Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

(Above l Team Honda 's Rick Munyo n topped the 250cc class. (Below ) There were a few downhi Hs. al Enduro . Damp sand trails were a major feature of the Chapp arals Nation T ea m R on da tb u m p s C ha pa rr al s N at io na l E nd ur o By Larry Langl ey RED MO UNTA IN ,CA , ~AR. 5 Tea m Hon da's Mike Han non thum ped his way to the over all victo ry at the Cha parr als M .C. Ame rica n Mot orcy clist Asso ciati on Nati onal g End uro, drop ping eigh t poin ts for a conv incinke tro win for h is new sponso r. Mik e sig n ed on fo r the ' 78 end uro sea . son to cam pa Ig n 500cc fou rstro kes bu t the new bikes haven't 8 a rrived yet so he ro de a slight ly modifi ed , Bill Bell-tun ed, C&J-fra med X L-350. H ond a is commi tted to a serious end uro effo rt thi s yea r and th ey sho wed up with a ro lling ga rage for the three T eam Honda riders. Don Sa nford , a lso on a big bore fou r stroke. had a flat tire on the first loop , wh ich in combin at ion with th e power robbing wet sand , ra n him out of gas . Rick Munyon rode a new XL ·2 50 (whi ch received the hop -up treatme nt from Bell ) to second overall , first 250c c for an impress ive debut for the n ew tw in ex ha us t. s ha n s thumpe r. Hon d a R &D personn el flew in fro m J a pa n to observe first ha nd wha t kind of terrain th eir bikes wou ld be riding . . The t hree -loo p end uro was a tru e Nat ion a l cali ber eve nt . eve n before t he week long ra ins played havoc on the course. The C haparra ls were wor king righ t u p to the last m inu te markin g , as the ra in a nd wind was tearing down the marker s as fast as they put th em up. A heavy rain on Sat urday tu rned th e p it area into a q uagmir e and man y riders had to park on Trona Road . A few u nfort u nate souls had to be p ulled out of th e normall y firm area by four wheel drive vehicles . One motor home too k three vehicles to unsti ck . The e n d u ro drew a ro u n d 400 ent ries bu t many stayed home du e to th e hea vy rain . The hardy rid ers who ro de ha d to cope with a stra nge su bsta nce whic h most were not used to : mud . The first th ree m iles of th e first loop had ' desert vetera ns slipping a nd slidi ng around as th ey tri ed to adj ust to a new rid ing style. You ngest finisher Bobby Langle y (SO Yam ) a lmost ha d his ride termina ted when he got stuc k u p to th e ta nk just t hr ee mi les ou t. Lu cikly, his d ad ca me by a nd p u lled him ou t. . T he first loo p was as fa r as th e "C" riders wou ld ride b ut th ey rod e th e same sche d ule as t he " A" a nd " B" ride rs. Da n Clin e (KT M) was t he only "C" ride r to zero the loop with teamm at e T om C how (Suz) followin g close behind wit h two points lost. Chow won t he 200cc class while C line pic ked u p the 250cc class trop hy. J im Bro om field won the "C" Open class wit h two points . T he long 47 m ile loop had m a ny ride rs ru nn ing ou t of gas due to the wet sand . The second loop ra n across H wy. 395 into the Ra nd Mou nt a ins . A fas t 24 m p h average had most riders down a few po ints. Riders were a mazed to drop int o tight little canyons and find runnin g water to slosh through . At the end of th e second loop , the "B" riders wer e fin ish ed. Husky- mounte d Dave Rogers won a automa tic transfe r to "A" for the overall " B" win with a four -point score. Many " A" riders were whippe d by the hard riding on the two previou s loops and the 30 mph average for most of the loop had knowle dgeable riders shaking their heads. They knew th ey could not