Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I o ,... '" '" ~ w Z The average street rider could enter h.is street bike in motocross events for a long time and never learn much about riding motocross. The same is true for enduro, trials, TI, scramb'les and half mile. But there is a kind of motorcycle~ competition thaL traces its heritage directly back to the highway - road racing. Competing against like machines, the street bike can make a perfectly acceptable road racer, I)ecause it is still on its own element - asphalt. Asphalt is what sets road racing apart from all the types of competition named above, all of which are performed on natural terrain in varying stages of manicure. Since the role of natural obstacles and impediments is eliminated, the design of the road racing machine can disregard as a constant that which is a variable in other types of racing. There has been no- need to take into consideration any variat.ions in surface between one part of the track and another. An enduro Like, for example, needs a wide range of gear ratios to provide for both muddy hills and dusty fire trails. Likewise ground clearance, suspension and engine tune must be a compromise between what is optimum for smooth, fast sections, and what is necessary for slow, rough ones. The road racer can be fairly confident that his battle will not involve a conquest of the elements, and so his machine's capabilities can be more narrowly concentrated on one thing - going fast. If you were to list the parts of a road racer that are most different from other types of competition motorcycles, you could see that almost all of them are adaptations for extremely high speed. The stubby clip-on handlebars and the rear set foot controls allow the rider to get jlS low and flat on the bike as possible to minimize high speed wind resistance. The fiberglass fairing that forms the most quickly identifiable and unique characteristic of the road racer, serves the same purpose of cheating the wind. Road racing tires, made of a rubber akin to an art gum eraser, are triangular in cross section-to maximize the footprint when cornering, but minimize the rolling resistance when the bike is uprigh t. These two considerations are not small ones, since the average street bike will use about 30 HP just to overcome wind and rolling resistance at 125 MPH. Of course what goes up must come down, so stopping is just as important as going. Air cooled drums 12 inches in diameter with four leading shoes are common on road racers and twin hydraulic discs are becoming more popular. One highly experimental model uses a large air brake which is activated by the rider's crotch as he slides forward in the seat as he starts to brake at the end of fast straightaways. The road racing engine is one element where compromise is a necessity. It is a tradeoff between absolute maximum horsepower, like a dragracer's, and good reliability. The engine doesn't need to have a wide power band, but the axiom that you must finish to win is true. In road racing engines, a gearbox with very c1ese ratios is required. Since the overall gear ratio is high to allow for the greatest possible top speed on a given track, getting the machine underway from a dead stop becomes a rather hot proposition for the clutch, which will fortunately be called upon to perform this task only once each race. If you have never been to a road race, but would like to, prepare yourself for a rather subtle and delicate spectacle, like going to the ballet instead of Little Richard. I don't mean to make any value judgments, because although I love road racing dearly, there are other types of motorcycle sport that I would rather view as a spectator. Road racing is very demanding on the spectator because it lacks the raw physical action of motocross, flattrack or TI. "Thrills, chills and spills" do not form the basis for road racing's appeal, although an occasional participant may fall off his macbine. Another problem is that most courses are from two to tltree and a half miles long, so that oniy a small part of the action can be Seen at anyone time, or in anyone race. Also the distance between the course and the fan is generally great enough to detract from-the one element that road racing specializes in - speed. Yet in spite of all this, road racing can be one of the most accessible forms of competition for the street rider as a participant. The AAMRR, whic!! holds its races at various tracks located in the Cycle News East area, has a separate class for street machines, which is broken down into more classes in the street machines. Even in the Grand Prix classes, it is not unusual for a very slightly modified street machine to be highly competitive. This is a very different situation from motocross or hillclimbing or TI where extensive modifications are required to put a street machine on the track and even ·then the end result is not likely to be competitive. At a recent AAMRR Open Class event, the fifth place bike was ridden 300 miles to the track. A good tune up, and a sprocket change may be all that's needed to get a start in this type of competition. And what are the rewards? Road racing teaches skills that are directly related to and applicable to highway riding. On the road racing course there are no intersections, stop signs, or automobile traffic; no cars to pullout in front of you and no unexpected patches of sand or gravel. In the absence of these distractions you can learn to concentrate on the relationship between you and your machine, to polish this man-machine unit to a high degree of effectiveness in covering a given amount of roadwa,y with maximum efficiency, smoothness and speed. You will learn that on any INTERVIEW: TOM CLARK TALKS ABOUT ROAD RACING IN THE U.S. events in the l1Ist place. Wllt'n you talk about road radng "taking a back ~at" that'~ not entirely an:uratc. bccau"l' dubs like the AAMRR on tht.: ca!'