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/125664
Viewfinders GP Set For April 11 ,& 12. There's No Bull. ~ We were a club In search of a course. Our Viewfinder's Grand Prix was already scheduled for April 11th and 12th and we had no ground on which to build a suitable course. The Westlake managementhaddecided that it was more profitable and therefore more desirable to cover their hillsides with ticky-tacky rather than wallin' motorcycles. So last year's course sit was out. All we Viewfinder s et out to find an expanse of acreage on which to layout the course for the Greatest, Most Mammoth, Colossal, Stupendous test of Iron men -and thei r throbbing machines ever to assault the s ensual perceptions of the motorcycle Aficionado '. That's the way movice people talk about a pretty good race coming UP. " Never do anything small" seems to be the by-word and In the Viewfinders that inclu des crashing. A couple of people suggested a fine location In Glendale with rolling hills grass, plenty of parking and spectato: areas and good spots for beer stands. But just as we were In the process of marking the course the near-sighted management of Forest Lawn threw us out. Imagine what the Viewfinders G.p. could have done for the prestige of that place. Bob Hope personally chased us off his Corriganville putting green and things were pretty glum around the old Viewfinders club house when out of the blue someone blurted out, "How about Bay Mare ?" "Fantastic" "Great Idea" " Wher e the Hell is Bay Mare?" "District 37?" " Nor ther n Rhodesia." So now we had a course. Most people might think we might be able to get down to our favorite avocation; that of funneling down all the hooch we can lay claim ~ to and walt for race day to come UP. However , there were a couple of little details we had to attend to. One of the first was that mountain that bad to be moved. That's right, we moved a real mountain In preparation for this year's G.p . I don't want to sound like I'm exaggerating about its size but when I was there the first time, Sir Edmund HillarY and a team of two footed Sherpas were getting ready for an assault on the final peak. One of the our club members can drive a bulldozer so the hill turned out to be less of a problem than anticipated. The next thing we needed was lots of parking area and that's when the bull and the dozer driver started to become a probIern, A nearby land owner said he would be glad to lease us the 400 acres we needed for parking but the cars would displace his Bramah bull so we would have to look after him until we were through with his bull pasture. Well, we needed the space so we brought Elmer (that's the bull 'sname)to Bay Mare and built him a pen. Now we had enough parking and a lot of bull so it was time to get down to the guzzling. No, not yet. The course had to have a little manicuring. After two weeks of hacking brush and bulldozing and hacking and dozing we were sort of all hacked out but some one who knows about these things said we moved about two mUllon, four hundred thousand, nIn hundred and three cubic yards of dirt. I believe it might have been a couple more but I'm not one to argue. So now we thought we were home free. We figured we'd walk the course once and then break out the Dego Red and celebrate until the morning of April 11. Sure enough, about half wayaround the course Tom Newborn one of our more , sure footed members fell off one of the smaller jumps, fell about 70 feet and we bad to haul him off to cast city for a plaster shoe. Back at Bay Mare we looked around and felt pretty good. We'd had some bad luck but now we had a course with space for cars, plenty of viewing areas and good locations for the beer stands and heads. Now we hoped it would be time to get ripped off and walt for the 11th and 12th of April when it would be money's vUIe for the Viewfinders. But it stll1 dldn/t quite work out: Uncle George is a great guy. He's a Viewfinder, a Christian, a Four H Club member and our finest bulldozer driver; he is also one of our better juicers. ' This guy flat gets ripped out of his gourd. Since we were all In a festive mood George tried to get Inside his bottle of Red Mountain wine and was doing a real fine job when all of a sudden he hollers that Elmer, (remember Elmer? that's the c, bull's name and that's what this story is all about: bull) Elmerwasglarlngathim. v.