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/126275
THE LATEST o P BY PAPA WEALEY Due to extreme fire danger, forests north of th e Santa ,Barbara area may be closed to off -road vehicles. The Forest Service , when contacted by Cycle News, confirtn.ed this and said inquiries about specific areas should go to the Monterey district office in King City at (408) 385-54!l4 . KTM riders Vladimir, Kavinov. Gennady Moisseev and Andre Malherbe swept the 250cc World Championship Motocross round held August 14 in Sweden. Not only does Cycle News not publish uns igned letters, but we also do not publish letters with ' fict itious addresses. We recentlychecked on one from "San ta Monica." It was bogus. Keith Code will be riding a GS750 Suz"ki at California club races and at Laguna Seca in the Superblke , Production class. The bike. .provided by Kevin Donnelly and Kip Woodring of Del Arno Suzuki. will be tuned by Dennis Smith, Code is the author and teacher of a novel road racing course which turns also-rans Into winners. American Pat Hennen won the British . 500cc Road Race Grand Prix at Silverstone on August 14 . Barry Sheene, who has already clinched the championship, and Johnny Cecotto t both did not finish because of engine trouble. Pre race confidence: Malcolm Smith was sitting in on a meeting concerning the Motorcycle Olympiad scheduled for Sept: 17· 18. A giant grin appeared on his face. When asked what was so funny. Malcolm said "" wonder who's going to give me the most competition - Larry Roeseler or John Hateley7" Ca lifornia De p t. of Parks and Recrea tion Director Herbert Rhodes has advised us tha t no cases of bubonic plague ha ve occ u rred in sta te parks or recreation areas . T he p lague is carried by fleas on ro'aents, so we suggest that readers steer cle ar of bureaucrats . The California Motorcycle Dealers Association is sponsoring a tour. antique rally and party celebrating the 196th birthday of Los Angeles. All sorts of free prizes. special deals and attractions will be provided. The tour starts at Griffith Park and ends at Olvera Street, with free. guarded parking at both ends. Call (714) ~199 for more details. Cycle N ews is accepting ap plica tions for an additional Assista nt Ed itor . Send in resumes and work samples as soon as possible to the Ed itor. Roger DeCoster has reached an agreement with Yokohama tires to use that brand exclusively. and to do development work for the firm. 2' Want a bike commemorating Queen Elizabeth 's Silver Jubilee? Then hustle down to you r local T riump h dealer and pay $2,125 for a lim ited -ed ition SilverJub,i1ee Bonneville. 57.000 people who had trouble buckling a helmet strap (it is a tad difficult for those with hands. yes7) bought a device known as a "Sef·T-Release Helmet Fastener" from F.P.• Inc. between 1969 and 1975. Now F.P.. Inc. would like those people to return the devices because It seems that the "Saf·T· Release" releases upon impact. In other words. you crash and the helmet flies away off your head. sort of like an ejection seat. Nice. Send yours to Box 5295. Pasadena. CA 91107 and get a new one free. The Kawasaki Z1-R will be released in October, and will fea ture mag .whee ls, , four -into-one exhaust , a small fa iring sim ilar to the type used on th e BMW RI00S , rectangular t u rn si~n als , specia l pa int and a high-zoot pn ce tag of $3 ,700 . 1t will be billed as be ing "out of th is world ," but d oes not come complete with hamburgers . Gary Wells of Phoenix. Arizona met Frenchman Alain Prieur in an American Motorcyclist Assn. (AMAhanctioned "jump off" at Lake Geneva. Wisconsin on July 22. Wells won the style and accuracy-scored event with 8.9 out of a possible 10 points. Prieur scored 8.4 points. Wells earned $10.000 for the win. while Prieur collected $2.500. : Next week, the AMA will sponsor a • world-championship su icide con~est, with the widow or designated heir of . the rider making the biggest crashrelated mess collecting over 50 ~ . Word has it that Virgi l T . Ca ine XII is rest ing comfortably in the intensive care ward of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital after practicing for th e new sport by riding his GLlOOO wide -open into a Fuso diesel truck in Westervdle , Ohio. According to AMA Executive Head Man Wary Worst, Caine scored ·6.!l4768 on the blood and gu ts scoring sca le. World 125cc Motocross Champion Gaston Rahier may contest this year's Trans·AMA series on a Suzuki RN370. One of the most versatile riders in motocross. Rahier is eager to prove that he can win on any size bike. According to British sou rces, Heikki Mikkola may also enter the TransAMA series - bu t only for a few races' before heading ' fo r t he All -japan Grand Prix to be held on October 18 . If it happens, it will be the firs t tim e that Mikkola's ridden in th e TransAMA since 1974 . Harley-Davidson plans to market a "serious" enduro bike early in 1978. Here's hoping it's more serious than the MX250. Kenny Roberts was quoted in a rec ent in tervi ew published in Britain 's Motor Cycle as saying that he will ra ce in Europe next year. "1 just hope that the Yamaha bosses come up and tell me .