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/126054
•
.
I II
~
t
Sonny
Hogue
Novice
Pacific
TH
The 125 USGP is th is Sunday i
Lexingto n , Ohi o . Gaston Rahier, wh
has alre ady clinched his title , will be th
headlin er alo ng wi th Czech s J '
Churavy and Zdenek Velky . America
hopes rest wi th last year 's USG P winne
Marty Smi th an d cu rren t favo rit
" Hurri cane" Hannah . Ot her forei
entries
incl ude
Tommy
Olsso
(Sweden ), Wern er Schultz (Germany)
Masuru Ideka UapanJ, Jo rn Han manso
(Den mar k )
and
Thomas
Goin ge
(Ve nezula},
Burres, Ted Davidson and Dan
are the Expert, Junior and
leaders, respectively in the AMA
Regional pro standings.
Oregon Motorcycle Road Race Assoc.
has gone to a 100% p ayback system for
(250cc)
and
Open
lightweight
(2 51-750cc) GP, based o n a 520 entry
fee. They say th at the average size 250
class the y've been getting a t Delta Park
would payout about 5400 p urse for the
class, meanin g about h al f the riders
wo u ld go ho me breaking even or bette r.
Bigger class entry, bi gger money, of
co urse.
t.D
l'
en
,....;
~
C(')
,....;
~
The July 4th British 500 GP was not
day of American celebration as Ton
DiStefano and Brad Lackey failed t
make the top five. British Teenage
Graham Noyce won the first mot
ahead of Wolsink, DeCoster, Herbe
Schmitz (Puc), and John Banks. Lack
was sixth. Adolph Wei! won the seco
moto followed by DeCoster, Vic Allen
Ake Jonsson, Van Velthoven and
Herbert Schmitz. With two 500 GP's t
go DeCoster still holds a two moto lead
over teammate Gerritt Wolsink.
Tip of the Wealey duckbill to Bobby
Jay of Albuquerque, not only for
helping promote a fine first-effort
National Mile, but also for serv ing up
some unforgettable burritos, afterwards.
"'3
I-)
Delayed co urse co nst ruc t io n work
forced the org anizers to cancel an
August 8 Formula 750 rac e set for
Ahven isto, Finland. Gary Nixon still
lea ds th e serie s, which is in recess until
July 18, wh en it p icks up again in
Sweden.
Have we started something? The Honda
Hunnies,
American
Honda 's
lady
softballers, challenge Suzuki's girls , or
guys, for that matter. The gau ntlet is
down, fol ks.
If that weren't bizarre enough, there's a
rumor that the final event at W/ERA's
July 17-18 Ontario extravaganza will be
a ten-lap VAN RACE! I dunno . . . is
there room in Southern Californ ia for
two Mike Goodwins?
A word on bike prep - double chec k
the front cable routing on those
lo ng-stroke front ends, making su re it
can't snag and pull the brake on as the
forks work. This has already caused
some pretty horrendous crashes. One
specific culprit is open-loop cab le.guides
th at allow the ca ble to pop au t an d
wave around loose when things get
real ly violent. Best to replace 'em with
closed-loop guides if y ou r bike's got
'em.
Nigel Adams DeCoster, 8 lb., 7 % oz., is
the new arrival at the Roger and Laurie
D. household, born Saturday, June 26
in Santa Barbara, California. Already,
he 's front wheel high: 21 inches.
Hop~ Ranch
We hear that quite a few sidehack team
fro m California are going to be tr aveling
up to Ore gon for the OMRRA Natio nal
ro ad race at De lta Park, near Portland.
July 1 \.
Two weeks after the Bad Rock Two
Day Trial, Dick Mann finally went to
the doctor, complaining that the "pain
in the neck" was getting to him. It was
broken ; that's why it hurt.
hearing Be t here or lose it!
The Sitrra Club is ex pe cted to try to p ack th e July 9 hearing at
wh ich California's Parks &: Recreation Dep t. will decide th e fat e of
its newly-acquired Hope Ranch property. The An gele s chapter has
already managed to generate 600 letters aga inst opening the
property at ORVs. Naturally, th e State Geologist's report is also
negative.
