Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Cycle News 1968 12 26

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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~ c..~ : ~ I oooo~oooooooooooooo~oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooo~ g 0 Gg g o g Entertainntent and Information front Anterica's Biggest Undiscoyered Motor Sport Yau'll I a w, s ~-:si I. ~ .... U ekl • America's We Y Motorcycle Newspaper- g 000000ססoooooo0 VOICES OF THE WEST NOSTALGIA Hats at! to Call!ornta Moto-Cross Cl ub and BIlrdah1 for showing spectators a great and very coiorful Moto-Cross race at Carlsbad on November 30th and December 1st. 'Ibe atmosphere (including the rain), the countryside, as well as the course itself, looked like a true moto-cross In Europe, of wbtcb I !lave seen several in years past. Lots of ti me and effort must !lave gone into it to make such a thrilling weekend of racing. My family and I really enjoyed It aDd our " boy" , Bryan Wade got to ride both days. MALCO LM CUNNINGHAM Santa F e Springs, cal. PRO DAHMS AID ElSEIADA I wisb to express my feellDgs ap1nst Mrs. Honeycutt in regard to Barbara DaJuns " A Question of Law aDd Order". I enjoyed the article aDd think Dahms bas I!le authority but also the respoasibWty to cOftr all the problems of motorcycle riders. Pollee barrassment 15 a major problem of street riders butbardlyenstsfor dirt and competition cycI1sts. P ollce departments !lave a large Infl uence in tIie maIdng of anti~cycle laws. My wife and I enjoyed the Ens_ da run more tban any we !lave taken. The contrast between c 0 u n t r t e s and the friendliness of sponsors and particlpants made the dlHerence. W.E. VAN DRIELEN Sparks, Nenda SUPPORT IN DESERT 1 wish to tbanI< the following people wtlo belped make my Barstow to Las Vegas H .. H Trail Bike win possible: steens Inc., Invad ers M.C. pit crew, Barry EIsenberg and my dad, Wes Sr . A special thanks to Howard " P oP" Lee aDd son onteLee'lltlopitcbedinaDd helped at the last two gas stoPS wbeII I was ahead of the Invaders pit crew. , WES ANDERSON JR . Los Angeles, Call!. SCRAPBOOK STAFF In your December 19th Issue you ran a p cture of Leal Bechard and Larry White . I don 't wan t to discredit these rider s because they are doing their best but the treatment of thi s arti cle makes It sound li ke they're unbeatable. First, the Matco a t Mount Pis chka was r idden In the beginners race by a rider who bas been at this for over ten years _ not by Leon . Leon set the fastest ti me of the daY on a Bultaco 360 Bandido. They put on some good races at Erie, Colorado. Yet neither one of these riders was able to set a track time to beat 250 BuItace-mounted Buster P ottorff, The Gold Star BSA from Kansas, The KR Harle y from Aspen, Colo. or the Harley Sportster that broke the track record In . the last race. Of course, articles like this are nice to sbo1r your grandcbi1dren In years to come . MARSH POTTORF F Pueblo, Colorado DON BURT HAS SURGERY Those who ha ve mi ssed Don Burt an d b1s son Chet around the race tracks for the past twO weeke nds will be happy to know that Don 15 recovering well from lung surgery at Holy Cross Hospital In San F ernando. Burt' s left lun g had to be r emoved be cause of cance r, but he ts getting s tronger each da y and expects to be going home within a week or ten days. CTalL .' ;~ •• ~ '' 8 ' W' :8 8 ... .0 6411 N. Long Beach Blvd. Long Beach, Calif, 90805 Or: Box 498, Long Beach, Calif, Phone: 423-0431 (Area Code 2131 From L.A, Phones: 636-8844 0 I 0 P u"'s h.. r •• ••, ar I.. s vv « av to n ... ' ~h ~ ~I lIu sines s Mana ~er • •Sha ron C'la )' ton As s' t. Editor•• ,W,,-,n.. Fh-minglon · Nationa l Ad". n irec tor ••Tom Cul p P hoto Edi tor• ••••• Ilenni s Gree ne Lab T e ch nicia n••• •lIil1 P etti gre w lloo.... e e per • ••• ••Susan Whi tela w 'C irc ula tion O<>pt•• .J..-nn~' ~I c()ona l d E di toria l &: dv . Asst. San d ra Pu rdy Second C as s pos ta ge paid at Lon e B h Cl rf 0 eac n, a 1 • 0 Edi toria l s tories, ca rtoo ns , photos , 0 etc . a re we lcomed a nd will be paid O § Publi sh ed w ekly exce pt the firs t and la st week 'o f the ca le nda r y ea r by css Pu bli shin g co., P ost Of fic e Box 498, Lon g Bea ch, Cal ifo rnia . 0 fo r upon publi cati on (e xce pt press re leas es and · Voic e· lettcrs. ) Add ressed , s tamped e n ve lope assures re turn. Sind I' cop)' pri ce ••• .