Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

" !Xl i' SCENE 72: NoCal Motocross and Riders Q. ,... M C> ai . ~ .... ~ w z W ...J U >- U by Bruce C. Young One finds that in the resu1ts of the biggest races in the United States there are always Northern Calif. riders that figures in the front runners and, many ~ times, the w!nners. These riders eu t their teeth here in N orCaI and they are considered by many as the finest in the land. The New Year seems to set the stage for Northern California to swing into action with each year bringing bigger ·and better races to the motocross riders of California. The first of the biggies is the Dirt Diggers North M/C Annual Hangtown Ylotocross, held in April. Riders come from allover the United States to compete each· year in the Granddaddy of Northern Calif. Sportsman and Professional motocross events. This year's event was about the best program that could have ever come about. Sat urday braugh t together 400 sp a rtsman riders to compete for trophies in the sleepy little town of Plymouth, Calif. The weather was perfect and with the. dawning of Sunday's Professional program the stage was set for possibly the best club-promoted motocross to be held in the United States in 1972. This was the comment' of riders that.competed in this event. This race always starts the season off with the next big programs also coming in April. First there was the Evil Kneivel Mountain Lion Motocross with an AMA sportsman program on Saturday and a CMC Professional program on Sunday. The race came off without a hitch, even' with Mr. Kneivel doing his promised jump over a pit of live rattlesnakes. READ TEST The next big event of 1972 was the Yuba-Sutter M.C.'s first attempt at putting together a super program for both Sportsman and Professional riders. The new tr"ck in Marysville, Calif. proved to be very fast and super neal. The turnout of riders and spectators was a little on the sketchy side, but this was their first attempt and they have planned a bigger program in 1973. I might also mention that the Marysville area has two of the best rna tocross tracks in Northern California. The other track is located north of the city and is run by the Yuba-Sutter M.C. This club put together several series this year with each one being better than the last. Late in the year, their races drew over 400 hundred riders. Plans have been drawn up for a new track in 1973. The Chico M.C. puts on several races out of their own short track location. These races are generally held early in the year while the ground is still moist_ The number of riders attending their races have never been too great bu t they try hard to provide fine racing programs. . Way up North, there are several club-promoted events run in Redding, Red Bluff and Eureka, each year that provide the motocross rider good tracks as well as well·run races. The scenic value to these North State ~cing programs is the hest part of the event. There are two motorcycle clubs in the Sacramento area that provide the bulk of motocross racing in the Northern state each year. First tllere is the Cal-Am Motorcycle Club that runs their races at Cal-Am Raceway west of Sacratpento. (Cont'd. from page 12) President Nixon to be the Amhassador of the United States of America to the Court ofSt.James). (That's England... Ed.) . Soon Countrywide Publications, Modem Day Periodicals, or whatever it's calling itself lhis month had branched oUt with other titles ("Cycle IHustrated").and into the di'rt bike and chopper specialties. Pulp stock turned into slick paper and somewhere along the line the altTuistic no-ads policy vanished without leaving a lrace. l' While "Cycle" conjures up New York images of Mad Ave., Time/Life Inc., and skyscrapers filled with ulceT·ridden execu tives, the MCW operation brings to mind a New York characterized by crowded tenements, jammed streets, and sidewalks overflowing with push-caTt fish peddlers. What MCW ain't got is class. What MCW does have (its sister publications, too) is a surprising and pleasing rate of inlprovement. It is gradually becoming a legitimate magazine in its own right. Over the last five years most magazines have shown definite inlprovement, notably, "Cycle", "Cycle Guide", "'Cycle World", and "Motorcyclist". Because MCW started from such a low baseline, however, it probably has shown the most improvement proportionately. Five years i'go, "Modem Cycle" was laps ahead of MCW; today, they're about even. There's· no way to predict when and where MCW will plateau-out; but if it continues to progress for the next five years the way it has for the last five years, it will be a tQp·f]jgh t competitoT. During 1972, MCW p=ented about 5% good stuff embedded in 95% mediocrity aT worse. Perhaps someday those proportions will be reversed and the USA will be blessed with some new mj]]ionaire Ambassadors. Motorcyclist (Petersen Publishing Co., 8490 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90068) Tracing its history all the way back to 1912, "Motorcyclist" enjoyed its fiTst year under the Petersen banneT during 1972 and promptly became a force to reckon with in the general coverage group of motorcycle magazines. It is still in the process of change and it will probably be a year from now before it settles down enough faT us to get a clear fix on its character and perfomlance. So far the most notable features of "Motorcyclist" are its long, minutely detailed and inlpTessionistic road tests; its penchant for head-to-head c0E'parisons between or among sinlil,!T bikes; its crisp photographs, its rambling, discursive writing style