Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.-yone who helped his IOn Mik. wehe _ injured at the Rams Run a while back. Mike, who _ first -.l1.Novice in the 1972 Check and missed the 1973 DIeck Ch8se with a broken hand, unloeded real hard aftlIr the second checIt of the hare and houriC/o Rescue Threa dlllrves a lot of praise for flitting Mike out aftlIr he a ruptured kidney and liv. and face and neck injuries. As of Mondrt morning Mike _ in inlllnsive cant in Brea Hospital. We hope he mekes it. and thanks to eweryone who helped. a.ese, suff.,.. California Lt. Governor Ed Reinecke referred to the new BLM plan as "the col d, harsh hand of Federal bureaucracy. There must be a better way..:' If he's trying to make' political points with off-road enthusiasts, he probably succeeded just by that simpk statement, which is also pretty safe. We get the impression that Ed Reinecke may be into bikes, possibly because he's from the desert riding area around Lancaster·Palmdale and possibly because he's figured out how many votes bikers represent. SNAKE IIVEI CAIIYON, TWIN FAW, IDAHO, No". 4 - TIle first te.t of bol laio...l'. "orlo,.o."idso. SkJCYCIo ...... i. So.ke li"or tod.." .. til••• reoloYil _ ..i CNI. '.000 foot ot tile 2,l1l».faot·.ido c...,.. 0 • • ,1.",.. 100 foot ioto tile riYOr. TIle cycl•••• oot ..........itll • ,_eII0t0 Ewol _ ......... After tile test, K.i."ol ••i. that cooti"" cHI....k. it .11 til• ..., .Croll ••••occootI i i. mil.lo", i•., ott ,t. "W.'II j••t t. rai.. o.r .it more ,o_r," l.i I ••i.. l1Ie .ctool Hte for tile $'00.000 ,ri ,ri•••OIlOY motocro•• rae Bob Hayes and Bob Ham of M.O.R.E. were quite successful in getting several of their sugg~stions incorporated into the BLM desert plan in its curren t fonn. It was Hayes who was successful in getting the BLM to open up more competition areas, and also greatly influenced the BLM decision to allow enduros to be run in "Existing Roads and Trails" and "Special Design" areas. Ham, who also represented CORVA, was instrumental in getting the Glamis Dunes corridor included in the plan. Ham is without a doubt developing into the most effective and articulate ORV spokesman in the state, with his M.O.R.E. cohorts Hayes and Jim Manning running close behind. In spite of name calling incidents with the Sierra Club detailed elsewhere in this issue, CORVA and M,O.R.E. are still the best representatives off roaders have today. There is a rumor circulating that the Bantow to Vegas race will either al not be held. or bl be restricted to people with green stickies. Both th_ charges are pure fiction. Fint. the BLM h. no plans to stop the race • the rumor alleges. Second. currently green'stickies are imIed by the S1lItIt of California and are for use on Stalll lands. The BLM is a Feder" agency. and the race will cross Federal lands. No green stickie is required this year. We know a mechanic who worked for several bours on what he supposed was a customer's bike, only to find, when he recognized the key ring upon preparing to test drive it, that it was his own. He had just tuned it the week 'before, of course. ELSEWHERE: Tucked --v between the pictures of naltKl people "Oui" magazine has an article on aiff Carr, and "Genesis" has an article on the Superbowl. Do you .uppose that motorcyding will replace nudity? Marty Smith seems ready to hook up with American Honda and race for them. The same dude wllo tipped us off to the rumor about the Bantow to Veges run also sent us an articlo concerning dosure of certain pri"alll lands near LanC8Stllr. Howe".,. much to the fury of the staffer who talked to him on the phone, tIIo C.~. j , .mlt. a_.oc the staff toKI lost it. We could dig a duplicalll, and we promise.to keep the wartlld one away from it. An E.C. Birt wankel? A NICE SURPRISE: We got to see the new BMW 900's the other day and we were "ery. very favorably impres.... even more so when we took a quick ride on one. The attllntion to detail and the small but significant innovations are refreshing these days. Some of the trick goodies include a front brake failure warning light, a hydralic steering damper that changes its rate of damping by changing the leverage that it gets on the forks. a masllIr cylinder for the disc front brake systllm loc:at1ld under the tank where it won't get damaged in a crash. a gearbox that no longer goes dunk, fi"e speeds, items aimed at making life easy for the mechanic like an instrument panel that comes off with one nut and conllIins walllr· and. vibration proof printed circuitry and a one piece shifting mechanism. plenty of storage space under the seat, a quartz halogen headlight, and a 25 ampre hour battllry. That's just on the standard models; the 900 sport has all sorts of goodies including a dock. something that sounds a little foolish until you think about how difficult it is to look at your watch while riding or how oftlln it would be convenient to know the time while you're touring or commuting. Riding it was impressive to say the least. Comfort, handling, control response, power. torque, and performance left us wishing for mol'll aftllr our brief ride. BMW has sold quilll a few more bikes than they've e"en got in the country yet and we are quilll sure that the buyen won't be disappointed. The fellows at BMW were grinning like a bunch of kids who finally got a toy that they'd always wanted. Kookie, world's fastest dog desert racer, found a friend and has now become the father of seven or eight brats. John McGowan, Kookie's teammate, and Art Stevenson, owner of the other half of the puppies have decided to have a raffle for the puppies and give the proceeds to Rescue 3. You can get more information from John at po•• i . 