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/125886
Where is Billy Barkfeather? INSIDE Hopetown On April 18 , . 19 72 I pi cked up an issu e o f Cy cle Ne ws . On page eight "The Conti n uin g Saga of Bill y Bar kfeath er an d th e Great Co o t Hollow Menageri e Ju mp ." I sat dow n at t he ta bl e ... though t I was goi ng to bus t my gut with laugh te r . This st ory was so dy namic it sent tears to my eyes. How about "Billy Barkfeather an d th e G reat One-o n-o ne DeSoto Mo to?" Barkfeather rides his Sears Super Cycle against John DeSoto. Wo u ld you contemplate bringi ng Barkfeather back? 6 Last blast for a classic End uros 8, 20 Toughest Checkpoint What you mean WE, paleface? MX 4A ••.•. . ...... • ..10 Professor Bailey presiding Trials .,., .,12 Schreiber scores another CMC clean l-. ~tARK BR OOKS Anaheim, Calif. 13 Road rashers at OCIR ~ New Bikes E Mag Huskys and shifty-shift Buls ;> Used Bike ..c ~ o Z We would If we knew where to find him. Last we heard of Billy , he was going to Nepal to conquer Mt , Everest on a fully -spo nsored Piaggio mo-ped, but on the way he met this guru ... Ed. 15, 22 18 Rickman Enduro 125 with water wings CMC dirty Californ ia nigh ts North Results Calendar Moto -AMA 26 30 38 .42 Mud run on three wheels (sometimes two) Cat Times do change ... 23 a nd d a ys 44 The activist ON THE FRONT PAGE: John DeSoto the Nigh t Flyer. Photo hy Andy Ilayt. Is anybody there? Pap a Wealey had an it em in his col um n wo ndering what happen ed to the interest in th e Grea t American Motorcycle. Well , I was too . I wrote to Mister Wheel er an d was an swer ed by h im . h i h is le tter to me he said t hat they were hoping to have th e mo to rcycle in limi ted production in several mont hs. I th en se nt hi m an o the r letter expressing my wis hes t o be involved in this project . Since that letter was sent almost three years has passed and I haven't heard anything more o n th e G.A.M. If you o r anyone else are still intersted, so am I. WAYNE RO GERS Rivers id e, Calif. Frank Wheeler sold his G.A.M. design to ATV, mak ers of the A tte x line. Though they've planned production, they are still getting th eir act together. How about it out there? Anybody else? .. Ed. Sharon Clayton. Publisher Edna Mewton, Secretary to Publisher. Advert ising Linda Clark, Adve rt ising ~1anager : Chris Kolber , Advertising Assistant. EditDrial OJarles Clayton, Editor; Lane Campbell, Assistan t Editor: Bobi Scott, Sec retary & Calendar. Art & Production Catherine Lampton. Art Director; Nancy Gray, Advertising Art Director; Hecto r Aguilera: Lab Technician , Marion Hatas hita , Typographer; Melvin Phelps. Assistant Typographer. " Circul at ion Rheba Smith. Manager: Pam Hobbs & Chris Andrews. Assistants. A anunti ng Gaye Zaionz, ~bnager; Twila wneeter, Linda Mallard.Judy Fouts& .Lani Sienk, ..o\ssist anu ; Gary Ginn. Credit ~1anager . Services & Support Mike Colikas ; Randy Davis; Bill Runyan ; Jeannie Dunivan. Receptionist . West P.O. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801 (21 3) 42 7·7433 : L.A . Line 636·8844. East P.O . Box 80S , Tucker. GA 300 84 (4 04) 934 ·7850. Central P.O . Box 13245. Au stin, TX 78711. (512) 444-7548 . Cycle News do arrive .. . Ti m e fo r a b ig "tha n k you" to you an d to Bell Industr ies for my p rize from the Pol iti cal Enduro. The jacket is super. Had a great ti me o n the endu ro and can ' t wait to run it again. Bu t , 1 must admi t, before I e n te re d th at " Po litical Mind·bender " I hadn 't given your paper much no ti ce - in fact th e fo llowing migh t explain just wh at yo u were to me! T he Cycle News w idow's lamen t Cycle Ne ws do arrive each Thursday at my house, then, damn if it don't swal low up my spouse. Behind those pages he do h id e, Times I do think that he dies. No words do he utter, not even a stutter. Crises abound, but he don't hear a sound. Now this bothered me bad at the start. in fact, it near broke my heart. How I did suffer! On Thursday, no lover! But I found a solution for this "Marriage Pollution. " I've solved my big problem, 01' Cycle News can't rob him! Now, each Thursday is wild. and I now call it my-day. I've had that Cycle News delivered on Friday! Cycle New s d o arrive each Friday at my house, etc. Subsaiption One year. se cond class mail $12.50; 2 years, second class mail. $22.50; 3 yean. second class ma il. 530.00; Single copy price. 50 cents. KARE N SPRENGER San Jose, Ca lif. Dingy, but grate ful Co py ri l(tll CyclC' NC'WI, Inc. 19 74 . Trade marie. n"l(ilterC'd U.S:"PatC' t OfficC'. AU ril(hOl ~~fW'd. n Pub lishC'd wl!Tldy C'xC('J)1 the flJ"lt and h.... wC'elc. t of the calendar ynf by Cycle News, Inc., P.O. Box 498, Long Be..ch, ColIi{omiOl. Sfocond cbn postJlft't' paid ill Lon « Beach. CA . Edilorial Itoriel, cartoons, photos. esc. Me welcome. 4 Addreucd . lum~d enve lope Ulurn return of unpW'chUtd t'ditori~ m"tte"'r. Re"'pOnlinR' in whok Of PiUt only · by )X'rmission or me publiahas. AdvnbsinA' ratn and circulation information will be sent u pon fe"'qUe"'It. SrC' S.R .D .S. I'm a you ng M.D. who enjoys MX, and I was in volv ed in a m isha p at Sad d leback October 19 , su stai ning a severe concuss io n . I h ave total a m nesia of the eve nt, an d I wo ke up very confused that evening in Chapman Ge neral Ho spital. I was na turally concerned a bo ut m y bike, tr uck, ctc. , as I had been by myself at the races. 