Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• EI SIQ III: ~ t l!') rO'l ,.....; ~ ..q; ,.....; l-< ~ ..0 0 ..... U 0 • " Yeah, I'd say yo u got en oug h pow er to the grou nd." U.K. com pany) t o be so desperately fighting for surv ival a t this time - and whi ch survi val is m anifest ed by the dramatic scale o f o ur reduced o pera tion across the world . Even in En gland we don 't ye t kn ow all th e an swers of how , o r i f, th e s u r v iva l plan can be im plemented, b ut I can assure y our readers that it is o ur mos t earnest intention t o co n tin ue in th e motorcy cle busin ess fo r a very lo ng time indeed! The presen t crisis was brough t to a head by (i) th e Bri tis h Governmen t of the d a y s e e in g fit to ren ege o n th e pre vi ous l y pr omi sed in ves t m ent programme for NVT , an d (ii) the costly effects of th e 18 m onth " lock-in " at th e o ld Triumph twin plan t at Meriden durin g whi ch ti me not so much as a n ut or a b olt was produ ce d! (It m ust be r em em b er e d that th e Br i t i s h Governmen t of 197 2 virtually fo rced modestly p rofitabl e Nort o n Villiers in to merging with (an d man agin g) th e aili ng BSArrriu m ph giant whose in debtedness by then was ov e r S2 5 m . T he reconstituted co m p any, kn own as NVT, was given th e full go-ahead by the Mini ster concerned to clo se at least one of the three manufacturing plants, b u t when it came to th e cru nch t his same Minister refused, against the advi ce of the Police Department, to sanction th e ejection of those workers wh o were in unlawful o ccupati on at Merid en .) When I wa s w or kin g for N.V. Corporation at Lon g Beach in 19 70 through 197 2 as a tiny part of th e U.S. mot or cy cle scene I rem em ber th at Chu ck Cl a y t o n n e e d e d on ly the oc casio nal remin der to give fair edito rial coverage to the several Norton racing successe s th at wer e being ch al ke d up at Asco t du ring th at period. In terestingly , Mr. Clayton 's adver tis ing m inions were far m ore alert; p erennially eager for us to adverti se the -No rto n vict o rie s as well as the occasional min or success ach ieved in desert, Baja or motocross by AJS. An d I n otice th at Mr. Clayton 's fin er publishing principles did no t prevent him from printing an ext ensive series of full page ra cing ads fro m BSA/Triumph (ci r c a T h orn t on ) d uri n g th e well publi ciz e d " Mi llio n Dollar Racing Budget" era of 19 7 1. Come, co me Chuck, yo u can qui te easily afford to be factual in your writings, even if yo u do no t wish to be thought to be charitable ! To fin ish , I n o tice tha t on ly last wee k your Mr . P. Wealey was being cynical (and a trifle anti-British ) about the possible arrival of Lord Hesketh u pon the two wheeled scene. (Lord H. happens to be on e of th e winningest sponsors in Formula On e car racin g, an d a personality aris to crat to boot.) Take ca re down th ere at Cycle New s - your little office is well within artillery range fro m San Pedro harbo r, if the Limey m 'lord chooses to sen d a gun boat. Mi ke Jackson V ice President - Sales N V T C.C. reminds Mik e that CN did not run an y BSA-Triu mph ads during th e • Su per qua lity 5 0 % Cotton , 3 0% Po lyest er! • Kn it t ed neck & arm tr im • Dar k cartoon with red lettering • Approved by Papa Wealey · Order you rs t o day for im med iate delivery - no w aiti ng Tho rnton era (we were on his blacklist) and did check th e fu ll fa cts before verifying Norton -Triumph 's ob ituary . Park the bulldozer! T o Peter Weidner Jr : We're wnung in resp on se to you r le tt er in the Sep tem ber 2, 19 75 issue of Cycle News regarding Gaston Rah ier and the Mid-Ohi o racetrac k. The facts are: I . R o ge r De C os ter is a great mo tocross rider! 