Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• fI.ll HOWTOWINMX 5Irl:II • Continued f ro m page // 5Irl:II ..; g ~ g -e- rO'l >n SRAC/Mou nta in Roadracing Assoc. Grand Prix Denver, Colo. Oct. 20, 1974 DIRT BIKE UNDER 200 C·A DIRT BIKE OVER 200e< Dennis Korth Kaw Joe JaneCkY Mon Bruce Sass Vam 250 PROD Klen H ay h u rs t Suz 350 PROD WOOdy Witte Vam Ken Baldwin Vam Randy Skyles Vam 500 PROD Bru ce Sass Vam Rusty Sharp Suz Rick Horn Kaw OPEN PROD Bru ce Sass Vam Rusty Sharp Suz R ic k Horn Kaw 200 CAFE Go rdo n Bryson Hon 250 CAFE G len Ha yhu rs t ' Suz R ob Culbertson Puc B ob D i c k ey Vam 350 CAFE W o od y Witte Vam John Miller Vam Rob Owens Suz 500 CAFE Bruce Sass Vam Val Agost ino Hon Woody W it te Vam OPEN CAFE . Dav id Korth Kaw Den n is Z lc k r lc k Kaw Rusty Sha rp Suz 125 GP Doug S tiverson Han MiC k ey R o ss Vam Russ D icken son Vam 200 GP Dave T agga rt Hon Russ Di c k enso n Vam Dave ore s Hon 250 GP Bruce Sass Vam Bill V ickery Vam Lee Serc k Vam 350 GP Woody W itte Vam Randy SkyleS Vam 500 GP Dennis Korth Kaw Woody W itt e Vam Bru ce Je nsen Mon OPEN GP D ave Korth Kaw B i ll V ickery Vam John Cockson H-D 500-OPEN AM '" MILE Trl SterliM,x, Goin Terry y r embek Vam Albert R en z Vam SOO-OPEN EX '" MILE Earl Roloff Nor BObby Sanders Vam M ike Laney Vam Tom O 'Neil ( HRA TT & Half·M ile 395 Cy cle Pa rk Adelanto, Calif . Oct. 20, 1974 MINI TT Steve Davi s Steve Henson Chuck Bittle Hon Hon Vam 100 NOV TT John Perez Suz Mike Plglsey Kaw 125 NOV TT Steve Dav is Hon Wally By ers Hon Dya lan N eihart Vam 250 NOV TT Craig F o w l er CZ Fran k Tumb lola Vam Steve Gordon Hon OPEN NOV TT Clyde Dennen 5uz Mark Fi t z geral d Vam Eric Gordon Vam 125-250 AM EX TT Donnie Curd Bul B r ia n Co~ kl ey Vam Mike Allen Kaw 500-oPEN AM TT Larry Lambert Vam Pat Gordon Trl BSA ~~O~~E~o~X TT Mike Laney Vam Earl Roloff Vam Jeff Cesmat Hus NOV NO·TROPHV TT Vam Frank Tu m blola R ic k B la nkensh ip Kaw T er ry B owen Vam TTSWEEPS M i k e Laney Vam Earl Roloff Vam MIN I liz MILE Steve Da vis Han St ev e Henson Han Ch uck Bittle Vam 10 0 NOV lIz MILE C raig Roloff Vam Ri c k Bl ankonsh ip Kaw Terry B o w en Vam 125 N OV lIz M ILE Te rry M CC r eer y Ind 250 NOV '12 MILE Vam John DeBruyn Vam Fran k Tum btcf a Vam D en n is Warner OPE N NOV I/z MILE Cly de Dennen Suz Tri Ted Shar~ BSA D avi d Rebho ltz 125·2 50 AM/ EX Gary Evan s Vam Mike Allen Kaw Rip Sweaney Kaw Motocross Escape Coun try Kenny Sanl sto Michael Y o un g OPEN NOV Ed M iller OPEN INT C . DeSoucy OPEN EX M elvin E d ward s M ai Ma i Hus M ai Vam CZ Hus Mal CZ A y -N·R cwy . MX Thermal, Cal if . Oct. 20 , 1974 by Mickey McManus MI NI BEG Kenny Mc in ti r e Hon T o m Brunner Hon MIN I NOV B ill y Wil son Hon 100 BEG Scott Allen Suz 125 BEG Mike A le xande r Hon Ma rc Benitez Hon M ickey McDouga l Vam 125 NOV R ic h Shroyer Hon 250 BEG Bo b Haddo x Hon Ted s v v er t so n Hon 250 NOV 5uz Craig DOU&a n OPEN BE Dave Walton Hus Kirk Siq uei r os Vam Duncan Emmons CZ OPEN NOV Dan Eugen i o Vam 250 EX Butch Ba k er Vam Motoc ros s Rawh ide Park Oct . 13, 1974 100 BEG Jo h n Paul son Clnd i Wa ts o n 125 NOV BlII Quellette Sue Fish ROb Wa ite 12SINT Allan WIlliams 250 BEG Rick R~rs 250 NOV MINI Dave Ch an d ler Vam SUPER MINI 1st DAV Hon Geo~ Raymond SUP R MINI BEG Scott T a l ki n gt o n Hon Hon Mike ur~ SUPER INI NOV Stewa rt Boyd Bar Steve Manesse Hon Randy Moos Han SUPER MINI INT Paul Fra~ier Hon SUPER MINI EX BOb by Quin tin Han Pete HlIIebrecht Han 100 1st DAV Manuel Vi llalpando Hon Da n Roy Vam Vam Joe Tilnor 100 B G M ike Ray Vam 100 NDV Tim Mu rph y Vam Kevin Sanislo Hon 100 EX Brad Robert s Bar BObby Q ui ntin Hon 125 1st DAV A le x Ba ez Hon David Ed wards Hon Da n B e rna