Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Under the t itle " Big Brother eyes motorcyc l is ts ", t he Bake rsf ield Ca l ifornian ran an editorial very sympathetic to the bikers' cause , following the June 29 nationwide helmet protest. And di d you see th e Ju ly I 0 Los Angeles TI mes? No t o n e, but two ar ticles on w omen in m o to rcy cl in g. Far out ! . Butl er an d Smith will en ter th ree BMW 900s in t he Laguna Se ca Producti on race. Riding will be Gary Fisher, Mar t y Lunde, an d , o f course , Re g Pridmore . Daddy Don and Gary Jones flew down to Mexico City last week, along with the prototype 250cc motocrosser they have been developing for Moto 1510. Gary will miss the Superbowl, but plans to race the Trans-Am series laster this year. S t eve Bak er, repeatin g his 19 74 performance , was th e st ar of t he J un e 28 Can adian GP ro ad race mee t at 1\I osport . Baker an d his Yamaha 1\Iotor Canada Yamah as too k wins in the Un lim ited Expert, 25 0cc Expert and 500cc Expert classes. We've just gotten some of the trickest, funkiest, most comfortable goggles ever made. They are made by Skyway from a des ign by Rick S ieman and his old buddy, Tom. Instead of the usual useless zoot capri plastic and rubber, they have des igned and built a lightweight (one ounce) foam goggle that is just what the competition rider needs. The goggle s are d istributed by Cycle Masters, Inc. in San Fernando, California and should start appearing on de alers' shelves soon. We have a few pairs here and will give you a f ull report on t his breakthrough in goggle design in the near futu re . Pit go ssip at Sto ckton had Kenny Roberts enter ing th e fina l San J ose Mile Fremo nt Raceway , Fremont, Ca. has an extended lease on life, at least five more years. They 're looking also toward winterizing the t rack so it can run year·round. CURL's Fran k Walton (an ex -civil servan t) writes, " You ca n bet w he n you get in bed with go vern men t, you ' lI get m or e th an a goo d n ight's slee p. " Hear t hat, MIC? CORl has suspended monthly meetings for July and August, due to vacation time for many members. Anyone wishing to get in touch, call Ray Moon at home after work (2 13 ) 766-1735, or call the CORl office (2131585-0581 or 773-6260 on Monday or Tuesday when volunteers are likely to be there. Th e N ational Mot o rcycle De alers As s o ci at i on (N M D A ) a n d the Mot orcy cle In d ustry Council (MIG) have go t te n together o n a join t " Legislat ive Contin gen cy Fun d ", for use by NMD A and st ate dealer associat io ns. The British press reports MV Agusta to be developing a watercooled four stroke flat four for ne xt year's 500cc GP efforts. Designed by an Italian engineer, Joseph Bocchi, the eng ine w ill lie in the frame with two cyl inders forward , two beh ind . St even Fikes, 25, of Lo s Ange les , Califo rn ia died J u ly 1st fro m massive head injur ies sus ta ined at On tario Moto r Speedwa y J une 22 . Offi cials are at a loss to ex pl ain th e crash tha t cla imed Fikes' li fe , the first fat a lit y in Ontario 's histo ry. th is se as o n o n a Cham pion designed T Z 75 0. Act ive in Northern California national forest land-use pl anning is Dr . Irol Allen, a Placerv ille dentist charte r CERA member. Need a contact on no rt he rn land use hassles - he can be reached at home (209) 622·7255 or work 622-3340. San Jose a pparen tly h as a n ew 23 0-acre m oto rc y cl e park. The na me o f the place, oddly enough. is "Mo to rcy cle Park " , and it's o ut o n Me tc al f Road in the Coyote area. Say ing "The land is for people to use and t hey . . . ought to be able to put it to any reasonable use that is needed ", Cal ifornia Assemblyman larry Chimbole (D·Palmdalel is wading right into the de sert ORV controversy. Sounds like a good man to have up the re. Mike J enkins (Viewfinders) wan ts to o rder a pound o f grapes and tw o pounds of apples from the Santa Bar b ara Starter s. "Operation Checkpoint", . a volunteer ef fort at Cow Mountain, Ca. has ended its first phase on a note of success. local bikers an d four -wheelers have flagged and mapped trails, conducted a res o urce survey, and man ned an inf o rmatio n boo th in the popul ar ORV ar ea, in an effort t o counter against vandalism and resource damage. Sounds like a model fo r managing heav ily impact ed areas in Southern California, as well. Coming up shortly, Ascot's bigges t weekend, the Gardena Gold Cup half mile July 25, an d th e Na tio na l T'I' July 26 , both even ing events. Com binat ion tickets are availab le at the track and th rough Ti ck etron. Northwest readers, those of you up in Oregon and Wash ington, don 't fo rget the Yamaha sp o ns o red Dirt Day s t h is week end at Seattle Inte rnati o na l Raceway at Kent, Washington . Co ntact your local Yamaha dealer fo r fu ll in for mation . The full Dirt Days program, wh ich has been successfully staged across the U.S., will be ru n off during the date of July 19-20. Inclu ded on the program will be Bruce Brown's " On Any Sunday" and so methi ng fo r every cycle enthusiast. Speaking o f Dirt Day s, last wee k 's issue ca rr ied an art icle t hat was critical of a sim ilar event. Furt he r inq uiries have revealed that wh ile t here were some snags in o ne segm ent of the program , recep tion by area deale rs and cyclists to the o ve rall s ta ging of the eve nt was very enthusiastic. Rumor has