Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~CYCLE iNEWS "America's #1 wee k I Y motorcycle newspap... You'll always see It FIRST In Cycle News !" Publisher.••••••• •. Charles Clayton Business Manager•.... S1aron Clayton General Manager• ••...•.•.Tom Culp Advertising Manager• ••••.Paul Cosner Feature Editor. . . • . • •. •. Terry Pratt As s istant Editor . .' ' ,Ken Hoff Circulation Manager• • •.. Bruce Easley Circulation Assistant• .• . Eieanor Duke Production ~tanager•. . . .• •LIli Lakich Lab Technician•• •.•••.• Jim Brooks Production Assistant. . . • • J erry Owen Bookkeeper. • . . . . . . Susan Whitelaw Want Ads . . . • . . . . . . •Suzllee Evans THEY'LL NEVER CONVINCE ME POINTS FOR DESERT OR TT? I attended the Jan. 25th team motocross promoted by the Bailey Brothers at Ascot and I watched the full three hours. I think there was a mistake in the lap sheets or somewhere because Jim Wilson and John Siebrandt had the lead and were way out in front. No one was passing them, even when the Junior was riding. In fact, Siebrandt had passed some others. I think that anyone who was keeping track would say that Wilson and Siebrandt were the winners, yet the first place went to Number 7, A mateo, There must be a mistake in the lap sheets. They should have a more efficient way of scoring. They'll never convince me that Siebrandt and Wilson weren't the winners. BOB GRIGSBY Torrance, Cal. On January 11, 1970, a T .T. race was scheduled at Adelanto, Cal. Because of bad weather, which made the T .T. track unraceable, the specified race could not be run. A desert type of race was held instead. Being an AMA Point T. T. race, riders were expecting aT.T . track. Instead, they were faced with a desert race using bikes set up for T .T . Some bikes can run both without change Many cannot. Under protest of the sponsoring club and District 37's Dick Kouns, entry fees were returned to the so-called, "Fair Weather Riders," who could have raced a desert point run in the desert instead of a T ,T. point run in the desert. DAVID RICH San Bernardino, Cal. • Published we ekly e xcept th e lirst and last week of the ca le ndar year by Cycle News. Inc .• P ost Offi ce Box 498. Lon g Beach. California. also publish ers of Cycle New s Ea s t . Seco nd Cla s s P os tage pai d at Long Bea ch, Ca lifornia . Ed itorial stories , c artoo ns . photos. et c. a re we lcome . Write for informati on. Addres s ed. stamped env elop e ass ures return of edito ria l matt e r. Reprint in g in whol e or in part onl y by pe rmission of t he publisher s . Advertising rat es and ci rculati on informat io n will be s ent upon reque s t . Single copy price •••••••• 25¢ I want to build a speedway bike but have never seen any information on the construction of one. How can I get data on the frame layout, where I could purchase a J .A.P. or an Eso engine, what size wheels etc. ROGER A . BLAKE 1237 W. Maxz1m Fullerton, Calif. 92633 Some of you speedway engineers reading this might want to drop Roger some facts and flgures ...Ed. Nonhern Office 1470 Broadway , Walnut Creek, CaUf. (415) 934.1995 Subscription: one year 2nd class mall ••• 57.50 NOT ONE LITTLE CLUE The Moos e Run was a pleasure to attend. Beautiful weather combined with a great course and good organization by the Four Aces saw to that. What ruined our trip was the overnight camping in the pit area. There was a dune buggy tearing around that missed' our kid's sleeping hags by two feet. A prowler walked through one camp and almost got his head done In. A brand-new DT-1 was stolen from a camp near us. The weekends are a time when we got to the desert to escape the constant pressure from work, traffic, petty annoyances and city life in general. It surely takes the fun out of it when you can't even ride to the rest room because you are afraid to leave your bike outside. MR, & MRS. W. JOHNSON Los Angeles, Cal. As one of the many easterners who attended the recent Anah eim Trade Show, and hung around a few days to take i n a local event, I picked out the Feb. 1st " East- West Team Pri x" for my weekend entertainment. Buying a copy of " CYCLE NEWS" was no problem, but finding the location of the event was something else. All the calendar mentioned was where to mail the entry fee money (Sherman Oaks) if one was a competitor, but the location of the motocross was a mystery. "Easy does it, we'll check the big ad, sez I, flipping to page three. Would you believe it, readers , not one little clue on the ad to help a stranger In his search for the missing track. In desperation, I drove to the edi tor ial office in Long Beach, and got myself straightened out• To all cycle clubs and promoters who might read this moan, please use small maps and explicit directions in future advertising. It might Increase the gate. JACK MERCER Canaan, Conn. OUR CLEVER NEWSPAPER PEPPER TREE TRACKSTER ON THE WAY Cycle News East and National Advertising Informati on: Thomas Culp ••NaUonallldvertlslng Olr. 2499 Cerritos Ave. Long Beach , Calif. 