Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

•••••••••••••••••••••••••• Lackey wins 500 MX National AXTON, VA. , AUG. 17 Hus ky rider Brad Lackey in his first U,S. race since the end of th e 500cc World Cham pionship Series in Europe, totalled up a tw o-three set o f moto scores to top the Lake Sugar Tree 500cc AMA National Championship Motocross. Matching Lackey in overall points for the day was Maico 's St eve St ackab le. Stackable won th e first moto unchallenged, but ran in to problems in th e second round and was forced to make an e x t re me ly impr es si v e co m e-fro m -be h i n d mo to-long charge up to fourth . The 25 0cc Support class saw Dan Turner (Bul) and Mick y Kessler (Hus) each win a moto alth ough neithe r was able to pu t to get he r a good eno ugh set of scores to place in the top 10. Ten nessee 's Sam Day ton (Bul) and Honda rider Mickey Boone each racked up a second and a third place finish . Day ton to ok th e over all win with a better second moto pla cin g. Mike Renslow is home from his near-fatal CaI·Expo crash, but will have his jaw wired for a while yet. Now for you guys who want to infiltrate the Sierra Club, here's how to get the pedigree to do it. California State College, Dominguez Hills, is offering an extension program for a Master of Science in Environmental Studies. Just what you need to poke ho les in inaccurate Environmental I mpact Statements . Call (213) 532-4000, Ext. 607, for info. Why arc two o f the lowest-priced bike s in their class, the Harley SS-250 an d SX·250 go ing unsold ? The S5-250 has a going price of $ 1,215 an d the SX-250 is p rice d at Sl,168. Low price, great value , an d few buyers. At first glance, the inc ident about the in tag lio drawings being defaced in the Yuha desert seemed like the work of some demented dirt riders. But why would bike riders tear down a fence to get at the intaglios? It seems like somebody went to a great deal of trouble to make trail riders look bad. Environmental cases know how to ride motorcycles too, or are we starting to get paranoid? Another big name bein g m entio ned in refe rence to the S.C.O. R.E. race at Riversid e is Hon da. Thcy h ave put up $4000 in co n tingc ncy m on ey. This is to be di stributed to the win ner s of thc 125 , 250 and Open classes if thcy are ridi ng a Hon da m o torcy cle. Also if one of these class winners happens to grab the overall he gets anextra $1000. Not too shabby. THE LATEST Bikers who have labored long and hard again st the "dictatorship of the bu reaucracy" where helmets are concerned, have been joined in their lobbying efforts by b iker Steve McQueen. Last week Steve met with the Governor of California, Edmund G. Brown, to d iscuss the state's reaction to the bureaucrats' ransom demands. A pro-forma hearing is scheduled Sept. 11 at the DOT headquarters, room 4234 , 400 Seventh St. SW in Washington, D.C. at 10 a.m, to discuss California's punishment for letting those who ride decide. A peaceful mass demonstration is being planned by Washington area bikers. If you want to sec mo re motorcycle races on TV, dr opa line to CBS and let them know that y o u like d the Supcrbowl (sh own August 9) and tell them that yo u wo uld like to see m ore of t h e sam e. Writc to CBS Sports Spectacu lar, 26th floo r, 5 1 West 52nd St ., New York, Ncw York 10019. A sli~t1y modified Can-Am T'NT 250 motorcycle won the Production class at Nelson Ledges Speedway, Garretsville, Oh io. The Can-Am averaged 74.61 mph covering 808 laps (1,7n miles) around the 2.2 mile track. On the straights the bike reached a top speed of between 108-110 mph. When asked, " Did you win thi s (the Ascot TT) for Califo rnia or Ohio ?" Gary Scott replied, " I guess California's always bee n where it 's at for me .. . " Heh , heh, Take th at, Mongoose. We got a crazy paper