Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

(Continuedfrom page 26) THREE·WHEEL: t , Dave Carriker (Yam), 2. Fred McGloughlin (Yam). 125 BARE TIRE: 1. AI Nesshoeffer IHonl. 2. Barry , Messenger (Hon). 3. Dave Beck (Yaml . 175 BARETIRE: 1. Lynn Wi se IC-A). 2. Don Bontager (Vaml. 3. Gary PodaII (Yaml. 250 BARE TIRE: 1. Mel Rint (M onl. 2. Duane Genuche IBul). 3. Don Jaeger (Yam). OPEN BARE TIRE: 1. Dave Beck (Rokl. 2. Bill Williams. J . Mike Stok es. 125 STUD : 1. Brian Anderson. 2. Lee Morris IBull. 3. Steve Gibson (Yam). 175 STUD : 1. Danny Latham IBul). 2. Steve Scctt (Bul). 3. Lynn Difler (Yaml. • 250 STUD: 1. Merlyn Plumley (Yaml . 2. Steve Schrock IVaml. 3. Mik e WillelI lVaml. . OPEN STUD : 1. Mark Gibson (Honl . 2. Mi ke Hall IS02). 3. er a;g Levens (Honl. Jan 23.1977 MINIS: t. Tony Edwards (Yam). 2. Jami e Gibson (Yaml . 3. Bob Phillips (Yam). THREEWHEEL: 1. Dave Carriker IVaml. 2. Mik a Stokes (Vam). 125 BARE TIRE: 1. Fred Schutz (Hon). 2. Dave Beck (Hen), 3. lee Morris (Hon), 175 BARE TIRE: 1. Lou IH·D). 2. Brad Bush (Yaml. 3. Gary PodalllVaml. , 250 BARE TIRE: 1. Mel Rint IMonl. 2.Don Jaeger. 3. Tom Flint (Man). OPEN BARE TIRE: 1. Dave Beck IRokl. 2. Craig Schultze {Bull, 3. Rob Baker IHonl . 125 STUD: ,. Jim Horton (Hon). 2. Brian Anderson , Product evaluation Ty-Breakerenduro computer 3. Lee Morris (Bull. . 175 STUD: 1. Steve Scott IBull. 2. Annie Brokaw (Vam). 3. Rick Steele (Honl. 250 STUD : 1. Merlyn Plumley (Yam). 2. Bill Brokaw (Riel. 3. Steve Schrock (VarnI. OPEN STUD :.1. Craig Levens IHonl. By Charles Morey s teve W ise t ak es _ Paso Coliseum EI MX By E. Wright EL PASO , TX .JAN . 8 Ok lahomans A lvin M ye rs 1 and 601 Bobby.Fannon (4471 play dice . Motocross went indoors at the El Paso Coliseum with a $2 ,000 purse for Experts and large trophies for Amateurs. Pete Tan- who took home gold in th eir resp ecti ve classes) rode a good race to come in th ird overall. • Results in Results Section . ner, Rick Vasquez and Bruce Larose of Desert Products West motorcycle . shop didn't have much to .work with . but did what seemed to be impossible - put " on one of the best races the Southwest has ever seen. Some people don't think much about all the hard work that goes into a race of this size and these men did a fine job. As the 125 Experts left the line for the first moto, Steve Wise (Yam) jumped into the lead and let everyone know that was where he was go ing to stay with his smooth riding style , Arizona's hot shoe Carlos Serrano (Hus) ran a close second but was no match for Wise . Danny Weir (Hon), Big Springs. Texas , ran third from start to finish . Scott Logston (Yam) of Las Cruces (who was told six months ago that he would never ride again) , surprised everyone in his first race back by running a strong fourth until he got held up by a lapped rider, which let Morris Baker (Hon) of Marfa , TX by. The second moto was a wild one . Wise fell down , giving Serrano the lead , but Baker was determined to get by. Baker ran into Serrano and fell down, but was up in a flash . W ise, who was working h is way back up to the front , passed Baker. then Serrano, to an easy win . Teammates Dennis Patton (Yam) of El Paso and Logston diced the whol e moto with Dennis coming in fourth and Logston fifth . The 25<1 Expert class belonged to Wise as he led from start to finish both motos . Danny Weir (Kaw) rode a fin e race fo r second overall, with Pete Tanner pushing h is Penton through the pack both motos to finish a close third . 32 Carlos Serrano was untouchable in the Open Expert. Wise had trouble getting used to his 400 Yamaha , as he usually doesn't ride one, but came in second both motos, Bruce Bartlett of Arizona (one of the many Bartletts Hatfield dominates 125 Expert at Oklahoma City By Rebecca Sands OKLAHOMA C IT Y, OK, JAN . 16 Billy Hatfield (Bul) totally dominated both 125 Expert motos with beautiful, smooth riding from starting gate to flag here at Motorcycle Raceways . Larry Brady finished a consistent second overall, whil e Berry Holem from Kansas took a .strong third place. Jimmy Hill was fourth. Just finishing both motos was a chore for many riders. On e week before the race, there was five inches of snow on the ground . By race da y, enough snow had m elt ed to m ak e a disagreeable combination of snow , ice, a n d soft mud . The temperature dropped again for the second moto, with many riders giv ing up with fatigued bodies and signs of frostb itt en hands and feet. Shannon Niday (Su z) from Kansas confidently slogged his way to first overall in th e 100cc class. Alvin Myers was looking good with a first in th e first moto, but he dropped ba ck int o fourth in th e second moto behind Niday , Bobby Fannon (Hon) and Clay Hornshell. Fannon had trouble 'with his bike in th e first moto, Hornshell came back in th e ' 125 Amaieur class to finish the first moto wid e open in first pla ce . But Sh an e Gore . secon d in th e first rnoto , won the second moto with Hornshell second . The gav e Gore first overall , Hornshell second overall, and Lee Hodges , on a new Honda . third overall. Butch Grider was fourth overall. • Results in Results Section. 