that constantly apologizes to the reader for imposing upon him any demands for wit Or attention beyond those tolerable .to an infant baboon; and a Table of Contents so obscurely arranged that locating an article of interest in a back issue is as hard as _ding the Holy Grail. If you are interested in a large-displacement stTeet or dirt bike watch for a test of it in "Motorcyclist". The magazine has a knack for pinpointing nitty-gritty, yet not nit-picking, quirks of the machines it reviews. Performance Cycles (Magnum/Royal Publications, 1560 Broadway, New York, NY, 10036) [ was unable to obtain any issues of this "pTactical perfomlance motorcycle magazine .. ,from those wonderful folks who. gave you Supercycle", as the ad in SupeTcycle describes it. If this bi-monthly is anything like Supercycle, I think we can manasre to struggle along in its absence. Popular Cycling (Coronado Book Corporation, 131 S. Barrington Place, Los Angeles, CA, 90049) PopSickle is aimed straigh t at the teen-ager beginneT in dirt riding. It's most impoTtant feature are "Rough Riding with J.N. Roberts", "Moto-CToss with Preston Petty", and "The Soap Box" which means a regular letters column with questions and answers. The rest of the book is the usual mixture of wad tests - in this case, usually diTt tests - racing repoTts, features on famous Tacers, aud an occasional how-to. -If you'Te a 13 year·old would-be racer, PopSickle is for you. From tiroe to time, PopSickle presents sequence-photo how-to-ride features. These are the best thing in the book and, faT some re~son, are Tarely seen anywhere but in PopSickJe. In a way that's unfortu/late because most older riders would benefit from them even more than PopSickle's boy-racer audience. AfteT all, kids heal faster. . . Even the rider experienced enough to run wheel·to-wheel with aI' J.N. down a thousand foot cliff will benefit from these how-to-Tides by becoming more clearly aware of exactly what it is that he's doing right. Considered in light of its emphasis on advice to young beginners, PopSickle's most stTiking aspect is the caTelessness and evasiveness with which it responds to certain kinds of questions. Typical is the 13 year·old who has just bought his first bike and wants to hop it up, but doesn't have the faintest idea what to do or how to start. Reply: "Check with 'Cycle' News' for their ads and write them a letter for infomlation" (Nov.). End of reply. Note the paradox. If the kid is already familiar with "Cycle News" the reply is redundant. lf he's not, what's he supposed to do? Drop a letter in the mailbox addressed_to: Cycle News, Someplace, USA? _ ., , .Vl); The club race track is located in a! grove of oak trees and provides shade in the heat of the summer. The track location also has a swimming pool available for the red hot riders. Almost every event this year has drawn 350 riders. The other Sacramento club that provides so much gqod racing is the Sacramento Racing- Assn. This group provides 'riders two locations for racing. A series of night motocrosses'where put together at Placerville Fair Grounds and during the Summer this provided a great relief to the riders. Plans now are for 11 twenty race series at the night tTac\< next year. The SRA's other track is located in Dixon, Calif: Argyl Park. This track provided riders with complete ch ange in riding-as the track was pUl together with rider stamina being kept 'in min.d. The events run here in 1972 were some of the best in the State. There have been other races held in the Sacramento area bul they have been put together as Professional promotions. The next stop is Carnegie Cycle Park just out of Livermore, Calif. which was a very propuiar racing site early in the season. This track is built on a hillside with a rider taking abrupt trips up the hill, several feet a lap. The track is, overall, very fine but during the summer it becomes very hard and dusty. There have been several clubs thal put on races at the track. These included the Delta Dirt Riders, Rough Riders M.C. and the Northern Calif CMC. The CMC program, known as the Carabela Series, gave away over $12,000 of prizes at the end of the series. The racing was some of the finest ever to come to Northern California. The Richmond Ramhlers M_C. has run motocross this year at diffeTent locations. When we move across the valley back into the Tahoe and Reno area we find the GNG Racing Assn. with their Giant Tahoe Motocross co-hosted by the Tahoe M.C. This was held in a beau.tiful location overlooking Lake Tahoe wbich was super for the camera hUK. The -riders that have come faT these Motocross races being held in Northern California reads like the "Who's Who of Motocross." There are the great ones such as Bob Gros'si, Brad Lackey, Dave Longcor, Carl Cranke, Ron Stockman, .Ron Self, Dick Mann, John Franklin, and several others that have made themselves known all oveT the world for their racing ability. It all started for them in Northern Callfornia. There are several riders on the way up into these ranks that should be men tioned. Right now they are Sportsman riders who have what it takes to become one of the greats. In the 125 class, there are riders like Kevin Henry, Rick Clement, Danny Turner, Henry Halback, Bill Grossi, Mike Jennings, Paul Hamel, Pat Wilson, Charlie Marshall, among many more who will have to be considred in the future. When we move up to the 250 class there are some of the ones already mentioned plus Aran Christian, Eddie Brown, Alay Yarrow, Phil Jacobson, Doug and Eric Nelson, along with many others. The big bike class is really where you seem to divide the