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/125801
by Gary Van Voorhi (Cycle ,"ews East) The six' man Harley-Davidson fa -tory team is a wealth of diverse talen t capable of winning any type of competition on the AM circuit on any given dav. The riders are the key, but the ace 10 the hole IS the new Harley XR·i50 all-alloy vee twin: a newcomer this season, but already in the winners circle sLx times. Each rider is an individual, one member of a team dedicated to the occupation of profe siona! cyclcl racing. Cal Rayborn described it best: ''It' an individual effort...eacn rider tor himself. The only reason we:re a team-is that we all ride Harleys. What constitutes a team rider? Basically, for dirt, you get a bike, spares. expenses and you're on your own. For road racing, the factory does most of the preparation. Each rider is expeqed to do bis own wrenching or hire someone who can. Cal and !\Iert do all their own, preferring to be responsible to only themselves if something goes wrong. Rex Beauchamp, newest member, does almost all his own now, but it wasn't always that way. "Last year before my tuner had a heart attack, it was great. This year, I've learned to do most of the stuff myself." Bart, Dave and Mark are in the middle category, preferring to do as much as possible but mak;ng the pain t (on which everyone agrees) that being the only one to do all the work makes for a very long season. Harley got into the racing game through a string of private victories that started in 1908, five years after the fjrst Harley rolled through the "factory" doors. In 1911, Harley reaffirmed their stand on racing in their advertising stating "we don't believe in racing and we don't make a practice of ito" Three years later William Harley bowed to an unending stream of private victories arid establisheq the racing department. It's been going strong ever since. In 1954, the AMA established the naming of a National Champion based on accumulated pain ts in various types of competition instead of the previous method, using a. single event to decide the Number One plate. BART If one rider' name can be associated by almost everyone with thc orange and black of Harley, it i Bart M arke!. A veteran of thirteen full seasons as a team membcr, Bart has earned his place in the history of motorcycling by putting his Harley into the winner's circle in twen -ei ht Nationals. The bIg win that broke Joe Leonard's record of twent -seven cam at the Columb<> Half-Mile last year. "It's nice to have .. record like that but T think that OJ k Mann (24 vl<;ta.ri.es) Illay break it. if be rides n """season." Bart's wins were all dirt and all Harley. The chances of a new rider winning as many are slim because of the increased competition now. In the early years, "there wasn't much competition then, except Resweber. and he was something else. I beat him only a few times." Road racing was new to Bart as a freshman member of the Harley team in 1959, but to be competitive, you had to do both. "I was like Dave Aldana. ..if I stayed on the bike 1 was alrigh L, but 1 crashed a lot." Bart's style of hard riding has caused him a lot of pain over the years. The last bad get-off was at the Colorado Mile in 1972, and it cost Markel a cracked pelvis and a couple of months recuperation. Tbe new alloy XR probably played a role in Markel's recovery; every win by a Harley rider gave Bart the itch. "We've got the most reliable bike on the circuit and the fastesL, when we're set up right. When we don't win it's because we can't ride what we've got." Anyone who saw Bart at the Homewood Mile, Peoria TT or the Indy Mile knows that desire to win is still the driving factor in Bart's life. WOD~ it was a second at. the Santa Fe Short Track. "I should have won." This year tbe Homewood Mile provided Beauchamp with his best finish so far, a third. LarHer this year while the rest of Team Harle. was contesting the Road Race Kational at Loudon, N.H., Rex was ",inning the Atlanta Mile. CAL Cal Rayborn is a road racer. "I can do better j b on road courses than on the dirt. There's no doubt about !paL" II asn't alway~ thar·way. In his firsL cIa.. C road event, he-crashed, broke a foo and injured his back. ") quit all racmg fpr six month· Out wh~ 1 didn't hurt anymore, [ went back to dirt!' Cal made the dirt pay ...literally. "I raced IT at E1 Cajon for two years on a Honda pick;ng up about 35 a week - that.'s wbaL bought the groceries. Cal remained on dirt until Daytona ".. REX "I've got a lot of half-miles to ride" is the way Rex Beauchamp, the newest member of the Rarley team descr;ibes his piece of the action. Rex is so much of a dirt and short track enthusiast, that he is the only rider on the team not to compete in road racing. "I don't go fast enough in a road race to do myself or the team any Bodaka. I good ...besides, 1 mi ht falloff and no be able to ride half-mile." 22 year-old Re is a ~lichjgan natke and began bis racing career with his good friend Teddy Newton (Expert '0. 40) in scrambles. "I won the first heat I was entered in and was leadmg the final until 1 felL.! was Loa small to pick up the bike ( Occ Yam)." Beauchamp got his :\' ovice license on his birthday in late Au~st and won the_ only half-mile he en tered, plu. second place in a TT. The next ; ear as a No\~ce, on a super-tuned amaha, he t.ook every race entered and went. on to bee-orne the top Junior in the nation in 1970, after a meager .ta,rt. Harley noted Rex's achievemen t on the Junior circuit and awarded a set of factory leathers t.o Beauchamp before completion of his Junior year. Rex has yet to pick up a ational win, but the potential is there. Last year D Bart Markel !XU20" & MORE POWERI LOW PIPES • o e o • oal eo 'C " rERFORMANCE ~ PECIALISTS ~ ~ PORTS.PIPtS.HfADS I!)GO SvcamOfe C."yon Ra ~nla Barbara. Cal,1. 93103 Phone 969-1550 yo :E Q- - " ,.,engineerill' _ .. The Hodaka i5 built lor one purpose:~ TOI FRAME MODIFICATIONS Qut-Iast and out- Production pric' now available for perform its competition. How is this dOne? By refining the same basic, superior design Yamaha DT·l, RT·l, CT-1, AT·1 & Suzuki 400 & Hodaka 100 year alter year Perfecting the little lhings that multi·model Other makes & models 31tered per your specs at slightly h19her cost man'-1factnrers don't have time Z3S3 San Fernando Rd. PO. B"x 65735 Los Angele,. Calif 90065 (213) 222-8778 to notice. Carefully examme the new Ho· daka. Notice the trip-sel odometer.. The feather-light clutch • • JI. • • • • • ¥¥ • • • • • ,. ,. It operation and spring protected throttle cable. And the rubber ,. mounted gas tank. ,. ,. ,. ,. It Little things that add up 10 big tbings. We only build one bike. But we build it beller ,. than anyone else in the world. HODAKA OUT-BOOGIES THEM ALL CORDIS BROOKS takes first place Trail Expert in the Dual ~uropean Scrambles by the Desert Turtles and the Gnpsters, August 25,1972. JOHN BETHEA wins the Rocky Mountain Spring Water GP with the all new 500cc Alloy Single Special Model Hodaka. ,. " ...,.,. ,. ,. ,. ,. J' . ,. ,. ,. ,. Hi Perform a ee. Street & Rae;ng P'sto s (S d. to 350 eel Cams, Frames, Springs & Ex aust Pipes. ALSO KI S'FOR SL70 - SL125 - S 350 WRITE F R PRICES ,. L;t's have an America World Champion. -:Join the American ~o across Team and "receive this beautiful multi-color te,am .,. patch for a 55 (or more contribution to • ,. American Motocross Team, 80x 3275, ,. Hollywood, Cal·fornia. ....... ,. It ,. ,. ,. ,. SPORTLA 106 Norfolk Avenue NORFOLK, NEBRASKA 68701 Phon" (402) 371·2428