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/126273
An enduro/trail bike with laydown shocks and nine inches of front fork travel ? You betI Look for it in the 1978 lineup of a major japanese manufacturer. The beet go.s on for Mike Bell and Yamaha. Mlka won both motos of the 250 Support cla.s at Unadilla This marks the third straight overall for Bell and a total of five mota wins in a row. ' Team Honda 's Mart y Smith and Tommy Croft duplicated their St. Louis scores and placed one-two at the Unadilla, N.Y. 500 National. Smith combined a 2-1 score for the overall while Croft put together a 4-2 score for second . Rex Staten finished third with 11 -5 moto scores on his HarleyDavidson . Thr.. Au.tralian. s.t a n.w motorcycl• •ndurance r.cord last week. The trio from Perth circl.d an Amry barracks for JiOO hours to eclipse 'the old record. eIso set In Australle. ABC Custom Leathers, a division of Bell Helmets, Inc., has been sold to two private investors. It's now known as ABC Leathers, Inc. Clarice Amberg is still the driving force behind the firm . Get more info by calling (2111) 564-1715. Want to ••• If any of your neighbors • • SIerra Club leaders? It'. .a.y. Ju.t go Into a backpacking .upplle. .tor. and uk for the sc:hecIule of the local c:hepter. Then tum to Directory In the beck. which I. complet. with nam••, addr...... and phon. numbers of Si.rra Club offic.rs and le8ders. Th.n you'lI know who to contact In your n.lghborhood wh.n you wl.h to Initlat. a meaningful dialog co'ncarnlng offroad v.hicl. u•• of front lawns. World,infamous two -stroke wizard E.C . Birt had pulled up stakes , left Florida, and landed in Dickson, Tennessee. His next project will be a 450 Maico which rattles its cooling fins in time to Nashville's Grand OJ' Opry. Look for s.v.ral 1978 mlddl.w.lght Yamaha. and Kewueki. to com••qulpped with wh••ls .imilar to Honda'. ComS~. It seems that DID has sold lerg. quantiti.s of the .peclal rim. that go into the built-up wheels to both the glent Japen.se compeni.s. The Editor disavows any boo -boos in this issue or the next , since he's in japan checking out the new-model Yamahas. They told him to bring his leathers for riding on the factory test track. According to Fujio Yoshimura, the Yamaha track has a one-mile straightaway. It look. Ilk. the thund.rlng Sup.rblk.s will rac. at Laguna S.ca aft.r , all. The boycott thr.at.n.d by the top rid.rs ov.r the lack of r.asonabl. purse mon.y at all Sup.rblk. Production ev.nts will probably be resolv.d through the sal. of laps to companies for $125 each, Lap sponsors for Laguna S.ca and Riv.rsid. ar. now being lined up by Ron Lovit at (2131376-6978. 2 Cycle N ews does not print unsigned letters . Promoter Don Basile announced that he is cancelling the weekly Saturday night short track racing at South Bay Park Speedway 117. Lack of spectator and rider interest were the reasons , according to Basile. Du. to a scheduling with the Utah Regional AMA Scrambl•• Quallf.r. Sandak Racing AsSociation August 8 IT scrambl•• will be postponed on. w ••k. Th. event will take place Augu.t 13, At Elsinore Raceway in EI.inore. Calif. Two Suzukis will be given to the winners at the International Women's Motorcycle Assn. (IWMA) Nationals, to be held August 27-28 at Racing World in Trabuca Canyon,Calif. There's also a $1000 purse slated for the Pros , with 125 and 250 Pro classes. New for this year is a School girl class , open to high -school students 1II to 18 years old. This is one of the few races In the U.S. where the pit tootsies usually have hairy legs; for them the IWMA is running a Pro Mini race and a run-what-you-brung Sportsman race. Pit tootsies must be accompained by an entrant in the women 's races. Get in touch with the IWMA at P.O. Box 7084, Van Nuys, Ca. 91409, or (2111) 1168-4804 Rabid writings: Th. G.ologlcal Society of America ha. Issued a R.port of the Committ•• on Environment and Public Policy .ntltl.d "Impacts and Managem.nt of Off-road V.hlcle.... Li.t.d among the euthors of the report ere Howard G. WiI.hlr.. G.ologl.t, U.S. Geological Surv.y; Don Broberg. Re.ourc. Con••rvatlonl.t. U.S. Soil Conservation Service; Wililem J. Kock.lman. Envlronm.ntal Plann•• U.S. Geological Surv.y; Harold E. Malde. Geologist. U.S. Geological Survey; and Charles T. Snyder. a retired Hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Surv.y. It·. anoth.r blet.nt ca.. of governm.nt .mploy... - the sam. people