> George jumped on his dozer and start- ~ ed smoking toward Elmer'S pen and :c: busted his way right through the middle Col of it. Elmer came charging out of there ..:J like a doze of Ex-Lax out of a duck. I ~ don't know what was more scary, Elmer 'u running around loose or George going amok on that rampaging bulldozer. Pretty soon it was allover. We got George cooled off but there was no sign of Elmer. He had run off and we're stlll looking for him. So when you get to the Viewfinder's Gran Prix at Bay Mare April 11th and 12 and you happen to spot Elmer, run tothe nearest Viewflnders 'member and, tell him or relate this story to the Sheriff. But when, you be sure to tell the lawman " please don't shoot the bull." Kawasa., e le'es o'oreyeIe Inuls'ry s L· .. omp M • f,rs' Dealer Managemen' Manual I the study and app~cation of the business practices and recommendations contalned in this manual can realize immediate increase in the yearly profits from this dealership." A signif1cantcontribution to the motorcycle Industry was made when Kawasaki Motors Corporation executives (Santa Ana, California) presented a 311-page Management Manual to their dlstributors and district managers during a weeklong seminar recently held in Galveston, Texas. Written for the exclusive use of the nearly 1,000 Kawasaki dealers In North America, the manual represents an important milestone In motorcycle retatllng, since It is the first such manual ever prepared that is de~igned to perform the same basic function as the management manuals used for years by General Motors and other automobile manufacturers. The Kawasaki manual was compiled by Jerry Roll and Ron Norick of the Norick Brothers Company, headquartered In Oklahoma City, working in close collaboration with Alan Masek, Kawasaki Motors general manager, and Don Graves, national sales manager. It deals with all phases of dealership management, Including accounting and financing; new motorcycle sales management; used motorcycle management and merchandlsing; parts management and merchandising; service management, and personnel mana gement. Said Masek, in presenting the manual to the members of the Kawasaki Dealers Association of Los Angeles and Orange Counties: " We believe that the Kawasaki dealer who will devote sufficient time to Alan Masek, genera l manager of Kawasaki Mot... s Corp...allon , stud ies. the flrsl copy 10 come off lhe press of KawasakI's unique Dealer Management'Manual , now available 10 all Kawasaki dea lers. Kawasaki Motor s is furnishing the manual (at no charge) to everyone of its dealers In the U.S. and Canada. It was twelve months in preparation and will be up-dated every year to keep it current. Honda Forks Interchange / ." \ ~ They said it couldn't be done, but Dan Foreman did it. He changed out the front forks on a CB 450 Honda with SL 350 forks. The SL 350 front forks are three inches longer than the stock forks and according to Mr. Foreman, "they make the bike ride a hell of a lot better". Dan Foreman owned a 1970 450CB Honda and wanted it to look more like the Harley-Davidson that Michell Parks rides In his popular TV series "Then Came Bronson" . Dan consulted the Honda codes to see if the forks were inter changeable. The codes sald that the change "was not possible. Dan explained, - ~)',,"'14.....l\\ ,: . 1 ~ .t . ' Sonny Routl of Hyattsville, Md., displays lhe slyle lhal was good enough for a flrsl place In Ihe Top Fuel Ellmlnal... Class, at the Sunsh ine Nationals In Gainesville , Fla ., March 7,8 and 9. Routt, riding a double Triumph, set a new meet record of 9.46 E.T., and 162.46 MPH. (Resulls on page 19). Nell Haney Welcomes You I HAFlLEV-CAVICSCN I of Lomita ~~40 'NEW MOTORCYCLES IN STOCK 0':>' New Sportslers Immediate delivery 2212 PAC. COAST HWy.(213) 534-5530 Hodaka Montesa M t orcyc Ies 0 Greeves Kawasaki Wes,.ils'.r Spor' C,ele Guy R. Louis (114) 893-1051 7574 Westmlnster-Ave.. Westminster, Ca. "I just thought it might work and tried · MOTO-X ACCESSORIES ,.lic•• Diwe & C,de Dis'. Co. 500 Broadway St.. Vall.jo, Cal. 94590 All orders shipped same day it". Some of the most important inven- KAWASAKI SPEED KITS 120cc & 17Scc wrlle or call $46 .00 tions have been discovered when many sald it could -never be done. Dan hopes to Interest more Honda owners in his new discovery. If you are Interested, write or ' call Dan Foreman at Norm Best Motors, 11617 E. Hadley, Whittier, Calif. Ph. 699- 8210; up DRACO'S MOTORCYCLES 1629 50. Standard Ave. 5anla Ana, Cal. 92707 (714) 543·968S , Torsten Hallm Racing, Inc. an West Coast Dis!. for PENTON Motorcycles Torsten Hallman special design I.. ther~ & rac ing equipment U.s. Olst. for Trelleborg Moto-Cross ti res " For dealer Info. wrlle or call 5345 Tlmken St., La lIlesa, Cal. 92041 . (714) 460>-1402 DELUXE DESERT MODEL c: Designed for fas', rough "Deser, riding or 'ricle, Tria's use We Pay Postage on Prepaid Orders California Residents add 5% for sales tax Dealer Inqu ires Inv ited Marrielr Shoelrs $34.0.0 • pair .., 60-90 . PROGRESSIVELY WOUND CHROME PLATED SPRINGS, FOUR INCH 'TRA VEL, 13 INCHES CENTER TO CENTER, AVAILABLE IN EYE & EYE OR , EYE & CLEVIS TYPE. NORm AMERICAN IMPORTS P .O . BOX 621 GAROEN..... GROVE. C AL.1F'C)RN IA 92642 PHONE ( 7 14 ) 534 -6390