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WANNA DO WHEELIESt
Black Marks
Green Streak
GET-A BARNETT (LU T(H & GO '
~
'"
NOW AVAILABLE
,
HODA KA - 100
'"
By Byron Black, Jr .
Photo by John Endy, Jr .
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(wi th wide, drive plale la' ma,e band ln,
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•
A pleasant Saturday afternoon In autumn: what better way to enjoy myself
than to be Introduced to Saddleback Park
and Kawasald's newest Mountain Llonby
AMA National winner Walt Fulton III as
my guide and guru ?
The mechanism I had chosen was the
" Gr een Streak," the latest version ot
Kawasald 's popular 250cc moto-cross
s ingl e. It just arr ived t r om Japan, and
I' ve got the tl r s t one In private hands
(cackle) , I li ke It. As a ma tte r ol ta ct,
we' re engaged to be married on the 20th
ol next month, so bes er k am I about It.
Atter getting a passel ol complai nts ,
mos tly minor, about their old F21M
s crambler, Kawasald went back to the
dr awing boards and tried to Impr ove the
mach1ne t or the America n rider and for
American riding. The machine's more ol
a tlat-out banzai "des er t r oad race"
scrambler than a European-type upsydownsy mote-cross machine. It has two
horsepower more than betore,anda peak
power range or 500- ,pO rpm higher than
O
the previous model.
BULTACO - E I Band ido
~i3i>~
(You, Barne ll dea ler has Ihem now. AlumInum Allay, Ca,p,ene Banded. We do net
sell rel all .
SEEY
OURBARNETI D LE R
EA
~,
4915 Pacifi c BlVd., Vernon, Ca lifornia, Phone: 589-5488
TU RNER EXPANSI ON CHAMBERS
Sales-Semce
B arney T i llman' sSPORT CENTER
6027 Whi uter Bl vd,; E . Le s AnK
eles
6025 Maywood Ave. BId. tl , Huntington
P ark. Cali l. Three blac k. 011 Slauson
589·77t7 or 773· 5839 Hour. 10-1;
~ii _ BILL
,;)
( 213 ) 723-3523
KRAUSEWS
LARGEST PARTS &
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IN THE SOUTHLA~ I ,)
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ec.tvry
•
BMW
SALES
.......oocI •
•
"100406
•
Meat In The M
idrange
It Is also supposed to have more meat
'11 .50)5
G REEVES
•
In the midr ange , and this torque Increase
MOT a -BETA
G;;';ie7;;; r;;;sdl'
SERVICE
HOCKIES MOTORCYCLES
t Area's leading volllllle Kawasaki t
HODAKA YAN I(EE GREEVES
' O SA
S
,
t
,
Dealer
,
Camplete Machine Shop Fac ll llle.
22025 So. F i gueroa
Torranc e, Cal i l omi a
,••
BRIDGESTONE
Specialist In tun ed exhaust lor mo st t '~~
strokes Port, Polish and hve po rtrng,
also comple te hop-up s for Hodaka,
~
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Complete Pa,ts & Ac ee..a, l..
5663 N. Ros emea d Blvd., Temp le City - ,
(213) 286·750 4
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'r · · · · ·· ·· · · · · · ··n rn n .n m m n m n-.i'1 m m n m rn n rn n .n rn n •••
. ':
J . C. AGA J ANIA N Pr esent s . - A. M. A. CLASS A
•
Championship
frida, IIi,,,, IIon.ber Is'
SHO RT TRA CK
Gal e s Open 6:3 0 ' F i r st Race 8 15
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ile hampionship
November 8th
All Seats $3. 00
Kids 8-12 $1.00
Unde' 8 FREE
Harbor I> San Dieqc f rwys
--------------------------NEWl In San'a Alia
_..•.............••..•.•••
:
:
GEN E H. MYERS
YAMAHA Dealer
NEW& US SA LES
ED
Au thor ized
Draco's Motorcycl as
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:
KAW
ASAKI
•
•
:
Part s - Servi ce & Repair
Spec i alizing i n 2-stroke T uni ng
1629 Sa. Sianda,d Ave.
Sanla Ana, Cal. 92707 (714) 543-9688
.-.........._ __......... __...._ _---....----.
•... .•.......
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,. .....
-..... .....
4459 Redondo Beach Blvd. Lawnd ale, Ca llI.
(213) 542-4047
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MOTORCYCLE S ONLY
SALVAGE
comes about with an Impr oved exhaust
system . The compression has been
raised trom 6.7 to 7.5, and behind a
larger, treer-breathlng side cover there
nestles a 28mm carb, 2mm wider than
the old one. And the exhaust port's been
raised - but you can be sure I'm not
thinking about s uch trivial matters as I
rip up the mountainsides behind Walt's
"trelght train" 55" Har ley .
