Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

U.S. Suzuki will sponsor the California Motosports Club (CMC) sanctioned Second Annual Suzuki Golden State.; Series , a seven-race motocross program with a total of $24,300 to be awarde"d. A $3000 purse at each event plus a $3300 point fund from Suzuki are up for grabs. It all begins on January 8 and follows through February 19. Three Pro classes 125cc, 250cc and Open - will split the money. Amateurs will also get a chance to joing in on either Saturday or Sunday; depending on each track's schedule. For more info, contact th CMC at P.O. Box 1402, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 or call 714/557· 3323 on weekdays. Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) president Dr. Charles H. Hartman has been appointed-by President Caner to the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee. The committee reports directly to Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams advinsing, consulting and making recommendations on highway safety issues. The Ridgecrest Cycle Park Committee. a city council committee. is in the process of creating a 160 acre recreation park west of the city of Ridgecrest. CA. Eighty acres will be for motorcycle use - 40 for a motocross track and 40 for trailbike riding. Overnight camping facilities will be available on the BLMland. The 2 + 2 Racing Team's hare and hound at Hollister Hills on December 11 has been changed to a hare scrambles. Mileage will be the same 100 miles - and the entry fee will be $10. Laverda displayed their 1,OooccV-6 endurance road racer at the Milan (Italy) Show. The DOHC, 24-valve -. superbike is fed by six Dellorto carbs, has shaft drive, is watercooled via two radlatcrs. . produces a claimed 140 horses. and weighs a claimed 385 pounds. 2 Willie Hackie is wondering where his little Kodak Trimlight Instamatic camera is. Lost on the days of the Dirt Digger's Gran Prix, Hockie is offering to either buy the camera from the finder , or let him keep it, but his main interest is in the pictures on the roll of film. If the finder would please notify Willie at 213/320-5438 or 328-1243, no questions will be asked. All Hockie wants is the roll of film . - The DaYtona 200 will retain its F750 World Championship status. Contracts were signed December 5 returning t,he 200 to championship status after the FIM ' requirement for peyment of an appearance money minimum had been rasolved to the satisfaction of all parties. . According to- the AMA's Bill Boyce, "The purse has been rained $14,250 to a total of $84 ,250 and will be distributed to the entire 80 rider field with the winning of the last place rider exceeding the minimum set by the FIM." The winner will take home $11,800 plus contingencies. " In other Daytona news. the purse for the Superbike event has been raised by $4.000 to $7.500 with the lIiternatlonal Lightweight and Novice events paying $&,000 and . 4.000. respectively. The purse for the Supercross has not yet been finalized. Carnegie Cycle Park , Northern California's . largest recreational .offroad vehicle park, may be purchased by the State of California under the state's Off Road Vehicle Act, commonly referred to as the "green stickie" program_ Want to express your opinion? Write to Russell W. Cahill , Director of Parks and Recreation , clo Trails Planning Section, P.O. Box 2390, Sacramento, CA 95811. F750 World Champion Steve Baker will be Suzuki mounted in FIM 500cc World Championship Grand Prix next year. Baker obtained the ride through the efforts of 500cc World Champion Barry Sheene af· ter the two both attended an AGV Helmet meeting in Imola, Italy. two weeks ago. Baker will team with Italian Virginlo Ferrari on the Nava Olio Rat team. Sheene was quoted in England's Motor Cy'de as saying. "Yamaha are stupiClito drop Baker. I'll do my best to persuade Suzuki to let him have a special bike." Baker is expected to continue to ride a Yamaha in F750 events. Steve Baker, who announced last week that he would be riding for the Italian Suzuki 'distributor in GP races next year, now says he will not compete at Daytona in March. The F750 World Champion will miss both the Daytona 200 and the Anglo -American Match Races in England. He will start his season with the Venezuelan F750 race and four races in Italy will cause him to miss Match Races . New from Can-Am are the MX-4 series machines, an updated 250cc version and an all-new 370cc model. The 370cc bike shown here features pistonl port/reed valve induction rather than Can-Am's standard rotary valve set-up found on the 250cc machine. Both sport a lowered center of gravity. 