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/125857
critical when brand new. Just filling th e battery doesn't give eno ugh juice. Hope Kawa gets i t sorted o u t as t he ride w e had o n it sure imp ressed us. Loo k fo r a full test in a fut ur e issue. Clubs can now borrow two excellent trials films to spice up their meeting programs. One is of the 1973 Three Day Trial at Santigosa, Spain ; the other is of the 1973 Scottish Six Day. They're available from Montesa, call Xavier Jordi at 213/663-8258. Sammy Tanner is ba ck a t his bel o ved A~cot, this ti me as Mot or cycle Ra cing Directo r. Samm y won his first national half-mile ~ t Ascot as a second year Expert In 1959, th en again in 1964-6 5·6 6. On e of his first pleasant d uties was to announce th at the total for purses, con tingencies, and prizes has grown to alm ost $ 17,500. One of the posted donations in the Ascot Sil ver Medal series is $120 worth of steak dinners from Cattlemen's on the Pier; Redondo Beach. Eat hearty, you fast guys. Bay mare race t rack is closed. T he lease ran o ut along w ith t he spe cial use permit. Operator Mike Plunkett j ust co uld n ' t draw enough people to th e fin e but hidd~n facility near Simi, California to make 11 pay . Nebraska has called the Department of Transportation's bluff. They adjourned the state legislature last week without passing a motorcycle hel met law, and now will wai t and see if it costs them $7 m illion in federal safety funds or no t . What is "Zen and the Art o f Motorcycl e Maintenance, " an yw ay ? Both Time and New Yorker magazine s gave it glow ing book reviews. WE WON ! Gene Wirwahn , Legisl'ative Director fo r the AMA, called up all excit ed to info rm us that the BLM finally agreed t hat publ ic land (the desert) under ' their juri~ iction is officially " o pe n unless posted closed. " BLM received over 2,500 comments on their proposed regulations and 56% favored open lands, while 44% favored closing the desert. It was that close. AMA thanks all those who sent comments and the quarter million who signed their open lands petition. It's official I Sammy Miller, the m ast er at trials, has signed a tw o-y ear contract with Honda. He is on his way to Japan for co nsul ta tio ns with Honda's R&D department, will work as European team manager design engineer, and factory rider. Sam to ld the British press: "My aim now is to Ret the 800th tri als win of m y career on a Honda." H is lifetime tally stan ds at 794. The CRC Mexican Enduro scheduled for April 2 7 already has over 5 00 entries. To m e e t t he nee ds of th e large r-than-expected number of riders, CRC will be trucking in increased gas sup plies an d Pen nzoil has donated a bunch more oil for use in preparation of the pre-mix that entrants get with en try fee . Entries are still open. Th e F.l .M. (T han k go od ness I don't have to sa~ it in Fre nc h) h as officially recogni zed Gene Rom ero's one ho ur record as 242. 07832 krn /hr., set a t Daytona on th e Yamaha T Z 70 0. It will take th em until this fall to c onfirm it. Th e French nev er do an ything in a h urry except change governments. Th ey 'r e lousy lovers, too. Triumph riders with early models hav ing old style deep-groove rings can use the present day rings. That's the word f ro m old Triumph tuner Pat Owens. This was a ti p for Daytona '65. THE CALDWELL CONSPIRACY: Geoffrey Wood, who last week wrote that Richard Renstrom " is known throughout the world for his expert historica l wr iti ngs . . ... in his st o ry on Renstrom's Caldwell , Idaho " Classic Cycle Shoppe" is Richard Ren strom. Why are lis ) Renst rom /Wood aloneltogetherl challenging Goodwin Sands fo r the t itle of the most amazing motorcycle historian (s) ever? Could it be that George Lea/Manfred Baez and Geoffrey Wood/Richard Renstrom are the same person? . Los t but not for gotten - Champion frame magnate Doug Schwerma is disguising Rick Hocking's TT Yamah a ri g with high Harley pipes. Don Dudek's Triumph TT bike has an interesti ng new little gadget. Just a piece of light aluminum f ixed to the brake caliper stablizer bar. Keeps dirt out and heat from pipes from going directly on the caliper. Don was still running strong after 100 go-rounds at Ascot. •.must work. With t he num ber of disc brakes used in raci ng today , seems to Papa th at th e plastic t ubi ng used to carry t he fluid ' is not as safe as it should b e for racing. J.us t . a few bu cks fo r aircraft press ure line IS the w ay to go . Mert Lawwill was t he o n ly on e using t he good h ose at th e 100 lap per, then o nly on one of his bikes. Team Kawasaki road ra cer Hurley Wilvert turned up at the OC IR drags last Wednesday evening. Between runs down the st rip, Hu rley , (who our assistant art tootsie thinks loo ks "Paul Newmanish") co mp lai ned t hat h i s en d uro classifica tion has been cha nge d up to "B" on th e basis of his finis h at Daytona. WILVERT, on his Kawasaki H2 ·R road racer, made two