2 . G a s t on R aid e r i s a g r ea t mo t ocr oss rider an d the ne w 125 m ot ocr oss wo rld ch am pio n , 3. Marty Smith is a gre at m otocro ss ri de r also! 4 . Mid-Ohi o is a great 1'1' track, bu t d efi n ite ly n ot a W or l d Championship mo to cr oss tra ck. TIle tr acks in the St ates are gene rally too ea sy an d the riders su ffe r from thi s. Mos t promoters ar e afr aid to make th e trac ks difficult be cause th e Junio rs will co m p lain , bu t if we want to be the best we h ave to le arn to ride o n very diffi cul t tr acks and no t j ust go wide open on 1'1' tracks. Th e prom o t ers and tr ack o wn ers ne ed t o sto p cat ering to the Juniors b e c aus e. th e y h a ve t o learn real mo to cr oss if th ey want to be real ly go od. Stop trying to cre ate the tra cks with bulldozers and ma king them flat wi th stu pid p ointed ju m p s everywhere . Fin d a nice roll y, h illy sectio n and j us t lay it out, natural! The Natio nal at Ravenn a, Ohio was a go od exam p le o f a real m oto cross track. It was lo ng, be t ween th ree an d fo ur min u tes a lap. It was st eep, bu m p y, rutt y , natural up and down hills, n o t made with bulld ozers. The owner didn' t have an ythin g sp ecial, but they m ade th e m ost with wh at t hey had . Just lik e what co uld be do ne at Mid Oh io , an d many o ther tr acks th at are now to o easy or dangerous. We hope wh en it 's ti m e for th e Tran s-Am at Mid Ohio yo u have utili zed so me of wh at you h ave to ma ke a real difficult motocross ! Park the bu lldo zer! Brad Lackey & Mark Blackw ell The views ex p ressed in this colu m n an d a t h e r columns app earing an the f ollo wing pages are so lely th ose of the au th ors an d do not necessarily refl ect the official posit io n of Cycle News West or Cy cle News, Inc. Qualified readers wishing free an d equal reb ut tal space shou ld co n tact the Editor. Supply limited- Order fast! Just fi ll ou t. rip off, &' mail to: Cycle News Products PO Box 498, Long Beach, CA 9080 1 I I I I I ------------------------- I I I I My name is Str eet A d d ress State I wa nt - I Zip - [ ) sm all I I me d iu m !Aot~~~ !l I. ) la rge I I e xtr a large Tee -Sh irts I rnclos cd 55. 9j jar cad i Shirt [California residen ts ad d 6 ?;" sales ta., " ) I I I I ~-------------------------~ Sears Point 250 Mile Production Race 2nd Overal l 2nd 500 Class Fred Koren/ Tom Chew Honda 550 3rd Overall 1st 350 Class Paul V ogel/G reg Goodman Honda 350 4 . Both Used Grizzfv Built Wheels . ". B.C. Gerolamy Heads Grizzly Lightened Cran ks & Rot ors ,~ :,Ci; qr~oh~~~y Balanced Engines Bo.!h finished ahead of al/-750cc bikes Gr izzly Engineering ' _ ' B.C. Ger o lam v Co . 916-927-265 6 ' Sac ramento . Ca lifornia -:9 1(5-922-7652 BUDDHA enterprises .th e West 's most a,so. 'Tr:uiVt'.dea ler Bultaco Fro nteras $ 1159 Open 7 days 109 60 Hole Ave .• Riverside, CA 9 2505 714-689-3166 e Race of Champions ~.,, ~ CI . MOT ORCYCLES ~® PARTS ~ eNew York T rans-AM A PI ~TONS a . i COMPLETE MACHINE SHOP,REPAIR a SERVICEONAL L MAKES (71 4) 630-5 720 06E Cycle Enaineering a Supply 11 4 0 · A N Kraemer _ Anaheim Ca _ 9 2806 - Mike Patrick :r YAMAHA al CORONA llOI E. 6th St rut, Corona, CA •• • ( 714) 735 -7721 '. 37

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