- exactly what their plans are pretty soon , because ra cing is a business to m e," Roberts was quoted as saying. " I rea lly can't understand wh y Stevie (Ba ker) has not yet su cceeded in teaching Barry Sheene a lesson. Looks like that will be up to me." Camel Pro Series competitors Phil McDonald and Guy 'McClure will probably have to wait until 1978 to continue chasing points and money. McDonald is out of action with an arm broken at Loudon and McClure is " p ar k ed" due to a broken leg suffered in a regional race at Jerseyville. Illinois. In Cycle N ews issue #27 Ouly 31 , 1977 ) we featured a Mountain Roadracing Assn . (MR A) tr ick r-shirr. Unfortu n a tely, as n ice as th e sh irt looked , it imm ed iate ly developed a hol e under one armpit whe n tested. Graphic Design Studios , the fi r m which p rints the t-shir ts for MRA , has since then wr itten to Cycl e N ews. According to Ellen Barclay of Graphic Design Studios , th e firm makes an effort to pull all fac to ry- d efective shirts out of stock before shipping. Barcla y sai d "We are interested in keeping all ou r cus tomers satisfied and will gl adly issue credits when such things happen." . . In an effort to stave off additional calls from West Germany and Holland. we've decided to reveal two-stroke tuner E.C. Birt's new phone number in Dickson• • Tennessee. It's (615) 446-6807; When you call. be sure to ask 01' E.C. about the time he shot a 450 Maico in the cylinder with a 30.06 rifle. Russian KTM works riders Gennady Moisseev and Vladimir Kavinov edged closer to a one-two overa ll fin ish in the 250cc MX World Championship Series after the J uly 31 British round . Moisseev took the overall win by TUn· ning awa y with both motos with his Russian T eammate placing second in the opening moto. Wrth two rounds .left to' contest. Moisseev holds a commanding 1193 -155) point lead over teammate Kavinov and Hems assured of his second 250cc title, Mont.... rider Andre Malherbe is third with 111 points followed closely by Bulteco's Harry Everts with 102 points. Rounding out the top five is Maico works rider Hans Maisch at 97 points. : A ham burger in j a pa n does not taste like a ha m burger in Long Bea c h . Calif. Furthermore. "sq u id on a st ick" inJapan is not a pit ra cer who impaled himself on a course-marking st ake . Instead , it's the Japanese version of corn dogs available at festivals and tourist attractions. Remember our recent reference to a new. improved long-travel enduro bike manufactured by a major Japanese firm 7 Check out issue #31. then dwell on this riddle: What size tee-shirt does a ninemonth-pregnant woman wear ? !The answer is not numerical. nor is it "CZ"J. A tip of Papa's ha t goes to Saddleback Park. The motorcycle playground h as been ma kin g sma ll changes to th e MX track weekly for th e CMC and SSM races. T he c h a nges have b ee n challenging and plain f?n. Also . in the ·" Go od Guys" department is Hires Root Beer. The soft drink firm is supporting the "Family Daze" European Scrambles race on the weekend of August 20 and 21 along with the Los Angeles Police Department's "Badgers" motorcycle club. The event will be a family weekend w ith wheelie contests. MX for kiddies and a buffet dinner on Saturday and a three 1Cknite-lap European Scrambles on Sunday. Hires has popped for finisher pins. trophies. tee-shirts and.banners. So the next time you have a cold one make it a draft (Root Beer. that isl. Mario Lega has clin ched the 250cc road racing World Championship . Lega used a Morbidelli to beat th e hordes of Yarnahas and th e works Kawasa kis and Harl ey-Davidsons 10 th e championship rounds . It's called co nsiste ncy . Takazumi Katayama. is the new 350cc road racmg World Champion. Katayama. a Japanese star who used his road racing fame to launch a rock recording career. rode a three cylinder Yamaha based upon sleeved-down TZ250 .w it h'an additional cylinder welded on. a Ducati will soon introduce a 500cc vtwin with short st ro ke, singl e overhead ca ms driven by belt drive, desm o heads. and a solid cra nk running on ball bearings on the outside with plain connecting-rod bearings . With m uffl ers a nd a ir filters the bike is sa id ~ to have a n ho nest 50 ho rse powe r . Without a fairing. but with c1ipons, the bike has run 115 miles per hour in tests. The Formula 750 World Championship road race scheduled for September.11 at Laguna Seca has already drawn some big names in international pavement riders. 1976 World Champion Victor Palomo of Spain; Christian Sarron. Christian Estrosi. Patrick Pons of France; Steve Baker of the United States; Boet van Dulman of Holland; Johnny Cecotto of Venezuela; Gregg Hansford and Warren Willing of Australia; Stewart Avant of New Zealand; Hubart Rigal of .M onaco; and Mick Grant of Great Britain are almost certain to show up. according to Trippe. Cox Associates representative Gerard McCaffery. Besides the solo riders named above. Laguna Seca will be attended by five of Euro pe's best sidecar tea ms , including current poi?ts leade~s .Rolf Bila nd (pilot) and Kenny WIlliams (passenger) ; Alain Miche ll/Gera rd Geo rge O ' De ll /C liff LeC orre : Howa rd : Wern er Schwa rzell An dreas H ub ert ; and Rolf Srein ha usen /Sepp Huber. What it comes down to is this: the resident Americans Vl!i11 have their hands full at Laguna Seca fending off the continental riders. It should be a g,ood race. Kawasaki has' a 250cc fou r -stroke, single cylin der off ro ad m achine in the United Sta tes now. T he b ike has more suspension traver than the KE models now be ing sold , but not as much as competitive morocrossers . T h ~ question is, how will the new Kawasa ki sta ck up a g a inst the soon -ro -be released 1978 Honda XL250? Dale Boller. Managing Editor of Cycle magazine. has. left that publication after 7'1z years to become Editor of Motorcyclist. And Dave Holeman. Associate Ed itor ' of Cycle, has left his position and is currently taking a vacation. Cook Nei lson. Phil Schilling and Gordon-Jennings are still manning Cycle. ' Major mont hly m agazine .shuffli.ng: According to Cycle maga zlOe editor Cook Nei lson . the two recently departed Cycle staffers will gel replaced by ' three new men. " Hopefu lly. none over 23 years old. " Dave Ekins. formerly Executive Editor of Motorcyclist, is . no longer with that p';lblication. Mopeds, while not requi ring a license to operate in some states, are st ill considered motor vehicles for insurance purposes in some cases. Don 't take one out without lia bility coverage meeting your state's ,m in im u m require ments .