'T o anyone other than a seasoned enduro rider, keeping time with only a watch and odometer seems like a diabolical cross between a mathematician's nightmare and a magician's most demanding nick. It's certainly not within the range of abilities of a mere mortal. Or so it seems. If you 've tri ed it, you know what I'm talking a b ou t. If a novice rider manages to hit within a couple of m inutes of being on time, he's doing extrem ely well . Many of us just ride to finish -- a nd that's not a bad way to do it -- but it's now no longer necessary. By using one of the handlebar mount ed enduro computers on the market, even a first-timer can keep time within a matter of seconds. Of course, ' he 's still gotta be able to rid e , but isn't that what it's all about? If you've tried enduro riding. and you haven't tried using a computer, you 're in for a treat. We received the loan of a model called the Ty-Breaker by M.C .E. , and it's exactly what a new rider needs. As was explained to us , the T yBreaker wasn 't designed as an expen sive top-of-the-line computer with adjusta ble speed average settings and a price tag to match. It 's a simple ele ctronic clock that's factory set at 24 mph. Controls in cl ud e an on-off swit ch and a reset button. Suggested retail price is $89.95 . With one exception, the T y-Breaker served us well . For the first time , we could tell exactly whether we were on tim e or not. And bel ieve m e, for a beginner , there's no better feeling than to be finally on top of what's happening. That one exception where th e computer fail ed us involved location of the reset button. The instructions we received before using the Ty- Breaker were emphatic: Do not hit the . reset button whil e the computer is on . Un fortunately , the button is large enough to get bumped during the gyrations performed in a rough woods ride. And it's located right up front with no guard to keep wayward arms . legs and helmets from hitting it. When it does get bumped , the mechanical read-out dia l (just like an odometer that reads to hundredths of a mile) usu all y jams. In our tirst run with the Ty-Breaker, three riders used it. And all three h ad the same problems. For the second rid e, we tried gluing a protective ring around the button to shi eld it from abuse . We crashed .. not a scheduled part of th e test .- knocking th e ring off, but th e T y-Breaker kept ticking off th e correct mil eage. It 's a stu rdy unit. designed to withstand the rigo rs of any woods run , the single problem being th e reset button. New models, we were told . will not have the button problem. They didn't expla in exactly howit would be cured , but we hav e a suggestion that will be tested on our product evaluation model. We'll mount a piece of clear plexiglas on the front of the unit with a hole cut out for the button to fit through. The plexiglas will be thick enough to shield the button, and resetting it will be accomplished by inserting a screwdriver tip, pen , twig or whatever through the ho le . We may a lso p in the button. It 's long enough to allow drilling a hole t hrough t he plastic shaft so that a cotter pin can be inserted to keep th e button fro m being depressed . It's possible, when the dial shows "fives" for the dial to jam under impact without actually being hit. The Ty-Breaker mounts quickly and easily to the cross bar. We built up the bar with duct tape to make it fit the hose clamp mounts better and to help insulate it from vibration . The battery, a Mallory MN1604 9VDC , should be changed for each run to insure ac curacy. It's not recommended to su bs titu te another brand of battery; others have been tried, and the Mallory is the one that lasts . The T y-Breake r has a 30 ·day warranty to insure quality workmanship. In use , th e T y- Breaker is simplicity itself. It 's actually an electronic clock with a dial that reads in miles like an odomet er. The reading shown is the distance you should have traveled a t a ny given moment. If you r odometer (t rip meter) reads a lower number than the T y-Breaker, you 're behind tim e . If it reads more, sloJ down u ntil the computer catches up . It 's tha t easy. The Ty-Breaker is accurate to within .0 1 percent in a 24 hour span. M.C.E. , Inc. welcomes dealer inquiries. Write them at 1864 Colt Drive , Chamblee, Ga . 30341. or call 404 /458 -1255 or 459 · 7941. •

• Cover