90806 (213)427-7433 or 6.36-8844 Telex 67-3474 ESCAPE MORE DIFFICULT YOIC• • The results of the Ascot team race came as a surprise to a lot of us, including Bob Bailey who dropped the checkered flag on Wilson , Wilson and Siebrandt who were ultfmately' awarded second and to the CYCLE NEWS photographer who had a roll of film with lots of shots of that Dying Greeves but none of the winning 400 Maico ridden by Steve nurd and Bill Brokaw. _ lIurd and Brokaw are relative unknowns in today's motocross scene but many desert riders remember Steve as the fellow who wore the 1968 hea vyweight number one plate. Bill is a SoCal expatriot who was the State Champ trials rider some years back. Bill now lives in Colorado SPrings , Colo. Steve rode the first hour and ten minutes non-stop. A dump funnel left over from his hare and hound days cut the pit stops down to a scant 15 seconds. Although the details get fuzzy in a three hour marathon. Steve thinks he passed Wilson when Jim had sprocket trouble and had to switch bikes . The four lap sheets were kept by scorers working in separate trucks and they all agree on the final outcome. Until we switch to a computerized system I guess we can't improve on that. O.K. Bob? O.K. Frank? Bill . Steve?...Ed. Cycle News (West), P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, Calif. 90801 (213) 421-1433 L.A. 636-8844 THE DESERT IS COLD AT NIGHT I can't belleve what I have just read in the Feb. 3rd Issue of our clever newspaper. How you can award a moral victory to Super Bruce McGuire at the Bay Mare Combo-Cross is beyond me. In Torsten Hallman's own words Bruce is the fastest rising motocross rider in the U.S. He came to California to compete against riders llke Bm Payne and Jim Dawson who have been racing for less than eight months. Did my eyes deceive me or did I see a rider who just transferred from Novice this month lead both motos for a few laps before passed on a long straightaway by a much faster machine? Why not give the moral victory and , the actual victory to a team of young riders who rode their hearts out to win over big odds for the second time. AL HElL No. HoIlywood, Cal. Can anyone who was at the Comho-Cross deny that McGuire was the fastest man on the track? Moral victories don 't even pay trophies an ymore so this one doesn't besmirch the brass winning. headline winning , real-life actual victory pulled orr by Payne and the rest of the fired-up Yamaha of 1000 Oaks team... Ed. On behalf of my son and myself, I would llke to thank every person who stayed at the 4 Aces' race Sunday, January 25, helping and waiting to find my son. I really don't know to express how grateful I am to the Viewfinders, 4 Aces, Rescue 3 and the Radio alert team members that were there. TheYall deserve recognition and praise. Pete Colbe r t of the Viewfinders and Dave Netherlin have to be two of the most beautiful people alive. Thanks to everyone that was there. RICK AND PAT MOORE Burbank, Cal. WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT RESCUE 3 On Sunday, Jan. 18, at Adelanto our son Robert Fisher fell, sustaining a concussion and a broken leg. An unknown young man summoned help and Rescue 3 and other unidentified riders administered first ald and provided transportation to the ambulance. He is now doing well and looking forward to his release from the hospital. MR. & MRS. W.H. FISHER Duarte, Cal. Ves Jack, written instructions on how to reach the race track are appreciated but no race promoter should overlook the prospect of personalized direction service as provided by the Team Pr ix promoters. Laurie points the way in a manner no one could miss. MAYBE IT HELPS I lost a considerable amount of confidence in our District 37 officials last week when I received the 1970 sports calendar • . In 1968, two of the district clubs were late getting their resnlts out, and hence lost their point runs for ' 69. This year it took the Checkers nearly three weeks to get the resnlts of their fiasco out; yet they're on the calendar for 1970. Perhaps having the district president in your club helps. Maybe I shouldn't care, I'm not going to ride the Check Chase anyway, but with all the attention being given to cheating lately, it would be nice to think our officials are doing their part. ' BOB MITCHELL Altadena, Cal. GRAFFITI The Motocross at Fontana, January 18, seemed quite a success until I went to use the restroom facll1ties. A line of 18 met met at the door, waiting for their turn. While standing in line, I met one of the Mitco riders, Gary Thatcher, who suggested to me what sounded 11ke a good plan: One comfort station for the use of racers, and at least one for the use of spectators, so the riders won't run the risk of missing a race because as we all know, " Two heads are better than one!" HAL DAVIS Newport Beach, Cal.

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