Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

INSIDE Sears Point Tra ns·AMA MX 6 Brad's first Trans- AMA. Roger's fourth series Rattlesnake Nat'l Enduro 9 No rattlers , but a little mud Tuff E' Nuff D-37 Endu ro 10 o CC') 1-0 Q) ..0 S Q) > o Z Not too tuff for Godfrey Camel Pro Ser ies breakdovvn 12 Who did which in what Desert Hotline 14 The "Big 0 " goes flat, Balentine wins Western Hotline Northern Dateline • . • . . . Central Pipeline Results Motocross Cat 16 2529 30 31 The risks that eN photograph ers take Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Want Ads 36 ON' THE FRONT PAGE: Hornetown boy Brad Lackey won his first T rans·AMA event at Sears Point Sunda y. Photo by Dale Brown. Svvedish memorabilia The Gianatsis-penned article on Aberg's Hallman-Yamaha thumper was well done, yet contained on e b it of erroneous historical in form a ti on . Bengt Aberg did / does have a fetish for the lusty four -strokes but when he was th e 500cc world titlist in 1969 and 1970 , the bike that carried him to victory was a very stand ard two-stroke 400cc Husqvarna . . . not a fou r -stroke as mentioned in the story. Unless memory fails me , most of Beng t 's four -stroke ex perie n ce was astride various permutations powered by English-derived engines , such as the Matchless Metisse from his wild you th and mos t recently the Cheney-BSA he rode just prior to signing -on with Bulta co . TOSHKONYA - San Pedro , CA Harley rules Charles C . Clayton , President Bobi Scan. Aut. to rhe Presiden t Sharon Clayton , Publ~r Edna Mrowlo n , Secretary to the:' Publisher Advertising De bbie W ilkins. Sales Mgt . Jim Ryan . 5a10 Mgr. Skip J oh nson . Sales Mgr . Chris Kelber . Auistam . Editorial Cha rln Clayton, Edi tor . Da le Brown . Assistant Editor. Bobi Soon. Assistant Editor. Bria n George, Assist.il.m Edit or. Graphics and Production Produ ction: Judy Klin ger . J a n Gill. Typo. graphy: Mu ion Ha rashit a , Donn a Ga bard. Laboratory Produ cti on : Denni.. Greene. Accounting Mike Klinger , Man age r, j eanne H am mond . Accts Receivable. Pam ela Dickerson . Asst. Accu. Rece ivabl e . J u an it... Blan ton . Col lect ion and C redit Circulation Rhf' ba Smith. M a n a~r . Diane Friton . Debbie Drayden . Sandi McK ay. Assistants. . Services and Support J im PWl~U , Linda Ban . recepricnier. West %201 Chrrry Ave. . Long Bra ch . CA P.O . Box 498. Long Bra ch . CA 90801 (%15) 4%7 ·7453 : L.A. Lin<656·8S« . East P.O . Box 80S. Tucker, CA 30084 . (404:) 934 · 7850 . Subscription O ne year, seco n d class mail . 5150 ; % yea n , second class mail, 527 ; 5 yean. second class mail . 537.50 . Copyrigh t © Cycle Nrws .lnc. 1977. Tradmu.n. Cyek Nrws regaeered U. S. Patent Office . AU y righta reserved . Published Wtt'kJ txcrpt tbe fint and last week of tilt calendar yea r by Cycle Nt'WI. Inc. • P.O . Bm: 498 . Long Brach , Cali. fornia . Second class poIta.~ pa id at Long Beach . CA 90801. Cycko Nrws welcomes uasolicired editorial matrrial incl uding stories. ca n oons , pbctce. etc. Such material. if pub lished . becomes the "elu.ive copyright property of Cyck Nt'WI. Such..acttptrd material is su bjec t to revision ill is nn:naary in th e sole d iscn:otion of Cycle News. Unsolicited ma teri al which is not used will be returned if accompanied by a eet f-a d d resse d sca m pe d e n velope . All uNOlicited material will be handled with however Cyclr News asaumC'l reasonable no responsibi lity for the safdy. Ie. or damage to luch material. Repri nting in whole or pan on ly by permissi on o f th e pub lish e rs . Ad~isIng rates and circu la tion mfonnat ion will be lent upon request . See S.R .D.S. carr. 4 I can't help but wonder abou t th e outcome of next year's AMA Grand National Championship. 1 am of the opinion that the winner should be th e best a ll-around rider , no t th e rider owning the fastest Harley. This is not to d et ract from th e abilities of jay Sp ri ngs teen , bu t it seems to me th at th e Harley tea m doesn't have to be the only one in conten tion fo r the titl e. When a privateer such as Gary Scott can so completely dominate a single event (Ascot TT) , why does a b ig international corporation like Yamaha have to turn and run away from d irt track competition? W ithout a doubt , Kenny Roberts is one of the best , if n ot th e best roadracer in the world . That poi nt does not have to be proven by another year of racing in Europe, They must have resigned themselves to the fact that their TZs and OWs are to roadracing what ' the XRs are to dirt track. So it' s off to Europe. whi le here in the U, S . the Harley s will . go uncontested with their engine design wh ich is decades old , their st ri ng broken occasionally by a 10 or 15-yearold Bri tish twin . and maybe even som e die hard privateer who choo ses to stick with riding Yamahas . That would show more loyalty to the com pe titive spirit of the sport tha n withdrawing from all dirt track even ts in th e series . JOHN BERGENER Roswell , N .M . Red River closure Over the Labor Da y weekend, a group of us went to Red River , New Mexico to go trail riding, Some of