Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

INSIDE National Championship TT 6 Springer clinches the title National half-mile. . . . . .. 9 Is Ganh the new Danh? Trans-AMA motocross. 12 Cover boy: makes good 16 "Works" Beginning a new technical series Trials and tribulations... 17 Marland wails Boot-out , 20 How to avoid the agony of de feet Heavy metal. .• •....... 24 Latest Tralll·AMA weapolll Western hotline......•. 26 Central pipeline 33 Northern dateline. . . . .. 34 Bol d'Or 36 Bucks-up production racing Motocross Cat 37 Cat gives CN competition? ON THE FRONT PAGE: This week's Trans·AMA winner Roger DeCoster tops AMA Nationall Camel Pro Series head ers Ja y Springsteen and Ted Boody. Photos by Charles Morey and Dale Brown. Cha rln c . Cbyton. Praidmt Bobi Sccet , Asst. to the Prnidrnt Sharon Cla yton . Publi&htt Edna Mrwton , Secretary to the Pu blisher Advertising' Debbie W ilkiru . SOlin MgT. Jim Rya n. Saln Mgr. Skip Jo h"""" Sal.. Mgr . Chris Kolt)Ct . Assista nt . Editorial Char ln Clayton. Edit or . Dalr Brown. Allillant Editor . Bobi Scott. Assistant Editor. Brian George. Asaistant Edi tor. Graphics and Production Production: Judy Klingrr , Jan Gill. T ypography: Manon Ha tashita, Donna C..bud. u boratory Production: Denn is Greene. Circulation Rhrb.. Sm ith. Manager. Juanita Blanl on , DiOInc Felten . Debb ie Dnydrn . Sandi McKa y, Aaiata nu. Accounting Mikr K l i n~ r . Man a ger . Krn Lorin. Au lstanl. Jrannr Hammond. Acct s. Receivable, Panwla Dickerson , Aut. Accts. Receivable. R honda Van Doren . Co llection Depr . Trisha Bunon , C redh Dept. Services and Support J im Piurr u:. Nane ne J}l'nson . recepdcnee. West :2201 Chrrry Allr oo Long Brach. CA P.O . Box 498 , Lon g Br ach . CA 90801 (215) 427 -i4 33; L.A . Line 636·8844 . East P.O . B O il HOS. Tucker. GA 30084 . (4eM ) 9347850 . Subscription One yea r, M"("(md d ...... m;Jil S15: 2 yran. . second da~ m..il, S27; 3 yran.. second d u \ mail, $37.50. 4 Copyright © Cycko News , Inc. 1977. Tndnnoark CyC News rrgU trrnl U.S. Pareru Offi ce. AU lr rights reserved. Publ ishrd weekly C'Xttpt thr tim and 1.151 wn-k of the calendar yra r b y Cyc~e News . Inc.• P .O . Box 498. Lon g Br ach . C.. Ii(amia . Secced class posta~ paid at Long Beach , CA 9080 I . Cyclr Nrw s welcomes unsol icited edi tori a l material includ ing stories. ca rtoons, ph ot os. r ic . Suc h ma te ria l. if publish ed . becomes the exclusive copyright propeny of Cyclr News. Such accepted material is subject to revision as is necessary in the sole discren on of Cycle News. Unsolicited material which i~ noc used will be returned if accompanied by a sel f-ad d ressed s ta m ped en velope . All unsolicited mat erial will be handled with reasona ble ca rr. however Cyclr Nrw s assumt'5 no responsibilily (or rhe ~ (t'ty , 1 o r damage 051 10 such material . Repri mi ng in whole or part o nly b y permisaion of t he publ ish e rs . Advntising rat es and circulation infonn..tion will be sem upon I't'qunl . ~ S . R . D .S . Phantom Duck quacks again Pure disgust has kept me qu iet for a . while, but Leo n Pric e's "Bu rned up" lett er in Issue No . 59 has finalIy nudged me off my duff. Leon is right. Entry fees and race related costs have gone up , and race course quality and the number of trophies issued has gone down. But let's face facts. The days of 600 to 900 race entries each week wilI never be seen again . One reason for this is government restrictions that have confined organized motorcyclists to smalI areas that soon become nothing more than long whoop-de -do motocross courses. Gone is the opportunity for District 57 clubs to spend months in search of an area and race course th at will be new and exciting for the rid ers, a nd gone also are some of our old est and best kno wn cl u bs and races . T he Foot hill Hawks M .C .. Red Dots , Victors, and Powder Puff Association are no more. So. Cal's d own hill is gone, and the J a ckass Enduro , Ba rsto w to Vegas and Ch eck Chase no longer exist. This fall the 'In vaders GP was canceled. the Desert Vipers GP was ca nceled , th e In vaders H& H won't pay District 57 po ints. And now I read that this week BLM state director Ed H astey will m ake a decision on the Cadiz ar ea (east of 29 Pa lms . and south of Am boy) where only seven organized events have been held in the past seven years . Hastey stated that any recommenda tions would make the area more rest rictive . But I don't feel sorry for myself or , any of you other bike riders out the re, so you gripers and snivelers take your complaints andshove 'em where you know they belong. In other words, if you 're not willing to do something about the situation, then don't bother the rest of us with your petty belIyaches. In the last two years I have pulled a few bucks out of my pocket to do what 1 call my thing, and this yea r I wilI dig again. But I will do my thing. My thing, by the way , is to start from Manix Road eas t of Barstow and ride my scooter on the Ba rstow to Vegas trail in the legal manner, using BLM designated roads and trails. In my mind, the Barstow to Vegas race was a symbol that must be kept alive. And so, this November 26 will be th e t hir d annual Barst ow to Ve g as (u norga nized) Trail Ride. 1 have never ha d to ride alone, and crossing th e finis