Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

The AMA is loo king fo r California promote rs to run a series to qualifiers fo r t he 1976 Superbowl su p po rt class . If a west co ast qualifier se ries does no t develop the AMA w ill invite rid ers to t he su ppo rt bash . Give Mike Deprie a call in Westerville, Oh io . All y o u -Coron a Ra ceway hotshoes hang in there . Right now 750s aren 't all owed to run be cause the Riverside District Attorney put the nix to t he noise level. Hopefully by th e end of the month the nix will beco me a nod. But for now. nothing over 450cc will be allowed to co mpete o n th e popular Corona course. A fam iliar t rack with a brand new look will open Wednesday n ight (January 211. AMC will premier their n ight motocross rac ing season at., O range County Internat ional Raceway on the new one-m ile course. Th e lo nger course also features a new starting gate, additional lighting, two long straights and three high ·banked turns. Gates open at S p.m. and rac ing starts at 7 :30. Don't take our word for it, check it out for yourself. Montesa now offers_a full li ne of motocross models for 1976 includi ng a new 360 Cappra and Cappra 125 GJS (above). Th e 125 has a six speed transm ission, chrome-moly frame and shares many suspension components with its big brothers. Weighing in at 196 Ibs. you can carry it out of your Mon tesa dealer by lay ing sown a handfu I of pesos. THE LATEST BY PAPA WEALEY The ten event USRRC road rac ing series is now in the f inal planning and schedul ing stages by the W IE RA. The ser ies, w ith purses in the $10-2S,Ooo range was adopted to give professional road racers events to race outside the AMA Grand National Circuit. Diane Cox, t he first lady Expert in AMA Grand Nationa l Cham pionship racin g, will be returning to the Do me fo r t he seco nd tim e. Last year Dian e q ua lified fo r th e short trac k pro gram, but not th e TT; French jo urn alist Philippe Debarle w rites to say that SOcc World Champion Angel Nieto and ' another Spaniard will campaign Bultacos (Piavati cci] in both the SO and 12Scc road racing GPs t his season. The bikes w ill be sponsored by th e Sp anish gove rnment's Dep artment of Sp o rt s. Phil Read, c u rre n tlvwit ho u t a ride for the upcoming GP season, will ride Da ytona on a priva te Yamah a TZ750 , . . GP co mp etito rs Mich ael Rougerie, Ph ilippe Coulon an d Bruno Kn e u b u hl er will be Yam ah a mounted fo r Daytona, The three rid ers will "Team Elf." Coup d' co mprise Endurance rid er Christi an Estrosi has also en tered Daytona board a Ya ma ha, 2 Mike Gerald will ride a Yamaha TTSOO in t he Houston Astrodome TT National. According to Mike's right hand m an at h is Baton Rouge, Lou isiana , Yamaha shop, Goober, " Mike's been doin ' some cutting here and there and he's really excited about how the TTSOO handles." Also e xpecte d to compete in the annual Dome TT aboard a TTSOO is last yea r's Houst o n short t rack wi nner, Darryl Hur st, wh o like Ger ald is a Yamaha dealer. An amend men t to the W/E RA rules fo r Stree t class permits fo otpeg an d rear shoc k modificati on ala the 19 75 ru les. Two additions to the calendar wh ich motocross fans migh t wan t to note are the 2SOCC Trophee de s Nations wh ich takes p lace in Wohlen , Sw itzerland on September S and the September 12 SOOcc Motocross des Nations in St. Anthonis, Holland. Bart Mar kel's o ne off (litera lly) single cyl inder Harley-Davidson X R750 got its firs t tes t January 4 a t a Michigan ice race. The bike, wh ich Bar t figur ed migh t ju st be the thing for th e Housto n TT, didn 't fare too well so it 's ba c k to the workshop to bolt the second cy lin de r of th e vee twin back on. For those of you who have the problem of glasses that fog up when you come in from the cold , Bart Markel has a hint .. . back in the door. Think about . it . The July 24 Asco t TT has been resched uled to August 7. T he J uly date of t he AMA Gran d National /Cha m· pionship Camel Pro Series even t was in co n flic t with the Superbowl of MX. Mich igan's Re x Beaucha mp is heading to Te xas for a week of cow t railing and gene ra l relax atio n p rio r to the Ho uston Natio nals. Beauchamp, and p o ssibly Corky Keener a nd Jay Springst een, will be stay ing wi t h Mike Kidd . A swap meet and au cti on will be held in co nju nc tio n with the Houston Na tio na ls J anuary 23 -24 . The Astro Complex area will be th e sce ne of bu ying and selling all kinds of bike stu ff. For further info and sellers sp ace co n tac t Frosty Free ze 71 3/692·9195. How would you like to see your name in Cycle News each week? If you're interested in wr iting race reports and know how to take' p ictures give us a call ASAP. We need repo rters in lots of different areas to cov er motocross, enduros, dirt t rack, etc. Ask for the editorial