Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Redwood National Enduro o '" ~ Il) ..0 E Il) ;> o Z ata h S D:l:SaIe! 1973's IntematiollIl Six Days Trills proved thlt "Puch is on the move'" After five yurs of retirement, Puch of Austril fielded Europun Ind Americln tums et Oilton, MISs. When the lISt bit of mud hid been splltt.red, Ind the lest computer hid quit whirring, our results lifted mlny ey.brows: • Third World Trophy Team • 10 gold medals, 3 silver, and 3 bronze Imprlllld? "If so. you're on. of • fllt-growing number of riders now being impreaed with the bike thlt's qUility..ngin_ed by on. of Europe's Ilrgest motOl c:ycIe mlnuflcturers. And WI think you'l be equelly impressed with Puch's prices. Why not "peek et I Puch promptly" et your .... rest duler. Today, you.,.,. own the profeaiollIl motorcyd. with the price of I Pl'bduetion mechine. It's about as far north as you C8I'I gBt in California. Coune-marker sabotage made it worse. It _ coIcland wet. Foul weather and foul play in the 'northern pines By Ron Schneid.-s KLAMATH. CAL.• NOV. 4 VOCl ENDURO IicMnt KIT.AVAILABLE--'oo . . .: .............. ~ ENDURO ItIT AVAllAIILE_-.oo voo.--.... --=-........ ~ ... It is not very often that a simple, bald statement of facts can convey the difficulty of a really tough enduro, but In the case of the ... .-a - you b-. T_ ridlt • ,..~.¥"D*II' ........... No pl.-1O'" • • 1"uch7 CIItIItUCH Dkt. Corp. • 213/112-11IIO PUCH DISTRIBUTING CORPORATION. 9B2S _ A...-. a..u.onh, CoIifomil 91311 U.S.A. I Ra ttlesnake 125-mile National Championship, a few facts pretty much tell the story. 283 ridcrs signed up. By ).he fourth check, Busqo.rntl Moto-cross School Desert Rid.rs·Noviees. Any brand bike. Storege....ntals .vailabl.: Coech Rolf Tbblinl One week sessions $145.00. Enroll now. Husqlllrna TraInIng C.nter, 4935 Mercury St., San Diego, Calif. 92111. Phone: 714-292.Q670. If you've been thinking about switching to a super 125 MX. Think about MONARK. With most new bikes performance problems have taken the fun out of racing, but with MONARK the thrill is back. •~~11·~~1111·1 ..-.I' 1111.....-......UlIII=kIWlhlil~I;~NI_.... . i • • INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL " • OF MOTORCYCLES i ~ ~=:= I Learn to maintain your own motorcycle ~ in our BASIC MOTORCYCLE I~_= MAINTENANCE course. Evening schedule starts every 7 weeks. A 0 V A N CEO M O'T 0 R C Y C LEi TECHNOLOG Y trains you to be a " profeSSional moto~Fycle mechanic. ~ Evanong class starts November 20. Stop • by, write or CALL 1213) 532.Q562 for i brochure & registration info. We have ~ sales and service for your convience. ! 14427 S. Western Ave., Gardena, Calif. 90249. MIIIIIIIIl:llllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIIUllllllllllllllllllllllllll1IIIII"IIIIII~ I r-#p,,)il'.)i .CYCLE 10 ~8 :enlia, \/14164632"11 I co~!J~~~EY ' Block north 01 19$' about 76 miles out, only 49 riders were still within their hour. The best rider by that check had lost 38 points and he was no klutz, having won a gold medal at the ISDT only a few weeks back. The enduro WIS terminated at Check Four. not because of the difficulty. but because someone turned an arrow or two and sent riders the wrong way between checks four and fIVe. Considering that the riders had by that time pretty well sorted themselves out• elimination of that portion of the route was more an irritation than a disaster. The rider who WIS leading then was Ben Bower so he WIS overall winner. As far as the Class C riders were concerned, the enduro could have been terminated at Check Three because no Class Criders were within their hour by Check Four. The course. taken by itself, was not that difficulL It WIS entirely on land owned by three companies, Miller-Rellim Redwood Co., Arcata Lumber Co. and Simpson Timber Co. and, not unnaturally, most of the course was over logging trails. Since the logging trails have to be wide enough for a Cat, they are for the most part quite rideable but very rough. Broken splinters of wood stick up at odd angles, boulders and rocks that have been dislodged by the Cat treads are strewn haphazardly on the trail and there arc gouged holes in unpredictable spots.. The day before the event I was able to ride over a good portion of the course through the generosity of Wendy Sondergard, the owner of the Crescent City Honda shop: B&W Sales. Wendy loaned me his personal 35'0 Honda Singl.e which, I might note, is an impressively strong machine. I went out with the layout crew for a semi-final check of the marling. It was raininR when we started and quite cold, with patches of fog and very slippery going. Even though we were stopping periodically to bang up arrows, it was easy to see that the proposed schedules of 20 and 24 MPH would not be easy to hold if the weather stayed poor. What happened was the weather got worse. On Sunday the pit area was a soggy mess from the continual rain, and it was dismally cold. Some riders were well p",pared with good rain suits and shields on the handIeban to leep their hands reasonably warm and dry. Other riders started out with leather jackets that were soon soaked. light motocross gloves, and un-waterproofed boots. With my experience of the day befo", I felt like telling them to load up and go bome, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. Less than twenty miles out the riders ran into the first snow. They were in snow for about 30 miles and about 10 miles of it was deep (8-10 inches) foot-paddling snow. With the combination of fog, rain, snow and occasional sleet, visibility was not great at any time and was often impossibly bad. The sponsoring club, the Redwood Scramblers, had planned a spectator treat for the end of the event, a river crossing just a few hundred feet from the finish line. Everyone went to the river. One or two people walked across to see if it was passable. It was about knee deep with a swift current. It would' be interesting to say the least. The time for the fITst rider came and went. A hour passed. The first rider was now disqualified. Pretty soon it was evident that there weren't going to be an y finishers and everybody went back to the pits wondering if massive rescue operations were going to be necessary. Then a few riders straggled in and the sad story of the turned arrows was told. Ben Bower was one of the fITst riders in (He had started No. 41 C!). He had Continued on page 19