mainta in the average . They were right. A check soon after the fivemile mark. a speed change to 30 mph and they were off and runnin g, so to speak. When the rooster tails settled, Mike Hanno n had clearly bested the field . There were two checks in the 30 mph section . Hanno n droppe d just three points at each check. Most of the District -S? "A" riders were five to 10 minute s late at each one. Three pucker up downhi lls were the most memor able obstacl es that the riders remem bered. The last was the infamo us "Invad er" downhi ll, named for the desert club who uses it every year in their hare and hound . The Invader s, out markin g their upcomi ng race , gathere d to watch how the enduro riders handle " their" hill . They reporte d that District -37 Open Class Numbe r Two John Townse nd (KTM) took an easy way down instead of coming down the face of the hill . John had compan y when Jerry Counts also took the easy way, but they had to listen to the jeers of the Invader s. An IS-min ute reset got most riders back on time for on e last "timeke epers" check , which A.C. Bakken (Hus), among others , manage d to burn by a minute . A .C . , a former desert numbe r on e plate holder , is going to make an outstan ding enduro rider. H e too k th ird in the Open class. O ther n otabl e scores include d District -Sf rid ers Glen Topl iff and . George H endrix (D -36 Numbe r One Endu ro rider ) wh o took fourth a nd fifth in th e Open "A" class . Ken Lewis, Jr. won the Open " A" cla ss with a fin e 13 point score. Jerry Bailey (Ya m) edged out J erry Counts for the 200cc "A" class win by j ust one poin t. The little bik es deserve a lot of cred it as it was definitely a big bike co u rse . The even t took on an interna tional flavor with th e entry of Jock Crichton , all th e wa y from Scotlan d . J ock rode th e event a couple of yea rs ago while on vacatio n and vowed to return. He even set up a pool ba ck home at the local pub with th e proceed s to charity. Jock ran out of gas on the first loop on a borrow ed bike but still finished . All in all , th e event was excellen t and will make the AMA happy. It 's too b ad mor e Nation al riders didn't com e out to see how a Wester n Nationa l is run . It would have been interest ing to • see how th ey would ha ve done. Un officia ls Resul ts AA: , . M ike Hannon, 8 (Han). 0-200 A: 1. Jerry Bailey, 48 (Yam), 2. J erry Counts. 49 (Honl. 3. J im Strenter , 57. 250 A: 1. Rick Mu nyon, 11 lHonl . 2 . Mike Godrey, 11 {Mail. 3. Rand y Leibig, 22. OPEN A: 1. Ken Lewi s, J r., 13 lYam). 2. Do n l ewis , Yam l. 2. Don Lewis, Jr ., 15. 3. A.C. Bakken. 17 Jr .• 13 1 . IHusl. Pl' A SENIOR: 1. Tom Getetrld IVam). 2. A.B . Kna '. Iv aml. 0-200 B: 1. Ron Hall, 19 IHus l. 2. Mi ke Martin, 24. 3 Roger W at son, 33. 250 B: 1. Dale W armuth, 14. 2. Evert Kempera r, Jr 15. 3. W m. Rogers. 16. OPEN B: 1. David Roger s, 4 {Husl. 2. Rand y Be ns. 9 3. Tom Parker, 11 B SENIOR: 1. D. Carm ine . 2. Chu ck Ad kins. 3 . Ec Austin . B TEAM: R. M ennell, C. Chapman , B. Chapman 11 081. B WO M A N: 1. lind a Zierer, 114 (Han ). 2. C. Watso n 249 (Yaml . 3. Kay Prut sman, 282. 0-200 C: 1. To m Cho w , 2 (SU2'). 2. Grant Dickson, ' IKTM I. 3. Tom Olson. 9 . vovnne, 12. , 250 C: 1. Dan Clin e, 0 IKTMI. 2. Jerry Woodwar d, 12. . 2. 2. Jim Chivas. 6 (Buf OPEN C: 1. Jim Broomfield 3. Dick Thomas, 7 lHusl. C SENIOR: 1. Eric Lehman , 7. 2. Ken Strau ss, 28 . ~ J im Crawford, 53. C WOMAN: 1. Helen Ajay, 155. 2. Nancy Snidmar 163. C TEAM: Kochsmier , Broomfield , Johnson 154!. a

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