Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

el Baja Win; Ex-Cyclist Takes Overall more than $76,000 in prize money and quite a bit of contingency money. Roberts and Smith won the big bike class with ease, coming in more than 1 hour and 20 minutes ahead of their nearest class competitors, Ron Bishop and Dick Hansen who were riding a Kawasaki. The second best bike time was not among the big bikes at all; it belonged to the fantastically fast little DKW 125 being ridden by Gene Cannady and Max Switzer. Gene and Max finished in 12 hrs. and 40 minutes, which was within 4 minutes of last year's winning bike time of Silverthorne and Fetty on a 400 Huskyl Next in the 125 class was another DKW, this one ridden by Eric Jensen and Steve Hurd. Unlike the Baja 1000 which runs in almost a straight line the length of the Baja peninsula, the Baja 500 makes a big loop, essentially running down the west side of Baja to a big powdery dry lake the lly the hn en ne an Gene Cannady adjusts his goggles and prepares to leave the first check at Camalu. his 8 speed Husky. Look out Triumphs' Bike was prepared 1m. called Chapala, going across the lake and then back up the other side of the peninsula to San Felipe, where the course starts inland going past Laguna Diablo and Valle de Trinidad. Eventually, it winds up just outside of Ensenada. The total' distance is 553 miles and there are a total of 8 ~hecks that the rIders must go through. The fJrst 100 mIles of the rim, from Ensenada to Camalu,. is paved .and although there are qUIte a few tIght turns and several mountaInOUS sectIons, the best cars avera~e just short of 100 mph over that sectIon. J.N. Roberts' 8 speed Husky was only able to average 71 mph and that was about 2 mph better than t~e next best blke, a TR-6 Tnumph (whIch mIght help to dIspel some myths!). . . . From Camalu to EI Rosano there IS mostlyfalrly Rood road WIth an occasIonal bad ~ashout. From .then on .the ro~d deterIorates progressIvely. unul It hIts Laguna Chapala where It IS almost non-exlStant. At Laguna Chapala the course leaves the main road and heads nortlt toward Papa Fernadez, where most of the teams change nders. The distance to that point is about 300 miles. J .N. handed the big Husky over to Malcolm with half an hour of daylight left, which was an aid in getting through the rocky section that followed. Once night falls on the riders, they face their most difficult problems, keeping their, at best, marginal lights working for the remainder of the race. All sorts of systems have been tried to give the ride.r some sort of an even break against the dark, but most have not worked well. Even if the bike can generate enough electrical power, which is seldom the case, there is no reasonable way to get the beam high enough to be effectIve. One nder mounted. a quartz-iodJde lamp on the top of hIS helmet and plugged hImself into the bike when he got aboard! Malcolm Smith .Iost .about 10 mInutes once .when hIS lIghts ~alled but accordll1g to hIm that wasn thIs J'IJost serious problem. "I'd see something out 111 the darkness and lam on the brakes, which would kill the engine," he said, "leaving me in total darkness to miss whatever I'd seen". Sincethe Husky had no battery, the ligh ts always died with the engine. There were only 36 entries in the two motorcycle divisions of the Baja race, but fully half of the entrants were racers who had already proved themselves in off-road racing. They were guys who could be expected to win if they got a few breaks, which meant if their bikes held together. Many of them were sponsored by th eir respective distributors. ;The martality rate among them is some indication of the seventy of tb.e race. By 9 o'clock the morning after the race there were only 10 finishers among the .bikes. This was at 21 hours. A contestant is declared a finisher if he makes all the checks within 30 hours so a few are still in doubt, but for all practical purposes the race is over in about 15 hours. Here's a rundown on some of the better known riders and how they did (or didn't do) in this most difficult test. No. I) Ron Bishop and Dick Hansen riding a Kawasaki 350 with a monstrous Brown gas tank were the third team to finish. They took 2nd in their class with a time of 13:20. 5) Mickey Quade and Kim Gifford from Esc ondio, Calif., were ab oard a 400 Husky. They finished in 16:52, 7th in the heavyweigh t class. 6) Bob Ewing and Preston Petty were riding a brand new BSA Victor that had been flown ove~ from England two weeks prior to the race. They were out after the first check with an alternator failure. Said Preston, "We didn't have time to really get it sorted out, but 1 doubt if we would have found that problem anywasy." While they were going, they were really smoking. They were the first bike into the check at Camalu with a 4-minute lead over the bike on Minute 1. 8) Larry Bergquist and Gary Griffin elected to ride a 125 Bultaco. They were seen working furiously on it in the impound are and they never made it to the first check. 10) Cecil Oswald and John McDonald, sponsored by Cecil's Cycle Center, brought in the third and last bike to finish in the 125 class as of the time we left. Their time was 16:41. 12) Gary and DeWayne Jones took 3rd Heavyweight on their 250 Yamaha. Gary's ride in the 2nd half was relatively trouble free, but DeWayne rear-ended a truck and broke his chain about four times. He finally made it in to the changeover and they replaced the offending chain. 