INSIDE
1977 AMA.: THE LATEST
'Nat ional Numbers
for D irt Track & Road Races
Hopetown GP
8
. .. only it wasn't a' Hoperown
M ik e DiPrete
10
Who is 'his guy?
12
Dirty dozen
Er, would you believe ten?
Gary Scott.•. . . ; . • . . . . . 16
A privateer again in '77
West
18
$1000 MX and other good stuff
Dez
24
DRAdouble-header
Rider Ed
26
Two ways '0 keep 'em from
falling down
.
Eric Crippa
32
Keeps Howerton rollin'
North .. . . .... . . . .•...• 33
Indoor Speedway. hare scrambles
& trials
Bikepacking
Bodie bound
TIre Test
Comparing supertires
a, Willow Springs
Results
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
38
40
46
50
ON THE COVER: Wha, do you say
'0 a box full of pans? Dennis Greene
photo.
C harln C . Clavron . Pr esid en t
Bohi Sn lil . A~~i~ld nl
Sh a ron CI.tVUlIl. Publishe-r
Edna Mt·wlun . S<-n{'(Ol.ry to Pu blisher
Advertising
Ro ben L. Nn T\'("11(", N a tiona l
Adv C"rt isilll'tSOl In ManaJ("r
rx- lJhi t, W ilk in s . W ("Mt' rn RC'/{iollal
Ali venisin /( S a lt's M ;lI1 Ol.'{I"(
C hris Knll w l, I\ d \'l' rt i si ll ~ A""iSla lll
>
Editorial
Lan e Ca m pbe-ll. Ed ilclr . J nd y
weiv-l. Editor. Juh n Ulrich Editor.
Art and Production
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n ·'l UC·M. Sl'(' S . H.. I) .S .
1. Jay Spr ingsteen. MI
2. Kenny Roberts, CA
3. Gene Romero, CA
4. Bart Markel. MI
5. Gary Scott. OH
6. Vacant
7. Mert Lawwill. CA
8. Vacant
9. Gary Nixon. MD
10. Dave Aldana . CA
11. Steve Eklund, CA
12. Ted Boody , MI .
13. Rick Hock ing. CA
14. Hank Scott. OH
15. Mike Gerald. LA
16. Dave Sehl, Ont .. Canada
17. Yvon DuHamel , Que ., Canada
18. Terry Poovey, TX
19. Steve Elo, MI
20. John Gennai. CA
21. Greg Sessaman, GA
22. Bill Oliver, OR
23. David Hansen, CA
24. David Rush. TX
25. Bruce Hanlon. CA
26. Ken McDonald, AL
27. Skip Aksland. CA
28. Mike Caves. IL
29. Randy Cleek. OK
30. Tom Berry. CA
31. Rex Beaucliamp. MI
32. Steve Baker, WA
33. Joe Powell, TX
34. Darryl Hurst. TX
35. Randy Sk iver, WA
36. John Long, FL
37. Mark Smith, CA
38. Chuck Palmgre n. CA
39. Mike Collins. N.M.
40. Pat Hennen. CA
41. Bill Eves, PA
42. Steve Morehead . OH
43. Bren t Lowe, VA
44. Alex Jorgensen. CA
45. Doug Sehl . Ont., Canada
46. Paul Bostrom. CA
47. Dave Leonard . MI
48. Jimmy Mora les. Mexico
49. Bob Endicott. CA
50. Guy McClure. TX
51. Pat Evans; CA
52. Scott Rader. OH
53. Rob Morrison , CA
54. Mike Clarke . CA
55. Hap Eaton . OH
56. Ken Hapke. IL
57. Pee Wee Gleason. CA
58. Dick Wascher, WA
59. Bob Conway, CO
60. Chuck Joyner, OR
61. Bob Wakefield,lN
62. Corky Keener, MI
63. Tom Cumm ings, MI
64. Dennis Purdie, MI
65. Billy Labrie. FL
66. John Skinner, AL
67. Jay Ridgeway. GA
68. Steve Freeman. SC
69. So nny Burres. OR
70. Randy Scott. OR
71. Don Dodge. O~
72. Mike Kidd. TX'
73. Keith Ulicki. WI
74. Steve Gulledge. TX
75. John Johnson. TX
76. Gary Fisher, PA
n . Vernon Johnson, NM
78. Charlie Brown. WA
79.. Jay Levings ton. FL
80. Phillip D'Arcy, TX
81.Ji mmy Mayo. TX
82. Rickey Campbell, OH
83. Steve Mclaughlin, CA
84. Walt Foster. CA
85. Mike Johnson, IL
86. Gary Reust. OK
87.Tim Buckles, TX
88. Gary Horton , IN.
89. J im Zeigler, OH
90. Ike Reed. OR
91. Scott Drake, OH
92. Steve Droste , MI
93. J im Raw ls. TX
94. Mike Eades, VA
95. Don Smith, OR
96. Bill Schaeffer, PA
97. Ron Pierce, CA
98. John Hateley, CA
99. Ed Herrmann. OR
POOP
BY PAPA WEALEY
Cali fornia state bureaucrats are
anti-motorcycle. The State Board
of Control will not authorize t h e
use of privately-owned bikes on
state business or re imbursement
fo r mileage to an employee if a
motorcycle is the chosen mode of
tra ns po rtatio n. " The high risk to
the employee fully justifie s the
state in discouraging the use of
privately .o w ne d motorcycles on
state business," a Dept. of General
Services study claims.
