Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1977 06 22

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/126265

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Have you bee n eyeing th e new Suzuki R M250C air fork and wishi ng you had one on your RM250B ? Now you can. To make the change, replace the upper triple clamp (referred to in the parts book as " u pper bracket") num ber 513 11-4 1110 wit h a new upper triple clamp, part number 51311-41211. Then , discard spacer part number 09180·12074. Repl ace spacer part number 54740-41100 with spacer pa rt number 54 741 -41100. Bolt up the fork and go ra cing. Now , wasn't that easy ? On June 18, Saddleback Saturday MX is having their fourth annual guaranteed $600 pro purse. In the sportsman classes first place trophies will be tickets to the U.S. Grand Prix. with Hang-Ten Grand Prix tee-shirts to second. The new Kawasaki production motocrosser comes with over nine inches of suspension travel front and rear. The fork legs have trick little cooling f ins, and KYB remote reservoir shocks handle the rear end. With gold anodized swingarm and wheels, the machine is beautiful. At a claimed weight 25 pounds lighter than the Yamaha YZ250, the replica racer should have potential. Ga ston Ra hier won the first 125 GP moto in Poland on J u ne 5 , then led the second until two laps from the finish when he registered a DN F. Rond took the overall with a 2-1 score; Kudiakov second (3 -2); Churavy third (4-3) ; and Rahier fourth with I· DNF scores. The 125 Wo rld Championship po int totals including the Polish round have Rahier f irst with 114 po ints followed by : Rond 1 891; Churavy (51); and Massont (51). Heikki Mikkola (Yam) won the J u ne 12 500cc Motocross Grand Prix in Italy. Mikkola won the first m ota . followed by Ger rit Wolsink (Suz) , Herbert Schmitz (Mai) and Roger DeCoster (Suz) . Current World Champion DeCoster won the second mota . with Mikkola second, Bengt Ab erg (TT500 Yam) third , and Wolsink fourth. The points standings now have Mikkola leading with 157 . DeCoster second with 124, and Wolsink third with 114. The Appalachian Dirt Riders held t he ir f irst·ever AMA National End uro on June 12, the little Racoon Classic, and Dick Burleson won. Jack Penton put in a strong second place ride at 990, only one po int down from Husqvarna's King Richard at 991, to take fi rst placa in the 250cc class. IBurieson also rode a 250cc machine.) Can·Am's Skip Olson totalled up 989 for second behind Jack. Bu rleson's Cycle East teammate Bob Popiel topped the Little Racoo n Open A class; C. Dickens put his Yamaha o n to p of t he 200cc A standings; D . Montgomery , a Penton rider, aced the 125cc A category. Motorcycles were eliminated from the 19n Pikes Peak Hillclimb due to craziness on the part of organizers of the Colorado classic. 2 Look for Harley-Davidson to sponsor Bruce Ogilvie and Bob Ru tt en on a pair of '78 250 MXers in the desert and in off-road - such as Ba ja - biggies. Yamaha 's Bob "Hurricane' ; Hannah defended his 12Sec National Championship title at the Sandy Oaks, Inc. AMA 12Sec National MX on June 12. running off with an undisputed 1-1 victory. Second overall at the Keithsburg, III. event was Team Suzuki's Danny LaPorte who put in a 2-4 afternoon. Broc Glover's Team Yamaha effort of 8-2 was good for third. In the 250cc Support class action, AMA National Amateur Champion for 1976 Tod Perkins took top honors. Jimmy Weinert, contesting the 125cc series this year; started strong, holding down second pla ce in the final laps of the opening moto, but did not finish . O n the last time around, The Jammer's Kawasaki ran out of gas, J im didn't compete in the second moto, L.T ,D. Racing announced cancellation of two Friday night short track races at Triple M Speedway in Marysville, Calif. However, they will be running 0-36 Semi·Pro short track races on June 26 and July 3. Call (916)742-1653 for information, Pete Colm an , formerly T riumph's vice presid ent in America , ha s been named the p resident of the new Sachs Mo t ors Corpora tion of U. S. A ., a who lly-o wn ed subsid iary of Sach s A .G., and t he sole; U .S . importer of S'a c h s - in a n u f a ct u re d ma c h ine s . Colm an promises th at th e firm will do "a fu ll marketin g job" for th e popula r Germa n two-strokes. also kn own as DKW and Hercules. The n ew comp any is based in W estlake , Ohio (outsi de of Clevela nd) . T he number to call is (216) 871 -4890 : A stock Benelli 750 Se i Isix cylinder) ridden by John fuchs ran 138 miles per hour on one of five t imed laps at Pocono Raceway. The average speed of all five runs was ,135 m.p.h, _ Pat Richter has a new wrench . Chuck Tannland will tu ne for t he Moto-X Fox sponsored Richter at the rest of the American Motorcyclist Assn . (AMA) 125 National races. If you 're one of the top 10 motocrossers in your area, you may qualify for a unique racing support program recently announced by Maico. Riders who send their 19n season resumes