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/126286
01 1-0 Q) ..c e Q) > o Z AMA's Board of Trustees, in an emergency meeting Oct. 27 announced that they have " rel uct an t ly" accepted the resignation of the association's executive director Mr. Barrie Best. Former AMA legal eagle Gene W irwahn was persuaded to act as executive director - until a replacement can be found . Wirwahn postponed his plans to j oin a Washington, D.C. law firm. Five California off-road vehicle projects have been okayed by state Parks and Recreation Director Russ Cahill this week. $45 .000 will go to Monterey County for a minibike track at Laguna Seca, $125,000 to the. city of Huron for lighting a motocross track , $52,000 to Marysville for improvements at Riverfront Park OHV Course, $262,500 to Riverside County for buying 619 acres to expand De.Anza Motorcycle Park , and $130,000 to Sacramento County to operate its I,OOO-acre ORV park , Attaboy: ~uss. Dick Mann will ride the Pioneer Exhibition race at the Pioneer Town GP, according to the Dirt Diggers M.C. Bugs will join Eddie Mulder, Feets Minert. Rolf TIbblin, Jack Hateley and Eddie Crowell, among others. All motocross races at DeAnza Cycle Park will be produced by the California Racing Club (C R C). They'll run weekly , with a special points system, purse races, team races, etc. DeAnza is near Riverside, CA and CRC is at (213) 830-7519. This is a recording. Rumors are rife that Honda will offer 1,OOOcc _four based on their European endurance racers - air coo led, cha in drive, etc. Also expected for 1978 is a new 500cc single with four va lves. dry sump lu bri catio n, and golly knows whatall. Stay in tune. Montesa distributors will be investing more money into local rider support. Any Montesa rider who finishes in the top three in a race or trials will win a gift certificate good for free parts. The event must be reported by a national publication (guess that includes Cycle News) . First place gets $25 worth of parts , second $15 and third $10 , Contact Cosm opolitan Motors (215 ) 672 ·9100 or Viva Disc (213) 766-6101 for d etails, 2 AMA's legal beagle Rob Rasor was the only biker to speak at the recent Desert Conservation Committee's meeting in Needles, eA. "There seems to be a total indifference to land use planning until actual closures take place, " sa id Rasor. " A t that point. however, it's too lat e." Thanks. Rob. Robert Wells , 35 , a native Texan , was named President of Triumph Motorcycles America . Mr. Wells is an avid motorcycle enthusiast who has a background in banking and finance . The last boatload of Triumph Silver Jubilee Bonnevilles had arr iv ed in the U.S. The limited ed it ion, 1,000, Bonny is sure to be a collector's item. Irwindale Raceway closed forever last week. The site has been leased to Miller Brewing Co . for $1 a yea r . There is some talk that the Lions Club will reactivate their Long Beach , California drag strip. We sure hope so, Plastic man Preston Petty says he'll ride the $5.000 pro class at the upcoming Dirt Diggers Grand Prix. Preston is currently busy inventing an unbreakable plastic motorcycle. Full ' Bore West. Inc, and Ossa West, Inc , were purchased by D. Greg Toms from John Taylor, President of Yankee Accessory Corp. on Sept. 22, Now they tell us. Full Bore and Ossa West will continue to operate from 13712 Alma Ave. , Gardena , CA , What are Insanity Ridge, Cardiac Cliff, Bobseld Run , and t he Gorge? We don't know either, but we 'll find out at Anaheim Stadium, CA Nov. 12 at t he Coca-Cola Motocross Finals. Doo-wah l Keith Brown of the Maywood M.C . tells us that comedian Jonathan Winters and Land Speed Record holder Gary Gabelich will help offic iate and entertain at the Toys for Tots Grand Prix December 3 and 4 at Saddleback Park. These ex-Marines are gung-hot Metzeler has introduce d what t he Honda mechanics calf " the Brad Lackey tire," actually a 5.00 X 17 knobby w ith a footprint tha t barely fits inside the swingarm . Hi-Point Accessories, the Penton people, will market the new t raction provi der. Anaheim Stadium MX p romot er Mike Goodwin and John Cerw in , who is NBC's producer for filmi ng the Coca Cola MX Finals November 12, took off Jim Culver of Kansas City, Missouri must have been born under a lucky star. When he returned home from the hospital where his wife had just delivered their baby girl, the phone was ringing. The phone call was from Letko Competition Cycles, 86th and Parallel, Kansas City, Kansas, telling him that he had just won the Maico West contest - a new Maico motorcycle. The 29-year-old Culver is already a Maico owner. He purchased a WR 250 two months ago. Culver has been riding motorcycles since 1967. His current riding interests are hare scrambles and trail riding. Culver has his choice of any motocross Maico, He will choose the AW 450 Maico. Now every Sunday Jim Culver will be the envy of any motorcycle rider as he decides, " W hic h Maico do I wantto ride today?" in search of the Great Pumpkin GP in Corona, CA this weekend. Goodwin entered the GP and unofficiall y finished first Open Beginner and possibly l Oth overall. Not too shabby for only his second race in 10 yea rs, Goodwin was riding a 390 Husky automatic while Cerwin putted around p lay riding. Cerwin attending the event has given him the idea to plan a possible feature film on the evolution and growth of motocross in the states. The 1978 AMA National MX program will feature three displacement classes as in years past: 125, 250 and 500cc. A fifteen week schedule is being prepared w ith two of the thirty Nationals being run on each date. No Support classes w ill be run, but the privateers are expected to fair better, money-wise, running in one of t he National classes. Next yea r's tentative AMA Grand Na tional Championship sched u le calls for 30 races with the possible addition of two more events. Included in th e schedule is a return to the mile facility at the Springfield, Illinois fairground after an 11 year absence. The majority of events on the 1977 schedule remain as fixtures for '78 although both the Castle Rock TT and Terre Haute half mile venues have been dropped . Jimmy Ellis didn't attend the Dallas Trans-AMA and the word is that Can-Am has withdrawn from the rest of the Series, Honda is reportedly developing the biggest, fastest, heaviest Superbike ever to come out of J a pa n , Reported features include: 1500cc straight six engine with a CVCC head, shaft d rive, fuel injection, 6.50 x 16 rear tire and 4.00 x 19 front , 15 diameter single front disc with oversized cal iper, 696lb . weight with gas , approximate 150 m ph to p speed and gas mileage in the 50 mpg range. Look for a 750cc six cylinder with CVCC head as well. W Scott the goggle manufacturer, had Jimmy Weinert testing a prototype version of the upcoming plastic boot at Dallas. The lower plastic portion of the boot pivots completely independant of the upper part to prevent possible twisting motions being transferred to the knees, The Rich mond World Championship Minibike Grand Prix is on for Friday night, Nov . 18, just before the Nov. 20th Sears Point Trans-AMA race. Entries for the Dirt Digger 's Pioneer Town Grand Prix are still open. Com ing up in an issue of Cycle News soon is an interview with Ru ss Cahill, th e new Director of California's Pa rks and R ecr ea t io n Dept. with some interesting and insigh tfu l ideas (he's a trail biker), a close look at Bengt Aberg's grand p rix winning Yamaha four-stroke motocrosser, and , Lord willing and the creeks don't rise, a surprisel •