it that David Aldana w ill be ridi ng a Suzuki 750 in the Production race at laguna Seca. Guess wh o's go ing to be at the Sacrament o Mile? Ho w abou t Beik ki Mikkola , Ro ger DeCoster , Arne Kring, Nils-Arne Nilsso n, and Bcngt Aberg. Not as rid ers , but as spec ta tors. The Europe an m oto crosscrs h ave never seen a dirt t rac k m ile an d since th e Sac ra me n to Mile is t he day a fte r th e Superbowl, th ey mi ght as well have a loo k. More spe culati o n in the Castle Rock paddock as to whether or not Ken Roberts will have a TZ700 m ile. built. Hank Scott: "Roberts, you Iii' - ---; you 've probably already got one built !" Ken just gr inned. J\la rk Willi am s says n o w th a t Norto n/Triumph has decided to go wi th th e No rto ns, t ha t t hey have havin g to do so me co me-from -be hind frame develop me nt wo rk on the b ig stro kers. Excitement mounts in Sacramento Th e Sacramento "motorcycling sce ne" h as ta ke n on a new look these past Iwo week s. Usually the h ot-b ed o f a n Ii-m ot orcycle legislation , Sacramento has ro lled o ut the welc ome mats and all a tt en t io n is turned to th e big mile -oval at Cal-Expo for the return of the prest igio us Sacramento Mile J ul y 20. Remem bering th e " carn ival madness" that alway s accompan ied the Sacram ento Mile , until it wa s doo med in to extin ct ion follo wing the 1970 running, old-time inn keepers and other purveyors of fo od and sp irits are goi ng out o f t heir way to cater the every need o f the expected 30 ,000 race fan s who will wit nes s the rein carnatio n of t he "grea test o f all mile ra ces. " And, in t he local motorcycle shops . the con versat io n has suddenly beco me a question of " Can th e two-stro kes do it agai n ?". Scott Brelsford, who pilo ted o ne of Erv Kanernoto's screaming Kawasaki Triples to the big win at Stockton la st week, will be back to lay claim to the l a ur e ls for the n e ve r -b e f'or e-r aced Cal-Expo track . Stab lem ate Do n Castro will be moun ted on the other "Super Gre enie " to h old o ff the challenge of veteran fo ur -stroke pilots, and this only adds to the anticipation of a super-race. Th e entry list alre ady reads lik e the " Who's Who o f Motorcycling", with names lik e Scoll, Romero, Springsteen, Powell, White, Laww ill, Aldana, Wirth , William s, J orgensen , Gillespie, Bo cking, Gennai, Aksland, Beau champ, Mulder, Ha teley, and (Diane) Cox, all of wh om will be going after the lion's share of t he record b rea king S17, 500 purse. " Po ps" Yosh imu ra ba ck at work aft er a year's respit e. Russian dominates Canadian 125 GP ST. GABRI EL de BRA ND O N, CAN ADA, JU LY 13 The I Dth ro un d o f th e .1 25cc l\1X World Champi on sh ips fell 10 th e wo rks CZ of Ru ssian An ton in Baho ro vsk y with Belgian Gilbert De Ro e ver, aboard a wo rks Zun da pp , seco nd a nd Ya m ah a work s rider Yosh it umi Sugio third in th e overall standings . The eve nt. played un der a c lo ud o f dust on the St. Ga brie l de Mack Ka mbay ashi loo k s on as " Po ps" Y osh imur a does so me port work . Bra n do n course. d rew a slim fie ld o f . rider s a lt h o ug h n ewly cro wn ed c ha m p io n G ast o n Rah ier, as well as the rest o f th e to p five in th e world po in t sta nd ings were prese nt. Ba bo rov sky 's tally o f 24 points moved him into a so lid th ird position in th e standings. All th e fac to ry b ikes are running Tr a c km a ste r frame s ex cep t J o hn Batele y 's, whic h has a C & J . Jim Metzler is the man who puts Mark Williams' engines together. Th e po p u lati o n of Castle Ro ck, Washington is 1,893 - every day except Nat io na l weekend. . CMC roadracing's flagman Bob Oman is seeking to form a permanent flag crew f o r the club's races. Benefits include free race admission, free chow and $5 gas money, plus a pretty good spectator spot. Call h im at (213) 766-4356 during working hours. Sources inside Ka wasaki tell us th at there ne ver was an y intention on th e part o f th e co mp any to give Harry KIin zm an n a fac to ry No vice ride. They just wan ted to test the ir b ikes against th e fastest Yam ah a available. Harry had bo ugh t Ron Pier ce's private TZ 25 0, w hich fit th e b ill, so Harry go t invited L th e Kaw Lest se ssion a t Riversid e o Racew ay . . There must be m o re motorcycles (and places that sell th em) pe r capita in O r egon than in Southern California - an d every body rides a Triu mph ! It 's crazy. Pops Yoshimura returns By John Ul.rich "Th is t ime, th is is my own company," sa id renowned 4-st roke tuner Hideo " Po ps" Yosh im ura . His eyes shone as he an n ounced hi s newly-fo rmed co m pany, Yosh imura Research an d Deve lo pment o f America . "I can d o w ha tev er I wa nt, not like before. We can use my ideas in racing." Follow ing heated legal battles last year, w h ich saw h im lose to Anglo partners all control of an American fi rm t hat bore h is name, Pops took a 12·m o nth ret reat in Japan. Now Pops Yosh imura is ba ck doi ng business in America, in partner shi p w ith Mack Kam bayashi and Yoshima Racin g interests. At Kambay ash i's sho p in Fu lle rto n, Ca lifo rn ia, t he pai r are bu ildi ng a producti o n Z·l fo r Wes Cooley, Jr. to ride at l agu na Seca, Th e ir futu re p lans include "at least two bikes fo r Ontario ," and cam pa igning a 22 horsepower, 125cc Honda GP bik e next season. 3

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