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/125689
& 62!(eW :. o ..... en II; E. " '" ~ w Z w -' u ><..> By Bruce Flanders WENDOVER, UTAH, Aug. 23, 1970 In a year that promied many record breaking passes down the salt, Mother Nature. dropped her magic wand and upset the timetable enough so that at least two major achievements may have to wait another year. The ultimate speed record for motorcycles was missed by about 5 mph, as Don Vesco of EI Cajon, Calif. went 240.244 mph in trying to better the Triumph-Detroit record of 245.667. Interestingly, Vesco's twin engine Yamaha 350 (700cc) was on certified pump gasoline, while the existing record is held by a twin engine Triumph 650 (1300cc) on fuel. The other accomplishment that must wait is the magic 200 mpb barrier for un-streamlined motorcycles. Don Sliger, South Gate, Calif., with his sanitary loo~g twin engine Royal Enfield, bumped the un-streamlined record to 194.724 with a mild load of nitro. A few days later he came back loaded for bear with a 92% load of nitro and requalified at over 203 mph. But at record runs the next day, his clutch apparently could not handle the additional horses and it scattered. More than 100 bikes and 200 plus cars were on hand at the world famous salt flats, to try to set new, or break existing, records at the 22nd annual running of Bonneville National Speed Trials. Activity started on Sunday with shake down Tuns, and continued through the following Saturday, with the record attempts occurring during the latter part of tbe week. Nearly 800 runs a day were common place, as the bikes were in terspersed between the high-speed four wheelers in their record attempts. But records don't come easy at Bonneville, located some 4000 feet above sea level. Basically the same Triumph Trident that Gene Romero used to set an average speed of 157 around the CUIVes and esses at this year's Daytona classic, could only manage 144 at the 4000 ft. elevation, straight as an arrow, salt flats. .It The l.ong, lean look. .} This is Single engine Harley-Davidson, driven by Dennis Manning and owned by Manning, Milder and Rivera, that demonstrated some of the best capabilities at the Salt this year. Unfortunately, it had some teething problems but should be a real threat next year. . A drag racer of much note, Leo Payne of Las Vegas, made another trip to the salt this year, bringing along his very mean single engine Harley fuel burner; a stock framed, punched and poked 74, with a partial streamlining by Wixom Bros., which looks very much like the items they make for the factory road racers. Leo took home a two way average of 202.379 mph that has to be one of the most impressive records on the books. Before continuing with this year's story of Bonneville, it might help if some of the clouds of confusion which surround the classification structure for motorcycles are cleared. Bikes fall into th eir two natural sub groups, engines and frames. These are further divided into class "C" (general production) and class uA" (non-production or extensively modifie