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/125989
He di d most of th e wo r k in Brisb ane and the engi ne had its baptism in th e early year Aust rali an Ch am pionsh ip wh en Phil Cru mp ro de it t o t he title. No t too m an y fol ks too k much notice because Crump , on a conventional J awa, h ad been cleaning up Down Under . But, Street p rep ared t wo o f th e engines - an d both he and Phil Crump are moun ted on th em this seas on. To dat e, Cru mp has won the Daily Express Sp ring Classic - th e first big individu al FIM mee tin g o f the year and retained th e Go lden Helmet m atch-race champions hip again st Englan d 's great h ope fo r World Cham p ion ship hon ors, Peter Collins. Beside s Cru mp 's amazing five out o f seve n wins against the European Cham pion , th e veteran Stree t loo ks as if he is in a sec ond chil dhood. He went fo ur matches withou t losin g to an opp one nt and in t hat ti me his victims included the dual four- ti me s World Champions Ivan Mauge r and Barry Briggs. People c ould un der stand Crump winni ng races , bu t Street's revi talization has convin ce d everyone th at his o wn top-secre t fo ur-valve conversion will do to speedway wh at Ferrari did to motor-racin g . .. revolutionize it. Meanwhile, Mauger has been experimenting - with th e help of stalwart Ame rican ch ums Akront, Ray Boke lman and George Wenn. When he trie d o ut his own 'se cre t weapon ' Mau ger cam e wit hin one fifth of a seco nd o f his own track re co rd at Exeter even tho ugh he a dm itted: "I was n 't fla t out because it was the first time I'd ridden t he en gine!" The race to find the fas tes t engine gath ers momentum and all th e signs are that this September's World Final will be as m uch a battle of m echanical know-how as riding ability ! .._------------------------_. Keith Kruser One American who is un li kely to be seen in Britain t his ye ar is junior, Keith Kru ser wh o spent th e winter racin g in Australia. He wro te several league tracks aski n g if he could join t hem, but all alon g the lin e he got the thumbs do wn. One trac k boss he approached was curre n t British Champion Eric Booco ck , now m an ager at glamour club Bell Vue wh o said : Th e fare was the st umbling bl DC k. I ca n 't gamble on p aying an un kn own 's fare when I could spe n d the same sort o f m oney on an Englishm an of proven ab ility ." Behi n d t hat sen timent lies a m essage for an y Ameri can wanting to break into British raci ng .. . to do so m ean s financial sacri fic e. Championship shake-up This year's World Championship q ualifying system has undergone a shake-up . An d it mean s th at th ere will be no m ore th an fo ur English men in th is year's World Fin al at Wembley. While th e English bo ys (an d Sco ts lik e Jim my McMillan and Bert Harkins) chase fo ur sp ots onl y , the Aus tralians an d Ne w Zealanders have an eas ier route . Th ey will join two Am er icans in the Inter-Continental Final in Swe den (t hat is Ph il Crump who has been see de d direct an d the t wo Au stralians an d two New Zeal anders wh o fin ish top sco rers in th ree qualifyin g r ounds on British League trac ks) an d from t here have to finish in the top eight to go forwar d to th e Eu ro pean Final in Poland. From there th e top 12 go in to th e World Final New National League site' I dare say there are a few American servicem en who re mem ber the quie t Su ffolk village of l\lil denhall - site of a big Ame rican Air Force base in England. Now sp ee dway fans will h ave cause to remember th e village - as New Na ti onal League ra cin g is bein g launch ed th ere . . . onl y a m ile fr om the pe rim eter fenc e o f the USA F landin g strip. An d th e promoter Wally Mawdsley is going al l out to conver t th e servicem en to spe ed way . '. . wh ich co uld m ean a few m ore fan s fo r Harry Oxley wh en th eir tour o f duty en ds! Peter Oakes Painless education without total numbness If there isn't one already, there ought to be a club called the Training Wheels. If that name IS already taken, then quick, somebod y, th ink up a trick nam e fo r a service-orien te d club wh ose p rim e mission is to teach others how to ride better. I'm promp ted in thi