!t coa... t and 1hc AFM on the west coa~t have bel.:n at·tively promoting it for a long timt'. Even though they're not the biggn racin~ organizalion~. they "till aCL:ount for strong ,upport of road rucing in thb country. Whal do vou /hillk wi/I happen /0 rhe AAMRR ai,d AFM as a result of rhe AMA becomillll rhe sole /1.5. FlM afFiliIJ/e? I don't think it will al"kct them at ;111. I hope they profit hy it. and I hope \\c will b..: ub!t.' to l:uoperate with thClll. h/hat do you see speci[iCfJIIl' as !tQppel1i"x hetweell .1'011 as theAAMRR alld AFM? rill nOt n:;Jlly sure :.It thi:-. point. I hope they'lI t'omt' to u... for FIM ~anc.:lion~. ~lfld of cOllr~\.' wc'l1 'IHow our rider., to t'nter their t::vcnb;.ls we have in the pa ... t. They may go independent. (Tom Clark i. the AMA Director of Professional Competition. He attends every AMA National event, acting in this capacity, The following "interview" was made with notes from a telephone conversation), First, tv sort of put tllings ill perspective, !low mallV AMA Nationals were run in the 1970 seasol1, aud of t!lese !Jow mall)! were Rood Races? There \\ere twenry-five alLogcther. and four were roud ruct· ... Duytona: Kent. Wa~hingtoll: Loudon: and Tulladcga, flnw does thaI compare to tile prellioLis year? Well. I'm not "'lift,.' if there were twcnty-live lotal tn 1969, but there \\cre four RO<.ld Race~-Daytona. Loudon. Indian<.lpolb, and Sea.r~ Point. flow does it look lor /lext seasoll? Beller. Thc!:IC race ... aren't all official yet. but they're pretty well eonfirmed-there'U be thirty altogctJler. and seven will be rO:ld races... Daytona. Loudon, Talladc!!<.I. Otltario lotor Specdway in Lo~ Angele~. Kent. Road A tl •.IOta (Gl'oQ!ia), and POl:ono Speedway III Penn~ylvani.:J. hlhy do you think Road RacinJ{ has a/~va)'s token a bQ{;k seQt to dirt el'ents ill this C01l11lry, whereas in J::urope it's the other wa), aroultd? Th~ fir...t rea.,on. of l·oursc. b just the hbtorital one-the U.S. !la..", at\\ ays had a lot of lbttrack racin!!. and thl.' European", IHlve alway", hall a lal pavl.'mcnt ral."ing.: thill\ lhtC way it u~cd to bt', and that's the way it still is tod.y. Another rcu~on for Road Racing'~ not bClI1g a~ popular is lilat there you've got a participant sport rathcr thun iJ ~pcl:tator 'port. In thb country you aho have the problem of cost. A Road course b more expensive initi.lly to build. and ., a result 01" tlWI it's mon: expensive for a promoter to rent. So it get!'! to be prohibitive. promoting road race!'! on a professional ba... is. What we need i~ morc in thL' way of "cvcryd<.ly'· weekend road rac('s-Likc all the half miles and motocrosses and so forth that arc always going on now. I don't even think the size of th\.' purse is that important, People definitely want more road racing. and I'm sure a lot of them would be glad to travel 10 small-purse events. A smalJ·pursc event would encourage promoters to get sanctions for the or Fred Otto ol the AAMRR .VOI'S. and 111011\1 o t h as feel the some \Va:,'. thaI tlie 200-minimum production rille is a little unreQlistic, 1111.1' comment on tlib;? Ye.'. I think it's :.J fine rule. and I hope it doesn't c.hangc, Ih::rc's why. The rule b b4l~cd upon the feeling that ull th ...· pan, can bl' purchased by tht,.' maciline l'lltered. avera!!c rider ror <.IllY Mos/ people feel rltat litO/'S tlte til/realistic part-tl/Qt you cou'l Imy tile kiuds oj'things that KO iuto Jim Ri('(~'s BSA. Jor eXQmple. Well. it'~ our feeling that yOlI CAN huy all tho!'!c I)art .... Mayb...· not :J!'!scmbk' them and tun\.' them like Jim Rice doc .... but th<.lt tlll'y·r...· at least available to you. lIecc's another rl'a:,on: factory support of the sport. Look wh:Jl hiJppencd to GP racing in F urope \\ hen the factoric!'!-Uond3. BATES POSTS $25,000 AMA NATIO,NALS FOR Bates Industries, a leading manufacturer of motorcycle accessories and custom-fitted racing leathers, has announced a $25,000 contingency fund for American Motorcycle Association championship events in 1971. According to Tom Clark, the AMA's Director of Professional Racing, thjs is one of the largest contingency plans ever set for AMA racing. The fund includes a $5,000 contingency award for the Grand National Champion, $1,000 each to the winners of the 200 mile road races at Daytona Beach, Florida and Ontario, California and prize money as far back as third place for all National Championship events. It also includes the National Championship Hillclimbs, and the. Trans-Ai\1A i\lotocross events. lnterested riders should contact AMA headquarters or Bates Industries for details. WANTED ••t.tercle .,,'••'e experienced only_ 40 hr. week. Insurance, profit shoring .nd other benefits. C.II Bill 'r. 467-2141 piece of road there is a stip three inches wide that represents all the pavement you need to get through a curve or turn with the least possible waste of time. You will find out how it feels to go so fast that the sound of your engine is faint and far behind you and the roar of the 120 MPH wind you make is deafening; to go so fast that looking down the road is like looking through a long pipe at a point of light very far away and yet right in front of your eyes. In many ways, road racing is like a woman. Her charms may not be apparent from looking at her, but once you get to know her, you will come back for more. With each encounter, you grow to know her better, until finally you know her well enough to know that you will never know everything about her. Yamaha. Suzuki-dropped oul. Who's racing now'! G.P. racing fcll l1:Jt on its farc without the fat·tury support. The FIM b l'urrcntly under pressuIT to adopt ...·crtiJin AMA fulL's. :Jnd the 200 minimum production b one of th",,' . Will rite FlM allililJriol/ increase the I/II/Ilber olAMA road races? It will inc.rea....e InlClnatiolliJl Racing in this country. of.lI types. Do you expect Q 101 oj't:uropealls to ride with next year, say. for example. 01 Daytona? LIS Ye!'!. about Slarting? Do you [orsee any adop/ariol/ ol ti,e HM bump-slart procedure in Ihis COlli I In' ? No. I myself: don't like tlu: bump ~t;.JIt. Any ma!'!", ,;!rollp "itart I~ d U

• Cover