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/125669
Yamaha Flat-Tracker Christened By Terry Pratt Pour ing Sake from a Japanese wine bottle , Dick Keirn christened his newest fla t trac k machine in the pits at As cot Fr iday night . Japanese Sake was the pr oper choice for the occasion becaus e it marked one of the first com petitive appearances of 'the new Yamaha 650 four - s troke twin on the half- mile oval. For Keirn It was the moment he had bee n Waiting and working toward for over a year . When the new ' engine was fir s t announced Dick spotted the potential of the four main bearing, single overhead cam engi ne a nd put In his roder , He had to walt a year to get the mill but when-It came Dick ru shed It over to Trackmaster an d had a frame wrapped around it. Then the hard work began. Building a race bike out of a stock s treet machine Is always a long Job. There are no bolt on r acing co mpone nts made for a brand new bike lik e the Yamaha so everything you want you have to mak e yourself. " Just looking at it you wouldn' t th1nk there was much work in It, " KeIrn says, " But we' ve been on it every night and weeken ds for three or four months." " Ther e' s twice the work in this than In one of my Goldstars." .. But it sure is neat working with new pieces of ma chinery." The engine is surprisingly standard. Two 34mm Mlkunis replace the stock carbs but the valves are all stock. No special pistons are available yet so Kelm welded up the tops of the original ones and remachined them to clear the valves . New cam profiles, valve springs and light weight retainers come from Norris performance products and Kendall DT-l oil ~oes Into the wet sump. KeIrn says that one of his first projects will be to convert the engtne to a dry sump system to cut down on internal friction . Per haps the most time consuming operation on the Yamaha was the change over fr om left side shift to right side for left turns around the Ascot oval. KeIrn made a new shift shaft and welded uP bearing bos ses around the hole he made in the right case. The seat section Track Master frame had to be altered to be comfortable for Shorty Seabourne who is built closer to the gr ound than most riders. Shorty ha s been riding Goldstars for KeIrn for two seasons now and will be seen on the Yamah a that was buil t with him In mind. Stock horsepower Is rated at 65 and with the Improvements already made the rig seems to be compe ti tive. , La st Friday night Sea bour ne was r acing for fourth place In the Final when the steering dam per sanpped and s ent Shorty over the bars. They 'll both be bac k this ,wee k and If the first outin g Is a s ign of how the twin is going to r un after all the handlin g bugs are sorted out then the Kelm-Seabourne- Ya maha team is going to make news this year. Dick Kelm's handiwork shows In this view of his new 6S0·Twln half mile machine. The shi ft lever Is now on the ri ght si de. Noti ce how the pipes tuck ' around the foot peg. WICKAM WINS AT HUNTINGTON BEACH By Eddie Smith HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF .April26, 1970 - Greg Wlckam, riding a Bultaco, was first over all in the 250cc Expert motocross, held on the TT course at Huntington Beach Cycle Park. Greg also took first place In the four lap trophy dash. Placing second behind Wickam in the 250 Expert moto was Jerry Gr eer , also riding a Bultaco, Gr eer also finished second behind Gr eg in the trophy dash. Greer, who had troubles during the 250 Novice hea t race, won the semi Main Event, then went on to win the Main Event, beating Scott Elkins' Yamaha by a good margin. Fred Timberlake, mounted on a Kawasaki, placed third; John Sperry (Yamaha) won the 125 Novice motocross, winning all three of the motes, Bobby Butt, also riding a Yamaha, flnlshed second, while Jerry Hart took third over all. Lee Seidel (Honda) took home first place honors in the Expert Open motocross . Norm Seidel, on a Triumph, placed second. Dave Fletcher, riding a 500cc Triumph, . was the over all winner in the Qpen Novice class . Fletcher also placed third In the Expert Qpen motocross. The 100- 125 Expert motocr os s honors went to Earl Roloff, who was riding a Yamaha 125cc. Kirk Redding an d his Kawasaki took second, while Bobby Butt took third on his Yamaha. Rick Isbell (Kawasaki) edged out Steve Stanfield's Kawasaki to win the lOOcc Novice Main Event. Dennis Briggs, also mounted on a Kawasaki, flnlshed third. TT scrambles will be held at Hunting ton Beach Cycle Park again on May 3r d. Fletcher , Gr ee r , and Wlckam will all be back. (Results on page 19) DOMINATES DEADMAN'S POINT MX APRIL'19, 1910 500 SR. 1st: RON DUGAN - HUSKY 2nd: DON BEVANS - HUSKY 3rd: DENNIS KEEFE - HUSKY 500 JR. 1st: M ICKY BURTON - HUSKY 2nd: MARK SHOOK - HUSKY 3rd: KEN MARKLING - HUSKY 250 JR. DlV. 4 1st: J.P. LAMBERT - HUSKY 250 JR. DIV. 3 .. 1st: GARY WHITEHEAD - HUSKY WESTERN Distributor: MED International 4190 Palm Avenue La Mesa , California GUNNAR LINDSTROM - HUSKY WI NNER of 250 AM/E X. CLASS at BAY MARE 4/19/10 LEADING IN DESERT HEAVYWEIGHT POINT STANDINGS 1st - J.N.Roberts - HUSKY 2nd - Whitey Martino - HUSKY