Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

'" - SCRAMBLIN ' AROUND COOLEY'S COLUMN By Maureen Lee ..... ~ .Q ~. :> ~ CI) GJ =-= r.J ..J C,) G By Wes Cooley We have some gen abo ut the Huntington Beach track this week. For those of you who r ode the opener ther e you' ll remember that the only place the s ur face really br oke up (and then it wasn't bad) was on the jump straight. DonEngland, the track owner, has been down there digging holes every s o many fee t, r emoving the san d by hand, then pack ing in that good clay that held up so well on the other sections, following up with a good grading job. He wants to apologize to riders who cam e out to practi ce on open days only to find the track clos ed. After the opening the insurance company insis ted that the spe ctator fence (fla tte ned in sections) be r epaired, and Don him s elf wanted to work on the s urface and get it in as good a shape as he knew how. The Sidehack Association holds their run there this coming Sunday, the 27th. Other news about the track is that there is a 100-lapper in the offing for big bores only. We'll keep you pos ted as the plans shape up but the prize you could take home for fir s t place is so mething you'd stare at for hours! Th e vi ews e xpress ed in th i s c ol umn 0 - J ..ike "U gh !. This is a sub ject that we've always shied away fr om but we feel needs mentioning and that is the mischief that some people get into at tracks . Scrambling is more an "in" sport than a spectator spor t so at any event you have more people that are " in" than who have just come al ong to see the action so therefor e you can guess easily who the larger numbers of culpr its are . Some time ago Perris tried a strnp le device of shower cur tains that worked very well to improve facilities in the ladies' room . Befor e the day was over s ome were torn down and s ome just plaln " vanished." Others had beautiful cigarette holes in them . This past Sunday much nice r folding doors were In use and we wonder now if the Burtons have wasted money in vain on this one by trying to make things nicer for the gals when there are obviously some who don' t appr eciate it and make it tough for the huge majority who do. And It's not only Per ris that has been shafted. P rado Park came in for Its share in its heyday although a lot of the mis chief comes under the heading of "br eaking and entering" because no one Is or was on the pr emises at the time, so that Is polic e busin es s. But we feel that maybe we could look to our own cr owd a li ttl e more. When Huntington Beach opened there was a large play area se t aside for the kids with swings, teetertote rs, etc. , plus two tricycles for them to rid e and som e other toys lent by the track owners' s on who wanted to add to the enjoyment of the new track and make things happier for everyo ne. Before the day was over the trikes had gone and so had the toys , although many kids cer tainly enjoyed the use of the play area . We know there were off-the-street spectator s there but we· also know tha t one of the trikes was seen vanishing into a pickup truck carrying a r acing bike homel Oh well , everything's not all "doom and gloom" as Og says in " Fi nian ' s Rainbow." We still have fun every week but we als o have our share of gloopy people too. But maybe we could tr y to feel a little mor e r espons ible about what goes on in our sport, so that we don' t pr ove to the outsiders that we're what they think we are •••or are we? - I mmedi ate Del ive ry William s (Nor ton), two laps behind the leader bikes . Following Willi ams was one of the top Souther n California dirt track r iders, s een for the first time r iding in r oad racing compe tition, Jack Simm ons (Nor ton). After the r aces r iders and spectator s moved to the Player ' s Club in Rosamond for trophy pr esentation. Thanks go to Pennzoll for the contribution of 011 to Production Class winner s . Mike challenged Art until the 23rd lap and then took the lead. He was able to hold It for [ust two la ps before r unning into trouble coming into the sweeper . Baumann then got by to take the chec ker ed flag , Mike Duff finishing second overall. One lap back and third over all was Tony Murphy (Yamaha) , Next was Pridmore. Following Reg and moving up through the pack through the entire event was Je r r y Gr eene on a 350Cc Bri dgestone. First In the Open GP class went to J .D. (Results on page 16) r- -EXUAU STNO S-' TE .-1 , l 8 y n i n P e ttf gre w .. clan was down in Southern Callfornia getti ng a new 450cc Honda engine. Good luck Evel Knlevel. KNIEVEL CRASHES - HE'S OK Evel Knieve l attempted a ten- car ramp to ramp jump at Carson Ci ty Speedwayin Nevada on October 13 and crashed due to the s trong prevailing winds and a delug e of rain that inundated the track. Knlevel r eceived a dislocated shoulder , fr actured hip, and pelvic injuries when he fell s hort and hit the last car that threw him into a hea p on the landing ramp. Evel repor ted to me that the bike ran well and it was simply a case of miscalculation on his part. The rai ns and s trong winds were detrimental factors in the cras h. Evel is now recuperatin g fr om emergency surgery at the Dawson Washoe Medical Center In Reno, Nevada . Upon speak Ing with him on Tuesday, October 22 from his ward In the Medical Center , wefound him in good spirits and feeling better already. Naturally I asked if he still planned on the big canyon jump and he replied In a rather definite, " He ~ , yes" . Knievel is now usin g the Honda brand of motorcycle and mentioned that one of his Honda 750-Four! Yes, Honda has unveiled a new 750cc four cylinde r, single over head cam road bike at the Tokyo motor cycle show this week. Reports have it that the newroads ter will have an engine output of 80 bhp and Is based on the famous Hallwood racing machine. Aimed at the Amer ican expor t market, the 750cc Honda will be In di rect