rd ino Hon 125 BEG I B ill Myers Suz G us Kl n d wieler Suz Mike M uller 5uz 125 BEG " Greg Gargu s Hon M i k e O ·N eal 5uz St eve McKay VZ 125 NOV" M ike Chandle r Suz R a nd y Sk inner Hon Michael Relstab Hon 125 INT · Ma r k Martn ez Bul Paul Sande rs Han Larry W asso n Han 125 EX G a r y Denton Hon 250 1st DAV Eddi e San Roman Suz To m Norman Hus 250 BEG M itch Alden Vam Mike V anderM eu len M al Ma c Pa r k er Hon 250 NOV Brad V a n denberg Vam Joe G o la Mark Cabe Hus 250l NT M i ke L yons Kaw Bill Boyd, Jr. Mon 250 EX OPEN lst DAV Joh n Jones OPEN BEG Scott Ha ll Martin Gu t ie rr e z Ha rvey urgu la Steve Watt Oct. 20 , 1974 John Hryn k iewi CZ J ohn Est es D av e F o l tz 125 BEG Vam Suz L ee Haltn Fra nk Asa y Dave Rob inson 250lNT R ic k A sch OPEN BEG Bob Pere ira OPEN NOV Thorn M il l er OPEN INT Lee Evans 125 EX Steve See 250 EX Dana Nelson 400 EX Br ian B au gh e r Cal Expo Speedway Cham pio n ships sacr amen to , Calif. Oc t. 19, 1974 by Sneak y Pete 1. Pa u l Orl an di 2 . A l an C hristian 3 . Mike Norman Mike R ooney 4. D a le St etler R ich MacM u r r ay 5 . Bu tch C o r der . John Cunn ingham 6 . George Ca r ter Je rry Baugh 7 . Barc la y T reha l 8. Russ Pow e ll 9. Ron Small ey 10. Jay DeBeau b ien F ra n k Coo k Ron McGill 11. C l i f f Ball * HAND ICAP M AI N Bruce Hasero t Greg Rew Jay DeBeaub ien Ma l Vam CZ CZ Hon Vam Vam 13 12 11 11 9 9 8 8 7 7 5 4 3 3 3 1 6 HANDICAP CONS. Speedway Irwindale, Cal if. Oct. 24 , 1974 M i k e Bast Je ff Se x ton Sonny Nutter Sc o tt s iv adif Dubb F erre I Steve B ast Dan B ec k er Mi ke Curoso R ic k Woods B ruce ee n na u Bill G r e y M i k e Konle Bill CodY Tro y McKee Ed Wil l ia m s Bill Meister CJ .c E sue Hod Suz Hon Hon Hon CZ CZ CZ Hus Dale Stetler Ron L On? Ron Sma ley .. Reserve Rider by Dennis Gree ne ... Suz Suz 14 12 12 -fA 9 9 8 8 7 5 5 3 3 3 1 Speedway Cost a Mesa, Calif. Oct. 25, 1974 by Dennis Gree n e SCRATCH MAIN Mike Ba st R ic k W OOds Steve Nu tter Steve Ba st HANDICAP MAIN Tro y M cKee " L es Chanky Dubb F e rr el l Don Cullum Rick Wood s Dan Becker Moto-AMA Po int Standi ngs As of Oct. 21, 1974 1. Robert G rogg! Andreas G raber 340 2 . Ted dy & Tore Strom berg 290 3. Jan & Theu Th ije 270 4 . Goran An de rburg / Ulf Alfredson 220 5 . Paul Van Heuqteny Ben Rapis 1 90 6 . John Palfre yma n / Joe Ga r d ner 125 7 . Pierre B o rms / M ic k Ripper · 120 7 . Rolla Adams/ Harr y Gaun t * 120 7 . R ichard Bell/ Tom R idyard * 120 10. Norbert Monohan! Leon Vanarsda le 44 CJ > 0 Z "Shock absorber" has two parts with two indi vidual f u nctio ns. The sp ring makes the ride so fter . T he h yd raulic damper, insid e the sp ring , keeps yo ur bike from bouncin g like a pogo sti ck . This u nit is a Betor. th ey ge t spac ed just right so a moto rcycle wants to jump up a nd down as it rides over them. When th e rear wheel rides up th e side o f o ne of th ese bumps it j us t goes on u p in the air. Also . wh en th e rear wheel lands on th e next whoo p-de, the sus pe nsio n co m p resses . When th e wh eel gets to the top of the bu mp and th e wh eel starts to sail off in the air , the rear springs wan t to unw ind ri gh t then and if they do , they will also pro pel th e rear en d up into the air. The mos t important purpose of shock absorbers on a mo to cr oss bikeIs to preven t th e springs from fli nging th e rear end of the bike up in t he air. They d o th is by having enough damping on the rebound stro ke. A lo t of riders co nfuse having enough dam p in g on th e ex pansion stroke wi th th e pr o po r ti on ing of da m ping between co mpression and expansion. So me shocks are made with so-cal led 50 -50 da m pi ng, which means th at the da mping is the sa me