Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Moto-X Fox has a strong two-man team in the Trans-AMA series. Mark Ba;nett and Steve Wise ride Suzukis, Mark on a 250cc Support classer and Steve on an RM370 in the Internationa!. J ack Penton was see n spectating a t Mid- Ohio sporting a fresh set of road rash knee wounds. Seems Jackie did an old road rider tr ick and lock ed up his fro nt brake in a turn on some gravel. The incident ha ppened after dark , and Jack re po rts tha t the spark-caused " lightshow" was spectacular. lC:l I-< 11) ..c o ..... u o Ron Tomlinson of Corsicana, Texas attended the Belgian 500cc World Championship motocross round and sent ue these pictures of what appears to be the 1978 Maico 400. Noticeable changes include slimmer engine cases, red-wire Motoplat with lightened mag cover, new countershaft sprocket nearly concantric with the swingarm pivot (which goes through the engine cesesl, an up pipe on the right side, air valves on the forks, "bent" swingarm (ala KTMI, and reservoir shocks. Steve Stackable rode one in the Motocross and Trophee des Nations races. Mr. PiBB and the AMA have reached an agreement "in principle" for the 1978 National MX Series according to Mr. PiBB National Brand Manager Ben Hudson. Specific details, including point fund monies and advertising information, h,. ,, -- "ot been released. The program will be announ. .his fall perhaps as late c._ • • ovem ber when the '78 schedule is firmed up. T h e 1978 AMA National MX program will feature t hree d isplacement classes as in years past : 125 , 250 , and 500cc . A 15 week schedule is being prepared with two of th e 30 nationals being run on eac h date . No su pp ort classes will be run , but the pri vat eers are expected to fa re bett er money-wise , running in one of the national classes. In the '78 National MX schedule, a rider will have to state at the belinning of the season which of the three classes he w ishes to compete in , and then ride no other. The system, with equal purses in both Nationals run on the same date, favors the privateers because the factory r iders will not be allowed to ride in more than one c lass as th ey have i n' previous years. THE LATEST POOP BY PAPA WEALEY . Can -Am has produced a 366cc m achine for J im m y Ellis , and like the Maico , it 's a prototype for a production mod el which will probably be ou t in 3-6 months. The motor is unchanged from Ell is' National machin e but the chassis, suspe nsio n, etc. is new. Kent Howerton is rid ing an experimental Husky like the one that was campaigned by Hakan Carlqvist in the 250cc GPs this yea r . The 390CR motor is basically production equipment, but the frame, airbox, and suspension is unlike anything on sale at your Husky dealer. T rans-AMA Hondas were probab ly the least changed among the b ig bo re works MXers with a new cylinder , carb , a nd p ipe p re tt y - m u ch accou nting for the ir im p rovements . W it h 12 " fr on t and rea r , the suspension d idn 't r e ally ne ed a ny work. 2 KX 380SR Kawasakis are very similar to the anticipated production models which are "on t he ocean" and headed toward the U.S. An alloy swingarm is being used by the team, and it's exactly like what's on the production bikes. The Trans-AMA bikes have the same frame and motor as the 500cc National machines. By th e wa y, Mr. PiBB plans to run several TV co m mercia ls in '78 , and one of them features d irt rid ing. , "Have a Pi BB , Mister!" is th eir ne w sloga n . No t in the Internation al class bu t still trick is Frank Stacy's 250cc Sachs MXer. Stacy rod e it to fifth overa ll a t Mid -O hio in spite of a first m ot o , first lap crash that put h im at th e b ack of the pack. AMA has decided that Team Yamaha's tactics were not in opposition to the rulebook, and the results with Broc Glover the new 125cc National Champion wi ll stand. Gerrit Wolsink tore leg ligaments in a crash at the final 500cc World Championship round in Switzerland on August 28, and he 's ' on ly been out of a cast for one week. The Team Suz uki rider was given his doctor's pe rm ission to ride in the Trans-AMA. but the leg began hurting in the second moto while Wolsink was ru nning back in the pack. Rather than risk further injury, he dropped out. Latest figures fro m Ca lifornia show m ot orcycl es cu r re ntly 22 ,317 registe red wit h the Green St ick y p rogra m , b ut m ore th an twice as ma ny (46 ,63 9) "inactive" m eanin g they've le t their ORV regi st ra ti on expi re. A to ta l of two "choppers" were registe