Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Pure motocross IINSIDE = ~ World Trials Championship In 6 Schreiber takes second World Trials in Spain Cyclerama '78 8 Everything - even the Easter Bunny Honda protothumper . .. 12 498ccs of four -stroke endu ro bike Desert hotline 14 Balentine's day in the desert Low-buck two-stroke mods 16 More hp @ less $ New Products Western hot line National Papers 18 20 29 Camel Pro competit ion in the West Northern dateline Central pipeline Results _ - Calendar WantAds Dealer & Service Directory 30 36 38 40 44 47 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Winner of th e Motocross Cat Koloring Kontest, drawn by Ton y Bell and colored by R.C. Cart er. Bitchin I agree 100 % with Keith W iddison 's com ment on Bob Bitchi n . I used to slip a copy of Cycle N ews in front of a non-biker and talk a bo ut th e good points of motorcycles. Now I' m afraid someone m igh t p ick up a co py and read t ha t trash . JI M HOW ES Kennewick , W A More Bitchin C hartes C . C layto n. P~nidrnt BoiJi See n. Au t . to th e Presid ent Sharon Clayto n . Publisher Edna Mr wton. Secrera ry to the Publishe r Advertising Ji m Ryan . SOl in Manager . Larry Litue. Salt'S Manager. MaJ"KDt Bergm a n. SOlin Manager. Chris Kolber, Assistant . Editorial Ch arl es Murr y. Ma na ging Editor , Dale Brown . Ed itor . Brian George. Assista nt Editor. Graphics and Production Sur Morf:'y . J a n Gill. Prod uction . Marion Harashha . Pat Phil lips. Typo grap hy. Dennis Greene. Laboratory. Accounting Mike Klingt'r . Man ager . J eann e H ammond . Aceta . Receivable. Natalie Magee . Aut . Accts . Receiva ble . J uanita Bla nton . Co llection and Credi r. • Circulation Rbeba Smith. Manager . Deb bie Dra yden . Ro bin Holbert . Michelle Allan . Sa ndi McKa y, Assistants, Services and Support Doreen Pacbecc. R.«Tpl iorUsl. J im Pisarru, S&S. West 220 1 C h~rry A,'~ .• l.onK Beach . CA P.O . 8 0x4 98, Long Beach . CA 9080 1 (215)427·7433: L. A . Line 636 -8844 . East 4190 FiB! Ave . . T u rk " , GA, P.O . BOll 805 , Tucker. GA 30084 . 1404) 954·78,0. Subscription I do n't kn ow mu ch a bo ut Bob Bi tc h in ex ce pt t hat his t ong u e ge nerally is so far into his cheek he mu st have trouble eati ng. O n the ot he r hand , he re moved it long eno ugh in the March 8 iss".. to make a ra th er profou nd sta tement : Dirt bikers cou ld overt urn the elite ba nn of preservationists and their land closu re law s· if they sim ply wou ld ba nd together . Th ese law s, n o ta b ly t he latest Wilderness Act closing, among ot her areas, two-wheeled tr a ils in Sequoia Nati on al For est , a re onerous and aga inst the interest of most Am ericans who don 't ha ve the tim e , ene rgy a nd ph ysi c al co n ditio n to ba ckp a ck throu gh th e H igh Sierra . / If 100 ,000 street biker s ca n upend an unpopula r hel met law , wh at mi ght be the effect of a simila r number of dirt bikers desc end ing - peaceab ly, of co u rse on Trou t Mea d ows or Gr asshopper Flat? The Rev. Ma rt in· against L u t he r Kin g sa t in un con stitu tion al laws, was bra nded a troublem aker a nd worse , bu t wh a t was th e u ltim ate outcome? T he d r ive for justice demands sac rifice. Too m any of us are unwilling to invest in it , knuck ling under to the politicia ns who pat' us on the head and cluc k-cluck that it's now th e law a nd there's little wh ich ca n be done. What we sho uld be is damned mad a nd united in the co nclusion that we're not going to take it anymore. Aft er /all, there are far more votil)g dirt biker s than there are card -carrying Sierra C lu b b ers. It ' s abo u t ti me we rec ogni zed a ct ed t ha t a nd accord ing ly. OWEN KEA RN S,J R . Bakersfield , CA And more Bitchin Is Bob Bitchin the sa me guy who wrote t ha t all b ike rs sho u ld get toge the r a while back ? 