here in Long Beach . One day the Press-Telegram comes out with a pro-helmet law editorial. The next day they say everybody ought to fight for in dividual rights. Say again? Kawasa ki h as partially reversed th e n o-m oto cr o ss-team p olicy. Gary Semics 2 contested the Mex ico 500cc National on a fac tory Kaw wrench ed .by Steve Johnson.. I , • • •• • U.S. Representative Glenn M. Anderson (o.Calif.) from the South Bay area, has come down squarely on the bikers' side on the Helmet Law issue. Glenn was a Speedway racer in the 1930's. Professor Harry Hurt (o f Hurt Principle f a m e ) ha s b e e n a w ardc d a two-and-a-half year contract by D.O.T. to in vc st i gat c upwards of 900 moto rcycle acci den ts to determine in de tail th e caus es of inj ury and /or death . It may se tt le the hel met issue once and for all. Latest Honda rumor is that an automatic 750 with a "Low" and "Drive" range (n o reverse - shucksl will be released in November. The bike will also have a 4.50x17 rear tire and kickstart lever stored under the seat. It will replace the foul -handling CB-750F. We'vc heard tell that the Yam aha 500 thumper is wet-sump , b ut a sneak peak at the bike le ad s us to believe it has an oil reservoir in the main top tube. Pix so on. "The American people feel there is too much government controlling . their lives," Who said it ? Ou r Prez , Gerald Ford, in an inte rvie w with U.S. News & World Report. Wish he 'd say the same th ing to Time, and mean it. .......................... Dept. o f Transpor tation bureau crats wh ackcd $5-million off California's federal traffic safety gran t to punish the only state which has never bowed to their mo torcycle he lmet law blackmail. Cutting off safe ty funds "in the interest of safe ty " makes as much sen se as any th ing else the DOT has do ne , September 9 the Motorcycle Safety fo undation dedicates its new Research and Edu catio n f acili ty at Lin thic u m , Maryland. It 's onl y the second such faci li ty in the U.S., buil t specifically for m o t o r c y cl c s afcty research and in structi on. That Shreveport, Louisianna Al\IA mot o cross qual ifie r scheduled for September 7 has b ee n relocated about 1400 miles west. It will now be held as a 125 and 500cc event at fast Track MX in Phoenix, Arizona, sam e da te . Contact Jcrry Ballah at (60 2) 94 8-0 24 8 for in fo. Rem ember th at Al\IA Amateur road rac ing plannin g mee tin g at Dallas, Te xas is Se p te m ber 20 . Contact Al\IA coordin ator Steve Luty for details. If th e various roadrace san c tion in g bodies can just agree on what is " p ro d u cti on " and h ow to enforce it , they 'll h ave ta ken a gian t step. AI Henning of Chatsworth, California, traveled to Lu blin , Poland, for th e annual flM Rally J uly 4 -6 and the veteran ro ad ride r came away vic torious in th e in ternatio n al ro ad even t , Our congratula tion s to AI for earn ing the in dividu al champi onsh ip at th e event, Fo rmal p re sen ta tion of Henning's award will be made at th e fl M Con gress th is fall in Berl in , The California .Advisory Committee to the U.S. Forest Se rvice has a field meeting .scheduled for 8:30 a.m. September 4 at Bass Lake. For info on how you can participate as a member of the public, call (415) 556-4310. CRC is having another 100",(, T-Shirt Day, this time at Indian Dunes. Free shirts to all but late entries, plus 50% brass and 100% Expert payback. It all starts at 9 a.m. Sunday, August 24 . Raffle tic kets for the Alan May Bene fit are on sale at many So ut hern Cal M/C sho ps , des ert even ts, l\\X's , Cycle News, an d from the SoCal M.C. Among pri zes a $1 ticket can win fo r yo u are a 250cc Elsin ore from Amer ican Honda, Bill Walters leathers, Terry Ent. fork kit and ca b lc s , $ 2 5 from Lynn Wilson, aluminum lo ading ramp from Ho okies , tw