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/125840
o The METTCO Penton 250 Har. Scrambler-Motocra_r. Chuck Bower. A driving force in the METTCO go-fast PiOlllem. A small competition shop survives in the big leagues. By Tad Rafferty Photos by John D. Ulrich - When Fred Hayes got out of the army he was stoked on enduro riding, and his father's machine shop was the natural spot to tinker with bikes. l>ad was also Fred's employer, and it soon became obvious that his son was spending more time working on motor- -42 cycl"s than on gov"mm<:nt contracts. So th"y d"ci~d to o!"'n a bilt" shop n"x t door. Fr"d piclr."d up Sarac"n and th"n Maico. H" sold on" Sarac"n and th" Maicos brolr." a lot. <;"n.,.a1ly disappoint"d with th" lack of assistanc" h" was g"tting from th" distributors, Fr"d w"nt to P"nton in May of 1971. H" sold quit" a f"w of th" "arly I 00 and 125 bilr."s, and though th" Hrst machin"s had s"v.,.al probl"ms, Hay"s was impr"""d with John P"nton's d"t"rmination to d"Vdop a good product and stand ~hind it. METTCO's pros!"'cts r"a1ly improv"d wh"n th" chrom<: moly·fr;un.,d mod".s ClIID" along. Eight""n-y"ar-old Chuck Bow"," had no probl"m switching from Maico to P"nton, and h" won th" fast haIf-dozen rac"s h" "nt"ud with th" n"w bilt". Fr"d cudits Chuck with a 1Mg" shau of th" r"sponsibility for th" succ"" of th" METICO op"ra tion. With th" addition of Bruc" McDougal, a ufu~,,- from Yamaha, th" METICO racing family ~= th" tum to bUL Danny LaPort" swap!"'d his Rickman rid" to rac" for Fr"d's shop, and tat"r th" now famous pow~rpuff"r-stunt girl-photojoumalist Marcia HoU"y a4d"d so,"" f"minin" charm to th" outfit. Now Chuclr. and Bruc" hav" ~"n lur"d off to th" big. tim" by Am"rican Honda, but Fr"d dO"-sn 't b"grud~ th"m th"ir succ"ss. Prof"ssional motocross is now big busin"s&, and th" chanc"s to mov" up aun't han~d out casually. F",d Hay", is a good "xampl" of th" sportsman-rac"r-shop own"r. H,,'s not g"tting rich, but if all th" bills au paid "v"rything's fm". Th" sport of motorcycling is mor" important to him than th" busin"ss of motorcycle ",lIiDg. Of COurK, with acc.,. to his fath.,.'s machinny, Fud has an advantage ov"r som" shop own"rs. And h" has an inj"ction machin" that puts out plastic mud flaps and fork guards which ar" marlr."t"d by ""v"ral outsid" compam.,s. Now th" !",trol"um probl"m has cut th" availability of raw mat"riaJ drastically, but Hay", dO"-sn't ..,"m to b" wringing his hands in grid. Th" METTCO approach, lilr." th" Pmton attitud", is basically a "rac" what you ""U" philosophy. Th" P"ntons riddm by Bow.,. and McDougal w"re not super-tric k GS engines in featherw"ight frames. Using production "ngin"s and frames means giving away a few pounds and ponies, so Hayes works on improving the power band and handling characteristics. The ",suits compil"d by Bower, McDougal and LaPorte s!",ak for themselv".. Fred admits to using one Koba Kit in the much maligned Sachs gearbox, but insists that th" right shimming and adjustment, plus prop.,. shifting, is all that's necessary. Fred is giving to just shaking his head on this subj"ct, saying, "If they'd just leam to shift pro!",rly." We spmt some time on the METTCO Penton at Indian Dun"s, and it is for "Of" som" fast motorcycle. The only trickny on Bow"r's machine was in blueprinting the engine and reptacing the chain guide and brake arm with items made by Fred hUnKIf. A Bassani pipe and a pair of Curnutt shocks compl"t" th" custolDlzJng. Oh yuh, so~ CZ·typ" handl"bars. Lilt" ~on" ds", Fr"d Hay"s is w~ about th" cururu «onomic situation. But h,,'s not thinking about cashing in. "I'll M involv"-tl as long as it's I"gal to rid" a motorcycle, and as long as it's fun," he said...It's still a sport. " Without shops Jik" METTCO, this sport wouldn't ~ nurly as lJIuch fun. Fred Heyes e-- it. Ewen the enduro modll .-a erouncf .... MX 1rel:k with .itv.