Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.--~-------------~;.,;,. ,-------~--- --------------------- ---- Wes Evans King of the Matterhorn By Ann A. Powell ORA:'-:GE , CAL., ;,\OV . 24 Mo re tha n 100 bike s gathered at the ba se of Saddl cb ac k Park's fam o us Xla u crho rn . Fo r the first time since last spri ng. they wer e going to try thei r sk ills o n this mountain whi ch holds such a fascin ati on for clim be rs. And o nce aga in th e rid ers were sho wn that ..... r..... On vacation th e '11 0 m wa s st ill as fickle as Lad y Lu c k a nd demand in g as a sc h o o l m arm, Th e hi ll was in grea t shape , and a t the end of t he second round of co mpet itio n, 3 7 riders had topped the Dec. 18 to Jan. 2 Cycle News will close o ur edit orial offices for two we eks ann ual hol id ay from December 18 , 19 74 t o January 2 , 1975 , Ma tt erh o r n. -- The next issue of Cycle News will be at your dealers the first week in Jan uary . If this isn' t Wes Evans, it sh o uld be . Dealers: And Ron Powell doin' a little oftseason TT pract ice , ne x t week. All kinds racing at Adelanto, Moty-crossy action one week __ . To order more Posterbook/ Year-End copies for immediate delivery, call (2 13) 631 -8844 from 9 a. m, to 5 p .m, Circulation and dealer ser....ice will st ay open during vacatio n. ext Issue out I Jan. 7, 1975 . In troducing t h e New "Factory Replica" Guaranteed Top Performan ce Wider Powerband & 2,000 m ore R.P.M. Con sist s o f : Tw in Air Porting Headwork F.M.F . Pipe 32mm Carb Corrected Geari ng $170 All 125cc MX Bikes z o o u, u, :<: '" u ::J a: 0: -s OJ t- o > 0: '- o brass fr om track regul ar McL aughlin . Results in Results Sec tio n. Rob ert streak o f th e Lo st An gels M.C. in the Open Novice orr and Half-mi le ra ce. Third place in the _ Open Novice lI alf-mil e fell to Honda-mounted H.L . Custer fr om Reno while Mike Van Ak er, Jr. to o k third in the T' I' Main . Both are first timers to the high d esert. Lyle Mo or e o f Por t erv ille to o k th e cas h in th e Pro class as David Cote wo n h is fir st troph y in th e Novice co nso la tio n even t. Resu lts in Resul ts Secti o n. 'it Records crash By Phil Carpenter ADE LANTO , CAL. , D EC. I Reco rd s are mad e to be broken $,~........., Seasons~~~~ Greetings to our customers & friends Jim Dinelllore Cycle Sal.. Ind ian Motorcy cles 1449 Aviation Blvd" Redondo Bch " CA 9027B 213·374 ·7644 or 372.a43B an d at 395 Cycle Park Sun day bo th rider attendance and IT track records fell. Exp ert s were o ut in full for ce from San Diego to Reno fo r a fu ll dav o f bot h IT and Hal f-m ile eve nts . . T he first lap in the 500 Expert T h is se t th e s tage - Dave Powell, on a 250cc Suzuki, f inds that sandstone face just too m uch . J im Co llier, serving as hook man, ma kes a d ive for Powell's b ike wh ile he slide s back down the hill and out of danger. TT heats was a three-man duel b e tween Yamah a-m oun ted ~li ke Lane y , Tim Melan con an d Ea rl Ro lo ff. On lap two Laney crossed th e finis h lin e a t 54 and one-half seconds to lower the trac k record fo rmerly hel d b y his co mp et it o r Earl Rol off a t 55 seco nds. On lap th ree Rol o ff fo und good tract ion driving o ut of tum three t o pull a lo ngside La ney as both rid ers mad e th e sp ectacular 50-foo t ju mp sid e b y side ! Po wer in g in to tum five Laney , with a full -lo ck slide, went high and Rol off d ove unde r to gain a fo ur-foo t lead as he low ered th e tr ac k re cord an o ther half-seco nd now t o 54 se conds. Ex p ert h ea ts for th e Open w i th T riumph -m oun ted Ron Powe ll sh atterin g th e track reco rd aga in b y o ne fu ll second wh er e it n ow sta nds o ffic ially a t 5 3 seconds . 30 BSA-mounted J ohn J arrett 'o f No rm 's Racing Team st o pped th e winning o: .=1 7. By the end o f round fo ur th ere wer e st ill 25 rid ers in co n te n tio n for class wins, a nd seve ra l more who were rel a xin g , wa itin g fo r th e o verall el im in at ion t o ru n agai n. T h ese were the o nes wh o h ad a lre ad y wo n th eir class. T h e s tart ing lo g was moved again , this tim e t o th e 25 0-foo t ma rk , m idway between th e firs t ju mp and the sandst one: fa ce . S tilI riders wenl over the top ! Class win ners re ma in ed undecided in sev eral cl as ses . T h e fin al mo ve-up pu t th e start just 4 0 fee t below th e sandst one fac e, at the 300-fo o t mark. Six riders, rangin g fro m Wes Evans in the 400 sto c k cla ss to Neal Mackel in the O pe n wer e sti ll battling to win th eir classes. \\'ith no run at the st eep , glassy slo pe , no chance for the bike to bu ild to top po wer , the hill won o ut. No b ike cou ld go o ver the top, All th e class win ners, from 25 0cc upw ar d, came bac k to figh t fo r Top Elimi na tor. All had to mak e a run fro m the po int where th e last class h ad bee n de cid ed , th e 3 0 0-foo t ma rk. Each cla ss winner h ad o ne cha nc e to go o ver the to p o r t o set h igh ma r k, 1'> 0 one had y et made it fro m this point, and some o f th e smalle r cl a ss winners even had a pro ble m j u st gett ing to th e sta rting line. Th e first man o ff , Vern Coll ier o n a stoc k 25 0 Ya mah a , managed to get o ff th e lin e o n ly to c o me to a h alt a m er e six feet lat er . J im St uffleb ea m's 36 0 st o ck Yamaha mad e a good run, 40 feet from t he lo g. T h is h ill was tough! Wes Evan s, on a stock 4 00 Suzuki , got o ff th e lin e, go t h is feet o n the pegs and lo oked lik e he might go over th e top. With a go od d eal of tacking from one side to th e o th er , he managed to rea ch well up the sandsto ne face before co ming to a h alt a t the 36 9 foot mark. Not even the 75 0 fuel -burners co uld best the mark, with Mackel's big T rium ph co ming clo sest at 368 fee t. But dose only cou nts in h o rseshoes , not hillcl imbing. T he big win went to a sto ck 400 ridden by a 101' rider . Wes Evans was King o f th e Hill for today . 'I Resul ts in Results Sect io n . :<: u o ::;: ::;:

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