Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1974 09 03

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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Cancel all motocross at Helvetia Park , near Sacramento, California the rest of this season. Seems t he zoning board f ound o ut the land was zo ned agric u lt ura l and the landowner didn 't have a permit for racin g. Lo ts o f bi tt erness fly ing arou nd ' up t here. If you 've got an o pinion, address it to the " Woodland Daily Dem ocrat " in t he town of that name. Running a flat track program with 200 rider-entries calls for the track to withstand at least 2,20 0 racing laps (plus practice). Is it any wonder the track gets terrible, nerves fray and the show goes away? Something's gotta be do ne to cut the rider entry, some say. Ever hear o f Bake rs Cab in? It 's on Sno wy T rail up in th e Gorman area, owned b y a reall y ni ce old gu y wh o in vites bikers in fo r co ffee an d B.S. , works his own nearby gold mine and doe sn't bother an ybody. Some yo-yes o n cycles have been up there busting his windows, which ma kes Papa and friends mad enough to tattoo on skulls with tire irons. Notice how things have changed fo r the better sin ce "Any Sunday" was filmed four ye ar s ago? The kids have numberplates on their bicycles, Number On e- flies, or rela x es in his free GM ca mper o n th e way to th e Nati onals and th e dir t tracks aren' t slid y anymore . But now th er e 's Spee dway. And _Malco lm 's [SDT ticket is pi cked up by Hus ky and th e AMA . 83 Decibels is the new limit agreed-on by the Motorcycle I ndustry Co u ncil for 1975 road bikes . This is about a 50% reduction in noise from the MIC 's origina l resolution of 88 in 1970. This represents " a high degree of technical development consistent with public interest to promote an ever-increasing accept a nce of the motorcycle." You can't call them " noisy " anymore. A parachute malfunction caused Evel Knievel's Skycycle to plunge nose-down into the bottom of Snake River Canyon in an unmanned test. Prior to the chute failure, the pe roxide-rocket missile had successfully achieved the 2,000 foot altitude needed to carry it across the gorge. A third machine is being readied for t he manned j ump September 8. Besid es increasing their Ranger Patrol and aerial surveillance, BlM is "evaluating the feasibility of electron ic sensing devices" t o keep ORVs out of certa in places. What a job for Hunt & Liddy, bugging the desert! REFEREES DON'T NEED THE G UFF th at some racers are handing them lately. Larger turnouts ca use problems en ou gh without riders second-g uess ing th e guy who is running t he program. , Keep it up and yo u may lose so me good refs. Mark lundy, 18, of Kansas City, Missouri placed 20th in a field of 30 World Class riders at the 250cc I nternational Motocross in Holland, August 11 . Mark is one of the stars of the new National MX Association out of Mission, Kansas. M.O.R.E. urges every OR V enthusiast who received a California Department of Transportation question naire (only 15 ,000 in t he sample) to answe r it promptly, and to the best of your abi lity, Response will determine how muc h gasoline tax money goes to t he Off Highway Vehicle Fund . " Rotte n Rick" Hallmark wrot e Papa to say the French aren't the on ly ones playing Moto·Ball. The Over-th e-Hill Gang has been doing it for months . Even has Super-E ight mov ies. And at their age, too .. . Rocket Crusade? That's the name of the outfit preparing this bit of b i-whe eled plumbing for an assault on drag and land speed records. The "Scorpion " is hyd rogen pe roxide rocket powered, rated at 1,000 pounds thrust, hauled down by four Airheart discs, runs on slightly used Dunlop road racing tires. /It corners?) Arv il Porter, known for his rides on a Chevy V-8 powered bike, w ill ride it, "F inal Execution" is handled by Glen Blakely. (Doesn't sound too good fo r 01' Arv il, does it?) It 's -uh , different, fellas , but didn 't they strap guys to th ings like that in World War II? Except for some flagging confus ion at one corner, the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Associatio n ro ad race August 19 was as good as any. They're more organized t han MRA at Aspen whil e maintain ing close to the same down-loose atmosphere, and they do t he jo b wit h less hassles tha n AF M. Nob ody can bea t Mountain Roadracing Associa t ion (!