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/126022
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FINE WI RE - $1.50 .1. (GOL D SERI ESI Due to low pr ices pl ugs, we m ust Sta nd ard plu gs in of 10 and t he Gold lots of 4 . on these sell the quantity Ser ies in ..... -_ ------_----.. _ ----_-_...........-----....... ---. --._ ..........-. ~ Marty Tripes poured the coals to his 250 Pursang engine and thirty foot roosts would envelop the hard working competitors on his " .......... .-.., -... - . ..... .... .....-. -.._ - .----.--. ...-.c.......,-. m o t o c r os s fan s. The strange co m bina t io n o f Na tio nal motocross stars an d their mech an ics takin g a break from t he Trans-AlvlA circuit alo ng with teacup size m achinery were the highli ght o f thi s co ld ni ght o n th e San Francisco Bay . Marty Tripes, riding fo r inj ured John Savitski on a Bevo Forte tuned 250cc min i Bultaco, simply ran away with the main even t after spending the evening picking himself up fro m more than one miscue on the bucking amalgamation of minicycle and mightly power. Tripes ' mount was sp onsored by Bob's Bultaco in Pennsy Ivan ia , wh ich ap pr op riately enough is located in the ba ck of an under tak ers office. The cr eam of the American T rans·AMA riders came to dice it o ut o n the short on e-q uar ter mile soft san d IT course. Defending Champion Jim Pomeroy was resting in a h osp ital bed foll owing a get-off at an unimportant international r ace just one week befo re th e big minicycle GP. Brad Lackey, Bob Harris, Grand National rider Rick Hocking, along with mechanics Steve Johnson (Sem ics), Eric Lunnis Crippa (Howerto n ), Brian (Grossi), Keith McCarty (DiStefan o), Earl Lyons (Tripes) and Arne Beaman (Po mero y) formed the heart of the American Mini cycle dynasty . Tripes' ride to glory came at the expense of th e egos of riders on many of the more popular brands of mini-bikes, Lackey rode his famous Husonda, while the Team Suzuki mechanics were seated on o ne-off Suzo nda's. Marty Tripes , who is unknown in Grand Prix min icy cle racing, but had made a smal l na me for himself in so me less important stadium events, quickly spurted into th e lead at the st art of th e 25 lap $600 purse main event. Steve Johnson on a Kaw 90 held second firmly in his grasp. Johnson had once tuned for a World Champion ro ad racer and he made this fact known q uic kly by cen te rp unc hin g an oil drum. With J ohnson and the oil drum both di nged ou t of the race , T rip es ' mech an ic _ and teammate Earl Ly ons too k over secon d wi th Eric Crippa and Bob Harris making time o n th eir 72cc ma ch ines. Lyons closed sligh tl y o n Tripes wh o was having problem s keeping his b ike o ff the pipe. If Marty hadn 't be en th e fabul o us Cham pion th at he is th e 48 inch wheelbased Pursang 25 0 co ul d have co me o n th e powerband and ru ined his new leath ers. With the exception of the wide sweeping first tum which Marty took at a heart wrench ing fu ll power broadside slide , his excursion of the co urse consisted of drag race sprints from one tum to the next. Lyons lost ground only to crash into the soft power robbing loam . The main event ended wi th a happy Marty Tripes saying, " Man , I'm tired. That thing is a bitch to hang on to. " Minicycle GP tuner Bevo Forte, best known on the National MX circuit as 'Rent-A-Wrench ' was ecstatic as h is 50 % wrenching arrangement would be quite substantial out of the $600 purse. In the Mechanic 's $400 Support class Eric Crippa held on best in a slam bang affair th at made mechanics out of racers. The Su zuki mechanics team of McCarty and Lunnis engaged in a personal duel in the back of the pack that left the trees, ground. and fence bruised and b at tered. In a barely supporting class the moto-journalists and co nti ngency sponsors lined up to embarrass themselves. It was easy for them as Moto-journalist Jim Gianatsis fresh off the Trans-AMA trail had the bad taste to run away and leave Moto-monthly editor Dick Miller and the rest of the flo u ndering p ack three-fourths of a lap behind. Baja winner Dick Miller, Kurt Kieffer of Bel-Ray and Don McGee of Scott goggles asserted t he mselves well an d showed a lo t of talen t. Most of it was in tumbling and gymnastics, but talent should be applauded wherever it rears its head. Next year's Grand Prix will probably be invitational as the horsepower war co n t inu es. Erv Kanemoto was seen out at the Livermore Trans-AMA near th e pi ts of Tripes and Bevo, Could we see a Kawasaki triple wedged in next year? •