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/126072
~ ~ Il) .J:l S Il) ;:- o Z (Above and below) Scenes from the Jackhammer Nat ional - thll easy part. Even so, bikes are coming undone from past sins. You did well to finish . The Jackhammer National 'Another killer enduro' By Mike Kinse lla FOUlTS SP RINGS, CAL. , ocr. 24 A mighty tough course, a lot of dust and 743 ·other riders made . last Sunday's Jackhammer National Enduro a killer; it was an enduro in which a rider considered himself lucky even to finish , The 98.2 miles were traveled at speed averages o f 18, 20, 21 and 24 mph. The tight trail sec tions on most enduros would be given a speed average of I 2 mph instead of 18 and 20 mph . The good road was so slick and shrou ded in dust that it was nearly impossib le to go fast without sliding out at th e corners or overrunning the shoulders and finding oneself at the bottom of an embankment after the dust had cleared. There we re a couple of bad bott lenecks - one bodacious uphill right after th e gas check clai med hu ndred s of victims. Many tired riders after discovering that there was no other way to get to the to p of the ridg e packed it in and went home. At 80 miles au t there was an other gear grinder ; fortunately this one had an altern at e ro ute so that wlten you bogged down you weren't in any one 's way and had room to maneuver. Oakland MC did an excellent job. The onlY errol. i'!, .t!J ~ layg~~ ,was. ~n the location o f check seven which was too close to a kn own co ntrol point an d th erefore thrown out. Co urse marking was very goo d an d the co ur se lay out varied paths, trails and roads to good effect; m ost of the uphills were ma kable even with the loose soil and heavy traffic. The d ownhills were challenging since they zig-zagged in and au t between the trees an d logs for what seemed hours at a stretch. Another nice touch was the many radio equipped truck stationed around the course so that a fallen rider Was never far from hel p. The cold beer and soda at the finish were appreciated by all. There were a couple of innovations at this enduro. First there was a voluntary sound test. Next year they won't be voluntary and will be a part of every enduro in the district. District 36 officials are working with state environmental officials to set up reasonable sound levels for each make . an d size off ro ad m otorcy cle. Rat her than being harrassed by the authorities it appears that the responsibility for riding a bike with passable db level will res t wi th the rider, the district an d the clubs. Sec on dly , the enduro was run under A.M.A. ru les rat he r than local ru les which is why ch ec k seven was thrown out. The purpose of this practice is to set nationwide norms and m ethods. As for the winners - Ben Bowe rs (Bul) took overall with a sc ore of seven. Mike Hannon was ne xt with an eleven , a lso on a Bult aco, Don Sanford, a Honda team rider, fin ished well as did Southern California's Larry Lan gley . • Official re sults w ill be available soon.