Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Randsburg an d Cudda back, her e we come. Also, the Brushbusters" MC rea lly know how to mark a course. GARY LAUDIG Lancaster, Ca. Two strokes bad, fou r strokes good Hope My husband Randy died J une 29. He never mi ssed an issue of Cycle News. Until August 27, 1972, he rode mo torcycles for ten years. On that date h e was i n j ured motocrossing at Cal- Expo. The c rash left him paralyzed from the waist down. For the last two years he has continually worked on bikes to make enough money to build his own. He was b uilding a three wheeler when he just gave up hope and decided to end his life, There was always a great deal of pa in from h is fractured back, and he just left to buy some gaskets for his Honda and never returned in the car. Please thank all the riders for the hope and faith these past two years Randy couldn't have made it this far without their help. Especially the Campbell family who own Argyll Park an d the Sacramento Racing Cl ub Association. We have appreciated all their help and love . JANIS M. RICHA R DS ON & CH ILDREN Napa, Calif. Someth ing special In this day of bad pub licity (if any) o n b ikes, it was quite pleasing 't o see a commercial showing two co uples on mo'sid es m o to ring .d o wn a coast h ighw ay p ast a Budweiser tr uck accom panied b y Ed McMahon's voic e saying "There 's so me thi ng special about see in g the country th is way . . • " I sup posed people w ho cons ider all moto rc ycl es and m o torcy cl ists to be detrimental to the country because some kid down th e street wheeHes thro ugh their backyard can jus t as eas ily confuse touring bikes with dirt bikes. Maybe we shou ld all drink Bud instead of Coors? The latter goes stale, anyway .. . DAVE BOlDa Burbank, Calif. costs as I ride in Cl\IC mo t oc ross, and m y good friend Tom Horton (National No. 55) rides flat track, so between paying my racing bills and working with Tom last year o n his private Triumph (he has a full ride on a fac tory Ya maha this year) . I know that w ith some luck, a good rider and good equipment a tru e privateer can make money on the circuit. I think you'lI agree that it wou ld be hard, if not impossible to do so in auto racing without a big sponsor, (spelled M·O-N-E-Y). ! don 't want anybody to think that I'm against big purses for riders, as they deserve any amount they get, be cause as far as I'm concerned, the AMA National Championship Circuit has the most exciting and compc:titive racing, devoid of domination by one rider or machine, to be found anywhere in the world today. But I do feel that :\Ir. Conner is wrong in saying that there is too much money on the track racing for too little prize money, as this simply is not the case today. KEVIN TALBOT Lancaster, Ca. World Champ. MX ....6,13 U.S.A . 500 GP and British bulletins National . . , . .. , . . , , . , - ,9 . I have read time and time again that the four stroke engine has become obsolete and is considered due for pasture . With the present system of race classification, that may be true. Two stro ke engines are allowed to run in races with an equal capacity above the piston and below the piston . This is 100% disp lacement advantage in the form of crankcase supercharging. The proper thing to do would be to take: a number of different two stroke racing e:ngines and now test th eir transfer ports to establish the amount of charge gained by two stroke crankcase super charging. Let m e qualify my statement. Supercharging is the filling of a co n ta ine r at a rate greater than a tmospheric pressure. To the best of m y calculations, this amo unt tu r n s o ut to be four times the n o rmal atmospheric pressure. No wonde r t hey have to run watercooled! It 's hig h tim e the A l\JA and FIM q ui t pulling the wool over th e pub lic's eyes . Since: the two st ro ke has ne ar ly a 100% unfair advantage, why not give the four stroke engine a 4 0% displacemen t increase in eac h category including dirt racing? A 250 two stroke would be running a 350 four stroke, a 500 two stro ke versus a 750 four stroke, and a 750 two stroke versus a 1000 four stroke, (rounding a few figu res). If these conditions aren't met. racing results are mere hog wash promoted by large two stroke manufacturers to make a quick buck off a chain saw motorcycle and flee ce your wallet in the process. Scott's Castle Ro ck 1T , . , , ,12 Enduro I\lushy bananas Desert ... , . , .. . , , , ... .16 Bare narons North ,18 ,, Rain, mud, good times World Champ , Road Race .22 Kenny at Dutch IT Test : KX450 . , , ,24 Mass production terror Riding impression, . , . , . ,27 Yamaha's powerle:ss motocrossers Technical . ,. , 28 E.C. und der vergasser Results .... . , . , .. , . . ..30 What's happening, man? Calendar . . , . : , .. , . .. . .38 ON TilE COVER ; Mikkola didn't clinc h t he 500 Wor ld Championship at the U.S. GP but still has 10 point lead. Da le Brown Photo. . I WAYNESCHOENAIIL Booneville , Ca. Elsinores are watercooled? As for dead four strokes, over half the bikes sold in A merica are fOU T strokes . . . Ed . Sharon Clayton; Publisher Thomas R. CuJp : General Manager; Edna Mewton ; Secretary to Publisher. Advertising Thomas R. Culp: National Director Trudi Culver: Assistm t . Ed itoriai In one ear ... I n your J u n e I I article entitled " Robe rts Rolls O n" you implied th a t the long promised Ha rley-Davidson 250 twi ns wou ldn't h ave made any difference to th e Atlanta races, d esp