Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Movie Stars Meet Distributer How Will "Operation Intercept" Affect Touring (yclistsl By Mr. Hap Jones, president ~ tile Hap Jones Dlstrlbutlnl Co., meets stars Mlcllael J. Pollard and Robert Redford at tbe sears Point International Raceway near San Francisco durlnl the fllmlnl of SC_I lor Para..-nt's -Utlle Fauss and BII HallY·. Hap .11 tile U.S. distributor lor Ayon tlrel wblcb _e selected lor ule In tile PanaYlllon-Technlcolor film about motorcycle raclnl. E.C. Birt - The Racer's Tuner Story and Photos by Maureen Lee For some tIme now some of "the best running racing machines around have received tile loving care that E.C. Birt and his partner Lutller Dill give to an engine. They buIld precision two-strokes and by tile word precision tIley don't mean just tile engine work itself. Every engine is tailored to tile indIvidual ownIng it. "Every rider is dlfferent and has his own ideas of how he wants his engine to perform," E.C. says, "I especially 11ke to work witll tile Novices. We staJ;.t tIlem out witll a conservative barrel and build it UP gradually as tIley progress in abillty. A NOYice can't use full power at tile beginning anyway, but I give him everytiling he can use." Besides keeping tile average racers happy, E.C. has contributed much to tile success of such riders as Gary Bailey, Bruce Baron and Claus Nilson. After he started working on Bailey's machine, Gary took a second in tile Tiny Bear run and went on to win all kInds of speed tests aboard the Hodaka. E.C. ls modest about the machines he's worked on but when you t1na1ly pry his successes out of hIm he's justifiably proud witll a bike that won 13 straight wins at tile Trojan TT and one that won tile sweepstakes at tile Forst Ranch Inter-Am race. At anotller Inter-Am E.C. hImself led his class right UP 'W tile end when he fell off. Altllough he races hlmself, it's tile techn1cal side of competition that is tile most important to him. "I JUSt enjoy working on bikes. If one of my bikes wins or places high I'm happy as III had ridden it myself. That's enoughach1evement for me." . Jack Mllne was tile ma.n who got him started In competition ridIng. Before that Birt was just playing around in tile desert altllough in 1959 he raced cars, a Bonneville machine and a sprint car. Starting in English trials he won fIve times straight. "That moved me to Expert in a hurry but I dIdn't want to build UP a bigger trials bike so I moved on." It was by ridIng in races that he came up with tile idea to build custom tailored engines for racers. E.C. told us, "Most of tile shops just don't cut it witll tun1ng racing machines. They are geared for tile road rider and general maintenance work. They don't have tile time to tinker witll a racing engine that I do. There are a few good shops around who can work witll a racer but not many. I still get upset when someone, espec1a11y a kid, comes to me witll an engine that he's put a lot of money into that still won't run right and that has been really ruined. You can take metal off In a hurry but you can't put it back," From tb1s session In E.C,'s small but Immaculate garage, we wentafewblocks away to Lutber Dill's home, where he has a machine shop that boggles tile mind. "Poppa" Dill is tile head mach1n1st and lay-out man for Diamond Tool when he and E.C. haven't got tIle1r heads togetller over someone's barrel. They've been working togetller for over two years. They met when Lutller bought a bike from E.C: and he hImself ls an exracer and used to ride tile old board tracks. E.C. has a big record book he showed us witll every barrel and pipe he has built recorded in it witll the measurements and performance ratings. The whole operation is completely metllodlcal witll notblng left out. He also showed, witll a sly litUe grin a new three port barrel and piston fort a Sachs tIlat he's working on. "How does it run?" Another 11tUe grin, "Just f1ne." Besides getting your bike set up for you as tile rider, what else do you get when E.C. does your tuning? For one tb1ng his pipes are a clever idea. Des1gned witll a removable stinger, it gives you 500 rpm's on your range band of Ullcit drugs Into tile Un1ted States. When you reach tile llne, Instead of Bill Harmer Starting Sunday, September 21, 1969, tile Un1ted States government bega.n a new policy of checking all persons returning from Mexico at all border crossIngs from San Ysidro to tile Gulf of Mexico. Named "OPERATION INTER-. CEPT", tile check is aimed at stopping tile fiow cit Marijuana and other narcotics Into tile country. It is not a move des1gned to make a lot of arrests, but