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/126009
Spray from San Jose : Chuck Palmgren on a C & J Yamaha instead of a Gurney one ... John Sperry's Suzuki triple shook him so badly he qualified on his 500 twin instead .. . Carroll Resweber has tuned two straigh t San Jose Mile winners this year . .. Asked how it felt to be Number One , Gary Scott replied, "The same, but richer" . .. Scates not sure if he'll have a brand new 500 twin road racer from Italy for On tario, or if he'll be entered on an XR750. Unconfirmed: Roessler goe s to Husky, Mikkola moves to Honda, Did anyone collect $200 while passing go? Honda's R. & D people are getting serious about fluid drive (using a pump on the transmission output shaft and a turbine on the rear hub). In addition to the TL-125 they've shown the Aussies, they are also testing big roadburners wi th the new driv e. Honda engineers are said to be disgusted by chain failures and not too turned on by heavy drive shafts, either. Thus th e remote fluid drive. Unofficial Camel Pro points after San 1343 Jose : Ga ry Scott 987 Jay Sp ringstee n 930 Ken ny Roberts 899 Corky Keene r 839 Rex Beauchamp Yep, J ay Springsteen is no w Nu mber Two! Nea t tri ck : Ho nda say s th e " ge ar rati o" on the flu id f inal d rive can be changed by alte rin g th e pitch of the turbine vanes. And it can be done in the field in slightly more ti me than it takes to change a sprocket. Don 't miss next week's Cycle News West. It will be a West Coast Road Racing Special issue, with glamour, adventure, and romance. It was a blown big-end bearing that lunched Scott Autrey's prime bike at the European Speedway Qualifier. After four last-place rides on his backup machine, Scott gated perfectly and led his final ride wire -to-wire ahead of Wor ld Finalist Gordeev (USSR) . With the Wemb ley Final already history, all the might-have-becns are shelved until next year. Patrick Pon s, runnerup in the European Formula 750 stand ings, m ight br ing the Galoises Cigarette Special to Ontario Oct. 5 . Hak, kaff! And you th ink Camel Filters are strong .. . Johnny Cecotto is home in Venezula trying to mend his cracked ankle in time for the Ontario road race biggie. Japauto, his European Yamaha sponsor, is preparing Johnny's machine, in hopes. Kawasaki is one of t he sponsors of the Long Beach GP for Formula 5000 cars. Du rin g an intermission: they'll be conducting th e fin al compet ition of the " Kawasaki Kop Kup" down in Turn Six. The event will p it the nation 's top preeision-rid inq fuzz aga inst each other on KZ400s. At 20 paces, maybe? Cl iff Ca rr got a K & N Racing sponsorship for Ontario , and this may be the start of a two-man K & N te am for Europe, with Ph il McDonald wea ring the other boot. Sounds like there 's a new motocross course a-bu i lding up at Riverton, Oregon. Gold Coast MC has been out the past two weekends helping owners Sam and Nancy Coomer shape up the property . Ads in Cycle News sold 3,000 tickets to the first Long Beach Ice Races before they went on general sale, promoters said. And the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a non-profit do-gooder, says it gets 400 inquiries a month from the little ads we donate. Oregon riders, if you d idn't already know it , you've got a fr iend in the legislatu re, 22·y ear old Drew Davis of ' Po rtland. He wa s instru ment al in stifl ing an ti -ORV legislation d ur ing the past session - so instr u mental th at the eco-freaks have got their marker on h im. Leas i n g mo to rcycles seems to be catching on. Quality Cycle at 16400 Hawtho rne Blvd ., Lawndale, Calif. 90260 is leasing Honda GL 1OO0 s fo r on ly $125 on a two·year, closed-end deal. Their phone is 542-4810. Now if I could only rent one at the airport! Custom cycle builders in the East are offering their fin ished creations for $2 ,000-$3,500 while art galleries in New York are getting $I 0,000-$ I 00,000 for rusty junk. Should be a commission in there so meplace . Rumor is that one major MC impo rte r has a warehou se·fu ll of 5Occ , automatic s tep · throughs wai ting fo r the next gasoline p anic. Speaking of boot, John Boote is expected to give Kenny Roberts a tussle for the win money at Ontario, but he is still looking for a sponsor with a couple of thousand bucks. Contact the Englishman at (714) 979-8761. Another workers' cooperative with another wild British project bike? Th at's the tone of the news from Albion this week as a workers' committee at the just· closed NVT Wolverharnpton plant reve al ed a unique " step pe d-p ist on" 500cc two stroke twin that, among other things , features 'a "dry" crankcase and has a fair chance of meet ing em ission regs. More later. KHJ Channel 9 in the Los Angel es area will carry Peter Starr's Champion Classic Ontario ro ad race film (shot at last year's National) as part of the bu ild-up fo r th is year's ru nning. Show ti me. is 10:30 p.m, September 29. 