana (714) 53 l~9 84 Dick Klilroe and his potent 450 Honda Is shown at speed on the Vaca Valley circuit. ~ .... Q) ..Q Y BII~»sA OIANGE CO. CYCLf Steen's, Inc •• of Alhambra, Calltor nia , announce the appoin tm ent of 36- year-old Jack Byers as head of the ir Rickman Metil; s e mo tor cycle dep artment. Taking on the line of English- built frames, chassis and a cc essories two years ago, Steen's has expan ded sales to an allti me high for the marque by promotion of the brand throughout the States . Byers joined the firm s ev eral months ago, bringing over ten yea rs of motording cr os s cycling e x pe r i en c e , incl U co untry raci ng, buildi ng an d tuning , suspe nsion modlticati on, an d s pe cial saddie de sign an d cons truc ti on. At one ti me he held the num ber one plate for desert racing in the up-to-250cc category, then switched to the big bikes, whe r e he has consistently been in the top fiv e, curren tly holding plate number 3 for the second straight year. Jack competes on both 500cc and 6500c Triumph-powered Metisse scramblers. At the national championship hare & hound this year he won the 500cc class with a third place overall. " '" '5~ I ~ "'u -. > <.:> u z'" -0 "'~o .'" :::;; < '" ~< "' ~ 0::> z "- <2 '" ~ "'"' < 0.", ~ o -- <.:> ~ z'" u ~ 1635 W.VAlLfYBlVD ALHAMBRA, CAUFOIIH1A 91803

• Cover