We lea rn ed last week tha t Mitch
Mayes has been transferred to Rancho
Los Arnigos, and that he is para lyzed
from the chest down as a result of his
back injury. He's in Ward 704. Rm . 63
at 760 1 E. Imperial Hwy. . Downey.
Calif. ; and doctors have said he can
have visitors.
Next target for the Sierra Club's
legal hatchet men will be the ORV
Plans of the . various Nationa l .
Forests, accord ing to t he ORV
Monitor. Tactic to be used is a le gal
challenge to t he Environmenta l
Analysis Reports (EA Rs ) si m ila r t o
that which torpedoed the GilaBend-ta-Yuma race.
The only real defense against th is type
of cheap victory by motorcycle-haters
is grass-roots organization and heav y
parricipation by 'he ride rs who
actually use the various National
Forest units' trail systems. Contact
your local Forest Ranger District
Office, sound out th e people there.
find out how you as a citizen can he lp
prevent this kin d of legal-looph ole
ripoff.
;
Terry Gough (Yam) ' won the
Wilseyville Hare Scrambles by two
and a half minutes to get his name
inscribed on the perpetual trophy
alongside such notables as Dick
Mann and Torsten -Ha llm a n . A
Santa Rosa man, Gene DuFusia,
lo st his life during the event, which
was postponed to the December
12 weekend due to dry conditions.
La wrence of Torrance sends thanks
from 'he hospital to Grant Jennings,
Bob T amer , Dick Kemp . and all the
folks who helped him get out of the
desert after his crash at th e SGVMC event Nov. 27.
What happened to the Last Chance
Enduro? Bottlenecks, protests and
injurie s delayed compilation of the
results; and the Enduro Squid
about lost his truck I Story is in a
holding pattern, waiting for things
to settle down.
Rem ember to hang on to this issue an
extra two weeks. as Cycle News takes a
Christm as break. The next issue will
hit th e stands about Janua ry 5. and
you wouldn 't want - to go that long
without your 56-page security blanket ,
would you?
Charlie Williamson of t he Santa
Clara M.O.R.E. Chapter, writes that
Russ
Sanford
has
been
hospital ized at Ka iser Medical
Center (didn't say why). He asked
that we send get-well cards to
Russ at
P .O.
Box
Sacramento. CA 95826.
26062,
With everybody moaning about no
factory tea ms in Am erican road
racing, privateersseem to be rejoicing.
Keith Code's got a KZIOOO for
Daytona's Superb ike Production race,
Deputy Dawg (a/ k/ a Jim Haberlin)
traded his MV Agusta for a Laverda
J ota to go to Dayton a , also. And Lee
Fleming's been hanging ou t looking at
Ital ian bikes for th e same purpose.
Plus , all three ex-Butler & Smith
BMWs ha ve reportedly been sold to
Daytona -bou nd racers.
We f o rg o t the add ress of
Specialists Two in la s t issue's
fe at ure article o n t he 11 .97-second
Yamaha RD350. It's 5419~ Denny
Ave., North Hollywood, CA 91601 .
(213) 980-2893.
Formes racing great Eddie Hammond
was killed in a van accident in Casper,
Wyoming. Hammond was setting up
Pr o-T ee dealerships in rhe mo untain
states and will be gr eatly missed by all
those who kne w him .
Suzuki was a warded the Full
House Manufacturers award for
motocross excellence by Carmen
Deleone, The Full House award
will
be
presented
to
the
manufacturer who earns the most
points in AMA profess ional
mctocross
com petitio!'.
In its December 7-8 meeting at •
Anaheim . California , the AMA Board
of Trustees voted to ra ise claiming
pri ces
for
AMA
professional
motocross com pe tition by $ 1;000 in
each engine class. The new claiming
prices are $3,000 for 125cc machines,
$3.500 for 250cc mounts and $4.000
for th e 500cc class.
Frank Chase. who w a s going to
run t he ' Cannonball Baker backwards. teamed with Mary McGee
- but didn 't due to schedu le
problems - ins t e a d made t he
T hre e Flags dash, Cascade. Ca nada
to San luis. Mexico. in 18 hours. 25
m inutes:
wasted
The
U.S .
Government
$158,582,480 of your ta x dollars
pus hing helm et laws on the people
fro m 1967 to 1971 alone.
Full
House
Manufacturers
Motocross Championship points
for 1976
Maico
Suzuki 847
295
Can-Am 241
Yamaha 799
CZ
Honda 795
129
H-D
121
Kaw
700
Bul
119
Hus
622
Two- time World Motocross Champion
Bengt Aberg , as rumored earlier this
fall , will contest the 500cc World
Championship cir cuit in 1977 on a
fou r-stroke machine. However , it will
not be an English CeM but a Yamaha
500XT. The Swedish star will ride for
the Swedish Yamaha importers •
Number One for 1976 Gary Scott,
left, congratulates Number One for
19n Jay Springsteen at AMA
Awards Banquet la st week in
Anaheim, CA. Dan Mahony photo.