" You ....-ant to go, to the beginner's
course?" he asked, s miling slyly.
"Damn the beglnner' s l Full speed
ahead!" I shot back, bravely, toolis hly.
We took ott, one swif t kick Igniting the
single Into ille; It crackled Idling, and a
li ttl e tlIck ol the wri s t made her give out
a healthy yowl, speaking to me trom an
expansio n chamber the size ol an oxygen
tank; this Item was snug up against her
lean green bod, and hung Into the exhaus t
port with two springs. The " Gr een
Streak" nicknam e r ete rs to the li metlavor ed paint job on the Itty-bitty gas
tank, t or your Information, and thatves sel showed a r emarkable propensity to
empty Itself trequently as we motored
through hill and dale: like many sweet
young things, likes to chugal ug her drink.
And without the niceties ot automa tic
oUlng, either: I had almosttorgotten how
to concoct what the Br itish call " petroU"
In the gas tank. I suspect that much or
that fuel zips right past the combustion
chamber and goes tumbling out ot the
exhaust por t, In all high- power strokers.
There Is definitely mor e glddyup In
thi s model . This Is Illustrated by the
exhaust por t, a couple ot s tories higher
than on the previous model . Kawasald ' s
master race tuner Blll Bastian says that
tor " optimum power " (that' s the kind that
shears boulders In hal! trom a standlng
start) the port s hould be opened up l mm
higher yet.
WHUMPHI No, that wasn' t me. I was Innocently crabbing my li ghtweight down
the side ot a steep peak , sldewlnderstyle, when I happened to look back to'
see the mons ter Harley out ot control. It
was gain ing veloci ty rapidly and W t
al
had to dr op It.
Somehow he started on the downgra de,
and with one smart kick I baWled away
after him. Then on to the IT Track, and
the leviathan twin thundered past me and
was gone. I didn' t compete much In
that race.
I headed tor the moto-cross track instead - and that pla ce Is an eye-opener
in anybody-s book. Here 's where the
Green Streak's gutty torqu e came In
handy: otten when my lett t oot was too
busy tendlng ott a huge and ter ocious dirt
bank to pi uck at the shltt lever, I just
sque ezed on the throttle and the flexi ble
r otary valv e engine pr opelled me up up
and SUddenly away•
That' s another change, by the way: instead ol a tiber disc, the new machine
uses a s teel one. It has a larger cutaway,
mainly because ol the more radical intake timing.
Needed Softer
•
ShOCKS
The one ugly part ol the machine was
the absence ol r ear damping . The shock
abs orbers mus t have been the Bonnev111e
variety, t or they were to r much smooth er s urfaces than I tound tha t day. They
weren' t solt enough tor the wildly soaring
and r iPpling track, either.
And that mote-cros s track Is a bear,
daddy. You can be a solt- muscled sissy
and s tlll r oad r ace all day, but three laps
or so around the Saddieback mote-cross
circuit and YOU'd s wear you'd just been
worked over by the most sadistic drlll
s ergean t at Paris Islan d. Mote- Cr oss Is
t or !he he-man, the guy who r ips tall
oaks out ot the ground when they get In
his way.
But even to r a taster, tougher r ider
than I am, the bike would be more appeali ng with a s et ot " Cher r y Annles"
on the rear . The t r ont forks, on the other
hand, seem fine . They managed to gobble
up all the bumps, thumps, dips and
ripples I could tl nd.
, My kidneys couldn't stand It , though.
They croaked. So I decided to go hillclimbing, Ins tead .
One look at the Matterhorn aur Climb
was enough to s end me to the sott dr ink
s tand. (Thought balloon) " The only way
to ascend this wall ot shee r r ock is (a)
with a pic k and axe (b) with a r ocket
engine In your tall. The three who have
accomplished the teat had nei ther, however. Just Triumph TR- 6's.
.
W buy Junk.. & sell Fine Used Parts
e
AIso tons of H.D. Obsolete Stuff. 45' s·Knuckel·Dish Pan
-._--_...._.,..-_...-
Complete Service Fra me & Fork Straighten ing.
We Servi ce what they sell.
Bob Ro ss 126 W 4lh St, San Pedro, California TE 2-61 24
esl
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W~lt~
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Y~M~at'sA
ORANG C CYCLE
E O.
Triumph-5uzuki Motors
1049 West 5th Street
Po mona., Calif. (71 4) 629-8642
205 N. Harber BlVd. Sanla Ana
(714) 53106984
,(
ANOTHER FINE PR ODUCT
MOTO.CROSS
BOOTS
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Di stributed by
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