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/126063
Mike Clarke doubled at the Pocono USRRC road race meet in Pennslyvannia August 22 , winn ing the 750 and Lightweight Expert events on Yamahas. Th is race , taken together with the Camel Pro Ser ies road race, determines America's top AMA road racers . Steve Bake r, with two Camel Pro wins, leads Randy Cleek by a slim four points . Clarke's 750 ma in event win puts him at fifth in the standings beh ind Gene Romero (th ird , 34 pts.] and Kenny Robert (22 pts.). Fina l race in th e series is the Mulholland/Camel Pro National at Riverside , October 3. That will be too late for the Four Stroke MX Championship at Carlsbad, September 19. CCM is reportedly fly ing in a works bike fo r Rolf Tibblin ; and Gunnar Linstrom, last yea r's big winner, will be on a speci al Yamaha. Tommy Croft may show up on a trick sem i-works 450 Honda, and Powroll, the Honda stroker folks are bring ing four entries. And more hacks than ever are entered. Sportsman entries for the Thumper GP will remain open right up to rac e time . For more info, call Alan Greenwood at Knobby Shop International, (7 14) 452-1783 . Late word on Califo rnia noise - the Maico AW250, AW400, and AW450 have passed th e DMV noise tests certifying them fo r 86 dbA (green stickie) approval. We've also heard th at KTMs have been ten tatively passed, awaiting formal approval. Dr. Harry Hurt of USC, doing motorcycle accident follow-up research for the Feds, has come up with some bizarre reasons for not wearing a helmet, but this one takes the cake. The vict im didn't want to remove his Iyeah, his) hair curlers. In case you wondered, hair curlers are no head protection at all. They inflict nasty scalp wounds. Judging from the Indy mile race pix, the Goodyear DT -II is once again available in quantity; and therefore ' no longer banned at AMA dirt track meets. Hardly anybody was camera-caught without the t ires. By next week , we sho uld know the name o f the 19 76 World Speedway Champion . Scott Autrey, after advancing through th e Inter-Continental qualifier, will be th e first American to start in a World Final in 25 years. The show down is September 5 in Poland ; four Po les and two Soviets are qualified. Big odds to go up agains t if politi cs works in Spee dway like it som et imes does in m otocross. Save this add ress: Direct or (21 0), U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Washingto n, D.C. 20240. You'll need it to send in your written comments on BLM's prop osed OR V regs. By next week, we should have all the det ails, as they affect California desert rid ers. Stay tuned. One detail that's already ciear. E.O. 11644 is ripe for reconsideration by President Ford in this election year. With a recission or a rewr ite of the Executive Order on ORVs, many of the bad things associated with new BLM regs wou ld go away. Giacomo Agostini, meanwhile, is still bike-hopping, trying a 500 Suzuki, a 350 MV Agusta, and a 250 Morb idelli, in tum. This may be the first year Ago has been shut ou t of a wo rld t itle since 1965. Bad Brad Zimmerman, winner of the Second Annual Willet Wheelie Pre-Memorial Indoor Motocross International Championship (think I got that right) is going be yon d - beyond Pop Cy cling, to be laid to rest at Moto rcyclist Magazine . Another great passes on - to a who le 'n uther wo rld. The Pocono race was apparently the only USRRC event sanctioned under ' AMA's restructured roa d racing program that was announced this Spring. It 's known that II promoters have ' requested Camel Pro road race Nationals. for 1977. If they all don 't get their wishes (which is highly likely), it's ho ped they'll help fill out a strong USRRC cale ndar next year. b Oakland Me's November 6 Reno Night will benefit AMA's "Ride Against Hemophilia" this year. District 36 road riders will get travel points to attend the event. , Are th ey gonna call it the " Balen tine Boun ty Series"? KTM/DRA have put up a $500 to any rider who can win tw o ou t of th ree against DRA's star rider in Cal Cit y Desert races Sep temb er 19, October 1-2 (Cal City GP), and November 21. Road Racers, club