Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

HUN GRY VAW V srre ToLosAng.... 1Om ll.. --~~ ---.-- -- ~-----. . Banning T he schedule for the m eetings is as follows: February 9, 1977" 11:30 a.m.- Field review oC the Hungry Valley Site 2:00 p .m.- Field review oC the Ritter Ranch 7:00 p.m. - Hearing-Palmdale Ci ty C hambers 708 East Avenue Q9 Palmdale, California February 10, 1977 I :30 p .m.-Field review oC the Potrero Site 7:30 p .m.-HeaTing- Riverside City Council Chambers 3900 Main Street Riverside, California Two new racing Dicks aimed lor I977 release T wo recentl y-completed moto rcycle com pe ti tio n film s will begin to book showings starting Ma y 1.1977 One of the film s is e nti tled " Fo llow The C ircuit" and is feature length . It documents va rious forms of amateur and profe ssion al com pe titi o n in Mi ssouri. Kansas . Iowa a n d N ebrask a du ring 1976 and fe a t u res mus ic es peci a lly written a n d recorded for the film by D al e Sapp . The se cond film docum ents professional and sportsman competiti on d u r in g 1962 through 1965 . Road ra ci n g footage includes 1963 ·65 D aytonas , 1964 ·65 Greenwood (Iowa) Nationals. Dodge City and the 19ji5 U.S. Grand Prix (Daytona) won b y World Champion Mike " T he Bik e " Hailwood of England. D etails and information on t hese film s c a n b e obta ined from CFN Produc t ions . P .O . Box 10703 . Ka nsas City. M o . 64 118 - Phone (8 16) 4361322 . ' .' • FREE WHEELING Where the grins are I'm worried . Not about the BLM . the EPA . the CIA or an y of thos e turkey outfits . There' s nothing there th at a bunch of dedi cated sportsmen ca n' t handle if th ey know what th ey want and want it bad enoug h . It's you guys. th e on es that are saying. " I don 't kn o w it's JUS t not as m uc h fun anymore:' Now ho ld on the re . cousin; if you 're not enjoying your motorcycling, we 're all in trouble. I know the sym ptoms . most of 'e m wrapped arou nd t he root of a ll evil. . Like how the has-des of going furt her away to ride make the travel bills go OUI of sight: how the cos t of being co mpetit ive m akes you fee l like a junkie hook ed on trick parts: how ra cers show u p at the track with cle nc hed tee th a nd a semi-wild "I gotta do good or my spo nsor/ Da d / whatever will c ut me off' look o ut the ir eyes. race and go ho me s ti ll tigh t-ass. eve n in victory. wo rried now tha t their success won 't ge t eno ug h " ink" to justify t hei r ex pensive ha b it. So let's ge t ou t of the ru t : cast abou t a nd see whe re people a re having fun . Just out of my own experiences, here's where fun survives (at least in Southern California . and probably e lsewhere) in no p articular order. other than personal pr ejudice : o bserved tria ls. c1ubman road ra cing . spo rt sma n hillclimbing. fun en d u ros (as op posed to killer end u res). a nd old - fa sh ioned h are scra m b les (o r ma ra th ons). Granted . eac h sport I' ve named has its tight -ass co ntinge nt , and (ho rrors) I'vC' omi tted mo tocross. Mot oc ross deserves a few specia l words. It 's proba b ly still fun in Iowa (though I' ve not been back to chec k recen tly). but -in SoCal it tends to be a hyper-expensive, overcrowded spo rt plagued with gonzo promoters and a case of media indigestion . Not to m ent ion the we ll- worn complaints with over-used tracks. spotty flagging a nd medical care . But some folks manage to have fun at it . ' regardless. Like the Old Timers a nd the Ov er - the-H ill Gang. who show u p 30 -strong or mo re at selected loca l events and get to run as a class. scored separa tely. The y figu re ou t a mo ng the mselves who 's an Expert an d who's a Novice: a nd th ey hav e a blast. Maybe speci a l-in te rest MX clu bs a re th e key to mo re grins . Say a Turkey 400 club for T M-owners with a high t hresho ld for terror. or a Din osaur cl u b for the di eha rds, or a n X L·1 75 club t hat races no thing bu t box -stockers and are close enoug h friends to keep eve rybo dy honest. Hey . pu rists and media- hype types be d a mned ; th e re's an awfu l lot of pe rfect ly fu nctio nal dirt bikes lookin ' for a home at well u nder $1000 . ju st because they don't have the latest tricks. Guys who buy these bikes. travel togethe r to save bread . race together without being hung up on winning a fac tory ride - are going to have fu n in an otherwise tight -ass wor ld . Sportsma n hillcl im bing I remembe r used 10 be most fun back East. T he hills are shorte r t here (seldom more than 160 feet) but they're ge nerally a lot steeper and often slipperier than SoCal hi lls. Especially whe n it's just rained. wh ic h is often . Nothin' more fu n tha n slithering up a near-vertical wall of mud . Nor was th er e an yth ing like a good or fashioned ea rly Sp rin g m ara thon th rou gh th e wood s. If t he m ud was rea lly righ teous, I cou ld tak e my three yea r old Sherpa T out and be co mpetiti ve . Californian s are , for th e. most part . a cu ltura lly-d eprived race where mud is concerned . Or woods , for that matter ; sin ce Uncle owns most of the trees in this cou on- p ickin' sta te . But they st ill let you en d uro wh er e there's trees . and ride trials . On ce yo u get off in th e woods with som eth ing that m ake s po wer down low. it's almost enough to wean you away from raci ng. Ma ybe I'm ge tti n' old . Still . th ere's lots of g ri ns a t en d ures . n it -pi ck y timekeepers and folks who trash th em selves ra cing excepted . Lots of perfectl y useable ma chinery t hat', well ca pa ble 'o f m ai nt ain ing ave rages lying arou nd . too. It doesn' t ha ve to be Iri ck. jus t u nstoppable. End uro p re parat ion is sti ll more ca reful planning a nd elbow grease than it is cubic dollars. And that's neat. O K. everybody knows trials is my first love. Go ahead. tell me it' s as d u ll as wa tc hing fis h fornica te . Yet Bo b Nic kelsen. who is em ployed by American Honda to see that their boys do good . ca n come in from th e th ird loop . cove red with sweat. totally ragged out . a nd (wit hou t rega rd to how Hon d a' s boys d id) say, hal f out of brea th . " Boy. tha t was a tough tri a l. I reall y enjoye d tha t. " If even th e fac tory fo lks ca n st ill h ave fun. wh at of t he commoners? Well , ATA . SoCal's tri als orga nization . has issue d ove r 300 N ovi ce numbers and still cl imbing. If you 're a pie . plate Beg inn er o r N ovice . you ca n fin d a goo d used Sherpa T or wha tever for well under S 1000 and do as well as some body who has th e latest trick stuff. T ha t holds true until after you vault o ut of the No vice class . So ride and enjoy ; it' s a true family spo rt that you and your kid ca n ride together as you watch your so n/daughter safe ly lea rn . follow you . overtake you a nd surpass you wit hout m a lice or regret. . Ah , road racing. After years of being a closed rich kid 's club . th ings are opening u p . It 's at tha t vaporou, . ca tc h -it-before-it disappears stage in whic h guys can show up with the st rangest , most bizarre m ach inery. find a class fO T it , race and co me in gri n ni ng even if they finished n ext-t o-Iast . (" Boy. I beat one of th ose gu ys. did you see me pass 'im? ") Like the guy with the 450 Hon d a GP bike we raced wit h at Willow on th e co nver ted T M400 ca fe ra cer (he beat us). All gri ns. eve n th ough th e TZ250s th ey'd gri d ded us w ith ra n off a nd hid . Ma ybe th e thi ng I' m talking about is univ e rsal. not limited to a type of racing or locale. Maybe it' s just people who want to ha ve fun more than they wan t to be he roes . finding a bike they ca n afford to maintain without str et ching an d just doin ' it . Could , be that many of us in t he 25 ·gS ag e bra cket need to take a break and rearrange OUT thoughts about what we want to do with ou r riding - who /what we really want to com pete aga inst : each other . the terrain. ou rselves? If money's still in th e way. I suggest you'll find yo ur answer in the want ad s. If you've got $1000 . th e desire to stay in .i t , and a pin t or more of imagination . there's no excuse for not hav ing any fun . Are we all so spo iled we've fo rgo tten th at ? Lane Cam p~~I.1

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