us ha ve been going since 1964, 1 lived in Red River one summer and wor ked renting motorcycles to tourists . But the people of Red R iver have always been against motorcycles , even though a lot of their busin ess comes from motorcyclists (m aybe as much as 30· 35% ). The rid ing and scenery are so great that you just tried to get along with the townspeople and go on . When we got there this year , howe ver . we fou nd that just about all th e good tra ils had been closed. We wer e told th ey were closed because too many riders were getting off the present trails and making new ones. This could be true , although we have al wa ys stayed on th e trails that were a lready th ere . W ell , a ll I'm asking for is to give th e b ikers a chance. If th ere is a washout problem , put signs up telling bikes to sta y on th e trail s (there have been no signs or person s to wa rn people of a problem ). T he n if th e bikers don 't ob ey. close it down . But, please don't close it down without giving us a ch ance , just in our gr oup th ere wer e 16 gu ys, and we wou ld like to kn ow what we ca n do or who we can see about getting th e trails ope ne d back up. I also hope that some of the riders who ran int o this situation whether it be in Red River or some other ridi ng a re as , write or ca ll or do something to stop the closure of these riding a reas. RICKY BROWN Bedford ,"TX First find out on whose authority th e trails were closed (city, county, state, BLM') , th en conta ct t he land managers and t ake it f rom there . . . Editor Attention Dirty Old Men A couple of months ago in California City 1 happened across a club named th e D.O .M . (Dirty Old Men ). 1 would like any informa tion on how to contact them , membership requirements , location , etc. It looked like a very compa tible club, Especially since I'm a D.O .M . I'd enjoy hearing from them . I'm old enough , ride a 500 Yam and enjoy the desert. GLENN SN O DG RASS 10100 Casaba Ave . Chatsworth, CA 91311 (213) 349 -7752 Quack! Quackl The Ph ant om Duck mail box has been overflowing this past month with inq uiries about the Barstow to Vegas trail ride, and 1 would like to share with you some of the statements sent to me . 1 have not received a bad letter , even though some of my mail has come from people who obviously know nothing a bout motorcycles or motorcyling. and one letter came from the Sierra Club in San Francisco . Following are some statements 1 have received . "Dear Du ck: Being 'new' to rid ing and racing (3 years) 1 inquire d last year of some of the 'old -timers' in my club a bout participating in the un organized B to V ride. The answer - . • No, that sort :of activity will irritate the BLM and could prove counter productive.' Well , 1 bought it then, but felt more attuned to you r sentiments than to the advice 1 accepted . Here we are a year later. The comments you have so consistently (a n d correctly) been making apply even more. So, I'd sure like to join you . I'm with you in spi rit on the trail ." J " I believe that the feelings expressed in your letter to Cycle News are shared by a substantial number of off-road motorcyclists." "Dear Duck , as a competitor who rode all the B to Vslam really looking forward to riding at a speed that you • can see the scenery ." " O K Du ck - What is th is 'trail :~:~t?,~rom Barstow to Vegas al~ "There are three of us that wou ld like to ride with you . H aving ridden the race when it was active and ) a classic, 1 wou ld like to cover the same ground again (wi sh it was a rear race) ." "I'm visiting here from O h io . 1 go legal lights and Ohio plates on my. bike. Will 1 need something else ? Keep up the good work. " " Your 'sequel' to Barstow-to-Vegas sounds interesting." ns "Looking forward to this yea r's trail ride. Last year was grea tl" dJ " Pleased send info on the 1977 B to V. There are six disorganized riders who want to be heard." ~ " I hope to b ring m y whole club on th is one. 1 th ink you ha ve th e righ idea." ns "Send some info , sounds good. We are being pushed out with the same 0 9 Cat that helps the Sierra Clubbersd Myoid Dist. 37 Triumph is silenced.' "Ca n we ride with our club jerseys on? " "W e ca n safely promise 35 bodies and at least 25 riders for this historically im portant event . " . >0::> " I have put it off two yea rs now , and now 1 know this is the only way . 1 will be there ." , "Barstow to Vegas . The Du ck riis right."' "rlJ "Each member of ou r family ha s' his /her own bike. To us , motorcycling! is # 1 as family recreation . We heartily' agree with , and have admiration for. the stand you are ma king . Keep quacking Duck . Sooner or la te someone has got to hearl" ~d Opening letters and sharing th good thoughts of good people makis ~ all th e work worthwhile. Hope to see' you on the B to V trail. For info, send SASE to P .O . Box 1725 , Fontana, CA 92335 . For the B to V trail ride. 1 wilt wear the jacket with a duck patch on the back and a "Q u ack! Quackl" sign on the front of m y bike. "11 I THE PHANTOM DUCK OF THE OESER

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