r••pon.lble for so· called "objectlv." governm.ntal studies used In making lend-use decl.ion. - being m.mbers of .xtremlst anti-ORV groups. Let's fac. It: a gov.rnm.nt process is not fair wh.n the bureaucrats admlnlst.ring It are d.dlcat.d preservationists. It's like having a judge and jury eertaln of a su.pect's guilt before the , trial ever starts. Next time you write your congressman, m.ntion this problem. After three round. of the AMAIMr. Pibb 600cc National MX Series the point leaders are: 1. Marty Smith 132 2. Kent Howenon 90 3. Bob Hannah 88 4. Tony DiStefano 85 5. Rex Stet.n 82 6. Steve Stackable 81 7. Tommy Croft 77 75 8. Rick Burgett 9. Gary Semics 74 10. Jim Pomeroy 71 A tip of Papa's hat goes to Mr. Pibb for the support of the 500 Nationals. It's refreshing to have people put their money where our mouths are. You may notice that TIm Barela'. cartoon does not appear on the Voices page of this Issue. because Barele crash.d hi. street blk. lest week and Injured his drawing hand. Unfortunat.ly. because Barele do•• not believe In wearing a helm.t. h. also Injured hi. head and face. W. wI.h him a speedy recovarY. look forward to the return of hi. cartoon. and hope that .ome read.r com•• up with an argum.nt w. can use to convince Bar.la to wear a h.lmet. W.·v. exhau.t.d our Inv.ntory of prohelm.t lin••• to no avail. That·. Soon, you'll be able to low- ride the boulevard on an AMF moped. That's the next best thing to a HarleyDavidson Sporadic, right? Seriously, AMF Inc. , the parent company of HD, will enter the moped market early in 1978, according to a recent press release . The bike will be built in Olney , Illinois . The Editor's kid has an AMF tricycle and recommends it highly . American Motorcyclist AssOciation lAMA) District 37 (Southern Califomle) may require .ound t.sts et all enduro. next year. Bik•• will have to be under 92 dbA to compete, if th. · anduro rul•• committee recomm.ndation. are folloWed. Cycle News staffers have been testing a 211" Yokohama tire /DID rim assembly on an RM125. After sampling the advantages of a larger diameter front wheel, we're not surprised to hear rumors that one of the largest motorcycle manufacturers will introduce an updated on /off-road machine with a standard 211" front wheel for 1978. The bike in question does not burn oil in the gas, and does not smoke out of the exhaust pipe. It is not a 175, nor is it a 350 . Recently w. predicted thet Honda would introduce a 185cc semichopper called the Twin Star. On July 26, American Honda introduced to the motorcycling press .. . you guess.d it. the CM185T Twin Star. According to the press information kits. the Twin Star in a low maintenance machine d.signed to appeal to non-bikers and introduce them to the enjoyment of travel on two wheels. That's it above. A more impressive move by Honda was the introduction of an Americanized GLlOOO Gold Wing (seen below). The bike has had cam, intake tract, carburetion and exhaust system changes that make it more tractable and responsive at mid range cruising speeds . Making concessions to the inevitable, Honda's latest Gold Wing has relocated rear turn signals (to allow saddlebag mounting) and an accessory jack for installation of citizen 's band radio or stereo music systems. The package is rounded out with ComStar wheels, F2 front discs and calipers, a tank mounted instrument pod (fuel , voltage, water temperature), dual horns , and a quartz-halogen headlight. Although the Honda press meeting was at tended by all manner of dirt-bike oriented publications. no mention of the long awa ited motocrossers and enduro bikes was made. R.g Pridmore Is flying to Hawaii to teach a road racing school on September 3-4. A group of wouldbe stud.nts I. picking up the tab for Reg and his wif. In .xchange for the Instruction, Pridmore. the curr.nt Am.rlcan Motorcycli.t Assn. lAMA) Superblk. Production champion. hu also taught school. In Denver. Colorado and Riverside. California, The last 125 National will be something to see! In response to Team Yamaha's rider entry, it is rumored that Suzuki will be sending Tony DiStefano. In the DNF'd department at Unadilla, .arly s.rles leader Steve Stackable retired in the first mota ' when a roo.ted rock cracked his ignition cover and knocked his timing out of adjustment. Bob Hannah won the first mota and dropped out on the first lap of mota two when his Yamaha's chain guide bent and jammed the rear sprocket.