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/126001
The high cost of sprocket bolts By Jan Newman WASHO UG AL, WASH. ,j ULY 6 It was a bi ggie race at Wash ougal MX Park - the second of three Blitz Weinhard Triple Crown races in which the Amateur riders compete for huge trophies, prizes and a $ 1000 purse fo r the Pros. The track became really rough at the en d of practice and evolved into ruts and holes th at p itched off some of th e most experienced riders, taking a terrible toll of bi kes. There was also a broken water line which cause d only a minor problem at the original break but eventually drained ac ro ss two other sec t io ns of the track . Man y dis co vered these o the r sp o t s when the mid-pack dust settled ar o u nd the m as they found themselves ups ide-down. Sure, the riders sh o uld have wa lke d the tr ack an d many did but it wouldn 't h ave tak en much effo rt to warn .th em o f th e danger. _ _ Ch uc k Su n (Yam ) t o o k h ome the 125 Pro pot-o-gold afte r a battle with Randy Lim bec k (Suz) in both races. Mall j am es was giving h im a hefty p ush in th e first moto un til h is Hodaka's tranny went scrunch wi th two laps to go . Chuck was in vo lved in a first tu m bobble in the second race and ca me fro m way back to pass Limbeck in the final lap. Ch uck's fortu ne faded in the 250 Pros. He got the hole shot an d wen t all the way in the first race while Ric k Bu rge tt (Yam) was working his way to second from dead last after a trip over. the bars in the first lap. The second m o t a it was Su n , Craig Pr au s (Yam) and Burge tt o ut fron t. Ric k polished Craig off in a hurry and started to mo ve on Chuc k. After a few laps of chasing, Rick was just se tting hi s jaw for th e p ass when Chuc k pulled up with n ary a sp roc ket bolt left o n h is Bul, Rick's tum ca me next. With a first Op en Pro mota win under hi s belt he was poking his nose around eve ry angle to take the lead fro m Rick Binckley (Yam ) when his sprocket bolts went. ·With first place m on ey at $125 these tu rned o u t to be co stly little bolts fo r both riders. Track conditions must h ave helped create the problem because Bill Cook (Mai) an d Ro n Long (C-A ) also retired wi th dan gling sj>rockets. Binckley held Ron Po meroy (Bul) off ... the en tire first m ota to finish second and stayed in fra n t in ro und two for the ove rall win. Pomeroy tipped h imself over on the second Scratch but went through the whole pack to finish behind Binckley and take second place money. There was a Cash Dash in which four Chuck Sun (1 ) and Rick Burgett (2) hammer away in 250 Pro race, with a bit of encouragement from a nearby fan. 250 Pros put in $10 matched by th e track and they rode a two lap, win ner-take-all match. This time it was Mark Gre gso n (Kaw) off the line first with Chuck Sun (Bul), Rick Burgett (Yam ) an d Ron Pomeroy (Bul) co m in g on hard. It quickly boiled down to a Su n -Burgett battle with the lead sw itching back and fo rth in so m e of the m o st flat out bers erko riding eve r seen . Rick came out $ 80 richer. • Results in Results Section Firecracker GPHolland, Jodry, Vail By Sallee Hilton HELVETIA PA RK , CAL. ,j UL Y 4 -5 Another tw o days o f B.O.S.S. l\1X racin g, camp ing, swimmin g, fishing and live en ter tainm en t dr ew an eno rmous crowd of spec ta tors and 26 riders . En tries h ad to be limited fo r this Friday /Satu rday co m binat io n, so m ost riders arrived early, had t im e to enjoy th e p ar k p lu s d o so me wren ch in g and bench ra cing. This had t o be abo u t the co ld es t 4th o f july o n record. Go od weather fo r racin g, but leaving much to be de sire d for sp ectating. Magoo (Danny Ch andler) o n his factory Yam ah a co n tr ib u ted a gre at d eal to warming up the cro wd wi th his spec tacular ride . Th e lead rid ers, Pat Wilson (Ho n ), Cloyse Holland (Suz) , Ed d ie Brown ( Ho n), a nd Eric McKen na (lion) were way o u t front. Then ca me th e p ac k - an ad d i tio nal 15 riders, a nd then ca me Magoo , recove rin g fro m a first lap sp ill and fa ilure to ge t th e hol e sh o t. Picking off several riders each lap, Magoo was up to second place going by the white flag . Shortly th ereaft er he passed the lead er , Ho lland, in a dazzling m id-air tum co ming off the washboard. And then .. . the Yamaha came to a sudden stop as it hatched the cases. End result for the mota : Holland, McKenna, Arnold Plant (Yam) and Roy Seiler (Han). The second mota was slightly less exciting, lacking Magoo a nd Brown. Wilson 's hole shot and Holland gaining on him along with McKenna, Plant, Seiler and David Wood (Yam ) all dicing it out made it still a very hot race . At the end of th e first da y 's racing Holland had three points, McKenna and Plant each had six , Seiler 11 , and Wood and Wilson 15 each . Th e second d ay 's first m ota , in perfect we ath er , h ad Wilson taking the hole shot again b u t dropping t o last pl ace by the e n d o f th e first lap an d missin g th e next fo u r laps entirely with me chan ical problems. The big ra ce was fo r first between McKenna and Holland with so me pl a c e -sw apping until McK enna finall y stre tc he d a lead to take the m ota . " Hole- Sho t Wilson " did it in th e last mo ta agai n and held hi s le ad for half the race befo re he aga in e nco u n tered trouble and dropped ba ck to a fou rth pl ace fin ish. McKenn a took ano t he r first , with Holland second an d Michael Preston (Ya m) in there fo r thi rd. Front runne rs in the 25 0 Expert class wer e Pat Richter (CZ) , Brian jodry (Man) , and Don Sandre tto ( Bul). The first m ota i t was j odry a nd Richter in a class by th emselves with a bi g lead, but stayi ng cl ose and dueling right down to the fini sh, Sandre tto , john Franklin (Hus) an d Sco tt Henry (Bul) to o k up