213/567-5697 and Art at 714/539-9173. If you've always wanted to have a dog that would go riding with you, this may be your chance. AND MAYBE HAl LWOOO WILL RIDE IT: The most interesting rumor that we've heard about Honda's racing intentions concerns the lightweight combined road racing class. The rules for that class allow two stroke twins or multis' of up to 250cc ctisplacement and two stroke singles and all four strokes of up to 360cc displacement. At least 25 have to be built. So what might Honda do? They might build a two stroke. They might use the 350 four or the 360 twin. The most interesting rumor that we've heard, however. is that they might make 25 of the 297cc six cylinder machin. that domin..ted road racing in Europe a few years ago. Hoo. boy! That could get inllIresting. A reliable source IlIl1s us that such a move is IInder consideration. The FIM Congress has decided to require silencers for all FIM International events which means that, if the AMA is to host a Fonnula 750 road race, all machines will have to be muffled. We're glad to see one association being responsible rather than uptigh t about the noise problem. Incidently, all bikes entered in the ISDT were measured at less than 84 dbA, so that will be the requiremen t for fu ture ISDT's. Oh yes, the FIM has decided to hold next year's ISDT in Italy. The shaft driven. horizontally opposed four that Honda has been playing with was built for Har/ey. You figure it out. We understand that Bay Area Bultaco .go-faster Ken Zahrt (who must be up to a whopping 114 Ibs. by now) has been picked up by the Bultaco factory to campaign the 125cc World Championship next season. Based on first·hand observations, one staffer believes that Ken can beat most 125 pilots on the small-bore GP scene with the possible exception of reigning champ Andre Malherbe (Zun). Look out, Yurp, the Americans are coming! Pomeroy will be back, too. aIIC is throwing some doubleheaders at Ascot for the next couple _ks. The half·mile and TT programs are combined, with cash on the line for the 250cc five-lap oval and for 250 and 500 combinKi TT bash. The 200cc and under category will COmpellI for half-tnile trophies, and the 125 and unden will do likewise in TT; both are three-lap mains. It takes a CMC license, buyable at the ga1a• Some cycling exotica will be displayed at the L.A. Convention Center in Cydexpo, November 21-25. The much-rumored Benelli Six will be shown, plus Phil Read's 500cc MV Augusta Grand Prix road racer. They also promise custom bikes, accessories, vintage machines and bike movies. Discount tickets are available at Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki dealers. The U.S. Forest Service canceled the Barefoot Enduro two days before it _ scheduled to run on November 11. Then there was the motocrosser who countered a claim in a horse vs. motorcycle discussion with the fact that he once had a pony with a' Sachs gearbox. The CN Baja 1000 reporting team sol'llly reports aftlIr 300 miles of riding on the coune that Cumutts will leak. stock Boges bottom fiercely, and it·s pure blind luck if you don't hit the rocks you don't see. Groan. RECORDS THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS DOESN'T CARE ABOUT. San Felipe to Bahia San Louis Gonzaga time for motojournalists on 125cc bikes - in the dark: 5 hours, 10 minutes. (Includes two rock inspections and a plug change.) The EPA and the New Jeney SIlIIlI Department of Environmental Protection held a joint press conference . to rele_ their Control Plan for EPA Region II in Northern New Jersey. No restrictions were included on motorcyde usage or registration as ear/ier proposed by the EPA. Gerald Hans/er of EPA Region" StlIted. "It is morel important to control .mission. and noise from motorcydes at the manufacturing point then in a commu.nity by community basis." A few people who have been around AMA National Championship racing for a long time will remember RAY HENDERSHOT. Ray was Sammy Tanner's tuner during his Novice and Amateur years. He also prepared Bugs Mann's bike when Dick won his first National, the Peoria IT. Ray used to own a shop in the Midwest, just so racers would have a place to go and tune their bikes when they were passing through St. Louis. Ray is now in St. John's Hospital (Room 101), Leavenworth, Kansas with leukemia. 5

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