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/125800
that it is done, although the Barnett clutch doesn't mind it. The machine pulls strongly from low RPM right up to about 12 grand. The transmission is the stock five speed aI though a Voshimura six speed is being considered. A surprising thing about the machine is that, with all that power, it still handles very well. Another surprise is that it is very reliable. We spent the whole day flogging the bejeesus out of it and it never whimpered. It was run through the quarter by no less than four different people and each one felt iL necessary to pu t at least a dozen runs on it. Among the riders was Bob Braverman, publisher/editor of "Cycle Guide" magazine. After every on!' had bum t the machine through the quarter to their heart's content, Braverman did quite a few laps of Orange County's road course. On one lap he got into the first turn a tad too hot and the machine ate a bit of dirt. It just kept running without protest for the rest of the day, All this was done after the bike already had been through several hard racing weekends, mind you. Without the megaphone it would be a mind-boggling street machine. If the owner is in teres ted in still more performance there are big bore kits available from Action Fours that will give 570cc to tame. Still, in its first run through the quarter after its intial assembly, and with stock carbs the machine ran a 12.4 at 107 MPH. Since then, times have dropped into the l1's which is quite startling for a machine that anyone can own and maintain. Maybe that doesn't wiggle your needle. (Maybe your needle is broken.) Maybe you, like Jim Dickinson, aren't impressed by the 500 or its design. (His partner, Bill Hahne, likes the 500 pretty well, however.) Well, Action will boggle the mind with the 750 as well. They make a street-oriented package, a lot like the one,on the 500 for the 750, but they have a 750 that is one step beyond. In the Expert race at Laguna Seca, the Action Fours 750 ridden by Steve McLaughlin came from 47th to sixth place and then broke a primary chain. "We knew that the chain needed replacement, but they were back ordered," said Bill. Even so, the speed and the sound (V oU should have heard that machine!) impressed everyone in It) M e "n " 0- N .... en l en ~ a. " CIl ~ w 2 w ....J U >U Despite its extra weight the Action Fours 500 guns down the author's racer coming off the line. attendance and certainly had more spectator appeal than anything on the track. Now it is being prepared for Ontario. I asked if the '750 could really survive a long race. "Cam chain life and tensioning no longer appear to be a problem," said Bill. "If we have problems they will be new ones." The engine at Laguna Seca was basically a stock one for reliability reasons, but there was at least one exotic feature: Weber carbs. "The Webers were shaking up everyone," said Jim. Part of the credit for the success of the Action Fours Hondas is their rider, Steve McLaughlin, Even the best prepared Hondas are still heavy and high and hard to ride, but McLaughlin, a really good (and often underrated) road racer, makes it look easy. He has the ability to deal with anyone on the pavement and make his presence felt. At Ontario, the Action-McLaughlin team will be one of the stronKest uprivate" entries going, and after that4 there is more. When I dropped into their Dusters - Iron Ponies MX shop at 2621 South Main Street in Santa Ana I was aboard a Kawasaki 900 Four. "That is going to be easy to work on," someone commented as they examined the machine. There is also the Honda 350 four and Benelli is going to bring out some fours. Action has their eyes on all of them. I asked what they expected to extract from the Kawaski 900. Jim reflected for a moment. "We rry to avoid being super expensive or exotic.,.but over 100 horsepower." _ By Larry Knopp RICHMOND, UTAH, Sept. 4, 1972 Motocross under a dome. That was the story at the Dusters-Iron Ponies poin ts motocross in Richmond Monday. Unfortunately the dome was a 500 foot dome of dust, but it was still a good race. The Dustersiand Iron Ponies had a big job just puttirig the race on. An ambulance had to be replaced at the last minute. Trophies almost didn't arrive. Arrangements to oil the track fell through. All the problems except the dust were solved though. The dust· was bad. A t times you couldn't even find your nose Lo tell which way you were going. Particularly off the start, it was like riding into a blanket, and there wasn't even any wind for most of the day to blow the stuff away. Water was tried once, bu t water turns the surface to grease and the riders said once was enough. Despite the lack of visibility, there were no serious injuries all day. The trac k is very good and very demanding, and once the pack spread out you could have a ball. As is usual on a good track, the Experts looked super and very few others did. Rock Frampton on a Honda rode a good race to take the 100 Expert class from Kevin Croft on a borrowed Penton. Kevin, however, tumed around and took the 200 Expert class on his own Suzy from Mike Droscher. Kevin looked like he's getting back into motocross from after a summer of tracking. Peter Crandall took the 125' Expert class on his first ride on a 125 Husky, He had to work to beat Phil McDonald on another baby Husky, however. Phil, in turn, hopped on a 250 Husky to take that class away from Kerry' Fowler and his Bultaco. In the Open Expert class, Leon Sackman made possibly his best motocross ride to date, to put his CZ home in front of Maico mounted Frank Myers. The 750 is Action's big gun for Onatrio. The enQine is not the one that will be run. Scott Elliot in action in San Antonio. (See next pa.!JeJ Bob Braverman found that the 500 had ample power, we're sure.