15inch Girlings with 9.&inches of rear wheel travel, and 38mm Marzocchi forks with 9.&inches front wheel travel. Saddleback Saturday Motocross Is closing the season this year with a couple hot events. Spectro Oil is sponsoring a guaranteed $600 'Pro purse motocross on December 10. and the money could be more. For the sportsman. Arrow Chevrolet is holding an all Beginner, Junior and ' Int erm ediat e day with no Pros ' running. There will be $2400 worth of gift certificates for van or truck accessories to shoot for. All prices are the same as they have been all year. $& for Sportsmen and $13 for Pros. Jim Beltinck is the man In charge of SSM. Yamaha announced that their '78 National motocross team will be the same as 1977. Broc Glover will defend his 125cc title , Bob "Hurricane" Hannah and Pierre Karsmakers will battle in the 250cc class, while Rick Burgett and Mike Bell are to contest the 500cc circuit. Jim "Mac" MacDonald and Cliff Lett. from Flying Machine Factory R&D. are rumored to be starting ProLine Developing. Pro-Line services planned include MX set-up seminars. R&D services for any new product. custom-built professional race bikes and pipes, as well as a nationwide technical , . Kawasaki's National motocross team for 1978 , according to reliable sources, will be "Gassin'" Gaylon Mosier in the 125cc class, Jammin' Jimmy Weinert in the 250s and Steve Stackable in the 500s. Look for -Kawasaki to make it official soon . Mosier was out at Saddleback Saturday Motocross on Dec. 3 with a water-cooled works Kawasaki 125. He smoked the class. natch. Cycle News will be on vacation from Dec . 14 to Dec . 28. The editorial offices will be closed during that period. This issue' marks the appearance of new Cycle News West Managing Editor Charles Morey. Morey. a Cycle News East editor ,for three and a half years. takes the reins' from Charles Clayton, who returns to the presidency. Most readers will recognize the Morey byline from one of the many fine motocross reports and features he's authored. Final approval for the Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area in San Benito County will be the principle item before the California State Park and Recreation Commission at a December 12 meeting. The plan calls for continuing of the 2200 acres devoted to off-road cycling. The Hollister SVRA meeting will convene at 9 a.m. in the Valencia Room of the Park Center Plaza Holiday Inn at 282 Almaden Blvd. in San Jose, Hollister Hills is the first _state-operated vehicular recreation area to be funded from the'speclal "Green Stickie" registration fees paid by off-road vehicle ow,:,ers. ~Mike Kldd, winner of three half mile Nationals in 1977, was awarded with a son by his wife Sandra on November 22. Randall Wayne Kidd weighed in at eight pounds, ten ounces. Speedway rider Ron Preston of Calexico. CA has just returned from . a successful month-long venture in Australia. Preston did well on the larger tracks, winning all but one of the races he entered, but said he's glad to be back in the U.S. According' to Fugio Yoshimura, Yoshimura R&D will file suit against RJS Engineering for alledgedly selling Yoshimura pipes obtained from a sub contractor without Yoshimura permission . Donna Smith of RJS Engineering denied the charges , saying that RJS did not do business with the sub-contractor, and 'that RJS pipes had a different baffling syst~m. Pat Hennen, who finished third in the 500cc World Championship road race standings has inked his • name to a new contract with Suzuki as Barry Sheene's teammate for 197&. Hennen said he looked forward to seeing Kenny Roberts in Europe, but told Roberts that "Yamaha had better look out." It is no secret that Hennen wants to take the crown away from Sheene as bad as Roberts does. Gary Scott will be back riding under the Evel Knievel banner for 1978. "Evel was really pleased with our first venture this season," said Scott after the AMA awards banquet. "I'm now in the process of putting together a road race program at the moment which I hope will end all the problems I had this year. The deal should be together ina week'or two. "

• Cover