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/125752
lcolm First Biker, Second Overall ~ w Z W ...J () > () Frank Danielson and Pete Breume tried it again this year and succeeded running about ten hours under their record. They never get laurels but are dedicated just the same. A pat on the back. boys. She posed for pictures before the race and no doubt those 8-by-10 glossies best-seller. will be a Lars Eric Johnsson rode the 125 Husqvarna to second in the Class 7 braving overt fears of Parnelli Jones on the way. CamaIu and El -Rosario, the first two checks. He bought a gallon of gas from a local for two dollars - a bargain considering Mike Patrick paid five times the rate last year - and the team made the rest of the trip without problem. Gordsmith got to ride in the dark and said the moonlight made it rather difficult to ride with limited lighing. Seems that the backlighting is a problem, making it hard to define the fast-approaching obstacles. Two of the three DKWs entered, broke flywheels. The threat of Gene Cannady and Max Switzer, who killed the giants in thi.s year's 500, was snuffed quickly when Cannady expired before the second check. The big heartbreak .' I~ ~~ Lew Buchanan was supposed to team with biker-bureaucrat Doug Toms but Toms couldn't make it. Vern Hancock: took his place on the Kawasaki-sponsorecf scooter and they finished eighth. Bill Silverthorn; fifth overall. second motorcycle. first Honda. The other one did well. too. belonged to Eric Jensen, however_ Running well over an hour in front of the next 125, Goldsmith's, Jensen was on the last stretch of pavement when the Bosch unit broke. Dean passed him while he sat on the road trying to make repairs. Oddly, both Jensen's and Cannady's machines had been through an International Six Days and a Baja 500. They lived and died together. The fastest 125 out there belonged to the Brooks brothers. Earlier in the year they cranked out an amazing victory over the biggies at the Mint 400 and this time they were out for a repeat. They set two records even before they got to the halfway point. Afterwards, Carabela head Oscar Franks smiled, "We were going to win or break. Unfortunately, we broke." Honda is nudging back into racing and their two entries did well. Bill Silverthorn and Gene Fetty rode the semi-off-roadie 350 with the streeter's gas tank for more capacity. Experimental forks and two carbs from a 750 Four were among other mods. The four-stroke hit La Paz 18 hours and 14 minutes after leaving Ensenada, 90 minutes slower than Nillson/Smith but second bike all the same. The second Honda was ridden by Howard Utsey and Steve Kirk for sixth place. Both Hondas had the best ligh ting system of the lot with the capability of half a million candlepower. As one observer pu t /'t, "When Silverthorn came across the finish line it looked like a train was coming." PROVISIONAL RESULTS Malcolm Smith! Gunnar Nilison Bill Silverthorn/ Gene Fetty Phil Bowers/Mike Patrick Dusty Coppage/ George Zuber Ron BishOP/Dick Hansen Howard Ulsey/Steve Kirk Terry Clark/Dean Goldsmith Bob Maynard/ Bryon Farnsworth Vern HanCOCk/Lew Buchanan Alan Masek/Don Graves Rick Owen/JaCk Froelich Mickey Quade/ Dennis Hussong Bruce Dunford/ Lars Eric Johansson AI Baker/Dick Miller Jeff Heininger/Casey Folks Hus 400 Vam 350 18,31 Vam 650 19,36 Kaw 350 19,47 Han 350 20,52 H-D 125 21,09 Vam 360 21,29 Kaw 350 Kaw 350 Yam 250 Hus 405 Hus 125 Puc 175 DKW 125 Gene Cannady's threat was prematurely when a flywheel broke. ,~_f~ J .,1101 I , . .o ,_.", 16,51 Han 350 18,14 ~f'