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/125757
JJ, ... f ~ _ .. t , 6·Days Honda 125: Honda's firs t sponsored dir' ride By Charles Clayton Leroy Winter, a 42-year-old grandfather who could pass for a draftee, won a Silver Medal in last September's International Six Days Trial riding a remarkably stock SL 125 sponsored by none other than American Honda Motor Company, its own self. [ took a ride on Leroy's self-prepared [SDT mount, around the trails of Ft. Smith, Arkansas out to a track near Spiro, Oklahoma and back, shortly after the machine had been returned from the hIe of Man. Winter swore that all he'd had to do to restore it back to the - like-new condition [ found it in was "hit it with a hose." . If Leroy's 1971 6-Day performance went uncelebrated in the reports, let'me amend that oversight emphatically: tlre first and only Honda entered in the ISDT went the distance and scored a silver medal. If there were an index of performance based on price, the under-$500 SL 125 would surely have won that for Gardena, California. N g o All Winter did to the machine besides careful detail preparation was shorten the bottom frame tubes by one inch and install a 32 millimeter Keihin carburetor. Muffer, compression ratio, electrics, all are stock. Leroy was pleased as the guy who discovered penicillin. They laughed when they saw it at the Six-Days. How does it perform? Would I like to find out? We set out from the magnificently misnamed "Cycle Shack" store which Leroy designed and built, with him aboard a customer's machin'e leading a merry chase. The 6-Days SL impressed me as a very capable, d!'Pendable Enduro bike, which puts.- it in a class with only two other brands of 125 that I know of and which cost quite a few dollars more. Its performance and handling were adequate in every way, for a 125, if not particularly astonishing. Top speed was just a quiver over 70 mph. On the Spiro motocross course it ~ w Z W ..J U > U Lower frame tubes are sawed loose and welded one inch closer to the sump. intake filed to fit 32mm carburetor. Forks and shock absorbers are stock. The came was altered, however. pulled terrifically in every range and handled quite responsively. Once [ did a bad front wheelie on a downhill trail and buried the 21" hoop in a cross-ditch. To trust the Honda or bail off, that was the question. I trusted and the bike pulled out of it under perfect control. [t's a bike that wins your confidence. Pulling hills called for the same combination of momentum and precision downshifting that any 125 requires, but it was here that the wide range of power was appreciated. Occasionally it would top the rise on the last rev left, but it could be. throttled down like a trials bike for tight going. In fact it would probably make an excellent English Trials bike with the stock carburetor. Now that Honda is looking seriously at the dirt racing market I think it is only a matter of time before we see Leroy installed a zipper in the seat to make this nifty tool compartment, for the 6-Days Trial. competitive 250 and 500cc sleds from the flying aitch. As for the 125 class, it is already in the showrooms. Namely the SL 125. $4,000 MRA MX Monterey Peninsula will host the Motorcycle Racers Association's Winternationals Motocross at Laguna Seca Cycle Ranch December 18 and 19. Total prize money of $4,000 is being offered for the race. The entrance gate will be two miles east of the present Cycle Ranch turn-off on Highway 68. Entry fee for Saturday will be $5 by mail and $10 at the gate. The Expert fees for Sunday will be $10 by mail and $20 for a, post entry. General admission is $4 with children under 12 admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Racing will begin at 9 a.m. on December 18 and 11 :30 a.m. on Sunday, December 19. Parts & Accessories - All Makes '11.1. MOU_'IID F.II FLA'I. FIXID '1.50 CYCLE SHACK 1645 W. Chapman Ave., Orange, Ca. (714).633.7644 • CYCL. N.W. TAK • • A HOLIDAY The Cycle News office will be closed from DECEMBER 21 thru JANUARY 4 ADY TI . MAIL0RDER SPECIALIST (213) 368-1615 Umpact Chopper ©ycle & Dirt Stuff rnngineering ~te Shipment on all Parts and Acceaories NORTHWEST LARGEST STOCK OF ACCESSORIES & CLOTHING FOR STREET OR TRAIL Try Us! 17622 Chatsworth St. Granada Hills W. 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RACE SERVICEMEN $1.00 FOR HODAIlA-BILI'IY see your local HOOAKA dealer Distributed by Tiger Distributing 653 W. Broadway, Glendale, Ca. 91204