Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

of the money needed will come ft,om a special fund set up to sponsor him and the only 4-stroke still competing in World Champi ip MX. Please keep your readers informed about this special fund. I'm sure many of your readers would be happy to donate a few bucks to the great cause; I know I will. DENNIS MESSA Sacramento, Calif. .. INSIDE • I II Energy. 000.0000. 0.000.6 Whoop-de-chews may not be the solution Desert. 0.• 00.•... 0.••• 11 More turkeys than usual ou t there I II ~ y ..... y Motocross .. 14, 26 & more 0 A Letter From the Pres On Ducks and Other Novices Some months ago you made a statement that The Phantom Duck of the Desert and Mrs. Wallis Weatherwax were one and the same person. No way, Papa Wealey. You were wrong on that one and I think a printed correction is in order. The real Phantom Duck of the Desert is still fighting for the cause of the lowly unknown Novice. NEWS FLASH: The Phantom Duck of the Desert has fmally located a District 37 club who will dare to be different. And God bless them! Soon after the first of the year you can look for a District 37 point run, that's right, a point run, where the Novices will start at the same time as the Junior-Experts. Will a Nouice win first overall? Remember, Novices outnumber the Amateur-Experts 10 to 1. ovices buy more copys of Cycle News. Desert Novices sell Cycle News copys. Try it. You have made good recent improvements in your paper, but you need more Novice coverage. More later. THE PHANTOM DUCK OF THE DESERT So sorry, Uncle Ron Sorry, Ron Schneiders, but I can't sympathize with your sniveling comments abou t the difficul ties of being a reporter at the ISDT. . First, you are allegedly a "professional" and professional reporters don't go about publicly whining about being bullied by mean 01' officials who make a job tough excluding those covering Chilean coups. Second, I was able to wander around the Pare Ferme all week without any special credentials and had no trouble getting all the photos and information I wanted. I was prodded out of the work area many times; many times I returned to be politely prodded out again, but not before many important photos were taken and questions asked. Secret: always act like you know what you are doing, be pleasan t and obey officials' requests, and fer gawd's sakes don't bawl and blubber if you can't have your way. hi other words, be inconspicuous as possible and powers-that-be 'will find it boring to hassle with you, if they don't forget you outright. Tape this corny bromide to your forehead, Ron: "A good reporter doesn't need press credentials." TOLEDO HANSEN Placerville, Calif. Shock Rebound May we take issue with the way that you conducted your great Cycle News Shock test, in that the riders knew which shock was on the motorscooter before they tested it. Obviously. it would be quite difficult to conduct an impartial test when the riders knew which shock was installed on the bike. The items that make the Koni a trick shock are the triple lip seal and adjusuble dampening to compensate for wear. Consider this: The in ternals on the Koni and on the stock shock for the XL-250 Honda are identical except for the dampening adjustment feature, and I don't know anybody who will give a Japanese shock a "5" rating no matter what brand they copied. When my Husky was new I secured a set of Cumutts for it and tried my own comparison. test. I feel that my test was somewhat unbiased in that I had just stepped off a Gold Star and a two-stroke was a very new experience. I made three shock change cycles in an afternoon and every time upon installing the Girlinllll the handlebars would try to pull out of my hands upon hitting the first bump. The Cumutts would not exhibit this tendency at all. For your information the Gold Star was equipped with Konis, which only worked up bill wic.ked on. TOMSCOIT Dr. Scotty's Bike Clinic Milwaukie, Ore. Since Huetter and Schoon1Tl4ker did the wrenching as well as the riding, it was inevitable that they "knew" which shock was on the bike but this did not affect the impartiality of the test. We had no idea which would work best on a DT-i. As to your comment on japanese shocks, we would be tempted to give Honda CRi2SM shocks a "5" - as they work on that bike. We didn't test ride a Husky or a Gold Star but a lot of people seem happy with the Girling shocks on their Husqvarnas. As you said, atwo-stroke was a new experience for you...Ed. High School MXers Unite! I would like to know of any information that you can give me about starting a motocross at our high school, like the names of other high schools that have had motocrosses, especially the ones in SoCal. I go to David StalT Jordan in North Long Beach and we have been trying to get one started since last year. All we have to do is convince the school officials that other schools have had motocrosses and that it has worked. Down home