Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

C\l C\l ... (,) ..0 o ..... u o } 'Fut ur e Dates: Oc t. 20 , 1974 F e D. 16, '7 5 . Apr. 27, '75 9amto 2pm . ..._ .... rwm;:;;;ilPiilr-ii~ Cleon out your spore ports and make extra cosh . Sell to custo mers wh o or e looking for your acce ssorie s. O ld o r new port s and cccevsories may be sold for qn ything $elated to the automotive or motorc ycle world . Sellin g sp aces cost only ~5 . 00 e ach for a 10' x 20' space w ith prime front locations ava ilabl e fo r \10 .0 0 per space a nd additional room to park your cor with mercha ndise. All re servations must b e mod e by ma il in advance . Simply moil your chec k to us, indic a te the event and we w il l con firm you r space by ma il and send a ll add itional info rma tio n needed . CANNING'S SHOW HEADQUARTERS Mailing Ad~ress; P.O. BOX 400Dept. 27 ~ MAlCO If: General Offices; 4525 E. 59th Place Maywood, California 90270 New and Definitely Different! F or 2 stro ke and some 4 stro ke . ~u~ ~ noste r Spar k PlugS Put the Spark where the act ion is TO ROUE MASTER PRODUCTS I I " .. l.oO('l .. . '-11 1;>;>·4 1;>":1 dale brown suzuki Salem's Motorcycles, Inc. 14 3839 N. 7t h sr.. Phoenix . AZ 850 14 60 2 ·265-79 77 2441 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach (2 blockssouth ofWillow) Join the Dale Brown Discount Club Try us forallhard to getSuzuki parts "In December they clipped my wings and I had to drive 65 - I thoug h t I'd go nu ts. Th en this 5 5 th ing ca m e along the next mon th . It takes fo reve r to get anyw he re ." It d oesn 't reall y take fo rever, but tra veli ng along at 55 gives a man used to speed th ree ti mes as fast ti me to tal k abou t wha t he does. "Racing is m y business , my only business. '. Racing is a demanding business, b oth in co nce ntratio n and in pat ie nce. especial ly for a fa ct ory rider kn own as well as Gene Ro mer o , " Right before ra ces people wan t your a utograph or wa nt to talk t o you . You 've go t your mi nd on wh at you've got to do. a nd feel like just telling them to go a way. It see ms like every tim e I try to pu t o n my face shield so me body wants som eth ing. " If being a m ember of the Yamaha fac to ry t e am brin gs wit h it so metimes-unwa nted atten tio n. it also ca rries m an y unique adva ntages. Most team s in the past have had a preferred rider o r riders. Gen e d oesn't h ave pr oblems with th at , even b eing o n th e sa me team with AMA Number One Ken Roberts. " All th e motorcycl es a re equal. Th e ro ad racer s are all equal and the d irt tra c kers are all equal . I've never wor ked for a team lik e thi s before . Everyone is equal. There isn't an y fa vo ri te. " Th e sce ne ry o pe ns a bi t as we head towards Newpo rt Beach from h is home and I as k Gene h ow he feels abou t ro ad racin g versus din track. Some people don' t t hi n k h e's a road racer a t heart. " 1 th in k it 's su per. It 's a good type of raci ng. What I like a bout i t is th at it's co nsiste n t. In d ir t trac king th e traction varies from hour to hour, race to race . In roa d ra cin g th e trac ti on is consis te nt. If you're n o t o n a co m p e tit ive mo t or cy cle road racing is no fun at all , but our ro ad racers are mo re tha n co m pe ti live - they 're the fastest things on the trac k. " 1 like t he 700 bett er. I get the 250 arou nd, but th is is th e first year I've raced a 250. I've ada p ted rea l we ll to the 700 . I'm no t d oing too bad a job o n the 250, b ut I can d o a bette r job o n th e 70 0 , that 's wh y I like it be tte r." T he d ownshi ft s co me natu ral an d t he lin e is per fect as he w inds t he Z-car down an off-ramp fast er . yet more co nfi de n tly, than I'v e ever see n anyone take it. " Did yo u ever thi nk a bo u t go ing car racing. Gen e?" "Y eah ," he ans we rs at th e e nd o f t he ra mp ," but it's o ne of th o