runs, t he f irst at 12 point something seconds and 131 MPH, After he and George Vukmonovich did some fiddling, he went 11.85 and 135 MPH - geared for Riverside. Maybe Hurley will become a drag racer. The b~ggest thi ng since m o to-streak ing, according to one of o ur slick his tory boo k b uddies, is buyi ng plastic models of H-D Electra-Glides and chopping them . We got six press releases announcing that James Potter was elected President of the Motorcycle Industry Council, so I guess it must be importan t. Mr. Potter was previously Executive Director of MIC since 1971 , and a Los Angeles City Councilman for eight years before that. \~e go t a le tt er from about 15 people hired to be flagm en at a recent National an d promised money they never got. A good place to go when yo u get ripped off, have a legit im ate claim, and lots of witnesses ( 15 will be just fine) is th e local smal l clai ms co urt. You can not use a lawy er in sma ll clai ms court, j ust m an -t o-man wi th t he judge deciding. T he loser p ay s th e co ur t fees . Check it o ut. Bruce Baron, riding a monoshock Yamaha 125 for Orange County Cycle was really hot in the first 125 mota at the Spillway Qual ifier until the bike's clutch backed off. As he pushed into the pits he still seemed to like it . "It quit, but that bike is 'sooo' neat !" Some r eliabl e s our ces say t he monos hock Yamahas cam paigned at Baymare and Spillway by T eam Yamaha are ac t ua lly stock 197 5 production models. The peop le who have ridden t hem sur e seem to lik e them. A lot of the hot shoes at Spillway were more in terest ed in talking about the' me lee at the Speedway season's opening night (fi ve streakers, numerous pol ice , and gallons of beer thrown by spectators when the fuzz tried to haul off the naked galavanters ) than motocross. BET YO U DIDN'T KNOWTHATKAW HAD R EVERSE: When Jimmy Weinert d ropped th e clutch off the line at Baymare, his bike promptly leapt abo ut fo ur feet backwards. Seems the ignition was so far advanced the engi ne started in re verse . There are now four of the Suzuki . rotaries in the country. Word has it the bikes are slower than the GT750 with ' about the same weight and a longer wheelbase. t The Pomona Valley Desert Riders' May 19 Granny Run could contribute as much as $500 to M.O .R.E., according t o Dave Martin , the club's President. Money w ill come from the dollar extra paid by post entries , and from a collection jar at sign -up. After wh at almost happened to the Red Garte r National, end uro rid ers need M.O .R .E . more than ever. McG ill C y cl e Park in Northe rn Cali fornia has th e nam e game d ow n pretty good, wi th the ir "M oon Room " , a n air co ndi tio ned meet ing pl ace avail abl e for mee tings and parti es. Fo r in fo rma tion, call (9 16 ) 35 1· 02 7 1. We have Bicycle Motocross, but have you ever seen Bicycle Speedway? It was big wi t h kids in England while Brian Slark was growing up there a few years ago . Tr ack s consisted of two straightaways lin ked by sho rt radi us turns. Raleigh even made a speedway bicycle . Pedal, pedal, pedal , s1i-i-ide! 4 Handy hint : Should yo u re turn to y o ur car at speed wa y and find a den t wi th th e No. 19 written o n i t, see one Sonny Nutter, he says it wo rks great, right Stu Morley? Bengt Aberg, who succeeded John Banks on the Cheney BSA thumper, will soon carry a four -stroke into the 250cc world motocross cha mp io nshi p fray . It is to be a Cheney-Honda, breathed on by " Po ps " Yosh imura . . Triumph Trident pr oduc tion is rollin g again at t he former BSA plan t at Sm all Heath, England. Target o utput by year's end is 230 mach ines per wee k, all for ex port. Th e graffit i in t he lad ies? ro om at speedway is read with so me am usement by the speedway riders' wives. "So meo ne please write about Bill Cody ." That 's a d irec t request fr om Fran Cody. T he open ing of speedw ay for Ve nt ura is May 7, now a regul ar T ues day ni gh t show . Seem s the horse people co uldn' t clear their re main s in time for a Saturday sho w. A numbe r of large motorcycle makers use float needles made in Day ton, Ohio . Now you know cause one of our staffe rs relatives sells the t hing s to t he m. Tip fo r all new 4 00 fo ur-st ro ke Kawasak i o wne rs. If yo ur bike won't start with th e electric sta rt, it means th e ba tter y 's abo ut dead . Be tt er cha rge it up quick , as the n ew type alternator will n o t charge it. The problem is especially EVEL KNI EV E L mad e h is latest appearances in th e West, j ump ing hi~ Harl eY-l?avidson o ver ten Mack trucks a t Fremont, Cal ifornia and Orange County International Raceway. Ne xt, th e dar edevil showman will attemp t similar j umps at Ka,:,sas City ( th i~ weekend) and Tulsa, Oklahoma (next w eekend). Th en Columb us, O.hlD on Mem orial Day weekend. After t ha t co mes the bi g Sn ak e Canyon one-mile Flight att empt, firmly sche d uled fo r September 8, 1974 a t T win Fa lls, Id ah o .