competition with the recently unveiled 750' s of BSAand Triumph motor corpor ations . The new bike has the look of Mike Hallwood' s road racer with four black-painted megaphones sweeping up the sides of the back wheel, but they have baffles - naturally. Because of the single (Ins tead of double) overhead cam and the lack of an under-the-engine sump, the new model is harely wider than the pr esent 450cc model. Rumors have it that the bike is turning cons is tent ra.s-second E.T.'s and that isn' t too bad for a road bike . Also new for Honda is the use of a double cr adl e fram e that is incorpor ated in the 750. i'll have mor e news on this exciting new model as s oon as posstbla, Well , the Eur opeans will be her e shortly and it looks as if another gr eat series Is In the making for theAmerican public . Look for adver tisements In this and following - tssues for the time and places for the various races in your area. Sportster Harl ey- Da vi dson of Oc eansi de 216 Vi a Del Monte OceansIde, Cali forni a (7t 4) 722· 0836 , eU~T~CC For You r N earest "Built'To-Go" Dealer Call TR. 7·2400 or PO. 9-0441 BR'DGESTONE Sales-SerYice Barney T ili man' s SPOR T CEN T ER 6027 Whittier B1vd, ; E. Los Ana eles (213) 723-3523 .- ~ Two Suzuki. ri dden by Dave DamlOn (3) and Jeff Mazon (78) snatched firs t and second In the 200cc GP and are shown here In thei r fi ni shi ng order coming around the alway s tr eacherous turn slx, IHARLEY- D AVI O S DN I Rapido ... -Ii i l l . 1. 11.1 ••• ' • • In Rl nan IfD fTln a l rJ'ln fTl IT. n rn ITln '11 n iT. In . I ••• • . . . ,. 'J J . C. AGAJANI AN P re sent s . , A. M A. CLASS A . SHORT TRACK Motorcycle Races a re lhose of Ihe columnist and are not neces sarily the opinions or Ihis newspaper. Equal s pace "ill be provided to thos e who wish to take issue with any or all or the s tatements in Cooley's co lumn. - T he Publisher s. It looks as though everyone is gettl ng in the act _ at the end of 1968 we will have m o r e Inte rnational-sanctioned events In the United States than ever before. Not only do we have the InterAmerican Moto- Cross series which cons ists of sixevenis , but als o an application was made by the AFM for an intern ational r oad race to be held at Orange County Inter nati onal Rac eway. This Is the drag s trip loca ted in Or ange County which has bee n conver ted Into a road race cour s e, usi ng the r eturn road with the additi on of one corner. We're not quite s ur e what the International classes will be but will infor m you la ter . Under FIMr egulati ons , everyo ne en t e r i n g the International classes must have an FIM license, and a complete list of entries mus t be s ubmitted to MICUS 48 hours prior to the events, so anyone interested In r unning, please contact one of your FIM membe r clubs and get your license and your entry in as soon as possible . Entries close Novemb i r 10 and the event is on November 24. Remember , you must be a com"eti tion member of one of the FIM cl ubs in this country befor e an appli ca tion can be made for an International license . World Champions We jus t r eceived fr om the FIM headquar ters in Geneva, Switzerland the official res ults of the 1968 World 's Championships In Moto-Cr oss and Road Racing. We won't go down the complete list of finis her s , but will give you the top two men In eac h of the classes. In MoWCross, the wor ld' S champion in the 250Cc class Is Joel Rober t on a CZ and in s econd place Tor sten Hallman, Husqvarna. Rober t and Hallman will be competing in the inter natio nal MoW-Cros s Series in the United States this year . In the 500Cc Moto-Cross class , world'S cha mpion for the second time Is P . Friedr ichs ona CZ and In s econd plac e J . Banks on a BSA . In Road Rac ing, !irs t place In the 50cc class went to H.G. Ansc heidt (Suzuki) and second pla ce to P . Lodewijka on a Kreidler/ J . Amathi . In the 125cc class Phil Read (Yamaha), s econd plac e Bill Ivy, also Yamaha. in the 250Cc class Phil Read on a Yamaha and Bill Ivy on a Yamaha. In the 350Cc class G. Agos tini (MV Agus ta) with second place to R. Pasolini (Benelll). The 500cc class was taken by Agos tini on an MV Agus ta ; second, J. Findlay on a Matchless/ Norton. Si d ecar wor ld' s cham pionship went to H. Fath with r ider Kalauck and the machine was a URS. Second place went to G. Auerbacher with r ider Hahn on a BMW. The manufac turers winning the cham pionships were Suzuki In the 250cc class , Yamaha In the 125cc class , Yamaha in the 250cc class, MV Agusta in the 350cc class and MV Agusta in the 500cc class , with BMW in the Sidecars . This is pretty much how the Intern ational season went this year in both road racing and motocross . Will '70 Be The Year? We hope in 1970 we can have a wor ld' s championship event in the moto- cross series . We are going to make applica tion this year at the International Congr es s meeti ng In Madrid and with a little bitof persuasion to convince the Congr ess that we are capable of holding a world 's Internati onal in this country, we may be able to have it. The dlffic ulty In getting an event of this type mainly stems from the proble ms we have incur red in the past concerning our Intern ational events. For some s trange reason, MICUS has not been able to get complete cooperation from ei ther the promoters or the r iders in the past and If we an eve nt of this type, we will have to adher e mor e clos ely to the international r ule s than we have previous ly. ~ T. T. RACES , State Champ ionship Noy. 2nd SPECIAL ADDED ATTRACTION Haeor 6. San Dieqo F r....ys . _------------------------SIDE HACK RACES ON T T COURSE ( ~ MOST MAK E 2-STROKES Get more power - Beller cooling Specia list In Bultaco tuning . $25.00 most rmkes Pack cyl. \ piston well for maili ng Call or write Steve Scoll P. O. Box CI , Ponorama Stati on. P anorama City, Calif. "~ 0'" (213)989 -4905 •

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