••• . •• zse g ~~~~~p.t~()~: .o.n~. :~a~ • 2.n~ . g~~o Adver ti s ing rat es and ci rcula tio n info rmation will be se nt upon req ue s t, 8 8 § 0 g ~ 0 g 00000000000000000000000000ססoo000000000000000000000 NO REED VALVE . An error resulted from the editing of my account of the Sportsmen MC event at P erris and the s ubsequent Competition Committee meeting which determined Mr. Dannenburg's bike to be legal. Mr . Danne nburg's machine was, In fact, 7ported and did not have a r eed valve as the edtted versio n stated. It was as a r es ul t of this pr ote s t, bowever, that the Committee promised to s tudy and rule on the lega.l1ty of " Sporting" and the use of reed valves. I felt tbat you should know about the situation as you will In all likelihood hear from Mr. IlaDnenburg and /or K & N Motorcycles. KIRK McDOWELL Riehl. OeckfDI: Iaell I see that I 1815_ tier. . . . what lIae protest .. as about. ADd IIae nliDl: proadsed OD 51IOrtlDI: aad reed valves !lad 8OlIliDI: Co do .. Ith IIaII- 1Ie.~ _&,s bike. - Ed. EXPECTATIONS 'Ibere !lave been 250,000 mint-bikes sold In the U.S. so tar. Yet manufactur- ers are aiming for double tbatnumber to be sold in ' 69 alone. APOLOGY TO WElL WhIJe attending the Inter-Am MotoCross series at Carlsbad Raceway on Deeember 1st, a member of my party InadYer tenUy crossed the track at the wrong ume and was st:ruclt by Adolph WeU. WhIle the person concerned suffe rl'd no Injuries, Mr. WeU suffered the loss of 5 places. For thi s , I would like to publicly apoIogt ze to Mr. Wen on behalf of myself aDd the people attending with me. While realizing this apology will not reimburse Mr. wen for money or prestige lost, I hoPe It will somehow compensate for our negligent action. DAVE BROWN 342 mx Alhambra, Cal. FOUND FAST PASSENGER 'Ibanks for e xcellent results from my classified ad " 00 You Want To Race Ascot Next Year Wearing Tennis Shoes" . With your help I found a hack passenger 'IItIo really likes to go fast. Two weeks ago we trted the calif. Int ernati onal G ran d Prix a t orange County . Two weeks prior to the race we were very busy organizing a badly worn outfit for our first attempt as a team at professional racing. Lo and behold, the main was over and we'd flnisbed third. Needless to say we were both pl eased . \ Several first ti me happening's occurr ed a t the conclus1on of this race. 1. Fi r st tropby won by either of us. 2. Best finis h of this outfit to date. 3. Best mon ey fi nish to date. 4 : We ge t our names In Cycle Ne ws . Yes , life is beauUful, all good 15 not evil. But something is wrong! As I read the arti cle about the races first and second ge t their honorable me ntion but you forgot about thir d. 'Ibis 15 all r ight. our first race toge the r and only a third . Not m uch news the re for such a large race. Next I look at the r es ults section. 'Ibis is impossible I No s ideback r esults. Now I'm r eally getting worried. My new passenger Is young and ver y impressionable . 'Ibis omJsslon may affect him the res t of his life. Isn't there some thing you can do to Insure his future hap piness and Inflate my deflated ego? STAN SHORROW LEE BALISTERI A.F .M. Sideback 125 (Ed. Note: Th e results we got I\'om Tom Fi nlay dido't hue Ute siclehacks li s ted. But they ' re runnin g Utis week (see page 16). Fini sb high up .. a few more ra ces and It' ll all e ven out. ' .. l SWEEP Would-You please pr in t res ults of Nov. 17 race a t South G~~ (:rr,Q~ Raceway) . I got 1st in the ,'1'1'; It> In the S.T . and 1st in the TrOPhY;'l~l,\.. everyti me I do good you don't P~~f ~the r es ul ts . Thank you. .., ",ROBfiR T PARR#21 • " . 1 , • ~~" Monica, Cal. "" C','" ED NOTE: Sometimes Ute tra cks don't send al~ C Ute results, as in Ibis case.) BAJA ANYON E? I'm leaving for Baja Call!ornia again and expect to cross the border at first ligbt, Saturday, nee. 21. . WU1 go via Tijuana, Ensenada and probably not go to La..Paz, but will go to . San Javier, San Borja, BaiaLosAngeles, Loreto aDd (probDbly) P urisima . Christmas I expect to spend at San ' Ignacio - my favorite town In all the world. 'Ibis will not be a fast trip - the purpose 15 to shoot color aDd b&w to gather material for more articles. In tact, speed is so tar from the essence tbat I'm seriously considering using a " ne w generation" mlntblke - U there 15 one I think 15 tough enough for the trek. MaDy people In SoutIIern california !lave l!JlPI'essed iaterest in this trip and it may well be t1Iat one or two of them will be Incllned to make the run with me. All I ask is that they be able to hold their likker and be reasonably simpatico. And it would help, of course, U they can ride a bike when they start, although U they finish they damn' sure goona be able to ride! DOUG RICHMOND 583 Mira Vista Ave., Ollkland, Cal. 94610 (415) 893-6647 NO CONTEST On Saturday, November 16, I participated In the main event at the San Jose Indoor Short