Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1978 03 22

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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Add ed safety for you and 0) TIMES MORE PROTECTION FOR YOUR TIRES* o with Cycle 1113 way action! 0:: ;;; o cc _"- 5 --' :I: 0.. Jack P.enton disrupts the tr~nquility of a Florida stream on his way to win the Alligator Enduro. droppmg only two po ints. -Penton whips ;~et and wild ~j'Gat or Jill q By ~Jl Mike and Anne Adair u DAYTO NA BEACH , FL, MA R , 9 1 ISDT vetera n Jack Penton rode b 250 cc KTM "su b ma rine" i? l:rrough 69 miles of Florida flood i lL4tnds to a high point victory over w579 entrants in the Dayton a 200 (M .C .'s 29th annual Alligator En du ro . ,..T he 1978 'Ga to r was one of the ~ dampest in h istory and was pre descri~ed by the seve n-man layou t omrmr tee as " wet and wi ld ." q Althoug h the popular annual even tis n o t an A MA Na t iona l, it offers cha m p ionship contenders a chance to s-ri d e wit h no conflicts with the Na tion a l schedule. Jack was joined by his dad John Penton u p hold ing the Penton/ KTM ba nner. Na tio nal Ch a m p ion Dick Burleson and Bob Pop iel rep resent ed Husqvarna's interest. C a n -Am was .rsepresen ted by team members Skip Olson and Kevin Snapp . Olson was going for his third consecutive Alligator win on a prototype 270cc Can -Am Qualifier. Team Suzuki had Herl uf J oh nso n , George Peck and .Drew Smit h ente red with Stone Mo u ntain Na tiona l third pl a c e finisher T ed Worrell nursi ng a bruised ~ .kn ee . Su zuki's T wo -D a y Qual ifie r mrid ers Mike Rosso and Dave Hulse used th e event as a season warm-up . o Roko n's Randy Ma rt in -ro u nd ed ou t the factory backed en trants . Early riders finished th e run as a S light drizzle returned. The later rows fought th e ra in in addition to tank.e deep wa te r. Jack Pent on's High Point score of two ea rn ed a victory that the "' High Point Racing Products executive ha d mi ssed b y 25 seconds in '77 . S Pen ton commented at the fina l check , '"' " It wa s fun , o n ly a fe w m inor p ro b lems . My speedo fogg ed a t the firs t wat er , th e front brake is go ne , and 1 had to fight a loose h andgrip all day ." i! Dick Burleson 's sco re of three topped the AA class. Burleson 's new 250 OR performed flaw lessly. Herl uf Johnson , runner-up in AA with a five point loss ex p lai ne d, "T he new 175 PE di d eve ryt hi ng 1 aske d ." Can-Am 's Kevin Snapp took t hi rd in th e AA d ivision o n a prototyp e 250 cc Qualifie r. Defending Champion Skip Ol son ran out of gas on th e fin al leg . O verall A cla ss winner was Rokon 's Randy Martin who also took the Stone Mounta in A overa ll ba ck to Kee n !"ew H ampshire . Martin cu t groove~ In the R ok on 's dri ve b e lt and com me nted , " It works just like tire treads , the deep wa ter doesn't ca use me a ny co ncern ." R onnie Hines, riding a 390 O R Husky fo r Mo rre l' s Husq va rn a of Att~eboro, .MA , lost only 16 poi nts in an ImpressIve B overall victory . Hin es lost a cha in after the gas sto p and exp lai ned, " It was jammed next to th e enclosed co untersha ft sp roc ket , a nd 1 fough t it for five or six minu tes ." Hines is a. so p~omore st udying electrical enginee ring at Northeastern University . Othe r B divisio n class winners were Ra ndy Bu rbage , Bobby Thomas , Morris McCo rmick , -T ony Mitchell a nd Henry Bryant. John Pe nto n ro lled down the elevated. ~tarting ramp from an eighth row pos ition , overcame a wrong turn, and then carded a super sco re of 24, the on ly Senior A rider to finish in the ho ur. And Rich ard Lenouer emerged at the top of the board fo r the Senior B class . Bar ry Avery topped the com petitive 200cc A class , his eigh t points losing overall A hon ors at th e tie-breaker check . George Peck's 250 cc PE Suzu ki domi na ted the O pen A d ivision . Peck said, "O nce 1 plunged in to a hole an d the hand lebars wen t under. She ca me out runnin g , a nd m y on ly p roblem was the speed om eter." The two wilde st stories a t th e ritu al after-event bench racing sessio ns go to " Wi ld Bill" Hartl ey and Dan Sheffield. Hartley met a Br ahm a Bull he a d up and cli med a pin e tree without sp ikes. Sheffield pushed a nd rode his Bu lta co the wro ng wa y and was ':In t~e co urse all night , fin all y sleep ing In a n ab andoned loggin g truck . Da yton a 200 M .C . members wer e ou t all night look ing for Sh effi eld and ro u nding up' ot he r bik es st ra nded on the co u rse. Results in Resul ts Section. • 1• Cooler tires. running Balance. 3 • Automatic . Cycle III wo rks as a coolant inside the air chambe r, providing a heat barrier that protects your ti res from excessive wear and blow outs. Cyc le III rotates freely within the air chamber, shifting its wei ght as need ed to compensate for ever-changing road and load conditions. A continuous static and dynamic balance is provided , for the life of your tire. protection. 2 • Puncture v. Punct ures up to in. in d iameter and air leak s are sealed permanent ly by Cycle Ill , the instant they hap pen. preve nti ng air pressure loss and tire damage. - Cyc le III i s insta lled throug h the valve, in secon ds. Get a smoother ride and extra protection wit h Cycle III. · WITH A FULL MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! See y our accessory dea ler or write: 15

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