s by wi tn essing the hu ge an d widen in g gap between th e skills o f t he be st riders and the worst: a situation th a t gets ac centua ted within the whole fran tic "fam ily en duro" scenario, so metimes fa tally. o z o ::E .J ::J ~ It 's hard to beli eve until you see for yourself the tremendous bottlenecks th at form in trail s o f only moderate difficul ty . Then you read t he letters from p eo ple wh o p ractically killed th em selves finis hin g an ho ur late on a run your over-the-hill buddies do for relax ation . And y ou thin k - p oor devils, if they're that puck ered up over sim ple terrain, how are they ever going to learn? So I ask m ysel f, "OK smart guy h ow'd you learn? " Well, first off, I 'didn ' t learn by en tering a co mpetition even t . I learned by fo llowing a b uddy who was a better rid er than I by far , t ryi ng to m atch his m oves, but n ot under an y pressure to be at hi m . Hey , that's how m ost of us learned, isn't it ? Those o f us wh o took up the sp ort back wh en 100 riders was a big event, we all knew at leas t one guy we could ride with an d learn some thing eac h time ou t. And h ave fun, come h ome cove re d with dirt over gravel ras h, sligh tly buzzy with bee r on top of fa ti gue. Goold 01 ' days. TIm es have sure changed. They process yo ur cre dit, m ortgage y our soul, sell you a bike an d tric k yo u out as the Com pleat Motorcyclist, t he n sh ove y ou out t he door with a can of injec t or oil and a still-dam p in su ran ce policy . Suddenly you 're a biker. Tro uble is, most of your buddies were manufacture d on the same assem bly line. Maybe it's not t hat bad, but almost. New di rt rid ers are bein g cre ated faster than ex perienced riding b uddies. So how abo ut this for a t rial solution ? Get together about 20 good publi c spi ri ted dirt ri ders, A en duro riders , a few good solid Bs, a few trials Am ateur/Expe r ts , coup le o f desert Trail Amateurs or Expert s, nic e bro ad spectrum of in terests. Th en have monthly trail rides . with entry open to anyone with a dirt bike an d the ur ge to learn. Each club member gets assigned three to six rid ers with machines similar to his . They leave one group on a m in u te (or one grOUp every two minutes, wh atever wo rks ) and ride a 3 0 or 40 mile loop on gen tle t o m oderate terrain . It 's n ot a "s cho ol" of formal ins t ruction , it's just an e asy going trail ride. No co mp e tition , no time pressure , just on e guy wh o knows ho w leadin g and the o th ers fo llowing. Th ey com e to a bottlene c k and th e leader doubl es back, roun ds up his straggling chicks, t he n sh ows them one by on e the way through . Su re , som e will need m ore help ' than others. Som e m ay seem dam n n ear impossible to teach . But for m ost , hal f th e battle is con fide nce, an d 75% o f con fidence is seein g som eone else ride a section withou t getting killed . Remove th e time and co mpetitive pressures, just ride at an easy p ace . Then shoc k th em back at cam p - tell th em the spe ed average th ey 've kept up . . No, there 's no miracl e involved. It's a m atter of do ing y ou r ho mework thoroughly , picking jus t the right set o f trai ls, setting ju st th e right pace , then letting nature ta ke its course. And keep remem bering - it's not a school, it's not an "event" (keeps the BLM off y our bac k ), it 's just a m ildly instructive trail ride . The "teachers" ge t to lo o sen up , unwind, breathe clean air , an d take in en ough money as a club to make expenses. Free trip out, no hassles, n o pressu re. Th e " stu den ts" get better in spite o f th em selves. It 's the sneakiest way to learn. Hey, I've cras he d t oo man y ti mes mysel f, then had a buddy say "Well, yo u gon na ride o r not?" and proceed to lead me through the sam e spot faster than when I crashed, picking up his rhythm an d his p ace without being conscious of it. Well, why n ot? By th e tim e y ou guy s get it organ ize d , 111 be out o f this fershl uggin er cast and can go out with you - as a studen t. Be t he m ost relaxing thin g I've done in years. Lord kn ows , my riding ne eds it, and good riding buddies are hard to come by . Lane Campbell (More Opinions on page 42) 37~