ite th e fact th at nobody's ever seen the m run in th is co untry! I tho ught that Cy cle News migh t have had the in side track o n th e new Harley-Davidsons. However, Gary Scott st uck his H·D 250 in yoor presu mptuous ea r with his victory at the Loudon road races, a full 18Y. seconds ahead of "old yeller" and the "roll on gang." A little research into the success that II·D has had pioneering the 250 in Europe would have convinced you that it would be a machine to be reckoned with. How does it feel, an H-D in the ear ? ROBERT C. STRmlBERG Great Falls, Mont, Professional purses I would like to reply to :\Ir. Tommy Conner's article, "The Professionals" in the July 9th issue. I agree with him on why promoters "promote" races, for profit, plain and simple. And on track safety, as it's a miracle so few riders are killed or seriously injured with as little safety equipment as there is, let alone on an unsafe track like Colorado. However, if he thinks that the money tied up in motorcycle racing equiprnen t is too much compared to the purses, he should look into car racing! Take the average "Indy" type car; including a spare motor and parts, fuel. ti res. pit crew, etc .• you're loo k ing al a q uar te r of a million dollars! A t Indy this year on the starling grid ther e was over eig ht mi llion dollars rep resented amo ng jus t 33 cars. As fo r drag racing, a first class top fuel drags ter with spares, tires , etc., can cost $20 ,000. A pro-stock Vega or Pin to can go over $30,000 very quickly. The prize muney ? At the recent Gatornationals in Florida a 16 car field in top fuel, worth over $300.000, raced for an $ I 1,000 purse! I have a good idea what bike rac ing I SIDE It buzzes. Th e writer of that story. Charles Clayton. admits n ow that it might have made a differen ce . . . Ed. YZ Brushbuster In the results of the Brushbusters race, you bad me listed as first PP on a Husky. I just wanted to inform you that I won on a YZ 125 . LINDA GRIFFING PPNo.107A Desert Barons :\IC Redlands, Ca. Give Soggy a rest T hus far District 37 has held seven desert races at SOKgy Dry Lake in the Lucerne Valley. This does not count races he ld there by other o rgan iza tions. We still have 20 D-37 races left this year and you can bet some of them wilJ be held down that yellow bri ck road to Soggy. If the BI_\I is so dam worried about us destroying the desert, why don 't they let us race in other areas and lei Lucerne have a rest? Look out Red Mountain, The views expressed in t his co lum n a nd col umns a p peari ng o n the othe r following pages are sol ely those of the Charles Clayton ; Editor. John D. Ulrich ; Associate Editor. John H u e t t e r ; F eature Editor. Lan e' Campbell; Cal endar Editor. a uthors and d o not necessaril y reflect the official position of Cycle N ews West or C & 5 Plblishing Co . Quatified readers w ish ing free and equa l reb utta l space sho uld contact the Editor . Good. sincere people Regarding the co lumn titled "The Professionals" in your July 9 issu e : The author, Tommy Conner, is as fu ll of b ull as a Christmas turkey. lie states flatly that the San Jose Mile had 9.000 paid spectators at $8.50 a ticket. The paid San Jo~ crowd was far below 9.000 as can be certified by the S anta Cl ara County F air Secretary-manager. The prices were $ 10 for 400 box seats, $8.50 grandstand, and $7 for bleachers. The event showed a gross profit that was smaller than the riders' purse. At San Jo~ the promoter gets nothing from the: concessions : that re venue Koe s to th e fair. Conner men lions an un-named Northern California manufacturer who is quite critical of promoters. My name is Bob Barkhimer and I hide behind no one. Who are you, Mr. No Na me ? I make money sometimes and I give value. I am entitled to it . Don Brymer, Aggie, Astrodome, King, etc. are all good , sincere people with good days and bad days. but they try and they put thei r m on ey up. It is a hig coun try. Why don't you, Tom my Co nner - or Mr. No Name put your money up and pr o m o te some perfect races? BOB BARKHIMER Scotts Valley , Ca . Tom my Conner is a part-time race promoter and full time tuner/sponsor of A.llA racers James Rawls and Ted and Terry Po vey . . . Ed . Art & Production Cat her ine Lampton: Art Director. Nancy Gray; Adve rtising Art Director. He c t o r Ag uile ra; Lab Tec hnician . Mar ion Hatas hita; Typographer, Mel vin Phe lps; Assi stant Typographer. Circulation Rheba Smith; Manager. Pam Hobbs & Chris Andrcws : Assis tants. Accounting Gaye Zaionz ; Manager. Chris Kolber & Twila wheeter ; Assistants, Rosemary Chandler: Collection, Dary l Christian; Assistant. Services & Support Mike Colikas, Randy Davis, Bill Runyan , Jeannie Dunivan: Re ceptionist. West P.O. Box 498, I.on2 Be ac h , CA 90801 (21 3 ) 427-7433; LA 636 ·8844. East P.O . Box 934·7 850. 805. Tucker. GA (404) Central P.O . Box 13245, Aust in. TX 78711. Subscription One year. second class mail. $J2.50; 2 . years, second class mail. $ 2 2 .5 0 ; 3 years, second clas s' mail . $30.00; Single c.op y price. 50 cents. A (~ Co pyriKht Cyde Nt'w1, Inc. 19 74 . Trad... mvlr. rc'lililiCTed U.S . PilleR ! Office. All riRtlt l reserved. Published wt'ddy l"ll CC'pl th... (jru and Iilll i wt'dt o f rbe ca lC'n d v yru by Cycl t' Nr_. Inc .• P.O . ROll; 49H, Lona: Bnch . C.li(ornioil. Se cond d asl pOSI4Rt' p~ld OIl Lona Duch , CA . Editorial s t o r ies, Cllr UXln l . phot os. e tc ,

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