o custom seat covers fro m Pre cision Cycle , a Poppy fo r k kit, a case of VBA from Glen dal e Yamaha, case of f E Plus from Super Cycl e, Roy al /G rant helmets, and a h air dryer from Lake Isabe lla Beau ty Supply. Shops wishin g to donate p rizes to help th e p aralyzed rac er financi ally or for raffle tickets, co n tact Dick Camp, 623 May Ann Dr., Redo ndo Beach , Ca. 90 2 78 or ph on e (21 3) 3 72-2 266. The Federal Energy Administration is considering a new gasoline labelling rule which WOUld, in effect, add about four points to the posted octane rating on the pump without any change in the gas. A public hearing has been scheduled in Washington , D.C. on August 26, 9 :30 a.m. in Rm. 2105, 2000 M St. While NHTSA is rush in g to cho p off Federal-aid highway safe ty funds 10 Califo rn ia, Ut ah, and Illino is for not p assing " sat isfa c to ry ' hel met laws: Congress is still grin ding away on three bills to deny the agcncy the right to do I this. 4" t .1 With ou t mu ch fan fare, the Defense Departmen t exp an ded the boundaries o f I th e Choco late Mountain Aerial Gunnery Ran ge into rideable BLM lan d in Imp erial Coun ty , Calif. We learned o f it with co mment de adline right on us (Aug. 14 ). However (if we read the ; Federal" Register right), this kind of land transfer re quires an act of Con gress to ; go th rough. Write y our Con gressman • right now, or better ye t, see if you can bug him abo ut it whil c he 's h ome on ~ recess. e Papa bugged Cycle News ' home area Congressman Mark Hannaford about the " helmet law issue and the bills in Congress to defuse the DOTies; found , th e Congressman favors a Federal . "bludgeon" (his words) to compel states to do Federal bidding and would probably vote against the bills in question. Bummer. A h oller for help fro m the girls - Pam Wl1son nee ds at leas t 100 signa tures by Sep tem ber I on a pe tition to gct a Dis t rict 37 Po wdc r Puff En duro Division established, Time is short, call Pam at (7 14 ) 554-0 2 11 after 6 p. m . for info. Pam also needs a body (?) of 40 Puffers to present the petit ion to 0.37 on September 4. Get out the vote. " The "CZ 500" AMA National motocross set for August 24 in Ohio is , up to $9425 in purse and contingencies. San Diego County O RV Citizen's Advisory Committee is having such trouble getting a quorum, th ey 've canc elled an August 12 mee ting and m ay call off an other on August 26. How com e? Is ap athy th a t ep ide mic do wn there? Call (714 ) 236-2181 and chec k in. Brad Lackey dropped out of the first moto and got a fourth in the second at the Belgian 500 GP to drop behind Jaak vanVelthoven in their struggle for fifth in world standings. Ake Jonsson and Heikki Mikkola each won a moto in the event, which was delayed two hours while riden and promoter argued over narrow, dusty track conditions. Jose (y ou rea d it right) Ceco tto, lure d to the Continent by his brother's road ra cin g su ccess, sideli ne d himsel f with -a bro ken arm in thc Hutchison 100 at Englan d 's Bran ds Hatch circuit. For next year, another " Qu alifier" MX series. Th is one is under consideration by the AMA to sort riders for ttie Superbowl support class. Confused yet? Don Vesco 's not m cssin ' around. He hils TWO belts (one each side ) co nnectirig his Bonneville en gines th is year. Tickets for the September 21 San Jose Mile are scattered at local San Jose area motorcycle shops by now. Gonna be first come, first served this year. Dou g S ch werma has bu ilt add itional TZ750 miler fra mes . four There's a San Jose Junior Invitational in the works. Our Distric t 36 gnome is telling us it 's Elks & Ra mblers time a t Salinas already . This year the proceeds o f th e Au gust 24 scrambles are going to th e Cere bral •\ Palsy l u!, d. _

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