'The next morning my cousin went to Sa ddle back and found all my gear loa ded in m y truck which was locked and sitting by the first aid station. I s i ncerely appreciate this . . . I would also like to thank the a mbulance crew who had t o p ut up with a d ingy do cto r for seve ral hours and who came to the hospital the following morn ing to see how I was progressing. DOUG STAGG, M.D. Lorna Linda, Calif. No bugles, no banners You've got to be kidding. I realize the Golden Gate Mile National was the big race of the last weekend in September, but it wasn't the only story. History . . . at least racing history . . . was made at Ascot on Friday September 28 th. In the second junior heat, Dia ne Cox (You remember Diane, the first female Class C junior) finished third an d picked u p t wo points. Sh e will be the first woman ever to ho ld an Expert ca rd in 19 75. Cycle News was aware of that. It was m en ti o ned all too casually on page 42 of yo ur O cto b er 8th issue. If Lo ng Beach had been crumbling in to the sea that night we could understand you r apathetic reaction t o Dia ne's accomplishmen t. We expect apathy from our local newspaper. Bu t , from Cycle News, the racer's trade paper, we expect instant r e co gn i t io n of outs tan d i ng performances a nd an ac ute sense of history. You blew it. MA RTIN DOERFLER Sa lem, O regon Th e Diane Cox we met at Ascot is a very matter-of-fa ct and unassuming young lady . Somehow a matter-of-fact statement of her landmark achievement (predicte d earlier in Papa's colum n) seem ed more appropriate tha n bugles and banners . . . Ed. You forgot one 1 just read the Check Chase story by Jim Stewart. It was very good; except he left a young man out. It was 14 ·year-old Steve Webb of the Invaders. who finished fourth Trailbike Novice and got his first 0-37 trophy . WES ANDER ON, SR. 69T Cornalu, B.C., ~Iexico Gravity power I was interested in your note in the paper suggesting a form of energy crisis racing wherein riders would coast down hill. Last winter when the ~'EA asked A.\ tA to cut back 25% in fuel consumption in competrnon, one suggestion co ming from the staff was that we run national c hampio nship hillclimhs downhill. It seemed like a very good idea until someone pointed out that they wou ld have to use a lot of energy to gel up to the top of the hill anyway before they could start co astingdown , Oh, well . it seemed like a good idea at the time! ED YOUNGllLOOD General Manager, A~I:\ I feel your rep orte r wa s sa d ly mi sin fo rm ed when he stated "The BLM finally gave the Cac tus Ca ts a p er m it ins tead of a hard ti me." j ust t o set the reco rd str aigh t . th e BLM o ffic e in Bars tow, m a nn ed by High Desert Ar ea Manager. simply bent ove r backwards to hel p us . I am very embarrased that after all the work they hel ped wit h, they read in Cycle News after the race that they gave us a bad time, when in reality they m e t us more than hal f way . RED AUSTIN Race Chairman Cactus Ca ts MIC Trans-AMA cancellation causes controversy It ST . CH ARLES . MO .• NO V. 3 Histo ry was made to day as pro moter Edison Dye cancelled the sche duled sixth round of the 19 74 TrdIls-AMA series . The reason given by Mr. Dye for the cancellation was rainy weather that had plagued the 51. Ch arles race sit e for several days and the 90 percen 1 chance of more rain. Asked if rain were the cause of the ca ncellat ion , Dy e stated simply. "There certainly is enoug h of it. " The crowd, roughly estimated at between one and two tho usand. stood in ankle deep mud for refu nd s as racers and crews tried to extricate themselves and their equipment-laden vans, trucks, trailers, and transporters out of the pit area which had become an oozing brown sea, A tractor was pressed into service to unstick the Honda team truck, while privateer vans skittered and richocheted about like a spilled box of bird shot. ' While promoter Dye blamed the rain for the cancellation, Al\lA National Motocross Referee. John Lanciorie, told another story. On Sunday morning Mr. Dye told Lancione that, although he had the A~fA required purse in cash, he would not turn it over to the Al\lA because of the rainy weather. According to Lancione, Dye then showed him the $15.000 in cash to prove thar he d id indeed have it and said, " If I cancel the race, I will lose $ I 0.000 and if I don't. 111 lose $20,000," Lancione said he could see no way to reach an agreement on the m o ney matter, a nd so the race was cancelled. All this happen ed well before I 1 a .rn, on Sunday morning, but fans kept arriving into the early afternoo n, only t o be confron te d by a m ud d y convoy exodus fro m th e track. Telepho ne callers fro m the St . Lou is area claimed no effort was made via lo cal radi o stations to alert fa ns to the race cancellation. If telephone ca lls to the Cycle News Central office are to be believed, promoter Dye wo u ld do well to make him se lf scarce in Missouri. O ne caller wanted to make sure that readers would not be given the impression that SI. Louis area cycle dealers and race fans should be blamed for the problems. •