Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

.. EXHAUST NOTES SCRAMBLIN AROUND By Bill Pettigrew 750cc Limit For '69 .. r Effe ctive January I, 1969 the AMA will allow such bikes as the Norton ' Commando 750, T r iumph 750, BSA 750, Kawasaki 650, and Triumph 650s, na ming just a fe w, to compete in AMA pr ofessional di r t track events . Yes , at la st week's AMA Competi ti on Congress the good guys won, fi nally, and against the wishes of AMA Compe titi on director B1ll Berry who the Congress repres entatives ove r r uled , they made this of 1968 mee ting the most importan t in AMA his tory. The old AMA r ule limiting all machine s that i ncor pora ted an overhead valve set-up to 500Cc while rigs with a sideval ve configuration could have up to a 750Cc limit for flat-track events has been thrown out the window. (The only 750cc si devalve machine "in pr oducti on" is the Harley-Davidson 750). The new rule s ta tes that any machine whether s idevalve or overhead .m ay be up to the 7 ~OCc dt s placem ent . Incidentally, a new 750Cc overhead valve s por tster is on the way from Harley-Davidson. Road ractng stays the same as before . AMA Pro-Moto-Cross Parl1amentary proc edure again ruled out the "old-fashioned " Bill Berry with the adoption of an AMA Moto-C r oss sys te m. The rules have been set up by noted AMA rider Dick Mann, top enduro rider John Penton, and publisher-promoter Bob Hicks . There will be rules for Professional Amateur and Expert classes. Sammy' s Fifth Scot Sammy MUler, the noted trials cbampion has just won the Scottish Trial for the fifth time and has now equalled the record of Belfast rider Bill Nicholson. Sam my rides a Bultaco Sherpa T which is the bike he designed for the Spanish factor y. Evel Recovering Evel Knievel is now on the fast road to recovery from an accident that occurred in a ten car jump at the Carson City , • Eyel Knleyel and his new Honda mount. Nevada Speedway last month. Evel is r eported to be coming al ong fine an d still plans to jump the Grand Canyon in the future. 10 fact, he is going to buy his own land for the jump - sorry, Mr . Udall. LAPD Tests Moto-Guzzi & Honda The Los Angeles Poli ce Department conducted te sts on various motorcycles for consideratio n as patrol bikes for the upcom ing year. The LAPD needs 112 units for next year an d are badly in need of funds . So i t looks like there's a strong chance of having Honda, Moio-Guzzi, Triumph, or BSA as patrol motorcycles for the upcoming year. The Har1eyDavidsons now being used cost the deparbnent between $2,000 and $2,300, whereas the Moio-Guzzi would cost around $1300 and the Honda approximately $1,000 to $1,100. The latter units also weigh less, stop faster and would cos t less to maln tain, SPOOL HUBS FRONT $17.00 15,17, or 2011111 AXEL SIZE ~\\'J.9.'W:. REAR $42.00 4714 Brooks Monlcl air, CallI. 91763 Dealers W lcome e By Maureen Lee Plans are under way too for next year ' s Elsinore Grand Pr ix and we' ll bet it'll be better than last year's, if that's possible . Right now it' s completely TOP SECRE T but there'll be another race next year that wUl blow everyone' s mi nd l But that's all we're going to s ay on the ma tter . ' Huntington Beach will be havi ng a 100Lapper for 250cc's and up on Dece mber 1s t , an Open Sunday. Entry fee will be $3 and the prizes nea t. We said a couple of weeks ago tha t fi rst prize would be something you'd stare a t for hours (it' s a TV) . Well , s econ d prize will keep your li ttle ears happy for as long as you're listening. There will also be trophies and, de pend ing on the entry, 11 will be a progressive program . While this one won' t pay poi nts it'll be fun and by the end of the day no one will be able to say: .. We didn 't get en ough r idin g' " Posters an d more information on s ign- up e tc . will be out within a wee k or so. ' Mean while, back a t CorriganvUle. We witness ed 'the effort put on by the Dir t Digger s thi s Sunday in preparing thing s for next wee k and it' s really a team effort. When you sho wup br ight and early Saturday, look around and r e membe r that every red and white marker you see on fences etc., eve r y picnic table and ev ery hay bale had to be put there by s omeone . If it weren't there wouldn't be any races like this. So let's all go out of our way to make 1968 Corriganville the best ever . They 've already had the largest entry in the 10 year history . The Drag By E . McEvoy . ffiWINDALE , Cal., Nov. 2 - Excitement ran high at Irwindale when for the firs t time in man y months of drag racing 18 contestants showed UP. The number of motor cycl e conte s tan ts at Southern California strips lately has been down considerably. It got to a point wher e 8 or 10 bikes was a good a ttendance . , In Top Fuel Elimina tor , s ix cycles qualified for the money r uns, four of these Harley- Davids ons . Two turned 9.62 . elapsed tim e In their qualification r uns . In Jr . Fuel Eliminator, Mike Malland r idi ng Bud Clark' S 500Cc Triumph quallfi ed at 123.7 5 in 11.23 e. t, He was elimina ted when his bike fai led to start. A spark plug wire had pulled out of the mag. Honor s then were left up to Art Houston and his Triu mph and BobSirkeigian and his BSA. In the final run Art Houston got off the line first while Sirkeigian sat br eaking the tire loose. Houston won turning 11.90 with top time of 122.28 while Bob turned a quicker 11.58 and 128.93. On the distaff s ide of the family, Joy Houston took the B Modified class turning as her best 107.65 mph and on her winning run a 13.11 e .t, C Stock was won by David Zulian of Monrovia on his Honda Twin 450 with a 1425 e .t . and a top of 87.4 mph . F Gas was taken by Johnny Ellison on hisYamaha, Larry Welch of Hldesville, Md. qualified his Harley 76 incher for Top Fuel Eliminator with a 9.62 and a top of 145. 