Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

EINS i, Et Trans-AMA DE : Howling protest . 6 ~~y's;~r~:B":';;vin"s" . •8,16 Speedway long track ; AFM cash draws 300-plus at Riverside Ja pan 10 ~~n;r~;:;~f~~t~~~t~I~. 12 ~~~ ~o~~abeat the nicest people Bikepacking {:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:f~ :~:f~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:j:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~: Br-arae· ngolce t ro d o . a 1 e Xp 0 sed _ 14 Eco-tripping to 12.000 feet Dez ,,., 22 New street-speed fun classes that six million motorcycles . in the U.S. 'can win . Well, actually The Dunes 24 Nort hJackhammer National hammers 'em down Central , Calenda r , ..: 28 ,,,., 32 THE FRONT PA GE: ... actually loo ks like a front page. Surprised? Bracket Racing is an attempt by the Western /Eastern Roadracing Association to o ffer co m pet itive , inexpensive road racing to anyone interested. It works like this : Riders make timed practice runs to find out their average lap times on the track (bring your own watch). Based on their practice times, Bracket Racers sign up in one of the listed classes at the track. You'll race against other riders going about the same speed you are. The results is super-competitive racing for any man /machine combination. The average street rider can even bring out his stock transportation turkey and get in some , ,!eal racing, For ail' example, say that Tommy Jones ' turns fairly consistent two-minute, 31 second lap times in ' practe. He signs up in the 2:30-2:31 bracket, and goes racing with everyone else in that bracket.. It sure beats taking out a stock machine and trying to win against California-style tricked-to-tears "production" racers in a race based only on engine size. So roll o ut y our commuter special, wire up the drain plug, and head for the race track. Street riding will never be the same. as Charles C. Cayton. Presiden t Sharon Clayton, Publisher Edna Mewtce, Secretary t o Pu blisher Adv. rtising Roben L Nor veue, National Advertising Sale s Manager Debbie Wilkins, Western Regional Advertising Sales Manager . Chris Kolb er, Advertising ASsistant Editorial Lane Campbell. Senior Editor. jody . Weisel . Editor, Bobi Scott. Editor. An and Produetion Barbara Mizuno. Production Manager; Production : Dennis C o x, Lab Technician: Marion Hatashita. Typographer: Mike Klinger, Lab and Production Assistant. Circulatio n Rheba Sm ith . Man ager ; ana Pam Green' Assistan t. Accounting Gaylene Zaionz, Man ager; Ken Lorin. As sistan t; Jeanne Hamm ond. Aects . R e c e ivable ; Pam ela Dickerson an d Caro lyn Branham. Assis tants : J udy Klin ger . Cred it Dept . : Rhonda Van Do ren, Collection Dep t. Service and-Support ~l i c h acl Co likas. Den nis w ans, Juanita Blanton. re cep tio nist . West • P.O . Box 49 8. Long Beach, CA 90801. (2 13) 42 7· 7433: L.A . Line 636-88 44. East P.O . Bo x 805 , Tucker, GA·30084. (40 4) 93 4· 78 50. Subscription One year , ' second class mail S12.50 : 2 vea rs. . second class mail. 522.50 : 3 years, se cond cla ss mail. 530.00. Copyrighl Cv cle SC'ws, Inc . 197 6. Trade moU'k registered \ 1.5 . P..tenr Orri cr. All rights reserved . Published ~ekly e-xcept the Iirs t and las t week the cale n dar ve ar by Cydc News, Inc., P.O. Box 49 l'1 . Long beach, California. Second class pos tage paid at J.on~ Beach , C.\. 90 MO l . •.dito rial stories. cart o ons, photos, ('1 <:oU'c,' welcome , Addressed, Slamprd envelope assure s re-turn of unpurchascd e d il o rial rna ncr. Reprinling in whole o r p.lt( only hy permission -of th e publishers. ',1\ d vt"rl isin l( rates an d circulation inform.at ion will be senr upon request, See S. R.I>:S. or 4 Bracket rules Bracket racing, as it applies to road racing, is a concept first pioneered in drag racing. It was designed as a method to allow newcomers to participate co m p et it ively in our sport without forcin g them to involve themselves with a large amount of time and money. Participants can ride the bike to the race . race co mp et it ively , and ride it b ac k home. Rider Preparation - The only things required o f the 'rider are as follows: \. An Y male or female over t h e age of 14 may co m p et e. An yone under the age of 2 1 m ust have a notarized co nsent from th eir parent. 2. A st an dard motorcy cle helmet, leather pants, leather jacket. gloves. an d • boots which cover the ankles. 3. A WERA Enthusiast Membership card (co st $S until January '77 ; SIO thereafter). A Bracket racer ' may practice with the appropriate class on both Saturday and Sunday with his Enthusiast Membership and may convert the Enthusiast Membership to a Full Competition Membership at any time during the 12 months period that his license is good for, with the addition of $14 until January ' 77 or 516 thereafter. 4 . .The Bracket racer must attend the new rider orientation at each new track where he races. Mac hine Preparation I : Safety wire the oil drain p lug on the bottom of the engine and go over all other nuts and bolts to make sure they are firmly tigh t. 2. The front and rear axle nuts must be secured either by cotter pins, safety wire, or epoxy type sealers to make sure that it does not come undone. 