doin's 'bout you and me If there was ever a perfect time to buy a new motorcycle, that time is now, before the end of 1973. Prices of new 1973 motorcycles are extremely low, as much as one-third less than list price now, as dealers and distributors try to turn their inventories into cash. Why are prices so low right now? The new models for 1974 will not be much different from the '73's, so it is not a case of dumping motorcycles before they go out of style. The main reason for the bargains in your dealer's showroom is the high cost of money. In an effort to control inflation, the government has raised interest rates sky-high. Businessmen are selling their inventories at a considerable loss to free the money they are paying this high interest on. What this means is bargain-time for motorcycle buyers. Prices of 1974's will be as much as 20% higher in most cases, owing to dollar devaluation, high interest rates, higher tariffs and the genearl inflation. There wm never be a better time to save money on a new bike purcahse than November and December of 1973. Ironically, the average person is trying to fight inflation by not spending his shrinking dollars, when he would be much better off buying things of value (like bargain-price new motorcycles), rather than keeping his money in the bank. No bank or savings and loan account in the world pays enough interest to keep up with the current 7% rate of inflation. By saving your hard~amed dollars, you are actually losing money! There is no better investment at this time than a new motorcycle. By all indications, gasoline ra tioning will be a fact of life in the coming year, along with, according to government experts, dollar-a-gallon gas' prices. This will mean that motorcycles of every type will be pressed into transportation use, because of their economical appetites. Don't trade in your used motorcycle when you buy that new one. Used bike prices are even more depressed now than new ones. Hang on to it. Your used bike will probably never be worth less than it is now. unless it is a terrific gas-guzzler. BUY THAT NEW MOTORCYCLE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Speedway CHUCK CLA YTON President Cycle News, Inc. 16 Briggo goes classic North. 00• 00••• 0.•••••20 Flyin'low Test 00.00030 Realizing what this Honda is for International MX ... 000.32 Snap your fingers, stomp your feeL.and that was to stay warm at the TransAm ..... Cl.I .D E Cl.I :> o Results. 0.0000.00. 0.0.36 Z You keep doin' it, we keep printin' it Calendar 0 .39 Is the rent due? Is it your birthday? Did they cancel the Turkey Meadows Ob.erved IT? COVER: What will your choice be when it costs you $20 to fill your car's gas tank and you are allowed to do it once a week? Street bikes get abou t 40 miles per gallon. Huetter photo. Sharon Clayton; Puhlisher Tom Culp; GC'IH·r.11 ~landKer Edna Mewton; S<"l rel ..try to Publisher Catherine Lampton; :\rl Dire<.'lor Tod Ra.fferty; ~lanaKin..: Editor Art Friedman; Euilor John D. Ulrich; .\~!'O(·iaLc Editor Wendy Blanton; :\dvcrlisinJ{ I\ .. sislanl Rheba Smith; Cin'ulation :\lan,l~er Pam Hobbs; eirculaLion Assislanl Cheryl Steinberg; Cirt'ulalilln .'\s~islanl Nancy Gray; Production :\SSiStollll Hector Aguilera; I.ab 'I'e(·hniti.. n Marion Hatashita; TypoJ,.'l'apher Melvin Phelps; ASJ.;stanl Typ0,l{rahcr Gave Zaionz; Al,.TOUnling ~1.mdRt'r Twil'a Wheeler; An:ounlin~ AssisLant Chris Kolbet; :\c,;c:ounlinR i\s.~islanl Rosemary Chandler; An'ounLin~ Assist.lnl Jim Squires; Colic '(ion ~tanaKer Chris Hom; Servi('cs & Supporl Michael Colikas; Services & Support Dav Pauli; S~rvit:o & SuppOrt Bill Runyan; ·ervit.·cs & Supporl Jeannie Dunivan; RC<,·~plioni.!ol National Advertising Director; l'om Culp West: P.O. Box 498, Long Beach. CA 90801. (213) 427·7433: LA 636-8844. Telex No. 673·474. East-Dixie: P.O. Box 80,. Tucker Georgia. (404) 934-78,0 MXER JIM BELL 109 Falcon Ave. Long Beach, Calif. 90805 Central: P.O. Box 1324" Austin, Texas 78711. (,12) 444-7,48 Subscription The two school motocrosses that we've covered were at inglewood High and junipero Serra High in Gardena. You could get some information from the officials of these schools we're sure. You might get further support from other students who have successfully organized motocross events at their schools. How about it, readers?... Ed. Thumpers Forever! In your October' 30 issue Papa Wealey mentions that Eric Cheney cannot a-fford to send John Banks to ride the Cheney{BSA in all the world championship rounds next year. There is also mention that John hopes the rest Barstow to Vegas One year. ~c,;ond dass mail. 112.50 2 years. second class mail, 122.50 3 ycars. second class mail, 130.00 Single copy price. ,0 f I'uhlishl'd weekly C'xc,;cpt for Ihe firsl and lasl week of th(" nlcndl.r )'C':1r by Cyde N...ws. Inc.. PUSI Ofti.'c Kox 49S, Long Rc.u·h. C;tlifomi~. Sel'ond d ..ss vosla~ paid .a! Lon¥ Ke

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