to keep would-be smugglers from attemptIng to bring In contraba.nd. In practice, every truck, automobUe, motorcycle, or pedestr1a.n ts stopped and searched as tIley return to the Un1ted States. As a result, during tile fIrst day's peal< periodS, traffic was pfied up at tile crossing all tile way back to tile Caliente Race Track, a d1sta.nce of about 6 mUes. In such Instances, automobUes and trucks have no choice but to go to tile end of tile llne and endure hours of Immobillty as tile llnes Inch toward tile crossing. PedestrIans also must submit to questioning and sometImes a search of tIleir purses or person. They, too, are In for a wait as only two otf1cers are checking tIleir llne. Motorcycles, however, don't fare too badly. They can do as tIley always have; when tIley get to tile end of tile waiting car llnes, tIley eitller continue between tile llnes or go on e1t1ler side. About a block from tile border, tile llnes fa.n out Into as many lanes as tile U.S. Customs have open at tile time. There is a maximum of sIxteen llnes ava11able and tile personnel at tile San Ysidro Crossing has been Increased so that an average of fourteen llnes are In use. We talked witll Customs Agent, Marvin Mllner, who kIndIy answered our questions. At tile time of tbis writing, tile "OPERATION" was 72 hours old and an automobile crossing tile border could expect about a 30 minute wait in 11ne. This, of course, is for week day traffIc as tIlere had not been a weekend except for tile 101t1al Sunday. Agua Caliente Race Track is now offering free bus and taxi service to and from tile border, which should alleviate some of tile automobile traff1c. Mr. Milner reported that tile success of "OPERATION INTERCEPT" is exceeding tile Treasury DeparIment's highest expectations and it is doing exacUy as it vias intended to do: cutting off tile fiow ~ tile usual 20 seconds visual check, you can expect about a two minute physical check. Saddle bags and boot boxes w11l be rum maged through, a.nd Il you have tents or bed rolls, tIley may or may not be opened for custom's search. In conclusion I might cite from personal e>q>erience. Returning from tile TT Races In Tijuana at the peak of tile 101t1al day's traff1c, when automobiles were taking as long as sIx hours to make the crossing, by sldrtlng tile l1ne6 and pulling In front of a 'waitlng car at tile border (my normal practice), I was actually delayed about 15 minutes longer tban usual. So unless you plan on bringIng back ,.p1lls or pot", feel free to make plans to participate In tile Annual Cycle News Ensenada Tour on November 1st a.nd 2nd. There w11l probably be less tratf1c tban usual as most car drivers w11l "chicken out". '; _ Cll ~ to:! :i!: to:! ...:l ~ U UWASAII Headquarters BEACH CITIES CYCLES 525 N. EI Camino Real San Clemente, Calilomia nl4) 492-&741 Hodaka Montesa M Greeves otorcycles Kawasaki Westminster Sport Cycle Guy R. Louis (714) 893-7057 7574 Westminster Ave. Westminster, Cal. Bullaco We specialize In only Bultac. Mitco Bultaco 7241 W. Oran,ethorpe, Bue.. Park (1l4) 522-6109 Send For CUSTOM MADE Skid Shoe K!l.~,W~&a~Y~ /.j -Route 2, Box 75B, Corona, Cahf. • . Irl: flit "'11' wit, UJurr ",,! $25. plul C.O.D. & Postale selld Iraclnl 01 b~t lor perfilct lit LO.,TA HONDA Sa'es· Parts • Service Complete line 01 Speed Equipment Custom Palntln" Frame Works, Frame Desl"lIn, & Bullcln, Discount Pnces on All Sales "' 2073 Pacilic Coast Hwy. 326-3&10 or 326-3&16 ' .. Robe~ M. ~<~P' ~~* -=- ----:-~ HIGHEST TRADE-IN A Sachs cets tbe lo-Iast treatment as tuner E.C. Blrt and his macblnlst-partner Lutber Dill pall.. with dependIng Il the two·stroke that , . to play the maclc wand overyou're on afast wl/llranslarm It Into a racer's dream. ~r~s~a~:;:e,S~t'~v.:~~~~:'n~ tbing to have if you're in sand one week and on asphalt tile next. But perhaps tIle'most important tbing you get is tile way E.C. stands behind his work. On each barrel he builds he installs a 11tue gold plaque bearing his name because he has that much pride In his work. The way he works sounds almost too good to be true but ask anyone who rides one of his bikes. He and Lutber belong to what seems all to otten a.n almost vanisbed breed of men - true craftsmen wttll pride In what tile)' do. 239 N. Allahelm tllyd. Anaheim, Cal. Phone.(7!f) .s33-13~ .. Husqva'rna-GZ-Pent'on Complete line Q{ Torsten Hallman Racing Equipment Largest Stock of Motorcycles & Parts in the Los Angeles Area ALSO Suzuki, lundapp, M.l. & Montesa ~aiMi,", '4(2'3) 475-454' 2 CYCLE CITY Moto-x Accessories & Equipment 10673 W. Pico Blvd.• West Los Anoeles. Cal. '.,

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