3. A front number plate ' (S"xl0") should be mounted . in front of the headlight, Headlight: taillight. tum sign als, .sh Sluld be t aped. 4. The center stand must be removed. 5. The kick starter must be removed or affixed to the motorcycle with either tape or safety wire at no less than two places. . 6. Any machine may enter as long as it meets the above requirements. What "ill happen I. Leave vour home with a clean machine with' the number plate already . mounted and other requirements full y co m pleted as described above. 2. Register for your activities starting on Saturday morning. 3. Complete tech inspection - start Saturday morning. 4 . Attend new rider orientation instructor's name will be posted on the weekend's schedule. 5 . Get as much practice time as possible - practice is grouped according to category and is controlled by the chief starter - AI Wilcox, or one of his staff. 6. Watch the heat races and try and pick up pointers from the competition members. . 7. Participate in your Bracket race which will take place late on Saturday a fte rnoon. S. On Sunday you may again practice, and if you'd like to participate in ail actual race, may sign up before II :00 Sunday' morning. 9. Collect any trophies you may have won at the trophy presentation on Sunday afternoon. No trophies will be mailed. How do Brackets work? Bra cket ra cing allows riders on com p let ely differen t k in ds o f machines to com pete based entirel y on .th eir individual lap ti m es. This is the most important , thing that the contest ant must d o, namely get an accurate lap time on their performance during one of the p rac t ice sessi ons. This time must be ab solutely ac cu ra t e and to the second for the Brackets to work at their best. You sign ' y ourself up on the Bracket sign-up sheet which will be posted near the heat race grid sheets at about 3:00 on Saturday a ft ern o on. All riders in yo ur Bracket will race together and anyone who goes faster than they had predicted will automatically disqualify themselves. At this point, all Brackets ' "ar e run 'to get her and start in a staggered fashion. however. when the program expands , only one Bracket 'will run at a time and a trophy will be awarded for each Bracket. The races will run anywhere from 4 to S laps or 10·20 miles, depending on the track. The next WERA Bracket: road races will be held: Saturday, November 20, Texas Wor ld, . Texas Saturday. No vember 27. Las Vegas, NE Sa turday , De cember 11 , T exas World, Texas Fo r m ore information and directions, call WE RA at (215) 732-212S. [VOI CES, I~ TllEi lJVBS~ What, me count? I sent my mailgram to the President, - but you guys cheated. That message can't be sent for two bucks. A Public Opinion . message is restricted to 15 words. I'm a strong believer in truth and honesty (especially where Cycle News is concerned ). I sent the entire message, (25 words) and it only cost 52.55. JOHN T. SHAFER My son and I followed your suggestion to send a telegram to the President, bu t got a surprise from ' Western Union. · T!;e y ou ng lady on the oth er end of the phone said that a Public Opinion message could be only 15 words. Your suggested message contained 25 so the cost was over S5. It was still worth the 5 lOwe spent, but I do have a question: Did we get the shaft or did you get a little long-winded? , FRANK JAYNE Novato , Calif. Th e Public Op inion Message costs $2, but is limited to 15 w ords. A ma ilgram costs 12.55, but is delivered in the first mail th e day following placemen t of th e message with Western Union. A regular telegram arriving on the ' White House telex would indeed cost ov er 15. Lane Campbell, wh o dreamed up th e plan without checking his inform ation with Wutem Union, apologizes . . . Ed Thou shalt not crash I fear my name will live in infamy for dribbling my head across the hot pit area at the AFM road race at Sears Poin t on October 24 . I'd like to thank all the people at the first aid , trailer, the am bulance, and the Sonoma Valley Hospital: all the racers and AFM-North people who helped us out; and of course m y loy al pit m an Don Bazemore, who drove . me all the way back to Los Angeles. I'd also like to warn them of m y_ return next year. THOMAS FINN SHANAHAN AFM No. 563 Los Angeles, Calif, N o way ! We 're not running any m ore of these pit-crash thank-y ous sin ce Vidal Sasoone, Jr. ramm ed Papa with an ltal-jet 50cc in th e m en 's room at Ontario . . . Ed Would-be promoter My friends and I are interested in starting our own speedway track. W.• need information on management, license, san ction, arrd any th ing else that would be helpful. RONALD HOWARD 7271 Katella Ave. Space 2 Stanton, CA 906S0 Well, Ron, how about if you take two aspirins and call us back in about a year. Seriously, folks, is Space Two like Space 1990? But all kidding aside, would someone out there help out Ron? Like sam e b o d y with a m.illion dollars? .. . Ed. Hunter thank-you Thanks to all of our friends for their calls, cards and prayers while Jim had been in the hospital. Yo u have helped us through this long or deal. GINNY (Mrs. Jim) HUNTER La Habra, Calif: Jim Hunter is noted (retired) racer and B SA f an. He operates a shop specializing in BSA parts in La Habra . . . Ed.

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