go ing up or going d o wn . So me are made with less damping on co m pressio n and more on rebo und and these are described as 30 -70 o r 20 ·80 o r so mething li ke t ha I. Rider s will ar~:ue aho u t wh et h er 30-70 is be tter th an 50-50 an d fail to recognize that the f u n d a m e n t a l r e q uirem en t in th e wh oo p-de-do c s a nd o ther pl aces o n the track is to have eno ugh damping. All o f the well-kn ow n b ra nds o f shock abso rbers that rid er s prefe r to use an d win races wi th have about t he same pa ttern on a shoc k test ing machine. T h ey all have less resis tan ce to compression an d mo re res istance when they are ex panding. Th ey d id not all proportion the tw o parts in exactly the same way. but th e patterns of good shock abso rb ers such as Be tor, Ko ni an d Girting were all about the same. I said earlier to sta rt your rea r-su spe n sion tu ning with a good set of shocks. If they are n't any good to begin with th en you can never ge t se t u p properl y no ma iler wh at yo u d o . T he best test I know for yo ur shoc ks is to ride hard o ver the wh oop-d e-do c s with the pr op er rid ing technique which we will ge t in to later in th e book. If yo u feel th e ha ck en d kic king up in th e a ir eit her your spri ngs are to o st ro ng, o r maybe yo u need bet ter shocks, o r both . Maybe yo ur shoc ks are wo rn o ut and not dampin g eno ugh . · Some shocks are adj usta b le fo r the amo un t o f damping. Kon i has suc h an adj ustment a nd so d oes Arnaco. Because the amo un t of dampin g sho uld be in pr op ortion to the stre n gt h o f th e sp ri ngs an d the weig ht of th e vehicle , adj us table da m pi ng see ms like a good idea. If you have. that feat u re, yo u h ave o ne m o re th ing to test and tr y when you are setting up . Another advantage , which ma y be more im po rta n t is that the vari able damping adj ustm en t ca n be used to co m pensa te for wear inside the shock and reduced fri ction. T est yo ur rear d ampers to be su re th ey are workin g. A good way is pull off th e springs an d work the dam per in and o ut with your han ds . Not too sci en tific but you can learn to feel th e damping and judge if it is enough . If the rear end leaps aro und too m uch, yo u pro bably do n't ha ve enough damping. The proportion of damping, such as 50 -50 o r 30-70 is pro bab ly not as im portant as having the right a mount of dam pi ng . If yo u have a brand o f shock that nobody th in ks is mu ch good, change it for o ne of t he better brands. If yo u h ave a go o d brand and it isn 't giving p erfo rman ce , it ne eds re building. When yo u know · yo u have good da mping , ride the bike fo r sp ring tests. Use the ligh tes t springs yo u can that .- 'When you cross t he finish line, you're supposed to have your moto rcycle with you......Ga ry Bailey . d o n 't let the sus pe nsion b o ttom out frequen tly. Set th e preload properly and don 't use it to co m pen sate for springs th at ar e t o o weak for yo ur weight . Then chec k the spr ings occasionall y by no ti cing if th ey sag more wh en y o u sit o n the bi ke. Th e same basi c ideas ap ply to th e fro nt suspe nsio n . Because th ere is more tr avel at the front, th e sp rings are normall y weaker. You ca n hold o n the front brake and push th e fr ont fork up and down wit h y o ur h ands and you ca n feci the damping. Front fork sp rings ca n also be changed fo r stronger o r weake r b ut it is no t usu al t o have t o d o it. If you are bo ttom ing th e fron t end a lot and you have a reasonab le amo unt o f damping, th en you pr obab ly need stronge r Co ntinued on page 4/ 33

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