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/125635
sbortcncd aDd modiIlCd for stability. But the super miIcr at Indy was the BSA ~ tUl Jim Rice had ridden to a win 11 Sedalia the week before. Tom Cates of BSA Wcstcm stopped in Evansi1Ic, Indiana the week after ScdaIia to visit relatives (Tom's brother is a BSA dealer there) aDd prepare the mxhinc for Indy, and he taIkcd to Cycle News onrmspondent Ruxs WhittingbiIl Cates was jubilant about his rider aDd bike at Sedalia. He Slid, Jim Rice has r;ot more_than you can imagine. He hauJs in real deep on the groovc, taps !be back brake once or twice, and then turns it back on." About the machine he said, ''The 750 is abnost completely stock with the exception of the vaIvcs. I've tried ~ , but nothq wods as good as the stock cam aDd the box stock internals. We 'we picked up U TlIe Roc..t T1IrH looks as CODd as It so...ds, sounds as fast as It coas. Cates IntcrYicw by Russ WhittiDBhill Photos by Whitti:ngbiD aDd Youngblood The mile ftlQuiIa a special kiDd of motorcycle. Basically it is a haIfmiJer seared for the greatE:r speeds, but the lIIOt«, frame aDd SlIspe11sioD IIUISI be able to withstaDd the torture that I'CSlIIb from the pace. Motors run to their medwrical limit on the mile, mllltion is fioroe, aDd tires CllD be literally spUD 011 their rims. Mert LawwilJ, the CIlm'nt points Ieadcr, went after the Indy mile with a meppboned engine, a practice that Harley bas employed ~ - Gosch's theory, for his entry in the program listed a Triumph, but at race time a Norton carried his National Number 47 plates. Other attempts at the ncccssuy speed were the !ODic·framed Bonds 450 of AmaIeur I Dennis Banks' ~i T ..... is • lMMrtiful pi.... of _rtunanship. At. Indy it didn·t-...... ly got.• chlnce to flex its muscles. Rocket sports a singJe monstrous h S p."1Dne. usuaI1y only in roadracing. Mert says the megaphones give the engine more power up where he needs it, at the top of the range. The result is a higher speed on lhe long srraights. For mile horsepower, Expert Pat Gosch went 10 a Norton. Jack Warren, National Number 82, has run a Norton on the half-mile this !ICSSOn, and he reports that the power is seemingly unlimited. This, apparently, was Michael Van Bibber and the three-cylinder Triumph of Amateur Gary Demoiscy. Amateur Dennis Banks went the route that has 100ked good on paper aD season. Dennis had a beautifully prepared Kawasaling on by worldng for Paul's H.D.1n Bellilower. He must like things that are small because he rides a 125cc Yamaha and this guy is bigl His boss, Paul, refers to him as a 210 pound giant riding a 125cc ant and that really says it. Dennis is married to a cute little gal named Judy and they have DO children but do have a pet rabbit and that line 1 wouldn't touch with a fork. JDdy trail rides but isn't interested In trying the TT stuff. Denn1s has no aspirations for Ascot or Daytona and will ride as a hobby and be a professionalSporlsman. Tim Beason showed up with a brand new Kawasaki 10Dcc which had been unpaclted the night before and dad showed up with a new Toyota pick-up to haul it in. Tim has been racing a year and is only fourteen so has a good headstart on a lot of the older novices. Westminster Sport Cycle seems to thinl< so as they are sponsorl'hg him. Tim started his racing on a "Tote Goat" In Long Beach and then graduated to a Honda and he was of!. Dad is firmly behind his son and wants him out on a track and off the streets. Mr. Beason was a busy man this weekend as Friday night his oldest son Rick was married and between getting a bike ready to run and getting a son ready to wed he sbould have been a mass of sWy putty. About the only point Tim and his dad disagree on are goals. Tim would like Ascot but his dad is a holdout for Perris. Time will tell. It wasn'i enough/that the "Jolly Green Giants", otherwise mown as the C and H racing team of Riverside,had me mumbling by the time the races were over last Saturday night. The boys from Dale's Modern Cycle In San Bernardino had to do it to me thls week. Dale Ahibom is twenty-two and has been racing his stock 125cc Yamaha about three months. He got his startasa spectator and just had to get out In the thick of it and now he is completely hooked on the sport. When not riding he works for Alpha Beta as a checker. His parents were on band and he said his mother was ready to have a heart attack but his father was enjoying them thoroughly. Dale has his sigbts set on Ascot and Daytona and he should haveno trouble getting there. George Gillespie is another member of lIIe San Bernardino racing team and was the big winner' of the evening. He also rides a 125cc Yamaha but would eventually like to move up to a 250Cc or 35OCc. George has it made as he is one of. the mechanics and can keep his bike In tip- top shape•• 10 what spare time a twenty-two year old guy has these days he manages to use at night school where he is taldng general courses. Unlike Dale, George has no ambitions to be anything but a sportsman and if he keeps riding like he has he'S going to be a darn good one. George said they were all going to Orange County and were giving fair warning. Boyd Mason is the third member of the team and also answers to the names of "Oalde Joe" and "Clem". This is where it started folks. I never was sure about his age as it was given to mef1ve different times and -.s never the same. Boyd's been racing a year and his malnamhitlon is to get a white plate so he can go after Tony Denius who is referred to by his team mates as "Fat Tony". Tony, they said it, I didn't. Boyd also shares his bike with Tony and said the only time Tony crashes is when he rides his bike. Boyd is also one of the shop mechanics so Tony ts nobody's fool as he mows Boyd'S 350Cc Harley ts going to be ready at all times. Dale, George and Boyd are all uP and coming novices and have one beck of a nice guy and a fabulous rider to learn trom in Tony Denius. Chuck Tidwell finally climbed aboard that hot 125cc Yamaha and did all right.