in to T.S. Steele, 109 Electric Ave.. Lewistown, PA 17044 may be selected for up to a $544 discount off list price on a new AW Maico. Talented roo kie expert Scott Pea rson was operated on J une 6 for complications resu lti ng from a wrist broken at Daytona . According to doctors, it may b« a year before Pearson can ride again . Pearson wants to enter the September San Jose mile . Everything you a lways wanted to know about Gary Scott can be yours fo r $3 .50 . Send the cash to Gary himself, at 4380 S. Tecumseh Rd . , Sp ri ngfi eld , O H 4 5502 and he'll send you his " Pressb ook," com p lete with 'a wa llsized color post er . T he book contains Scott 's views and ambitions for 1977 . A new shop for older bikes: Brian Slark, famed for building leakproof British bikes, had opened a repa ir shop in Costa Mesa, Calif., ' specializing in Matchless and Norton machines, Call (714) 6428411 for info. The May 31 issue of the Insurance Inst it ut e for Highway Safety Status Report reveals a startling fact: Riding while drunk increases the chances of a crash I According to the newsletter, " alco hol has not been recognized as a major cause of motorcycle crashes." A recent study cited found that 50% of the v ic t ims in 103 fatal motorcycle crashes studied in Maryland were drunk. In the pest. the blame for motorcycle fatalities has been ' Iar gely blamed on "in herent dangers" of the machine type, while drunk driving received major attention in the case of automobile crashes, Now, maybe non-bikers will realize that bikes don't kill people any more than ca rs kill people - people kill people. The same issue of the Status Repo rt q uoted the New Yorker as determining that a MH -1 tomato had more impact resistance than required by Federal Standards for passenger car b umpers. Riding areas in the Las Padres National Forest near Goleta, Calif. are now being posted in accordance with the " Forest Offroad Veh icle Management Plan." Maps of open and closed areas are available from Las Padres National Forest offices or by mail n:om 42 Aero Camino, Goleta, CA 93017. The Valley Observed Tri a ls Enthusiasts (V ,O.T.E.) of Panorama City, Calif. recently donated $50 to Motorcycle O wn e rs, R ide rs, a n d. Enthusiasts (M . O .R .E .) to aide in lobbying efforts against ant i-b ike legislation. The donation was made in mem ory of Ron Sprayberry, former president of the Ke rn Cou nty O bserved Trials Assn., who died of cancer earlier this year. By p utting thei r money with their sp o rt , V. O .T.E. mem bers earn a tip of the Weal ey d uc kbill . We missed a photo credit - at the Greenhorn Enduro B,J , Olson was the photographer . . AFM tu rn workers who would like to man the Sears Po int course for the AMA N a tional J ul y 16 and 17, should contact Ken at (41 5) 938 -3178 . Dana Reed is the Cyde News choice for California Assemblyman for the 44th District. To quote his full·page advertisement in the Evening Outlook. " But now is the time for the Sierra Club to get back to the Sierras." If you would like to help support Dana contact Bill Naeve at 1213)4~ . T he Camel Pro Series H alf-Mile race on Sep t. 17 has been m oved to Lo uisville Downs R a c e wa y in Kentucky. Originally the race was schedule d for the T oledo (O hio) Park until a fire gutted the grandstands and the clubhouse. Ever wonder why it seems that offroad motorcyclists nev,r get an even break when it comes to dealing with the government7 Ponder on this: Howard W ilsh ire m akes his living as a go vernmen t scientist stu dyi ng off-road vehicle (O RV) im p ac ts on public lands . In ot he r words, he is a n em p loyee of you, the ta xp ayer. What does Howa rd do in his spare time? He .con trib utes to the ra bi d Sierr a C lu b- p u bli shed ORV Mo nitor; pa rt icipa tes in laws uits attempting to force Bu rea u of Land Management (BLM) closure of rhe C a lifo r n ia desert ; and wntes "objective" studies of O RV use effects on California 's Mojave Desert . As if Howard's not bad enough, consider Neil Pfulb, head of the BLM Desert Planning Staff: he's an admitted member of the Sierra Club, and his assistant belongs to the National Wildlife Federation. A good example of anti-people preservationist infiltration of government is seen in the so-called "fact gathering" that took place last March 6 in Carlsbad, New Mexico . T here , Alla n H inds; District Ra nger for the G ua d elupe Range of the Lincoln N ational For est , held a public meeting co ncerning the fate of th e Sittin g Bull Enduro . T he enduro had been cancelled in 1976 after local Sierra C lubbers ob ta in ed a cour t injunction against it. At th e March 6 meeting , Hi nds su p po rt ed the idea of re qui ri ng a $30 ,000 En vir onmental Impact Sta tem ent before approving t he enduro, because by the time the statement was completed, the area would have been made a wilderness area and closed to the publici Your tax do llars help pay Hinds' salary . . .

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