se thi ngs wh ere ge t ting into a good ca r ma kes a differen ce if yo u're going to d o well a nd you ca n't ge t a good car un less yo u're a well-kn own race r. They 're sure not go ing to p ut a ro okie in to a good car and so i t's h ard to p ro ve yo u rself. " Besrdes , 1 rean y enJo y racing motorcycl es. I lov e it." T he second of several stops in the area fin d s u s a t a fi b e r glass man u facturing pl ant , inquiring about mold design s and looking at ultra-tri ck fiberglass chairs p ainted perfe ctly with t h e logos of vario us m akes of motorcycles. They co st S 150 each . " Maybe " if I win Ontario I'll bu y a co uple. " Even while ta lki ng about Ontario, Gene is th inking of ra cing on the Ascot Par k hal f m ile track t wo day s fro m now - Frida y th e fou rth - eight d ays befo re th e last Natio nal of the season hel d th ere. "Havin g a race un d er your belt at the same track just previo us to the National is kind of neat. " Yamaha wants Gene to lest a ne w fra me on the track be fo re the Na tio nal as well. " So m e peo ple may thi nk th at risking ge tting hur t in a non-na tio nal just before a bi g nati on al (O ntario October 6) is stu p id. Bu t if yo u're worried a bou t being hurt . YOI' hett er not be racing." Making su re th e b ikes are ready for Friday ni gh t at Asco t is the reason for a stop at Sh ell Th ucts shop in Lynwood . Behi nd th e regula r reta il Yam ah a dealerships sits the racin g shop , with a do ze n or so dirt tra ckers sitting under a corruga te d steel awning. ~lore parked hi kes the re carry number o n e o r num ber eleven (the numbe rs of Rome ro's tea mmates Ke n Robert s and Don Castro ) tha n carr y Ge ne's con sist en t number th ree . Gen e plants his ass in a smal l red Radio Fly er wagon . and tal ks racing, His leg. st ill laden with large sores from his Talledega slide -and -b um nu mb er . h ur ts. li e th inks it ma y be gett ing infec ted . "They want me to ride the one Ken n y built," Ge ne te lls th e gat hered race bike preparers , li e walks over and sits o n the bike, sile ntl y twisting the thro ttle WFO several tim es as he beams his steely gaze o ff into space. Talk o f races past and future bounces around until someone com es in with the revelation th at th e inj uries Shell suffered a few hours before we arrived are mo re se rio us tha n Gene reali ze d wh en he was firs t to ld of the in cident. A sma ll, thin grin d ing wh eel ex ploded in Sh ell's face as h e used it on th e tip o f a h igh speed air d rill, fracturing h is nos e, imbedd in g ro ck bits in his uppe r lip . and ope n ing a gas h tha t re q uired 68 sti tc hes to close. T h e hand le bars Gen e has selected a nd laid asi de to be installe d on th e bike he was to ride arc fo rgotte n . ta lk of racin g ceases, a nd th e pla n is abandoned . " Do n't go an d bother Sh ell , beca use th e idea of me riding Friday was just to te st ou t tha t chassis . If he _thin ks to co m e d own t o work advise h im no t to. I'm rea lly bummed o ut. 68 stitches? Wh ew !" Bac k in t he car a nd to ol in g d own su rface st reets, Ge ne is first silent . then worried about Shell. " I never trusted those things, they scare m e to hell . And Sh ell's really a neat guy . I th o ught I'd blow abo ut th ree hours th ere. b ut I gue ss no t. " As much as he 's into racin g . Rom ero is no t invol ved to th e exclusion of co m pas sion . We st o p at Plowbo y 's Mar ke t to stoc k u p on food for a bar becu e Gene 's hos t i n g for som e friends. Eigh t Po rt erhouse st ea ks we izh out to over 523 wor th on t he butcher 's d igital readout scal e. It's trip wat chin g one of t he fastest guys a ro un d ci rcula t ing th ro ugh th hord e s of ho use wifes p ush ing a shoppin g c an as he select s Green Gian t fro zen co rn , Taster's Choi ce Freeze

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