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/125808
MOTOCROSS-OLD TIMER STYLE by Bud Eads Photos by Art McNamee It was Sunday at Indian Dunes and about thirty Old Timers were on the line waiting for their next mota. I walked over to watch the start because it always gives me a lift. The iron gate is used to start the anxious young riders in the other motos. It really works. There are no false starts with that formidable barrier holding the snarling machines in check. A real time saver. But the Old Timers do it a little differen tly. They line up in three rows with the Experts in front, the Amateurs next, and then the Novices. After moving into their starting positions they kill their engines and just wait, cool and collected. The adrenalin is probably flowing, but it doesn't show. These virile competitors have been over the road in their forty plus years and they enjoy motocross as a stimulating bit of exercise which beats mowing the lawn all to hell. A colorful bunch, most of the riders were wearing red riding jerseys or T-shirts with the gold club insignia. Some wore leathers that looked like they had been through a hundred wars. I saw J.L. Siebrandt sitting on his big Greeves in the first row .....Old Steady as he Goes," the former Catalina Motorcycle Run Champ who gets his fair share of firsts. Club president Blackie Lewis, ex-speedway and desert pro was there too, on his big Inter-Am CZ. ( noticed a preponderance of big bikes and remembered what Joaquin Morillo told me when I asked him what he thought of racing a 125. "You can't give away anything to these guys. The big bikes handle almost as good and they will get you coming out of the hole." Joaquin, a former boondocker turned racer is fondly referred to as "Lil Chili Pepper" because Ii is cheerful countenance adds special spice to the club. He really gives them fits. The first year saw the group ridin'g in two divisions; 0-200cc and 250+. As riding abilities improved, this form of scoring was discarded for the present classes of Expert, Amateur and Novice. All ride in the same mota but are scored and trap hied separately. Most of the small bikes run like 400 bikes but everyone claims wi th a straigh t face they are strictly stock. (And a more honest'bunch of guys you'd never want to meet, heh heh.) Finally the previous mota began receiving the checkered flag and the Old Timers kicked their paten t machinery into IHe. When they were all running and warmed up the flagman waved off the Experts in a cloud of two-stroke blue smoke. After they disappeared around the first tum the Amateurs were waved off and went nipping at the heels of any Experts who were dogging it. Then the Novices blasted off like the charge of the light brigade. They play cat-and-m.ause at the tail end, getting used to their new machines and the feel of motocross. They probably have the most fun of all since there's less pres<;ure to main tain their pain t standing. If anyone gets smart and starts mixing it up wi th the Ama teu rs too 01 uch, they make him an Amateur, fixing his little red wagon! By the third lap the Experts, Amateurs and Novices are all mixed Ed Poore, Old-Timers founder, tightens the spokes on his Bultaco's front wheel before the race. together and you can't tell who's coming or going. I remember one time a bunch of them traded number plates. With different numbers on the front .than on the sides the score keepers were blowing their minds trying to keep track. I walked over to the cliff which overlooks the long straigh t next to the shallow river at the beautiful Indian Dunes Shadow Glen course. Blackie Lewis was getting it on with the big Maicos, doing about seventy down the straight. At the end of it he must have hit a whoop-de-doo wrong, ,because I saw him go cartwheeli,ng about twenty feet into the air. I didn't think he was ever going to come down. Then I didn't think he was ever going to get up. About ten scary seconds later he shook himself, staggered back on to his CZ and finished second overall for the day. They find him tough to beat when things go righ t. Just for the fun of it I held the clock on them for a lap. They were only a few seconds off the Experts in the other classes. Then one by one they received the checkered flag and rolled in to their nearby pit area. You can always spot the Old Timers pits by quickly scanning the area until you are smacked in the face by an abundance of red (vermillion?) and gold, the club colors. omeone always gets up with the chickens to hang the club banner between two shade trees (or whatever) designating the area where all the Old Timers congregate. This is importan t because after the riders cool off a bit they grab a Coors (thirsty work, this motocross) and then the really serious "bench racing" begins. "Did you see Blackie when his bike disappeared into that hole doing ninety? He must have flown forty feet into the air!" Few escape the ribbing which bas become part of the general fare. A helping hand is given to anyone in need with bike trouble, but if the situation is hopeless, all he gets is much sympathy, heh heh. How did it all get started? One man's dream was brought to .reality by all the eq ually enthused, over forty, motorcycle riders of Southern California. Having ridden with the Juniors for about two years and being blown off the track by their carefree style and reckless abandon, the founder, Ed Poore, decided, in his desire for survival, he was no match for the youngsters. In an attempt at self-preservation he tried to promote an Old Timer cIass. After several unsuccessful tries his persistence was rewarded when Indian Dunes track promoter Ernie Alexander agreed to schedule a 010 tocross class for forty plus. as long as there were six or more riders. A letter to the editor of Cycle News announcing the race and the formation of the club brought instantaneous results. Tom Hoyle, for instance, upon reading about the formation of the club, brought his bike in to the kitchen table and announced to his wife he was building a mount to ride with the group. And from then on M N the ex-desert ace poured it on with his :;; little 100 Hodaka, becoming the first-. sponsored Old Timer. ~ After the first race the Old Timers ~ were really on their way. They were z first regarded as the "popcorn" even t; 'J) but as these gentlemen of the two ~ wheels proved themselves both on and z off the track their stature grew. Indian ~ Dunes is their home port, but with the :.J increase in members from other areas :; they have been branching out to other Sou them California tracks where they have been warmly accepted. Although the club is less than two years old, its growth has been phenomenal. It has almost 150 members and 25 to 40 riders ttlrn out for each event. Chapters of the Old Timers are beginning to crop up all over the nation, and talk of an Old Timer national event is brewing. They already have a Can-Am Series going, hosting the Canadians who came to . sunny California for the first half of the serie s, and going to Bellingham, Washington for the second half last Labor Day weekend. . The present membership is as diversified as its riding styles. Old desert, enduro, and TT pros are mixed with newcomers to the motorcycle scene. Each rides according to his ability and supplies the ingredien t that makes the lub uniq ue: comradeship and competition at its best. Essentially the club is family-oriented though, with wives, sweethearts, sons, daughters, and even moms and pops all caught up in the act. The "better halves" often climb the fences to shout advice and keep track of positions during the motos. Between motos they act as sounding boards, counselors, chief cooks and bottle washers. Some of the Old Timers have sons who race, which adds to the friendly competitive spirit. Too bad for son if pop should au tride him or have fewer bike problems. Next to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, the meetings have go tten to be the wildest thing going. They are held on the fourth Monday of each month at Mike's Pizza in Van Nuys, California. The beer is served in schooners and it is a tribute to presiden t B1ackie Lewis that he can hold dow n u t te r chaos to organized confusion with his congenial manner and arbitrary hand at the gavel. However, a lot of the credit should go to "Sarge" Bowe,r. He and his side kkk, Art McNamee, tackle all the odd jobs that help keep the club running smoothly. Art also keeps everyone abreast of club activities~by sending out the club bulletins. lot that they were nee