14) Gene Cannady and Max Switzer. Gene has been really hot lately, winning a desert race and both days at Elsinore. Max just won the Cherry Creek Hare and Hound in Utah. Both added the 125 class win to their score with a completely trouble free ride. Their time was 12:40. Over the 93-mile paved section their DKW 125 managed an impressive 62mph average. 16) Terry Hildebrand was going to ride the event by himself on a Honda 325, despite the fact that his arm was in a cast! He ran out of strength at the halfway point so Hoyt Strathem, whose bike had broken, took over for him and brough t the Honda in just after daylight. "The Honda is absolutely stock and handles beautifully," said Hoyt. 19) Mike Patrick and Phil Bowers, the tearn that seemed to own the Mint 400 until this year, had bad luck today. Phil hit a bush and pierced his cheek with a branch. It wasn't to serious but it was painful and gory. Still they managed to finish fourth in their class with a time of 14: 32. 23) Steve Hurd and Eric..Tensen. rode the second Hercules-sponsored DKW and captured 2nd place in their class. "That Cannady sure cuts a mean trail! said a tired Eric, who had been trying all night long to cut into-his lead without much success. Eric was cutting quite a trail himself having be.at all but 2 of the big bikes and Cannady's DKW on his 125cc bike. 24) Doyle Fields and Mike Burke, two of the country's top sled riders, almost tied J.N. 's time down the pavement stretch on their TR-6 but they were out by the fourth check.' 28) Doug Douglas ana Whitey Gregory were riditIg a sponsored AJS 370. Doug won the 500 two years ago on a big "Duke" and set the solo record for 1000 miles down the peninsula on It an Ajay. He's pretty famiiiar with Baja but he got to dicing with J.N. on the pavement and seized his Ajay. Said he, "I've got me a Nortion 750 engine and I'm going to get a Trackmaster blueliner special frame for the 1000. And nobody's going to beat me on the pavement!" Period. 29) .J.N. Roberts and Malcolm Smith. You know about them. .30) Niles Us~e':Y and Horace Cunn, Triumph 650, fInIShed a good 2 hours after Smith but it was still good for fifth in their class. They rode a TR-6. 31) Frank Danialsen and Peter Breaum get the medal for utmost fortitude. They're riding a Triumph Sidehack and might still be going. They ' weren't out as of Thursday morning. 32) Bob Hunter and Jeff Heininger were riding a DKW 125 and probably took 4th in the class, finishing just after we quit keeping score. If so, make it 3 out of 4 top positions for DKW, which is not all that bad. 33) Bill Silverthorne and Gene Fetty, last year's winners, were down in 6th place this year with 15:40. They rode a Honda 350. . 34) Tom and Cordis Brooks have switched from Hodaka to Carabela. At Camalu they were heard singing the no-compression blues. The other Carabelas in the race had a similar problem. 36) Bill Rgbertson and Dave Ekins tried to do the job with a 125 Honda but didn't fare so well. "You got some tire irons in the tool kit?" says Dave, "Sure," says Bill. So Dave wound up trying to change a tire with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver and put the screw driver through a portion of his hand. Exit one mad Dave Ekins. Must admit, that's a bit of a handicap, even for a Gold medal winner. Every year the 500 (and the 1000 as well) becomes a little easier and a little faster. Soon it will be a plain and simple road race, and the men who rode it when it was a rough dirt event will be regarded with the proper awe. But now, everyone just looks forward to the 1000 and another shot at all that money. (Results on page 24) Romero After you've graduated from readin·. 'ritin' and 'rithmetic and are ready to learn something about motorcycle racing. study Romero. Rice cnd Rayborn. Study Gene Romero. Grand National Champion. Watch his riding style. Aggressive. Confident. A charger. Equally at home in any kind of racing. Note his leathers. Bates. He's a professional in every respect. StUdy Jim Rice. winner of more dirt track nationals in 1970 than any other rider. Watch his style, where he sets uo. the groove he takes. when he drafts. when he puts a wheel in. He too wears Bates Leathers. Study Cal Rayborn. considered by many as the best road racer in America today - maybe the bes1 ever. Watch him in a controlled drift. Talent and guts to spare. Fastest man on the salt. too. Cal looks trim and comfortable in his Bates Leathers. The three R's choose Bates because Bates provides the extra margin in protection. Better leather. Top-grain cowhide. carefully selected and meticulously processed to be supple and comfortable. Custom-made to fit ea~h individual like another layer of skin. And each garment is the handcrafted work of one of Bates expert seamstresses - reflecting personal pride in workmanship. Whether you race for money. compete for trophies or ride for pleasure. Bates has Leathers for you. And you'lI find the same fine craftsmanship and leather Romero, Rice and Rayborn do. Study and learn from The Three R's. Send for free catalog and complete information on how to order. •••••••••••• THE BATES LEATHER SHOP • BATES INDUSTRIES. INC. 701 West Cowles Street Long Beach, California 90801 • • • • • Batesthe Leathers that suit the Champions. Name ·Mdre~ • • ~C~it-Y-----~S~t.~I.~~Z~iP~--4-6 • • • • • • •••••••••••• .... - ~ w Z W ...J U >- U

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