department. Loo ki n g fo r a ni tro gen bott lc to service gas-filled mo nos and things ? Linde Weldin g Supp ly Distrihut or s natio nw ide list a tank designed the "R"hott le, 14 inch es high by 6 inches dia me te r that h olds ab out 20 fect of high pressu re n itr o gen gas . This year's Easter Transatlantic Trophy road races will take place on April 16-18-19. Kenny Roberts will lead the American team, which returns to England as defending champio n , at Brands Hatch, Mallory Park and Oulton Park . Th e Ame rican Mo torcy cle Drag Racing Associat io n (AMD RA l has m oved to new headquarters . Dire ctor Ro y Strawn an d his staff will n ow be lo cated at South Prairie, Haw thorne , 13221 Califo rnia 90 250 . The new p hon e ' numbe r is (2 13) 77 2-2 774. The AMDRAINHRA National Drags will kick off their champ ionship season with an event during Daytona Speed Week. The event, run at the Ormond Beach (Florida) Airport, will hold practice and qualifying March 4 and S. The finals from Top Fuel on down, will be run Saturday (March 6) evening. AMDRA's full scheduie appears on ou r cen te rspread ma jor events calendar. To see what the BLr.f 'does with you r buck a head co mp etiti o n fee, chec k Political Lifeline (nee Hotline ) o n pa ge I g. So far t he UEA Ride-On Endu ro, sche d uled fo r February 8, has gat he red over $I ,500 worth of co n tingencies to be handed o ut at th e event. Helmets, boots, han dlebar s, e tc. yo u name it, th ey have it. But you have to be present to get it. En tries are st ill open and sin ce it's a benefit run fo r the Desert De fense Fund your m oney will be well spent. For in fo call the United Enduro Associatio n, 7 14 /871-9 6 7 7 or 2 13/4 3 1-2481. Texas professional short trackers have formed an association aptly called the Texas Professional Motorcycle Racing Association. It is open to all AMA pros and mechanics. Meetings are on the first Wednesday n ight of each month at Irving Suzuki, Irving, Texas. Bureau o f Outdoor Recrea tio n has prep are d a 16-p age pamphle t , entitled " Off-Road Veh icle Use of Federal Lan ds" w hic h briefly ou tlines that bureau' s position on recre at ional m otor vehi cles. The BOR is an arm o f the Departmen t of the In terior which coo rdinates federal land u se programs and assists in local p lan n ing. "Off-R oad Vehicle Use on Federal Lands" in clu des general guidelines for O RV use on vari ou s federal lan ds. Da ted J uly 1975, th e pamphlet became available o nly recently . It is free and can be ob tained by wr iting: Office of Co mm unic ations, of Ou tdoor Recreation, Bureau Dep artment of th e In terior, Washington, D.C. 20 240. Yamaha has int ro d uced a steel-grey cleaned up vers ion of its XSSOO twin into the European market. It's a lot p ret t ier than the decaled-up stuff they're peddling over here. They musta' hired so m e of Detroits rejects for American.market .styling. T he Cal if o rn ia Department of Parks and Recreatio n he ld hearings J anuary 1S and 16 in S a n ' Diego on t he rec lassificat io n of 2000 acres of Anza Borrego Desert State Park to recreati o nal use . Th is would in tu rn pa ve the way fo r cr eat io n of a 13,000 acre ORV recre at ion area at Ocotillo ' Wells, for w hich $2.2 million has already been appr o p riat ed by t he Californ ia legislature. No dete rm in at ion as yet. Look fo r a -su pe r-t rick Harley-Davidson X R prepared by Bart Markel and ridden by Ted Boody at the upcoming Astrodome Nationals. Both Jawa and Bultaco have expressed a des ire to re turn to GP ro ad racing . The Czechoslova kian J aw a fac to ry would field rider s on th eir own m achines whi le Bultaco is loo k ing at · co ntinuing th e engine wo rk produced by the Italian Piova ticci co ncern. The Yamaha mo to cross team will be getting bran d new water -co oled 1 2 5 s before th e sta rt of t he 19 76 Natio nal Cha m p io ns h ip series. Inside so u rces say t he new bi kes have a disti nc t advantage o ver t he air-coo led model s after the 20 minute mark. Pacific NorthWest Tr ials Association (PNTA) will host the U.S . round of the world t rials championsh ip at Gold Bar, WA., on July 2S. With the Florida Winter Series only one week away and the National MX Championship rounds beginning the first week in April it is time to mail in your entries. If you do not haw a National number, but plan to ride the Nationals, then time is of the essenc:e. Post mll!lk date on will determine wh iclt non-ranked motocrossers get t o ride . The fina l Trans-Axl A site has been selected in Texas. Rabbit Run .Iot ocross f' ar k in Pl an o, Te xas will reve rbe rate wirh Euro-American mo tocross o n October 31 . Same goes for the European-sty led ver sions of the RD400 and RD 125. Bu t then Americans are supposed to be dumb and have no taste - right ? -

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