re d as OR V's. 585 , 682 California m ot or cycles a re licensed for street use . Jim Pomeroy says his shoulder injury that kept him from contesting th e fina l AMA 500cc National Championship Series rounds is now com p le te ly healed . H is th ird placing a t Mid -Ohio seems to prove it. Strangely enough, Bob Hannah's first moto runaway win at MidOhio wasn't a result of his familiar " let it all hang out" riding style; the "Hurricane" looked smooth and even slow. When asked about it, he replied, "It was a slow race. I don't know what the others were doing'" Marty .r.:t0ates re tu rned to eas te r n competition a t Mid -Ohio , riding h is Henry Gref-tuned 250 cc Ossa in th e Su p port class . . Roger DeCoster 's Mid-Ohio TransAMA win brought his total to 22 overall race wins in Trans-AMA competition. " Th e Man" is go ing for his fourth Trans-AMA MX Ser ies victory in 77. Ne w Suz uki s, while not emphasizing their u p d a ted motocrossers wi th glaring style changes or tricky paint jobs, a re entirely new. Both Maico and Su zuki ' have p ut th eir co u ntershaft sp rockets closer to th e swingarm p ivot and . ha ve "com p ressed" the machines to lowe r the overall height witho ut giving up suspe nsion tra vel. Yamahas have new frames with no tube surrounding the monoshock, and improved swingarm support. The all-new motor displaces " aboat 400cc" and the monoshock itself is also changed. Bob Tarazzas tol d ace desert reporter Gary Laudig th a t th e Check Chase is not goin g to be run, due to a conflict with in the Arizona Indian reservation where the race has bee n held for th e past two yea rs . T he next desert d a te , after the CR C Ca lifornia City GP , O ct , 1-2, is the Invader's National ha re and hound , Oct. 16 . To be held in Lu cerne Valley, the Invader's race' , will feature an invita tion -on ly national class , and an open support class. T here will be no 0 -37 points, however. , October 7 California's Parks and Recreation Commission will consider plans for future use and development of Hollister Hills ORV Recreation Areas. Be at the Heather Room, Northwoods Unit of the Asilomar State Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA at 10 a.m. and you may get to see new Commissioner Helen Reddy. Or call (9161445-7092. All you Dez riders and MXers can save $2 on you r gate fee at th e Ma ywood M .C . T oys for Tots GP by bri nging a to y to d onate wh en yo u co m e t o Saddleba ck Dec. 3 or 4 . T he big crosscountry race has classes for everything and honors AMA , SRA, DRA , a nd CRC ca rds . Check the entry form in last week's CN . " Sid ew ind er 1" the motocross movie, is playing around the nation 's popcorn emporia this week. Papa recommends it. if you can overlook some of the technica l blunders. Michael Parks of " Bronso n" fame is excellent as the Dick Mann character. . Cleveland National Fo rest in so uthe rn Cal has discovered 10 areas totalling . 11 1, 100 acres to be su bmi tted for permanent padlock as " ro a dless and u ndeveloped " real estate for t he wil derness lob b y. " T oo mu ch wilderness ca n always be re medied later ," puff the environ u ts, San Diego (CAl County 's ORV Citizen's Advisory Committee has been stymied by Integrated Planning Office bureaucrats ' demands for ' no n-exist ent (and uselessI information, such as ORV energy consumption studies. Dirt Diggers Grand Prix N ov. 5 and 6 will b e spo nso re d by Coors beer. Racing W orld (fo rmerly Escape Country) is th e place. Post entries are SIOO, so you better look up th e officia l entry b lan k (in CN last week , page 15) and mail it fast . Ric h Eirstedt w ill ride the TransAMA for Harley-Davidson . T he former Bultaco motocross star was origina lly going to campaign a Bassett sponsored machine; now that ri de goes to local Jim Gibson, w ho w ill contest t he Int ern ational class. New Hondas , in cluding th e vee twins that Papa told you about earlie r and t he RC -;-epli ca moto crossers , will make t hei r appearance in December. Suzuki is working on a big-bore 4stroke single mounted in an RM frame. The release date looks like next spring, but one well-informed source says it's on ly three months off. W h ile we're on th e subject of Su zies, they've got a new I ,OOOcc road-burner on the wa y. And believe it or not . the 1000cc engine is lighter - by a few ounces a nyway - tha n th e GS7 50 unit . The new bike ha s a completely d ifferent engine and frame , so few GS75 0 parts a re interchangeable. •

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