The posey-sniffers have already locked up nearby Malibu State
Park as their private preserve. If Hope Ranch is ever to be cl assified
as a recreation area that you can use, it will be because enough Los
Angeles-area bikers showed up to convince them we need green
space, too. Savvy?
Meeting time and place:
J uly 9. beRinning 10 :30 a.m.
Ventura City Council Chambers
501 Poll Street
Ventura, California.
Ken Roberts, the MX bi cycle mogul. Or
soon to be, if h is n am e brand of tr ick
plated-frame pedallers takes off.
Formalizing its organizational spl it
along pro/amateur lines, AMA has
named
Bill
Boyce
Director
of
Professional Racing, and Jim Nidiffer as
Acting Director of Amateur and
Member
Activities.
(Whew!l
Apparently, staffs will be split under the
two directorships, and each separate
"world" will get more detailed attention
in Westerville.
Fo r the first time this ye ar AMA is
trying an open p it policy at th e July
24 th Oly Superbowl o f Mo to cro ss.
Waist hig h partitio ns wi ll separate t he
working pits, bu t t his will give y ou an
up-fr a n t view 0 f the latest trick
machinery and all of the superstars.
Bob Hannah wheelies up to Rick Burgett and prepares to hop
over him! Just a couple of guys preparing for a 500 National.
The Associated Blazers of California are
getting a lot of well-deserved praise for
their efforts in trail repair and cabin
restoration at Monache and Bakeoven
l\IIeadows on the Kern 'Plat ea u - all as a
club project under the Sequioa Nat'l.
Forest's Volunteer Action Program.
Bike groups, take note, and call the
rangers at (209) 784-1500 if you 'd like
to lend a hand on a worthwhile project.
Would y o u believe th ere 's such a thing
as a 38o-pou nd street-legal Sportster?
Arnie at Harley-Davidson West rides one
such, with a Harry Hindall frame - even
sho ws up at Griffith Park with it, now
an d the n. Got re arsets, BMW-sty le bars ,
,Sn owfl ake wheels, really trick. It even
handles! What's th is world co m ing to?
More rumors. Now we hear that
Rokon's seriously ' considering a 360cc
automatic "clubman" road racer, if they .
can make it quiet enough for the street.
BLM has as ked if there 's any gro up o r
organization that would head up a
cleanup camp aign for Gre at Falls Basin,
in th e Arg us Mtns., near Trona,
California. Anybody will in g to put in a
o ne -day cleanup to help keep th e area
open and free of controls? Call th em at
(8 05 ) 86 1-4 1 9 1 during working h o ur s.
Schools: One for ' sp eedway, two days,
taugh t by Mike Bast at the Maely
17- 18 . Call
(714)
Ran cho, J uly
735-0540 for info. Another, for road
racing, ta ught by Tommy Byars at Oak
Hill Raceway , Hen der so n ; Texas, July
11 weekend. ' You say y ou don 't live in
Texas? Tough.
Last month there was a bit of a rider
boycott
brewing against Medford
Speedway over track safety conditions
and trophy payouts. A petition was
circulated with quite a few well·known
local signatures; all the racing Words,
Bruce Smylie, Cecil Arispe, Brian
Peterson, the Stover, Cook and Diltz
families, plus about a dozen others.
What now, folks? Any new news?
Special stadium cross machinery is be ing
built by stadium title chase leader, J im
Weinert, 75, Superbowl champ Jim
Ellis, and even American's great Grand
Prix hope, Jim Pomeroy, who is
awa iting arrival of a one-off from Spa in.
John Grace of Bultaco is now in Spain
personally handling the sh ipment.
2
Lots of BLM public mee tings co ming up
th is mo n th - Riverside Dist, July 15,
State Ad Ho c ORV Committee in
Sacramento July 12, Bakersfield Dist,
July ' 23 -24, and the full St ate Ad viso ry
Board in Sacramento July 29-30. At
most of these meetings, the subje ct of
"rechartering" . will co me up. That's
when they decide how many members
each board shall have , an d what groups
each mem ber sho u ld rep resent. That
ive au an ideas?
III
III
I-