\IRA) for coope ration with press phot ographers. T hey j ust le t th em go where they have to in order to get d ynamite pho tos. Nancy Thomas, Powder Puff racer of some fam e, makes the best Oregon wild blackberry pie in the world. Ummmm, ummmm, good! The track at Portland In tern atio nal Raceway might have some b ig-race potential if it's resu rfaced. As it is now. a D KW enduro bike might be the hot set up. Now o nly if they made a 750cc version . . . Steve Hurd wiped out his trip to the 1974 ISOT with a crash at a CMC Ascot night motocross, breaking his wrist. His spot on the Penton "0" team will be picked up by Bob Thomas of Cad iz, KY . T hat rained-out Terre Hau te AMA Nat ional Half-m ile (fi nale of the Cam el Pro Ser ies) wi ll be resch eduled , but a date has ye t to be firmed up. Who to contact about the coming Evel Knievel Spectacular: Promotions - Joe Vecchio, (208) 734-5000; entry info Dave Welsh (pro ) or Denny Amicon (amateur) at the AMA offices, (614) 891 -2425; tickets and accommodations - Snak e River Enterprises, P.O. Box 1422, Twin Falls, Idaho 83301. The CMC road race scheduled fOT September 15 has been moved up to September I to avo id conflict with the AFl\l Laguna Seca race o n the 15th. North correspondent Jan Newman writes - "For years we Oregonians have had to put up with purveyors of the printed page moving Mt. Hood to Washingt on and Crater lake to Northern Califo rn ia, but please let us keep Diane Co x!" :- did we do that? Ascot Race way in Gardena, Califo rn ia is organ izing lap pri ze p ay o ffs to jazz-up their Novi ce /Junior half-mile races 'an d Expert TT October I I (ni ght be fo re t he Nati on al) . Novi ces will win $2 5 per lap, Junior $50 and Experts $ 100 fo r eve ry lap o ne leads. 2 New BlM desert vehicl e regulati ons apply t o all vehicles, not just us recreational types. In ot he r words, prospectors, picn ickers, even S ierra Clubbers' station wagons will be subject to the same restrictions and penalties. More than 650 kids rode the northern California round of Yamaha's Bicycle Gold Cup a t Santa Clara Universi ty Au gust 9. "Judging fr om th e numbers of riders and spec ta to rs o n hand," gasped a Yamah a spokes man, "bicy cle motocross can look forward to a fu ture rivaling t he po pular it y of Little League base b all an d th e Soap Bo x Derb y !" Ken Ross, formerly partners with "Light Brown" lancione in Universal Accessories, is on his own now, merchandising "Super Shock Springs." The line consists of shot-peened, pre-set springs sold in matched pairs to fit seven major brands of dampers. Prices aren't bad, either. Write Ken Ross, Inc. , Rt . 2 Box 1240, Rockwall , Texas 7 5087 for info. T hey ' re yell ow, by the way. So ledad Correctional T rai ning Facility (prison ) is looking fo r a vocational instructor to teach small engine repair ( m o t o r cy cle, lawnmower and outboard). Salary: S2,218 to SI.635 per month. To app ly , phone Jan Morrell at (408) 678-2616 o r 675-2411. A unique raffle is slated for the benefit of the w idow and baby of John Fishburn, popular speed way racer who d ied in Mexico recently. The Bell helmets wom by the 18 riders in the U.S. Natio n al Championsh ip at Costa Mesa, California November F irst w ill be won. Chances w ill be sold for $1 each at . the Ve nt u ra. Bake rsfi eld , Irw indale, Costa Mesa and Sacramento t racks d uring upco ming qualifyi ng ro unds. A VACATIO N! Oh joy of joys ! Oh hooray. hoopla . an d hotdog. Papa 's got Labor Day off. T hat means n o o ne will be aro und to answer the phones un til . T uesday, Se ptember 3, Con trib u tors. d o n' t co me in on Monday, but rem e m b e r, b usiness as usua l on Tuesda y. The Golden Gate Mile gets classy! The Turf Club will be open, and 200 couples will have the opportunity to watch the races while partaking of a champagne brunch featur ing a gourmet buffet. The price is $15 per person, (six bucks more than a box seat) and it'll be just like the horse fans do. L&M has picked up fu ll sponsorship of the Go lden Gate Mile . T ha t ma rks L&M's first entry into Mile raci ng, their past efforts bei ng in motocross . A TRAil JINX? larry Roeseler, 0-37 Trail Class Number One, is in the Ridgecrest, California Hospital (Room 12 ) with a broken vertabra after a crash August 25. In the same desert race, Bob Rutten, Number Four Trail, broke a leg. The week before, Number Three Trail Bruce Ogilive broke his collarbone . We're not sure who Number Two is, but it looks like he's got it in the bag - if he doesn't fall off. The Sierra Club has lost a court fight to force the Californ ia S tate Parks and Recreatio n Commission to go against the expressed wishes of the public and decl are Red Rock Canyon a " State Par k. " Superior Judge Campbell M. Lucas denied a petition by the conservation group t ha t claimed the • Co mmission "abused its disc retio n " by liste ning to t he peo ple . Bizarre. - J umpe r Bob Gill struck five feet short of his landing ramp and was hos pitalized in seri ous co nditi on with back inj uri es at West Virginia Uni versity Hos pital in Mo rgantown, W.V. The A ugust 25 jump at Bruceto wn Mills, W.V. was almost cancelled due to poor ramp co ndi t ions, then rescheduled after a near-riot by spectators. BRA VE DUD E : It seems Ken Mackow, 2 1, o f Round Lak e, lIIino is, w ill att em pt to j ump - ge t this - a Honda XL 175 o ver 16 cars at Asco t Raceway in Garden a. Californ ia not once. but t wice , on Septern be r 1 an d September 2.

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