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/126044
.. _ •• ., • Specially for dirt If you dig the d irt. ride w ith Mulholland MX hydraulics, built for treacherous terrain . A full line of tunable and rebuildable MX shocks allow you to fit your bike to your individual requirements. MX shocks are available to fit all off-road bikes, regardless of size . For G .P . and cantilever setups, the LTG lIong travel gas-rebuildablel shock gives the ultimate in shock performance . A new shock featuring Geretron gas bladder. up to 4% inches of travel, extra large o il capacity . 1/2" diameter piston rod, aluminum cooling fins. six-stage progress ive valving and self-lubricating top and bottom bushings. If you ride motocross, enduro or trials. Mulholland has a shock for you . Fo r Texaco. Forward Trust. and a host of o thers. Barry Sheene carried the flag in the 500cc class . '( .J' :> { J .. b n he set the fastest lap in the race , af ter Sheene had earlier smashed Agostini's o ld lap re cord by ten seconds. Watched by a crowd of 70 ,000 the little West German Herbert Rittberger won the 50cc race from Rudolf Kun z, after reigning champion Angel Nieto m a kin g his GP debut on the little Bultaco had been brought down on the first lap. _ Waiter Villa (H-D) was only th ird at the end of the first lap in the 250cc race, behind the Morbidellis of Paulo Pileri and Pirpaulo Bian chi, b ut Villa soon took control and left the pack at an impressive rate. He won easily, despite sliding off o n the sweeping rig ht hander just be fore the finish line. At the end of t he race he was still more than 30 se co nds ahead of his teammate Franco Harley-Davidson Bonera, who had ba t tled t hrough to runner up position a fter a poor start. The Mo rbidelli pair both p ulled out with rear suspension troubles. American Pat Evans, second fas test in practice on a borrowed machine pulled out o f t he ra ce after just a h an dful of laps with mechanical pro b lems. Finn T apio Virtanen o n the East German MZ showed just how quick the bike is, before being fo rced out by an oiled plug. The Harley-Davidson factory in Italy has wo rked wo nders with the 350cc machine this winter, for Villa had little trouble in destroying the opposition. Giaco mo · Agostini (MV) had been fastest in practice. A re al su rprise th at had many p eop le shaking their he ads in disbelief. And the m ystery wasn 't hel ped by Ago pulling o ut of the race after j ust a few laps when chasing Villa. The last time t he 350 saw the race tracks it was never that q ui ck ! J o hnny Cecotto tried hard to peg back Villa, but o nce Walter had the pit signal he just 'piled on more pressure to pull away. Behind this pai r a ten man gro up fought for points. Joh nny Cecotto se t t he 500cc pa ce , with young Eng lishman Ste ve Parri sh , who had been o n the sixth row on t he gri d, behind hi m going in to the first, fast right ha n d sweep. Sheene was sluggish to start, an d so was Lu cch inelli. Cecollo was still ahead first time aro und, wi th J o hn Williams on the other Su zuki GB entered "four" second, Phil Read third and Teuvo Lansivuori fourth. She ene moved ahead of Cecotto o n the 15th lap, but his teammate J ohn Williams overdid things, and he was brought down when his Suzuki silencers lifted the re ar wheel off the ground. Fortunately J ohn was unhurt. Cecotto was cau gh t napping by the sudden arrival of Lu cchinelli. The Italian was right on J ohnny's tail starting the 29th and final lap , but his Su zuki began to run out of petrol and he was forced to slow down. Lansivuori, his machine not running properly, was happy to be fourth but the reigning champion Gia como Agostini on the MV had to settle for fifth place. Pat Hennen, the American ma kin g hi s debut in t he world championship series, had trouble in starting his standard Suzuki ufou r " and fa ile d to overcome the handicap. Phil Read's race was shortlived. Third o n the opening lap his Suzuki seized ye t again (reputedly fo r th e 17th ti me !) and he was "fo rced tostop. . In th e sidecarrace that bro ugh t t he eigh t ho ur long program to a close Ro lf Biland showed just ho w good he and his special Yamah a powered o utfit is, by coming from the back to catch and pass West German Werner Scwarzel , after seve n laps. The new FL\1 regulation on silencing was disregarded, with half the entry fittin g mufflers. an d the rest ignorning the new rule. To complete the general "Alice in Wonderland" feeling the FIM jury allowed th e 25 0s to race with "slick" tires, despite the general council's recen t ru ling against them ! It was that sort of meeti ng. • I"tw~rt·. cornpIeu In of motorcycle produe:tl • ...-.d $2.00 to Dept . CN-5 iDJ!ijiiiI: ~ Fo r info rmlltion on P ,O. Box 390 , G ardena , C ali forni a 90247 Keep your teet. Results ° 50cc : 1 . He rbe rt R l ttberge h (Kre ) . 2 . Rud o lf K un z (Kre). 3. St e fan D o r f li n ger (Krel . RUdolf Kunz (Kre) 11 .2: R ECORD: 1 : 116.354, 2 5OCc: 1. W al te r V illa (H·D). 2. Glanfra nco Bon era (HoD). 3 . Pen tll Kor h one n (A·Y). 4 . Oliv ier Chevallier (Yam). S. G era rd Chou k rou n (Vam). 6 . Pekka Nurm i (V am). 7 . Patr iCk Pon s (Yam ). 8 . Philippe Bouzann e ( Y am). 9. J . Claude Hogrel (Yam). 10. Patr ic k I='er nan de z (Yam). RECORD : Wa lter V ill a (H-D) 1 47.8:141.611. 3 5 0c c: 1. Walter Vill a (H-D) . 2. J. Cecot t o (Yam) . 3. J . Franco is Batde (Yam). 4. ° T akaz u ml Ka ta yama (Yam ). 5. O li v ier Chevallier (Yam). 6. Paolo Tord l (Yam ). 7. Patr lc k Fern andez (Yam), 8. Pentt i K orhon en A . V ) . 9. T om H err on (Yam) . 10 . John D. dd S o Yam) . E CO R D : Walter V illa (H-D) 1 4 4.6 0: 1 : 145.943. 500cc: 1. Barry Sheen e (Suz). 2 . J . Cecotto (Yam). 3. Ma rco L uccntnet n -r suz) , 4 . T euv o Lansl vuorl (Su z) . 5. Giacomo A go stin i ( MV) . 6. V l vt o r Pal o mo (Y am) . 7 . Ste wart Avan t (Su z) . 8. D iet er B raun (Su z ). 9. Karl A uer ( Y am). 1 0. Be e t V an Dulm en (Yam ). RE COR D : Marco L ucc hi n ell l (Suz ) 1 41.4 0 : 1 : 15 0 .549. ~S I D E C A RS: 1. R. Blland/K. Wi lliams ( BRM ). 2 . Michel/Garcia (G E P). 3 . H. Schilling/ R. Gunder ( Aro). RECOR D : R. B il and /K. Williams (B RM ) 1 52.80 : 1: 135.334. Superstar MX B oots Kawasaki Accessories let the good times roll. ~ gyale I~ j§o ~ t @llm i'5lH o daka • Bul t ac o ~~I. ~ *KTM Frontera pi pe mcd. spe ci alists 13 00 East Edinger Ave. Santa Ana , CA 92705 714-835·7821 11