men from the boys and it is here that the future for the following riders seems brigh test. Floyd Davis, Pete Scarlett, and several of·the riders men tioned in the other classes are able to ride different displacement motorcycles with expertise: Another very common inquiry comes fTom a kjd in Kansas aT Montana begging for advice on which machine in a certain class to buy. Isolated, apprehensive, ignorant, keenly aware of his ignorance, surrounded by parental hostility, bursting wi th eagerness, agonizing in uncertain ty, the youngster's choice of his first motorcycle is very probably the biggest and most inlportant decision he has faced on his .own in his entire life. Who can he tum 'to? In desperation he writes to PopSickle. Surely they know. They're experts. They know everything. All too often PopSTckle's rejoinder is a dishonest brush-off. Not an honest non-ansWer - which would range from, "We need to know such-and·so about your requirements before we can make a recommendation" I through, "We don't know" and all the way to, "We decline to answer on the grounds that It may tend to antagonize our advertisers" ....;. no, I me.an a thoroughly dishonest non-answer, like a long lecture on why there's no such thing as a uniquely "best" motorcycle, or a preachy discourse on why choosing a bike depends largely on matteT of individual taste. Hell, the kid knew that before he wrote! FaT example, one reade< asks J.N. Roberts the simple, straightforward question (Nov.), "In your opinion what's the best 100cc motoCTosS machine out of all the 100cc bikes in the market today?" This provides an excellent opportunity for 01' J.N. or whoever writes the column under his byline, to give his choice and - more important by far - to explain his reasons for that choice, thus he1ping to set the kids' thinking stTaigh t. instead, the non-reply is a rambling paragraph that includes the incredible statement, "A Nikon camera is super, but then a Hasselblad is too". That might make an effective, sarcastic Teply to the question (which was not asked, of couTse). What is the best motocross bike of either 100ccor 400cc displacement? Given the actual question, the statement is a non-responsive cop-out...and if PopSickle wanted to evade the question, why did they choose to print it in the first place? PopSickle is working in a very useful area, instructing young beginneTs, and they have negligible competition in this effoTt. Maybe they need some from another magazine in order to get them. on their toes. Thinking back to the excitement of my first motorcycle ride on a thirty-fifty Indian, I feel sorry for and sympathetic with the youthful Tead.ers whom PopSickle so casually puts-down, brushes-off, abuses and exploits - even if only a minoTity of them. if you'Te a young beginneT, read PopSickle by all means, but I suspect you'll fmd you 've outgrown it in a few years. Road Ric;ler (Road Rider Magazine, P.O. Box 678 South Laguna, CA, 92677) Although it is produced by a technique similar to "Cycle Sport", RR makes vastly better use of the technolOgy and cpmes across as a reasonably attractive, if uninspired, graphic product. The heavy paper stock makes. i·t seem bigger than its Teal 64 page size. Unique among all the magazines tested is the RR cover, made of a cUTious textuTed stock that mayor may not enchance the depth of the color cover print, depending on your point of view. . RR concentrates solely upon touring, going so far (May) 'as to Teport 9n th~ ,pectator/tourist "Doin's at Daytona" while refusing to say a word about the Daytona races themselves. One interesting feature is "The Welcome Mat/Not'So Welcome" that lists specific motels, campgrounds, TestauTants, etc. which do or do not welcome motorcyclists. ln many ways, reading RR is like traveling. Not in space - bu t back in time a . quarter century or more ago when motorcycling was a drowsy, clannish, inbTed sport and the big exci temen t was an AMA field meet complete with kicks tarter races, barrel rolls, egg tossing, and weenie roasts ...double-extra-large Harley-Davidson shirts stretched to the breaking point across triple-extra-large beeT bellies, dressers carrying more lights apiece than the total stock of your ave.rage-sized Pep Boys store, and women whose faces looked like they'd ridden il,OOO upwind miles thTough sandstorms befoTe Rohm & Bass invented th'e face shield. Come with us now, back to those days of yesteryear... Folksy, clumsy, and agonizingly amateurish, RR would be'a great job if it were the club newsletter of the Mingo Junction Golden Highwaymen. Still, this is what RR's readeTs want...or think they want. There's no direct competition for RR, at least none I was able to find, so it wins the touring category by default. It's a strange category, combining alienation from all the "outside" world with bland sm ugness about the cozy, fuzzy little wOTld of two-wheel travel. Yet even this tiny kingdom is too broad for some of RR's TeadeTs who, in their letteTs, reveal streaks of intense prejudice and appalling bigot!)' unmatched. among the readers of any other magazine. Touring to some people is like the chopper to some otheTs: the focal point for a sub-culture infested with paranoia and elitism. lf you're into road riding not for self-actualization but for cultuTaI fulfillment, you'll love RR; otherwise, it'll jangle your nerves. Special Choppers (Countrywide Publications Inc., 222 Park Avenue South, New York, NY, 10003) The "Motor Cycle World" family's entry into the oveTcrowded chopper field. Y a w n . ' This is the end! I

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