2 And Peter? Back f rom desert spacin' on h is XL410, he 's got the San Jose mile oval rented the day after the National as part of a hangin' out piece, featu ring Gary Scott and the Flint Flyers. And if Gary should clinch the Number One plate , it's go t the makings of a dy ·no·mite fl ick. KENNY IN HARLEYLAND - "You say they make bowl ing balls, too?" M .O . R . E. lobbyist Russ Sanford reminds us you can"send any message of 100 words or less by w ire to any pol itico, state or federal, by calling (800) 648-4100 and d ictating your mes sage . Western Un ion will tack the c h a r ge on yo ur p hone bi l l. A m in imum·leng th " p ublic opinion" te legram of 25 words or less can be sent for $2 . Easy as p icking up your phone, huh? Bike club puts up $2,000 for Oregon ORV park, attracts $22 ,000 in government matching funds. Read about it in the North Section. The ide a that the KZ 750 DOHC four stro ke twin is really the Big K's AMA d i rt track effort in disg uise gain s c red ib ility. At least Kawasaki's no lo nger de nying the ex istance of the project. Instead, they 're say ing " Yo u ' ll be seeing some inte resti ng stuff next year." Jim Pomeroy, taking a first moto win at the " Tro phy des Nations", is the only American to win against all three of the current world champions at the same time. AIthough the Belgian team won overall, Po meroy netted a second p lace for individual riders. Two DNF's prevented higher overall placing of the sh ar p Americ an team (Pomeroy, Lackey , Howerton & DiStefano). CMC Road Race Division w ill begin its road race school program at Willow Sp rings September 28. Instructor Dick Pearce says be ready to pass tech inspection and ride by 8 :30 a.m . race day, full leathers an' the wh ole piece. Camping is available outside the track to help you rise early and sh ine . Apologies to D-37 desert rider No. 952 who was not involved in pit racing accident at SoCal European Scrambles as previously stated in their resul ts, Further investigation into the matter showed No . 952 not responsible, therefore, disqualification has been recinded. Malcolm Smith wo n his class, blowing away most (or all) of the cars in the 1400 kilometer "Roof o f Africa." What was Malcolm doing in Africa? We'll find o ut when he gets back. Bultaco International will have Ji m Pomeroy and Marty Tr ipes contesting the inte rn at io nal class of the 1975 Trans·AMA series. Fremont Raceway 's scrambles season is down to two night eve nts rema ining fo r the 1975 season : Fri., Oct 10 and Oct. 17 . Wednes day n igh t sho rt track continues through Oct. 8 with hi gh po in t nigh t and continge ncies presen ted the same evening. Proud of their innovative "Motorcycle Safety Clinic ," t he City of La Mirada sen t ou t press releases to all the local papers. Four of the local rags printed the release, which stated that the featured film would be all about famous mptf?rcycle ~ra!ie.r "Marty.:' ;irnith. " •• • • Here 's another Oregon tip. Write Barbara Dierker, Oregon Envi ro nmental Cou ncil ,2637 S.W . Water Ave., Portland, Or. 97201. Offer to h elp monitor U.S. Forest Service p lanning and ask to be put on their mai ling list. That way you'll get firs t notice on public hearings by the Forest Service and get to know what the anti-biker opposition is planning. Neat, huh? Norm Sayler has gotten legal pe rm ission to ru n trials loops th rough Sierra Club property ad joining his sk i lodge. How'd he do it? They want to run a rope tow aid connect up w ith his chair lift . They scratch hi s back, he scratches theirs. East Bay P.I.T.S. has scheduled their Annual Earth Trial for October 19th. It will be in either Frank Raines Park or the Tribune Tower, depending on the weather. C'mon, guys, tell us more. 01' E vel is com ing back o ut of retirement to jum p 14 buses at Kings Island, Ohio, Oct. 25th. The jump will appear on ABC's "W ide World of Sports," following the Nore Dame/USC game. The San Mateo County Planning Commission approved and sen t to the Board of Supervisors revised and up-to-date p rocedures by which private landowners could apply to develop ORV trails and faci lities un der th e Williamson Ac t. The Board was expected to vote on it September 23. More later . Sixteen year old Tom Orzalli faces long hosp italization due to a crash while rac ing in th e CMC Grand Prix at Dixon, Calif. Tough t imes ahead cou ld be eased by lots of frien ds who show they care. Send your cards and lette rs to Tom Orzall i, c/o Fred Dion, 3210 Kimwood La'!e , Rancho Cordova, Calif. 95670.