Track. During the rider's meeting a r ider asked whether braking devices and compression releases were legal. The r eferee (and riders) decided tba t for the next two ev ents that compression r el eases " other braking mechanisms would be allowed, but to expect an official AMA ruling from Ohio by the third event. The bikes were not Inspected at this time, although the re was a rider pr otest. When the decision just described was r eached , the majority of signed -up riders decided to race, Including the pr otes ter. As an enthusiastic professional racer, I put my trust in the referee' s decision, went out In good faith and won the main event In front of a capacity cr owd•••on1y to find the following wee k that the event had been ruled as a .. No Conte s t " and that my firs t place money was to be applied to the following week's program on Novembe r 23rd . 15 thi s fair to the rest of the qualified winners? I would like to know the validity of the A .M,A. Referee's deci s ion? BRUCE ANDERSON 37V Saratoga, calif. E D NOTE: The re feree was wron g to ha ve allowed bik e s with brakes or compression releases to run. Th e rul e pe ... miU ing Utelr use doesn' t go into e fIec t until next ye ar . He s hould hav e known be tt er. . * TfCHNICALITEZE * Wasil your bike by all means , bu t always run it for a full 10 minute s soon alte... ward. Moi sture en ters manY places and ..ill foul up the machln l!lY lIIIIe s s It is run out. (Got a technical Up we ClIII pass on 10 ollel' readers? If you know aay facts, ledllliqaes, ftllulcraft or sbort-cuts that add to YO'" JDOtDrcyde eaJoyment, send 11_ Co TECBNICALITEZE. c/o Cycle News, Box 498, LoBI: BeAch, caliI. 90-.0. Cycle News wID pay $1 to you for aay lip IIaat we publisb Iu TECHNICALJTEZE.) COOLEY'S COLUMN By WI'S Cooley Th e views ..-xpr..-sse d ill l1is c{liU Im are 110s e 0 1 Il l' col umnist and a re not ne c essaril y Ibe opinions of Ills new,.. paper. ill Equa l s pa ce w be prov ided to Ihose who wlsb to take Issue wilb any or all of the statemen ts in Cooley' s coIuJIIII. - The Publishers. . AMA, PENTON II MANN It looks as though the AMA bas Its work cut out for It trYing to make a decision regarding Penton and Mann. I've heard rumors that Mann is going to change his residence to Call!ornia wbich will allow him to participate In llftDts anywbere he wishes; lhts should territy theAMA. Who can tall, maybe all the AMA prefessional riders will become residents of Call!ornia.. It will be Intaresting to see U Mr. Penton follows throuch with b1s threat to ttgbt the AMA regarding his suspension, aDd also, U the AKA executive board backs Mr. Berry's declsion. If the y bacIc down, then Mr. Berry will lose power and cer tainly lose tace, aDd U they don't bacIc down , then they will feel the tul1 wrath of Mr. Penton. This 15 what I call being In a hell of a spot. A recent quotation from one of the top AMA executives and r ider was " Give the AMA an opportunity to put their foot In their mouth and they'U be the first to do it". It would be a wonderful thing if the AMA would stop suspending their riders for participating in non-AMA 'events, but I do support their r ight to punish a professional rider who bas entered an event, bas been accepted but does not participate in that event, and rides In another. I think this r ul e should hold true for every assocJatioo because only In this way can you protect the promoter and the public. If they pay money to see a r ider participate an d he doe s not do so, then it is up to the sanctioning body to take s tern measures In order to Insure that the spor t bas some Integrity. Saddleback Notes 'Ibe final event of the Inter-Am moto- cross series was held last weekend at Saddlebaclc Park and it was the last chance to see the Europeans compete here In 1968. It looks as if mos t of the promoters of the Inter-Am series were pre t!;y happy with the spectator crowds and we're glad to see that Ron Nelson was the top point Amer ican In the 500cc class and J ohn De Soto the first American in the 250Cc class. Both men were riding Montesa motor- De Solo . Nelson cy cles and I'm ass ured the distributor Mr . Kimball Is very delighted. Moote sa spent a great deal of money and time promoting this series. Also, John De Soto and Russ Darnell are getting the opporiuni ty to go to Europe In January to do some mot e-c ross r idi ng. Darnell says he 15 going over there to learn to r ide In the mud and De Soto says he ' s going oyer to learn how. However, I assure you tbat both of these boys will be compe ti tive aDd make a good showing while participating in Europe.

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