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/126302
Other reports filtering in from Daytona as we go to press say that Kenny Robens has been turning In mph trap speeds on the restrictor·plated 750, down from last year's 191 mph. But King Kenny still hasn't gotten warmed up . Easterner Rich Sch lacter will be rid ing the " Dark Horse" Z· 1 built and tuned ' by A la n and Mark Milford . Mike Ba ld win rode th e bike last vea r a t Laguna Seca's Superbike Product ion ra ce , where he worked fro m a last place start to fin ish seventh . In the 20 0-m ile ra ce , Sch la ct er will tea m with tuner Ke vin C a m e ron in a p rivat eer effort . Two of the Yoshimura R&D Superbike Production entries have posted 153 mph trap speeds at Daytona. Wes Cooley, Jr. did it on the Kawasaki Z·l, while Steve Mclaughlin posted his w'th a Suzuki GS1000. Stop the pressesI Hold everythingl American Bernie Schreiber won th e French rou nd of the World Observed T rials Ch ampionship. The Bultacomounted Schreiber ( 104) b ested Martin Lampkin ( 117 .3) , Yrj o Vester inen ( 12 7 .9) , Ja ime Sub ir a (133) , Vlf Karlsson , Rob Shepard , Mick Andrews . Ga rger , Malcolm Ra thmell and Abad . It was th e first win ever for a n American in world trials com petition. The win boosted Schreiber's points total to 20 and moved him to sixth place behind Vesterinen (50). Lampkin (47), Uif Karsson (28), Rob Shepard (27), and Mick Andrews (26). The W orld vs. Am erica n Speedwa y m atch ra ces were pos tponed by a week d ue to th e seem ingly endless supply of precipita tion in Southern California . T he sched ule now stands a t: Vent u ra , March 7, Costa Mesa , March 10. Sa n Bernardino , March II , Ascot Pa rk , March 16, Costa Mesa Ma rch 17 and San Bernardino , March 18. The March 5 Stone Mountain Eastern Region National Enduro, held near Dalton, GA, drew a record 695 riders , The newly instituted"AA" class (a super " A " class for the 14 top-ranked riders in the nation) was won by Bill Geier IKT M) , Gary Younkins (KT M ) took " A " class honors while Frank Gallo topped the " B" class. Guess who won t he Senio r c lass. Right John Penton IPen). Coverage next week. Tea m H onda mechanic Bill Buchka 's wee kly telephone update on Bra d La ckey's European MX doings has "Bad Brad" winning again , this time in Fra nc e . In a Ma r. 5 500cc Interna tional me et at Gasn y, La ckey put his Bu chk a -tu ned Honda on top wit h a 2- 1-1 a fte rnoon ta lly. Second was Fr enchman Da niel Pean , rid ing a Ma ico on his home track, with a 1-3·2 score . Ma ico 's Ha ns Maisch to o k fourth with a 3·2 -3 over Sachs rid er W illi Bauer who turned in a 6-4-4 d ay. 2 Lackey didn't have Heikki Mikkola to contend with in France; Team Yamaha's 500cc World Champion raced in another 500cc In t ernat i o nal meet in Belgium instead, taking the overall win w ith a 1·1 score. Jaak Van Velthoven, riding a KTM, claimed second w ith a 3·2 total. and he was f ollowed by Maico·mo unted Ivan v a n den Broeck who had a 2·3 day. Tea m Honda's Graham Noyce tl;Jrned in a 4-4 performance for fourth overall at the Mar. 5 event in Wuustwezel. In a cla ssic example of how im portant one le tter ca n b e in a cast of t ho usands . a typo went through in th e last issue cha nging the entire meaning of the pa ragra ph. "Entries are not op en for the ... $50 ,000 Tra ns·AME Series," it read . W ron g . Ent ries are n ow open. Call Am erica n Motocross Enterp rises a t 213/ 881 ·5778 for entry info rm a tion. T he series kicks off Ap ril 2 a t Saddleb ack Park in O range , CA . In a sweeping management reshuffle, Kawasaki Motors Corporation has appointed former Western Region Sales Manager Terry TIernan to the position of National Sales Manager. TIernan also fills in as acting Director of Marketing for KMC following the resignation of Graham Kirk . Replacing Tiernan as Reg ional Manager for Western Area is Joe Ramos. Former los Angeles area district manager Dave Stone has been assigned the Regional Sales Manager for the Central Area position. KMC President for the past 11 years, " Geo rge" Hamawaki has been promoted and rot at ed back to Japan; he is replaced in the U.S. by Mr. Soj i Yamada. Ga ry Scott has relin quished his Evel Kn ievel sponsorshi p a nd will now ride und e r t he KK Motor cycl e Su p pl y banner. Scott , contacted by phone at his Sprin gfield . OH residence just p rior to leav ing for Daytona , stressed the fact that the split was one of necessity. " In Evers present situation (Knievel is presently serving a much publicized jail sentence) , it has become increasingly ha rder to conduct the dea lings related to our sponsorship p rogra m, " commented Scott. " I do feel th a t on ce Evers sit ua tion is cleared up . he will be squ arely beh ind me once lIga in ." " To mount a successful challenge fo r the AMA Grand National Championship title I really need someone who can be dealt with on everyday basis," Scott an continued, " J. R. Kelley (president of KK Motorcycle Supply in Dayton, OH is that man. J .R. has always been behind me 100%. Now he will also be my sponsor: ' Defen d ing Dayt on a 200 champion Steve Baker will ride a Yamaha Motor Ca n ada T Z750 tu ned by Bob Work on a one -time -on ly basis in the 200 'miler previewed elsewhere in th