Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Ana heim Hi -Siders M .C, clu b is organizing a caravan to the Feb. 25 desert seminar in San Diego. CA. T he p arade leaves the Ana heim Fox Cinem ala nd Theater parking lot at 6 a.rn, sharp. Call Al Smith (714) 997 · 8615 or Jerry Jared (714) 772 ·92 71 if you need m ore info. High tides and surf wiped out two ramps to Pismo Beach in California this week. The Pismo ramp and Grand Ave . ramp are closed indefinitely. The Pier Ave. ramp is open, and the Sand Highway should only be attempted by ORV type vehicles. The Ca liforn ia Recrea tion a l Trails Committee will meet Feb. 23 . 1:30 p .m. at Carnegie Cycle Park. Corral Hollow R d . , 15 miles east of Livermore to eyeball the site, then again at 7 p .m . at 2450 8th St. in Livermore to hear " p ublic tes timony relative to th e future of Carnegie Cycle Park." Bikers, be there. Ca rnegie will make a fine green stickie 0 R V site. DeCoster injured 2 MOL. BELGIUM, FEB. 2 Roger DeCoster, fi v e-time SOOcc MX World Cha mpion and eig ht-year Team Suzuki veteran, was seriously injured while practicing for the 1978 GP season near the village of Mol, Belgium on February 7. The 3J yea r·old MX superstar was rid ing w ith his longtime f riend, and former Suzuki teammate, Sylvain Geboers during a training sess ion when his motorcycle struck a hidden depression in t he track, throwing DeCoster off the bike and int o a tree by the side of the racew ay. Though stunned, DeCoster w ith the aid of Geboers was able to ret urn to hi s mecha nic 's van w here he collapsed. Geboers im m ediately sum moned a not ed sports physic ian , Dr . Dalwaduwa who liv es in Mol. to the racew ay and following a pre liminary examination - which revealed no broken bones bu t strongly suggested t he possibility of i nt ern al injury - the doctor moved DeCoster to the H. Hart Clin ic in Mol for consultation with a specialist. The athlete rem ain ed conscious throughout the trip , but had developed a high fever and wracking chill, and posted a heart rate of 210 beats per m inute upon arrival at the hospital. Disregarding the danger of inducing a second, and possib ly fatal, shock to DeCoster's system, Dr . Verbekke - an int ern al injury specialist - determined that an emergency operation was essential to discover the extent of damage done to DeCoster's pancreas and spleen. The operation lasted three hours, du ring which time it was necessary to replace six liters of blood to DeCoster's system. He had lost almost 80% of his total body supply. . Dr . Verbekke in itially discovered only superficial bruises to DeCoster's pancreas, but it appeared to be functioning well so an immediate threat to his life was averted. His spleen, however, had ruptured in five places and was releasing poisons int o the thoracic cavity, necessitating ~n immediate spenectomy to remove the now use less but quite dangerous organ . ' Alt hough DeCoster's blood pressure and heart rate dropped t o hazardously low levels during the operation, following it his condition stabilized. He regai ned consciousness soon after surgery, and recognized and spoke to his w ife, Laurie , who was at his bedside. Due to the extreme seriousness of his case, however, DeCoster was placed on the critical li st for 24 hours and remained i n the int en siv e care ward at the clinic for several days. Dr. Verbekke is optimistic regard ing DeCoster's chances for a complete recovery. and a return to racing. "Roger should be able to leave t he cl inic in two weeks," he said, " and can resume hi s training sc hedule as soon as he regains sufficient strength. "I do not however, w ish to m in imize the difficulty he has come through," Dr. Verbekke co ntinued. " If DeCoster were not a superb athlete in excellent condition, he almost certainly would not have survived the surgery. On the other hand, if we had not operated on his spleen the consequences would have been fatal." Forty-eight hours after the accident DeCoster remained in int ensi v e care . He was resting comfortably, but w ith some pain, and was be ing fed intrav eneously. The family has requested that notes of condolence and encouragement from his ma ny fans be addressed to Roger DeCoster, c/o Public Relations, U.S. Suzuki Motor Corp., 13767 Freeway Drive, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670. . A presstime update on DeCoster's condition, thanks to Suzu ki Public Relations Manager Jeff Burtt, indicat es that The Man is ab le to walk around the clin ic and is eating solid food again after six days of int rav enous feeding. He has lost weig ht due to t he restrictive diet, but is in re lative ly good spirit s. He hopes t o leav e the clin ic on Monday, Feb. 20, and his first pla ns include meeting a physical t her api st and go ing to Spain to beg in train ing in the warmer cli m at e. He admit s it ' s " im possible to tell" w hen he can return t o competition, but he 's aiming fo r the opening ro und of the '78 500cc World Championship M X Series in Sw itz erland on Apr. 9. He ma y be forced to m iss the first two races, however, depending on hi s recov ery rat e. . • There's a possibility that the location for the Feb. 19 round of the CMC/Suzuki Golden State Series will change from Helvetia Park to Sacramento OHV Park. Call promoter Fred Dion (Boss MX) at 916/635-5240 for a last minute check before making the trip . The unending California rain, naturally. is the problem, and Helvetia may be submerged. While you read th is. Sa n Diego County will be decid ing th e fa te of Santee ORV park project. MIC sent a lert letters to 500 San Diego tr ail bik ers a nd CN Presid en t Chuck Clayton is spe a king on bikers' behalf at the Feb . 