Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Guess you know California's 'new guv has appointed a Sierra Clubber to head the ' state's Resources Agency, which among other things, has the park system under its wing. Does that mean bye-bye Green Stickie money? The p o r ta -ca n business is to uc h,jng botto m, so to spea k. The construction industry slu mp has cut to ilet re n tal business 40 to 75 p ercen t, so me co mpanies rep o rt , - Since the course was open fo r practice January 4, t he day before a recent 0 RA race at California City, Californ ia , Endo King member Amy Henderson went out to practice. When she fell and broke her leg in two places, the racers who helped pack her out began ask ing themselves: If the course is open, how come no ambulance , or if there 's no ambulance, how come the course is open? Andre Plo uffe's Bultaco did not burn up co mp le tely afte r th e fuel tank sp lit in a recen t tri a ls. Bysta nde rs q uic kly b uried th e engi ne with d irt and ro cks, the reby saving all but th e sea t and ta nk fro m the flames . This year marks the silver anniversary for Ken Maely - 25 years of making racers' steel shoes. When Ken started his business in 1950, the hot setup was 1934 Ford bumpers. He says that every '34 Ford bumper in every junkyard on the National Trail was sawed off and tied to a racer's left boot. Did yo u h ear abou t the p it crew waving rid ers in to a Barstow-Vegas gas stop with a ligh ted h ighway flare? ! Larry Fu lch er 's was th e only bik e th at caught fire, but luc kily wen t on to ' finish, charred pi c-pla te and all. Southern California enduro riders have voted that the Sandy Hill they would mos t like to get stuck on is the one that broadcasts the news on KNXT channel two. Publisher lady Sharon Clayton p resent ed th e S.c.a.R.E. motorcycle prizes to Al Bak er at the recent auiards banquet in California. I ~THE LATEST IOP PO BY PAPA WEALEY Phil McDonald h ighsided in a recent New Zealand road race event , breaking a collarbone and inju ring hi s left hand . He and Randy Cleek were teamed under K&N and Bel-Ray sponsorship fo r the down-under season, with Cleek at one ti me leading the series. Our fri en ds at P.I.T. S. (which, yo u know, sta nds fo r Paci fic In tern ational Trials Society) tell u s there 's no w a Texas ch ap ter ! Won de r if they give trophies at th eir events , or brassi eres ? Sure hope the So u th Ho uston faction doesn't dro p out an d form th eir o wn gro up. Noguchi and Yosh imura h ave team ed up for mar keti ng efforts in th e U.S .A . Taneharu NORUCh i is as fam ous for h is two-stro ke "fact o ry wor ks" racing kits as Pops Yo shim ura is fo r h is fo ur-stroke numbers. Both will b e h andled th ro ugh Noguchi Motors . In c. • 55 00 E. Ponce de Leon Ave.. Sto ne Mountain. Georgia . Th e number is (404) 939-886 5. The Astrodome TT and Short Track National will see a first, Expert Diane Cox, pre-entered under Torco Oil sponsorsh ip, will end the era of all·male Nationals. Another first, at Junior invitationals supporting the National Gary and Peggy Fuller, husband and wife running in the same class. What happens if they hit the first turn together? Hooboy! Number Ones in th e Desert Ra cing Asso ciation th is year are Dennis Gree ne (H.D) in th e 0-200cc cla ss: William Churc h (Yam) in th e 250 's and Gu s Paull (Hus) in the Open. , Roy Turner will tune Pierre Karsmakers' team Honda this season. 2 spo nso r o f the firs t ISDT two day qualifier, has alrea dy hit its 300 rid er lim it for the J m uary 18-1 9 run. The ISDT itsel f is no w officially confirmed by the F1M fo r th e Isle o f Man Oc to ber 13-18. . Th e AMA has 167 le t te rs-o f-in t en t fro m poten tial ,1SDT qualifiers, with m o re co ming. Eas t Co ast Enduro Asso c.