is issue . Mcl.aughlin , by th e wa y, IS be ing t ra nsported aro u n d Da ytona including jaunts arou nd the pits - by a chauffeur-driven Cadill ac limousine tha t Cycle N ews' ma n on th e sce ne des cri be d as ' " big as a motorhorne." Mc Laugh lin hir ed th e lim o for the week . Ron Pierce will contest Daytona on a brand-new Yamaha TZ750 he bought himself. Pierce, who qualified seventh last year (fastest non·OW replica) will have tuning help from Bob Work. who'll also handle Steve Baker's machlaerv. Pierce described the bike as being faster than the one he rode last year, even with the restrictor plates. At Dayton a , Ga ry Scott said of the restricror plates: " I g u ara n tee it's gonna be a lot better for raci ng. The bikes a re not as fa t; they don't ha ve that blinding a cceleration. They've got good mid -range and yo u ca n to rque ou t of a corne r like a fourstroke ." Said Da ve Em de , " It takes awa y a lot , b ut the b ike is mo re fu n to ' rid e. You h ave to rid e it hard like a 250 ," Gene Romero's Don Vesco· sponsored TZ750 will be very easy to spot at Daytona - it's painted a bright fluorescent orange. Taking over the C MC banner , in Sacra ment o will be J on Boyett e , H on Herrera of Jh ont Mo tocross, Bul e Campbell . and D&C promotcr Pa t Doyle . The decisions were made early last week when CMC Presid ent Stu Peters met with the various prospects. Hon Herr era will be ta ki ng most of the BOSS Motocross crew with her . The W inter·AMA was the f irst in a se ries of Regional Motocross Championships for AMA Novice Pros. After the completion of the series, Kippy Pierce 1125cc), Gary Pustelak 1250cc ) and Wemyss Scott (500cc) are the Eastern Region leaders; Randy Kirschbaum (125c c), Kirk Bigelow 1250cc) and Monte Anderson 1500cc) lead the Central Region; and Gregg Toyama l125cc), Steve Rhyan (250cc) and Dan Waller 1500cc) head up the Western Region. In addition to bein g named ca pta in of th e Exet er Falc ons speed way te a m in Gr eat Brit ai n , Scot t Au tr ey will have a Weslake works rid e for 1978 . Off·road racers are reminde d that t he Las Vegas 400 desert motorcycle race is scheduled for April 16. A companion event, the Mini Vegas 100, runs the day before. New for this year's 400 is a Sportsman class, with a $100 entry. Entry for the Pro class is $235.50 plus $12.50 plus $20 insurance. Entry for the Mini 100 is $80. Get in touch with Sportsman Cycle, 3475 Boulder Hwy.. las Vegas, NV 89121, 7021457·0343 for more information. If you 're in Long Bea ch , CA on Mar. 19. d on 't miss a chance to check ou t a pipe organ (tha t' s right - pipe organ) concert in the back of J oe Koo ns' shop a t 1350 E. Anaheim . Tiny Hiserman has arranged two shows at 2 and 5 p. m . , a nd we can enjo y 'e m for a mere $5 donation. More info at 213/591 7159 . According to an article by Gordon Martin in the San Francisco Chronkle, residents living near Santa Clara Fairgrounds ISan Jose Mile) haveeomplemed of noise and dust. As a result, the Santa Clara county supervisors have voted to allow five auto races and one motorcycle event to run during April and May. May 7 is the date of the first '78 San Jose Mile; another is set for Sept. 24. The April/May races will be monitored for noise and dust before 11 additional events will be considered, according to the ChronIcle. Minoru Sato, the director of H onda R&D in th e U.S . . and Shoich iro Irimajiri, designer of the Honda CBX six -c ylind er a nd in charge of motorcycle development in J a pa n, will be spec ta t ing at Da yto na .' Pa p a wonders what'll co me of it all . Is another Daytona win for Honda in the future? Enduro riders listen up! Effective March 1, Maico has an extensive enduro rider support program available to the top 10 A and B riders from all districts, regions and rider organizations. Some riders will qualify for free use of a Maico WR -a nd free parts. Others will qualify for one or more phases of the support program. At the end of July, the Maico WR rider with the most AMA National Enduro points will qua lify for a full works ride . Interested timekeepers see your local Maico dealer or Jim Baird at Maico West 1 213/849·6066) or Tom Steele at Maico Motorcycles (717/242..0556). A long wi th the en d u ro su p port program , Maico is making a big push to wa rds th e ISDT to be held this year in Sweden . Travel and entry money a re availa ble for all Maico riders at all T wo Da y Q u alifiers. plus a fu ll facto ry enduro rid e available in 1978 (b ike , bonus, and travel expense m oney) . T her e will also be special p rices on Ma ico WRs and p a n s to serious . qu al ifi ed endu ro ride rs. Com e Septem ber, there will be free. full factory support in Swed en - works Ma icos, pi t crew and trav el mon ey to the top six U.S. Ma ico riders . Joe Wernex, ORV Supervisor of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, called Papa the other day and told him that Washington had $1,000,000 to be used in an ORV trail development program. He 's looking for ideas, suggestions and information on how to handle the money as well as other ORV·re lated topics. Yo u could land should) contact him at 206/753·2400, or write Joe Wernex ORV Supervisor, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Olympia, WA 98504.