15 hearing. Read how it ca me out in next week's Cycle News . Wanna have some fun Saturday, Feb. 257 Then boogie down to the EI Cortez Hotel Century Room at 7th and Ash, San Diego, CA and dig the desert recreation presentations put on by the California Desert Advisory Committee. Rockhounds , horsebac kers, bikers, environmentalists and hikers (hikers7) will show how they do it in the Dez. Show starts at 8:30 a.rn., and AMA will present our part at 1:30. It's free to the public. You can also view the new BLM desert plan. Ma ybe on e reason why d irt bike rid ers don't show up on land use hea rings is because it' s an adv ersa ry game th at nobod y wins . " I' d r a th er be trespassing" is th e dirt rid er 's slogan, at least in ~any parts of Southern Cal ifornia . According to J im Pomeroy. Team Honda w ill be running " basically stock" production CR250Rs during the Toyota Supercross Series. Honda. following Yamaha's lead, w ill only be changing t he head, cylinder, pipe, front tire,- shocks and possibly swingarm on each team member's bike. A ll the new components are being shipped in this week from Japan except for the shocks wh ich are being supplied by 1II\0to-X Fox , 197 6 a nd 1977 AMA Supe rbik e Pro du ction Ch ampion Reg Pridmore will rid e a Kawasa ki KZI000 in th e 1978 Su pe rb ike Nat ion al s. Pierre desRoc hes will tune t he mach ine, with spo nso rs hi p bac ki ng fro m Ra ce crafrers. ' In c. and Vet te r Fa iring Co . Davi d Emde has ended hi s rider/tuner relationship with Mack Kambayashi for 1978. Instead. Emde will r ide a new TZ750 Yamaha owned and turned by Mel Dinesen and a new Yamaha TZ250 prepared by Floyd Emde (David's Daytona-winning father). For Da ytona , Ron Pierce will ride the Bob Work·prepared TZ250 that Steve Baker used to win the Daytona 250cc race last year. To date , Pierce does not have a 750cc or Superbike ride for Speed Week. Pops Yosh imura 's son-in-law, Shohei Kato of Japan, will make his U.S . Superbike Production debut at Daytona. riding one of two Yoshimura R&D of America GS1000 Suzukis. Kato, who has done well in Japanese events aboard a Yoshimura/Egli Z-1, w ill be a teammate to Yoshimura riders Steve Mclaughlin (Suz GS1000) and Wes Cooley, Jr. (Kaw KX1000). Wanta be a movie star? Pa pa's been shining his helmet ever since J im Bel tin ck told hi m th a t a film crew for th e movie "A Great Ride" will be at th e Feb . 18 Sad dl eb ack Sa tu rday MX. The Feb. 12 round of the MXL W inter-AMA MX Series at Gainesville, Florida's Gatorback Park facility played host to 271 riders. However, when the dust settled two of the three victors were doubling their action from last week. Don Kudalski (Yam) romped to double moto w ins in the Open class while Mark Barnett (Suz) did the same in 125cc action. M ickey Kessler (Yaml was the 250cc victor w ith a 1-2 score. Tony DiStefano suffered facial cuts and bruises in a second mot crash in t he 250cc class w hich put him out of action for the rest of the day. Mickey Bo one 's association with Harley-Davidson as their sole factory supported ride r came to a q uick end. Boone felt that th e bikes were no t competitive and re turned to h is privateer status to ride Suzuki. John Davidson (Harley·Davidson) was elected president of the AMA Board of Trustees at the annual Class B meeting in Cincinnati on Friday, February 10. Other officers are Jim Wells (Class A Memberl vice -president; Graham Kirk (Kawasaki) secretary; Bob Craig (Goodyear) treasurer; and Gene Trobaugh (Suz) assistant treasurer. Rounding out the board are Tom Sargent (Cycle), Don L'Heureux (Belli, Les White (Honda), Roger Hull (Road Rider), Dave Tucker (Yamaha). Bill Gifford (Class A Member - replacing Mark Rosen. who res igned recently) and Bill Baird (Class A Memberl . Husqvarna's Chuck Su n suffered a sh ou ld e r inj ury while training in Sweden and will not ride in the opening round of the Toyota Supercross on Feb. 18 in Seattle. He hopes to be ready for the Ma r. 4 Atlanta round . The U.S . versus the World Speedway series has been set for early March, with five and possibly six races around Southern California. The World team will consist of World Champions Barry Briggs, Ivan Mauger, Peter Collins, Bri t is h C hamp M ichael Lee, Australia n Cha mp John Bo lger, New Zealand Champ Larry Ross and Britisher Terry Betts. The America n tea m will com p rise Rich MacMurray, Mike Faria , Scott (Continued to page 11)

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