h line when trail riding is just as thrilling a nd rewarding as if you were raci ng, and, I m igh t add , m uc h safer an d mo re enjoyable . T here is no entry fee, and .the BLM m ust squirm to think of all the people out there riding and not pa ying any use fee . There are many legal ways to get the a tt ention of th e governme nt and the public , to show t ha t mo torcycling is a fam ily recreational sport wit h needs tha t ha ve long been negl ected by our fed eral, state, and loca l offi cials . Riding the Barstow to Vegas t rai l on Saturday Novem ber 26 , 1977 is just my way of ge nerating a ttention to the fac t that I am d issatisfied with the u nj us t restrictio ns that have been placed against off- road enthusiasts. Every concerned mo torcyclist should do something to make his views known and to help preserve the sport of motorcycle riding. Send a SASE for Barstow to Vegas info. The PHANTOM DUCK ofthe DESERT Box 1725 Fontana, CA 92535 Hold the Mayo Whoever R .J. Carlo is (CN, Oct. 5 "Voices" letter about Jimmy Mayo) must not be a racer, or else he frefers the out-of-control, bouncing of other riders style of riding that Rob Morrison used to do . But there again , everyone to h is own opinion . But sponsors don't usually like to have to fight off the oth er rac ers after a race. He (Mayo) just seems to be wherever th e crashes occu r. Ask our m id -central sta tes racers. B. F. HI LL H urs t, TX We were.there, too We in Distri ct 35 would like to let you know tha t we wer e in Kansas for the Amateur Natio nal tool In th e short track Rob Ely won the 0·83cc 12-15 class. Tom Pritchard was 12th in t he 100cc cl ass . Rodney Su lliv e n was fourth in the 12 5cc cl ass. Lee Pritchard was sixth in the 125cc class . John Burnett was fourth in the 500cc class. At the scrambles we did even better. Rob Ely won the 0·89cc 12-15 class , Tom Pritchard got second in the 100cc Amateur class, Rodney Sulliven won the 125cc class , Marty Hale and Lee Pritchard were sixth and seventh in the 200cc class, and Rodney Sulliven was second in the 250cc class . So that's three National Champions and 10 golds. MARTY HALE Fresno, CA Do it for your children ('d like to encourage other cyclists a nd . ORV fans to wr ite their congressmen and be heard , and also to publicly thank my congressman , Senator Frank Church for his support. When Cycle N ews leaked the rum or of a total ORV ban ea rlier this year, I wrote indi vid u a l letters to the following W ash ington officia ls, and of t hese , on ly Senator Ch u rch respo nded : President Ca rter , the Secretaries of the Int erior a nd Dep t . of Agriculture, and Senator Church (Id a ho- Dern). A few good men in Washingt on do ca re . I have ridden t he d ese rt and mountains of California, Idaho, Nevada , New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah enjoying it alI , and wish to express my thanks to the staff of Cycle News for keeping on top of matters that affect my use of these public lands and hopefully m y ch ildren's enjoyment of them also . DAVE PALMER Roy, UT Thanks I wou ld like to send a spec ial th anks to th e kind lady (who I believe was Dawn Gant) and the member of th e Cactus Cats M.C . who helped me out at the Shamrock's timed hare and hound after m y Husky and I met a stump in the dust. JOHN CLINE Din Diggers M.C . Upland,CA More thanks I would just like to give alI my thanks to Jim Draves and the Paynes and everyone else who tried to help. Thanks to Jim for letting me ride his bike in my race at the Cal City G.P. RICHARD ZAJIC 4lxCRC EI Segundo, CA A voice in the wilderness A recent experience of m ine might be of inte rest to you and you r readers. Anot her exa m ple of the biased applica bility of ou r system of just ice where dirt rid ers are concerned . On July 18th , while rid ing in the d esert, I in adve rt ant ly m eandered onto a cl osed po rtion and was im medi a tely ticketed by a fri endly represen ta tive of "U .S. Magistrate, Joshua National Monument, Twenty. Nine Palms, California ." My gripe is not with th e ticket (I seld om rid e in the desert and was obliviously ignorant of the " cl osed" area) , but with the method of handling afterward. Huntington Beach is my home and everybody knows that's a long way ' from Twenty-Nine Palms. They would not let me settle the matter when the ticket was issued and would not set bail when I could pay and forfeit . Instead, on the hearing date (under protest and threat of arrest) I had to drive from Huntington Beach to Twenty-Nine Palms. There I was told by a clerk that my fine was $25 . That's not even the best of it . The clerk could not handle the money and told me I would have to drive to Blythe to actually pay the fine (tha t's damn near Arizona). When I got to Blythe, t here was this combination real estate/magistrate office where a "Sierra Clubber" was happily colIecting fines . To sum it alI up, for a $25 fine I had to miss a day's work (a nd pay), drive for about nine solid hours and bum three tanks of gas. I personalIy feel that th is is a stupid way of doing things. Is ther e an yth ing that ca n be done to correct this kind of situation? If th ere is, please let me know how I can help. JIM MO NTGOMERY II H u ntington Bea ch , CA:

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