Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

I I I PROFILE By By Bill BlaIteslee "Theory on Track" An engine described by all psuedoexperts as simplyan exercise in theory and not at all practical has defied all its detractors by making a very sucesstull debut on the test track. Thl! engine now resides in a special Seely spine type frame. The complete package is expected to make an appearance at the actual race in the very near future. A Dr. Gordon Blair is in charge of the project and BSA's are backing the effort financially. The engine began l1!e nearly two years ago as a pencUed sketcb but thanks to the above people, plus the Mecan1cal Engineering Dept of Queens University, it is now a reallty and is questimated to be the most potent 250 ever built In Britian. Computers played an important part of its development. "Gone are the days of the hacksaw" said Dr. Blair. Extensive care has been given to the theory of gas dynamics and ,higb specific outputs bave been the foremost aim. The fact that it ran so well on its first outing bas surprised many an "expert" . That it doesn't look like convential engines is axiomatic. Its cases appear to bave been macbined trom bocks of alloys. It bas a toothed belt dr ive to the primary. Water cooling also hides its contours. Fuel injection feeds the rotary valves not discs but sleeve types! The track Is rougb, begins at the Sabara-Mint Gun Club and extends titty miles into the desert. Charles Standeford, one of the two Oregon motorcycle racers cbosen to compete In the 1969 Mint 400 at Las Vegas, tells himself that it can't be worse than all the miles of boondock country be's ridden across at home. All be has to cio 15 give with the prayers and reflexes and keep going. But even so, the rivalry on the road is bot. He and Keitb Nerseth (Standeford' s sidekick) are not onlY competing with others in their own class but at least two of the elite in car racing; Parnell! Jones and Bobby Unser of the Indianapolis, lndiana Speedways. again next year, in 1970, StaDdeford sbakes bis bead with some regret, "Too old." He adds tbat it be was another Mark WUllams (the IS-year old Sprlnct1eld racer recentlY turned pM) or another Len Kesey (cousin of the writer Ken Kesey and one of the top ten JUD10r 11gbtwe1ght cbapions of the nation as well as a cycle racer) yes. Meanwb1le, be'S content working as a painter in the Eugene Body and Fender shop to earn a living for his familY, and participating weekends in cross cOUDtry runs, the Mud Scrambles and sbort T & T tracks. Like most cyclists be really digs the sport, has b1s own favorite bike: a 1964BSA uPon whicb, seated, be becOllies a famlliar figure to people who JokinglY call the seat a "borseblanket." It's a red- skirted, fiber glass seat Standetord spent almost one winter making, and something, be ruefully admits,_ be would not try again. Standeford's young son has a bit of growing to do before be followsin his racer father's footsteps. How does papJ)a feel about that? Standeford grins. No, be wouldn't encourage the boy into racing not unless, of course, the lad was reallY interested and not just because it was • • well, the bell thing to do. In the former case be would, be 'says, belp in any way be could. For be is sure few sports can beat motorcyling as a way of buUding uP stamina, courage, good sportsmanship and cballenge. It has worked for Standeford and, he thinks, for many 0 f the good men In the field whom be knows. It would work for his son too. ~ =' Ql ~ ~ r..'l ~ r..'l ..::I U G .. . - "Magic Ton" There were only three bikes to make the 100 mph "ton" lap average at the Isle of Man TT races. One was a fully works MV three, the second an uP dated English single and interestinglY enougb the third was a production bike. Malcom Upb1ll did It not just once but twice. His six-titty Bonneville ,sported full llgbting and exhaust systems just like the dealers sbowroon. Further proot these are not nu~peeds, the sec- i; of\.~~ U~»t.~ I D.M. Curran above all others, because be feels equipped to handle it - wbat with his previous experience with log tra1ls and country runs. He was then twenty-six, tall, muscular enougb but somehow lacking in the confidence you see in him today -five years and three bundred trophies later. In 1965 be went in for track racing. Standeford calls his amazing record a matter d luck, particularly the MotoCross or Mud Scramble whicb, be explains, bad Its beginnings in Europe and oniy in the past three years has found its way into Southern Calitornla and Oregon as a popular sport. Last April when his name was picked by a grou'p of dealers, beaded by one in Coos Bay, as one of the two sponsored to enter the Mint 400 competition in Nevada, Standeford, a little shaken and fiabberghasted, was still calling it luck. He bad