16. However, on his ne xt s ingle run he blew one cylinder so he was unable to show how he would do against competition . We may have a chance to find out in the future as Larry might just dec ide to s tay in s unny California. Fir s t round of Top Fuel found Boris Murray running aglnst Bob Braverman. Two double- e ngine bikes . Murray and i • $1995 ~~~E~:K:~~ THE NEW "M V A RICK" 5-WAY ADJUSTABLE HEAVY·DUn SHOCKS. • REBU ILDABLE • LUSTROUS CHROME SPRINGS • 12% " LENGTH . plir IntrodldDry Offer - Limited TIme - $19.95 per plif WE PAY POSTAGE ONPREPAID ORDERS IN U.S.A. OR CANADA. Clllfomia N sl denb add $1.00 for S11ln tax. NORTH AMERICAN IM PORTS P.O. 8 01621 . Gard en GreMI Calif. 92 642 . P......: (714) 534 ·6390 Orercoming TIre Stigma Sac r amento has one of the fe w public cyc ling areas in the country, the C.M. Goethe Park. Much of the credit for this distinction goes to the Trail Bi ke spor tsmen Associa ti on, founded in 1962. Last January they ga ther ed 1200 pe ti tions against the proposed cl os ing of this 32acre parcel to moto rc ycle riders . Getting cycling en thusiasts toge ther as a united voice was the purpose behind the foundin g of TBSA. They al so w 0 r k towards getting trail-biki ng established as an tt ln" thing to do. .. Perhaps our gr ea te st challenge," President Russ Stanford s ai d in a r ecent intervie w," is to overcome the stigma attached with moto rcycling in gener al by such infamous groups as the Hell's Angels . We're out to prove that the majority of motorcyclists are n' t lik e that ." Last year the ass oci a tion spent Labor Day weekend r e mOVing , beer can s and trash from the potentially beautiful Raymond Lake. Much to the delight of the U,S. Forest Ser vice this mountain retrea t, 9,000 fee t up in Alp ine County and acces s ible only by a narr ow, winding, precipitous s even-mile f o o t pat h , has been r es tored to its natural s ta te . The associa tion has now for med a su b- gr oup for ground search and rescue operati ons. They are available at their own expense to assist Civil Air Pa trol and si milar organiza tions . So far the y've found one lost child and transported a wounded hunter out of the rugged Sierra mountains. They hold one social event a month, usually an or gani zed trail-ride through unfamlllar territory . Some last two days . About three fa mily camp-outs are held every year. Inquiri es are handled through P. O. Box 7202, Sacramento, cai., 95826. Race Scene his Triumph and Braverman with his Kawasaki fi red up their engines and staged for a takeoff. Braver man came off the line fi rst, got In front and it looked up to about halfway down the strip as if he jus t might s tay there. However, Mur r ay' s soon got a little better ·blte and his motorcycle started pulling him alongside Br aver man and then past for a win a t 10.52 and 148. 27 while Braverman turned 10.70, 130.76 mph. Next came two Harleys - Joe Smith against Gangbus ter Gordon. Smith took it with 10.22 and 153.06. Sonny Raslawsk! riding Gordon'S bike lost with an 11.15 e .t . and 131 top ti me. IsuiuKi--~: ~ t I I Walt Axthelm Triumph-Suzuki Motors 1049 West 5th Street P omona, Calif. (714) 629-8642 c, t~ t'" ' ..... -- - -- - - _ .gs BR'DGESTONE Sales-Service B a rne y T i ll ma n' s SP O R T CENT ER 6027 Whi uter 81 vd•• E . Los Angeles (213) 7~3 5 23 GENE H. MY ERS YAMAH A Dealer NEW& USED SALES A u tho rized P arts - Servi ce & Repair 4459 Redondo Beach Blvd. Lawndale, Calif. (2131 542-4047 ~ SUZUKI AT o500/5 • $895. SUZUKI CITY 1125 SO. LA BREA, INGLEWOOD (213\ 674-1431 Hoduku Mo torcv cl o s Gree ves Monlesa Kaw asaki Westminister Sport Cycle Guy R. L oui s (714) 893-7057 7574 Westmini.sler Ave. W inster, Cal. estm P ieces Fly Last round was left up to Murray and Smith. (Raslawsk! havi ng been eliminated _ his bike was running too lean so he rather than risk burning it uP he shut off in an earlier run). Murray fi red fir s t to warm up a little, Smith following up r ight behind. This time both bikes burned their ti res for better traction. Gr een lights went on and bikes got off the line with Murray firs t. A few seconds later the red lights came on in Murray'S lane showing he had jumped the gun. Both bikes were s till r unning strong when s parks started flying off Mur r ay' s bike allover the strip. Murr ay had blown one of his engi nes and piece of it , along with his chai n wer e flying toward Smith's lane. Since Smi th was slightly in back of Murray he saw the piec es coming. He won the race, shu tting off to an e.t, of 10. 15 and 128 mph. 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