• / Bombard ier (Ca n-Am ) has purchased distrib ution rights to Puch . Look for Jim Ellis and Gary Jones on 380 Puchs in Open Class Nationals in 75. Marland Whalev took a fourth his IITst time o ut with a' new Hon da ride, whil e a four th team rider was anno unc ed for th e co m ing N a ti on al s Bo b Guglielmelli. Bob Nichelsen , ba ck in Califo rnia as a kind of "consulting privateer" for Honda. was helping to se t up a Honda van to usc d uring th e Natio nal trials. Sound like so me body's getting ~erio us? Poppa got a brief ride on one of the yet-to-be-released production TL250s, and you know, it feels just like a big 01' TL 125. Not bad, not bad at all. Bit nose-heavy , and maybe too much compression braking. Could use a tad more suspension travel wi th correspondingly softer spring ing. Nothing a good privateer couldn't fix up. Uh , I'm embarrassed. The Ov er-th e-Hi ll Gan g wears red shir ts , not green. The new Yamaha MX factory team of J im Weinert (National Number Onel, Bruce McDougal and Tim Hart will make their first major appearance February 28 and March 1 at Texas Stadium in the opening segment of the $70,000 Yamaha Invitational Super Series. Th ey did it to us again. Sports Illustrated 's J anuary 13 issu e carried an ar ticle, "Trad e-off's with Nature," wh ich containe d abou t half th e info prin ted in a recent (and fairly im partial) L.A. Times article on th e Barstow-to-Vegas race . The an ti-b ike half. natu ra lly . What neat name can you give our particularly American style of two-day ISDT qualifier? Is it an enduro? Is it a tri al? How about " America n Two Day ?" Pap a w as w ay off last week wh ere I spoke of changes o n Can -Am 25 0 End uro mod els. The ch an ges will app ly to th e new 250 Can -Am motocr oss mod els , but not th e new 25 0 Enduro s. In fac t , the Can -Am 250 Enduro s o nly came o u t th is week, so why wo uld th ey wan t to cha nge th em right away? Papa goofed , Papa so rry . Over any given period, a company that advertises below the ' industry average, has sales that are below the industry average. Papa fo rgot to qualify th at b it ab o ut Rupp lo o kin g fo r riders. It 's a partial no t a full sp o nso rshi p th ey 're offeri ng on about 18 bikes, available to th e eager ap pli cants at cost. No such thing as a free lu nch , huh? Mick Andrews has been in J ap an test ing still an oth er mon oshock Yamaha tri als bike for th e co ming season . Gordon Farl e y i s cla m mi ng up a b o u t improvem ents to Suzu ki's wo rks trialer, but co nfirms h e will b e with Su zuki thro ugh December , 19 75. A free-lance writer made the mistake of letting the editor of one of the leading moto-monthlies ride his new, red GT Ducati, warning that the front dual disc brake was super sensitive. Said editor promptly seiz"ed the binders and did an over-the-handlebars number right there in the parking lot. Pioneer Arena in Oakdale, California so unds almos t too go od to b e tru e. Yo u par k on grass, th e pits are sanitary, grandstands first rate and th e co ncessio n fo od is three-star in the gourmet's book. A snappy program an d fine a tt entio n to safety tops o ff J erry Griffith 's TT-short track. It appears that the English exchequer is go ing to own itself a motorcycle industry. Nor ton -Vill iers-Triumph knotted its own ' noose when Dennis Poore asked the government to bail h im out. The British industry went too long on its old equipment to replace it all now, and it desperately needs replacing. There is not a single British model with electric starter, nor a decent off-road bike (except Grooves, which is another sto rv) . These two, features alone account for over two-thirds of the American market demand. MY FAVORI TE B U SI NESS DIRECTORY: Honda of To no wanda (N.Y.), Waco Maico (Texa s), Yamaha of Omaha (Nebr.) , Su zu ki of Paducah (Ky .) , Ossa of Mim osa (Cal.) an d Penton of Den ton (Texas ). Sandak will offer a semi-professional TT class at Corona Raceway. Check the Calendar of Events. f(

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