been racing on Boise - PrinevUle - Bend and Portland tracks in the meantime, acquiring for himself both a name as a pro and a broken collarbone. He stiU wears a plate. Once be was run over by one of his own team mates and survived to tell the tale - even cbuckled a bit that it was all part of the game. Thougb winning at Las Vegas, -he st11l refers to it as the most" grueling" contest of his life - one in whicb all his faculties, b1s confidences as a man and a racer were tested. And even it be has come througb, proving himself in going a long way towards mastering the sport, asked it be would return ond place Norton turned in a lap average of 99.99! Graphic 1llustratioo of the power I of the nodern motorcycles and now with the terrific traction tires this power is well put to use. In the 500 cIass a Honda Showed its reliablity by winning, atter being led by a fantastically fast Ka wasakJ three. In the 250 class the four strokes did their bat trick to make it three for three Ducati beat the perrenial Ossa. In the other races of the TT the speeds were down from last year. Only the big sidecars were able to set new race averages. Works teams were 0bvious by their absense. As mentioned earlier in tbls column, Konig are on the move. One of the boat engines was tltted into a BMW using the existing gearbox and drive making a simple and suitable installation. "Ton Tires" ,The terr1t1c speeds at the 10M this year were, in great part, possible by the tires that bave been developed for super fast bikes. At the pinnacle of competition, when MV met Honda, Dumlop bad built a tire to handle the borsepower and speed called the KR 73. It bad a peaked prof1le so that a maximum of area could be presented to the road when heeled over, it measured 5 incbes across the sboulders. This year the competition was less (Honda out) so tire width was back to 4-1/2" (better cbain clearence) but the peak was rounded to give more area when uPrigbt. This increased mileage, Agostini bad bait his tread depth atter the TT. Softer rubber is now used because they bave found a way to get the grip of a tread witb thousands of tiny slices across the tire without the usual tearing tbat goes with tbls pattern. This years Dunlops, called KR 83, bas thousands of tiny pin boles instead of slots whicb achieves the same function. The pin boles can take the 80 odd borsepower that the sliced tread couldn't wben using the new soft rubber compounds that are so sticky. The KR 83 is so effective Dunlops bave patented it and we will almost certainlY see it on the future street tires. Stande1'ord It's a two-day race where eacb rider does two of the titty-mUe laps. And when it's Standeford's turn, be'S aware of all tile misbaps already. For instance; He himself bad taken a COuPle of pretty hard spills, ran into a jeep, lost a handle bar. Then bad lost second gear and bad to sb1tt from first into third --- in tact, all but murdered the bike by the time it came sweeping around the cars to finisb, is a kind of ' sweet revenge" first in eight places, fourth overall. What a victoryI The beat uP cycle, a Ka wasaJd belonging to Keith, was in due time repaired, scar tissue healed, but the felicity of well-wisbers, the spectators wbo bad never expected tbls, stiU lingers on. Backtracking over hispre-racingdays, the 31-year old Standeford began In sports by water skiing, thus getting bis first taste of rougb riding over cboppy waves. Next be Joined an arcbery club wbere, to get on target, you bad to do some pretty rough riding over the previouslY mentioned back country of Oregon. Natura1J.y be did it on his trusty Yamaha. Then be began bunting -- deer with bow and arrow, a JollY sport, and be ~ stiU using his trusty bike to do SWEEPS 2nd ANNUAL 100ee GRAND PRIX 0 H. After awhile thougb, says the blueeyed, good-looking Standeford, husband and father of two children, a girl 11 and a boy 7, riding became more fun than bunting. So in the fall of , 64-be went in for motorcycle racing, starting out with the Hare and Hound, a race be stiU likes This Space ONLY $6.50' !lei' week Ask for Tom (213) 423-0431 Call - ClmRTTI South Bay Speedway - July 6, 1969 Expert Class - You get a modified cyl inder, high compression head and modified piston in your race ready 100XR. ACQlRm ACCESSORIES .. Novice Class 1st F'red Bennett - Hodaka 2nd Kevin Stafford - Hodaka Powder Puff Class Amateur Class 1st Ron Leidig - Hodaka 1st Debbie Reon - Hodaka 3rd Carol Chiara - Hodaka 1st Ron Leidig - Hodaka For a first..hand demonstration of HODAKABILITY,visit your dealer for a free test ride. -w."""C 0 for you ,write: . -~ ~ nearest the d_ler - - - - - ~ ~ • = !lOll'''' !lOll'''' P.O. lOX 127 ATIIINA,O_ 97813 !lOll'''' !lOll'''' !lOll'''' !lO!)'''' 1I01l'''' 1101"'"

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