Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125621
a two and a baJf boar Jeed.,Qn!l" tbe eventual w1nDer. Tbe ~ goes CII. And DOW to my foartb paAut, tile S1Ilport of the riders dortDg tile races. '1b1s is wbere the bike riders were bit tbe hardest. It cost more than 0118 rider tile race. lt should not have heeD a problem; bikes have bad more experieDee at tII1s than anyone else. A perfect elllUDPle is the distributor who entered four bikes. One was lost to lady luck (?), two were forced to wait at check point three for daylight s1nce their lights dido't and the fourth was 10 a weakeaed cODdition when it limped loto the rider cbaIIge at check four. The ligbt1ng problems probably could have been cured If there had been some support perSOODe1 wbere they were needed. It sounds expensive to have tII1s k1Dd of support but It can be If haDdled like some of the big teams do. Mary McGee and Bob Ferro'S team got together "Uh three of the car teams and a vacatlooiDc friend or two and were able to cover every check. They also asked the distributor I mentioned above If he wanted to be part of this cooperative aftort he just laughed. However, it may have been a good thing that the bikes were so SOIJJId1y trounced. Perhaps when the 1,000 miles from Enseoada to La Paz rolls around 10 November a little more preparatlCII will be in evidence and a little less cockiness. The big bikes are officially only running in their class, and that's where the money is. So, nothing was lost but some pride. 1ng pike. Fail To Win Baia 500 wort. Above, Pr..race activities were watched by hundreds of Ensenadans. Below, This Is the lone. dusty trail. RelativelY easy stretches like this favored the wlnnln. cars. By Harold A. Blake, Jr. Photos by Donna Lucas & Dennis Greene ENSENADA, BAJA CALIFORNiA, June 13 - Instead of making UP most of the top finishers, as they were expected to, there were only two bikes that placed 10 the top ten over-all. They were eighth and tenth - the Ducati of Doug Douglas and Jim McClerk and the Husqvarna of Steve Holladay and Whitey Martino. The bikes were beaten by everything but a production two-wheel drive car. First over-all and 10 its class was the Oldsmobile powered, experimental, four-wheel drive Baja Boot driven by Bud Ek ns and Tony Murphy. Second over-all and first 10 its class was the experimental VW buggy of Orino Ml1ler and Vic Wilson. Other cars to beat the bikes, on corrected time, locluded a stock VW dune buggy and a Jeepster. The Baja 500 started with the first bike leaving at 12:01 p.m., Wednesday followed by the rest of the contestants at one mloute lotervals. It was officially over at 9:17 p.m., Thursday, 30 hours after the last entrant lett the starting l1ne. The car types were jubilant at this polot. The riders were eating crow after having predicted 12 to 13 hours to finish and then having to take 16 and one half. Why did the bikes do so badly? Most of the riders were top-notch desert or motocross competitors. Apparently the right brands of bikes were used. So what happened? Everyfu1ng, that's what! There are a few categories loto which most of the problems can be groUPed. These are 1) the bikes, 2) the rider, 3) Lady Luck, and 4) pit support. The motorcycles themselves caused many problems. 10 some cases, they were simply poor choices. The Kawasaki Three is an example of this. Its chances were slim of finishing even with Steve Hurd and Dub Smith aboard. However, It put on a great show as it screamed down the roads and fishtailed through the dirt. It succeeded 10 tearing the knobs right off of two trials universals between Ensenada and Bahia San Luis Gonzaga, check point four where the rider changes were made. 10 other cases, the bikes were either not prepared for. the beating they would have to take or the preparation that was done was so bad that It would have been better to have left everything alone. Some lights were put on as an after thought and didn't function well If at all. Tool boxes were hung frO]D aluminum fenders and ended up falllng off and locklog up rear wheels. Inadequate spares were provided, and some bikes were never tested after they had been set UP. I have to say one th1ng for the riders and drivers - they never gave UP. When they had trouble, they would either fix It on the spot or work out some sort of temporary cure, sometimes aga1n and again, until they could reach help or there was just no saving it. J.N. Roberts ts but one example. He had so many flats that he ran out of patches and spare tubes. To keep the front tire on its badlY damaged rim, he got a bed spread from somewhere, stutfed It into the tire, and made it all the way to the finish. He didn't qualIfY but he made it. Bad luck struck some of the riders. Bob Ferro had the big end bearing melt before he got off the pavement; and this kept Mary McGee from showing what she could have done on the second half. Steve Kirk's Montesa caught fire just outside of El Rosario and brought his attempt to a halt. BW Ydiando hit a cowwh1le hold- SUL.T~CO AFM National Road Race Cotati May 11,1969 Production Class Overall 0 - 120cc 2nd Charles Overland - Bultaco Metralla 250cc Sr. Production Class 1st Charles Overland - Bultaco Metralla 250cc Jr. Production Class 1st W.,-ing - Bultaco Metralla 2nd Jewell - Bultaco Metralla AROAD RACER YOU CAN RIDE ON THE STREET Chances are, there's a stretch of road somewhere that you've got staked out as your own. It is a tri cky piece of road, an all-out test of your ri di ng ability. Your road is an old friend and an old enemy - you've fought it many times. You pro~ ably wouldn't feel right if you could defeat that stretch of road too easily. You know what time of day your road will most likely be deserted: when you can bel t along that twi sted ribbon of pavement with only the hot, lonely sun for company. If you real I y want to wri ng out your road, you'll need the motorcycl e bui It for the job: the Metralla. It's a detuned 250cc road racer fitted out for the street. See your Bultaco dealer. or write for information. S.M.R.A. Drag Races - May lB, 1969 Stock Bike - GB Class New AHRA Record Time David Broyles - Bultaco Metralla Road Races - May 18, 1969 250cc Production Class 1st David Broyles - Bultaeo Metralla Ascot Park - June 1, 1969 Novice Main Event 15t Tod Sloan - Bultaco PurSang 3rd Allen Kenyon - Bultaco PID'Sang 4th Jim Rice - Bultaco PII'5ang Novice Trophy Dash 15t Tod Sloan - Bultaco PurSang 3rd Allen Kenyon - Bultaco PurSaog 411 Jim Rice - Bultaco PII'5ang PurSang Bultaco Services Inc. P.O. Box 101 Santa Clara California 95053