folk and canyon racers, L.A. area - TenHUT! You're missing a bet if you've not become involved in the spreading ripples left by our August 24 "Corsa Pacifica" article. Folks who've called about it report the airport's planners a bit dumb-founded by it all, but willing to listen. That number is (2 13) 646-7393. If a close-in place t o practice pavement scratch ing appeals to you , give 'em a call and vote for Corsa Pacifica. Irwindale has trucked in 250 tons of new dirt for track changes to set u p for the September 10 CMC Night MX Nationals. It's a biggie for the owl-ilyed set. Prentice-Hall, a prestigious publisher of college texts, will dip into the motorcycle field with a book called "Motorcycle Mechanics" by Geo rge Lear and Lynn Mosher, due in print by September this year. Educators and -interested folk, call (20 1) 592-2225 and check it out. Husqvarna announced a 250cc Support Class contingency and technical support prog ram for privateer Trans-AMA entrants . Any Husky rider will be able to call on factory mechanic Tom Volin in the pits for advice and assistance. The contingency program will pay $50 for a moto first, $25 for a second, and $1,000 to any Husky rider who takes first overall in Support Class for the series. Second overall would be worth $500. Contract Terry Knott at (615) 833-5331 for more details. 2 In the dez, Huntington Beach MC, whose 1975 race was to rpedoed by the Sierra Club, bounces back Sep tember 12 with the biggest contingency pot ever 57000 worth of gifts and prizes, and still growing. It's hu mongous. - . • Park owner Ben Fleming is pushing tO J get the permit re-instated for re-opening Rawhide Park . (For the original story, see " Railroad runs through Elsinore " , CN, July 13) . He needs your letters of support to file with the authorities. If you rode Rawhide, enjoyed it, would ... like to see it open again, write him c/o Rawhide Park, 11821 Rose Avenue, Los Angeles , CA. 90066. Russ Collins began construction of a new Top Fuel Class Drag Bik e th e m oment he was released from the hos pital af ter surviving a 180 mph crash ab oard his wo rld record-h olding Hon da Tnple. A merican H onda M ot or Co. , Inc. has pledged contingency support to R uss to assist in th e rapid ret urn of the alway s-pop ular R. C. Engin eering machines L.A. McEachern, who has developed a better and brighter single-rectangular headlamp for motorcycles, may have won a break-through with the Feds to . allow him to produce his system. The NHTSA has decided McEachern's . system is good enough to merit an amendment to current standards that restrict the candlepower output of motorcycle headlamps. Walter Villa won both the 250 and 350 class at Bmo, Czechoslovakia; while clinching his third 250cc world road racin g ch ampionship.• .' • Though he competed in less than half the world championship events, Marty Smith finished out 1976 fourth in the 125cc standings. He ran as high as third after his two-moto sweep of the USGP; but Zdenek Velky overtook him while he was in th is country losing the 125 National t itle to Bob Hannah. It's no easy, contesting two series at once. The Lobster is co ming! At least that's the substance of the latest available rum or, that places Kawasaki's th umper de bu t at January, 19 77. Same sources says a 400cc MX version puts out in excess of -50 h orsep ower: •• • • •• - - . . , Fo r the first ti me that anyone can remember, armed Park Rangers guarded the hearing of the California State Parks & Recreation Commission in Ventura recently. Wonder if they were there to protect the dirt bike rs from the Sierra Clubbers, or what? That's the t ro uble with having a private army, like Director Rhodes has. There's a temptation to use it . California has already compl aine d to the Feds that enforce ment of the 55 speed limit have fo rced the CHP to pull p atr ols out of high-accid ent areas and generally waste m anpo wer. Result, drunk-driver accidents were up I I percent last year, while drunk-driver arrests were down th ree percent, The Feds, meanwhile continue to give out testimonials as to how much gas an d how many lives the dumb limit is saving us.