1 ca n't believe itl 1 ride bot h s tree t a nd di rt , and I th ink a nyw ho wh o rid es a ny kind of bike is headin g in the right directio n: But I think Bob Bitch in is not a tru e b iker. In W ashi ngton , we got rid of the helmet law, I helped fig h: it bec a use 1 don't t hink a nyone sho u ld te ll anybod y else wha t to do. I still wea r m y Bell 120 when I ride m y 900 , thoug h . beca use I don't wa nt some car nerd to waste me at 25 m ph just beca use my head's not protected. I ca n see and hea r fine wit h m y fu ll cove rage helmet . And I don 't thi nk I have a yellow streak, no r a m I a ner d for racin g a nd ridi ng in the d irt . Bitchin sbid street riders are sma rter tha n d irt riders. but if the street · part of me had his a tti tude, 1 wou ld p rob ably be a basket case now . I don 't "put down m y Coor s a nd ride to m y represent at ives" beca use I don't d rink a nd rid e. If he 's so worried a bou t hav ing a ll his senses tuned in as fin e as possibl e . why d oesn 't he try rid ing sober for a change? St reet is neat , a nd you get hurt in th e di rt? Nex t time Birchin 's sp litti ng la n es , h a lf -c r o ck cd wit hout h is helm et , a nd some a ngry mo ther in a car cu ts him off. and he co mes out ·with a smashed melon instead of possib ly wal ki ng away from it , let him think a bout the d irt riders who are smart enough to wear th eir helmets, ride on closed circu its, and (when we d o venture out on the street) use common sen se and drive defensively. T HOMAS C . NELSON , J R. Poulsbo . WA DOl' vear . second class m a il. S15 : :! vea rs, wcont! da:lilo ma il. $27.; :5 vears . ~ond' c1il u mail. $37 ,50 . . Copyrig tn " Cydf' N rw ... Inc. 1978. T raci"n' ;Hk Cvcb- :s c'w'i rf'~'il(' n'd U.S. Pa u-n r OHin·. All riKh!s n ....-rv ed Pu hli..hl"l; l w{'1' k ly !'X1 ('pl t1w fir"l an d I",,, W I,k HI t he ('a l" llIl;i, ve-er Ii" <:"111 ' " N r-ws, In l"., P.O . 8",,: 498, l.lJn~ ·8 " Jd i. C .t li. : f o r ma . 's" ('uIH I d d\.' P'I'> I CI)((' pa ;d OIl 1.1111 ,1( Bea c h , C A 90R{)). C"dr j\;r w'i w(,k uJlw 'i u m " . l lidtl'd r-ditoria l ma re-ria l includ in K ..tur ;(·", ca rtoo ns. phulo!l. etc. Such mat erial . if published . beco mes Ih(.' exc lusive rnpyriKIH pl'Ope'rty of Cyd l' News. Such a('n' plr d m a teria lis subject to revisio n as i!l nt'l"(''i'iary in th e sn it" di screti on of Cyc le News, Unsolicin-d mareria l which is n OI used will hI" returned if accom pa n ied b y a Sf'lf ·...d clresse-d st arn ped e n velo pe . All u nsolid l l" mar e-rial will he' d handled with rea sona ble ca rr , however Cydl' News assumes no rM ponsibility for rhe ~a f{"t v. IlJM or da ma ge to su ch ma te rial . Rrprinl in,l( in whole or pa rt o n ly by per rnissie n of Ih« ' p u blishers. Adv("nisinJ{ rat es a nd ('irt "u lat rnn in forma tio n will be sem upon f1'q u n l. S,'1' 4 S.R .ll.S. I wou ld lik e to exte n d m y a ppreciation to the Ridge R u nners M .C . for their su pre me effort prom ot ing MX ra ces a t t fie Fa irgrounds in W at sonville, CA . Th club does a n excel lent job of ru nni ng th e races a nd a ll the mem bers put In lon g hou rs. T hey wa nt th e rid ers ' to enjoy the ra ces and aren't in it j ust to m ake a buck . Before their first race was held Mar. 19, my brother Pau l and I were invited to hel p design a new course for tn is . season . Afte r much though and time, we ca me up wit h a tra ck which .,.}as de m a nding yet safe, wit h m a ny lin <;.s£ a nd cover ed by three feet of grass. The clu b the n put in over three days m arkin g th e tra ck a nd putting liP' snow fencin g , etc . Aft er co m pletion , th e tra ck was met with mix ed emo tion , rangin g fro m "It's a trials co u rse" to "Birch en " to it bei ng too slo,:!" . too rough , etc. ' W e were hesitant on race day as to th e outcom e. T he trac k was slippery a nd very muddy in spots and every one.. was ha ving difficu lty. By the end of pract ice , two deep mud sec tions wer e rem oved . b ut th e rest of th e track was left intact. ' Well , th e races . went on and the.. track d ried ou t. No one got hu rt seriously a nd th er e was some good racing. The track m ade everyone work ' hard and I'm glad . Motocross today is not motocr oss any mor e . Most t racks offer cha llenge on ly in hi tt ing bumps a t 50 mph . W a tson ville left the riding to th e rider _ and not his $1 ,000 suspension job. I hope for th e next race t hat we can d evelop !' longe r track with more up a nd downhi lls. I need t he rid ers' support, th ou g h. T hose of you who a re tir ed of racin g around on tracks which co nsist of 50 mph stra ig hts a na sweeping turns, uni te! 'T Let's h a ve p u re m ot o cross ' a t Watson ville and let th e rid ers who like scrarnb le-o-cross go race some where else. An yon e wit h co m me nts , or in terested, please co ntact me. 1FffR/IJ£?~,fT/l IltYEfllV'f f Y l/f!1f'f /llffCMJ1'PI' Bi P J'PJTilKKTII/:.ff,f£PaCfIJ'? ~ lillY l l! /f~ YIlV' ifi / 11/;11 ,/' .fEt5I1E (1l,J1f)A"1l tl.•• ffJlf 1 ~~J ~~_ ) I \ I . 'i~,! L ~, ~">&d J IMTUR E~ 45 Moreh ou se Dr La Sel va Beach , CA 9507 ~ JJ 408 / 684- 152.1 Sputnik and the translator ' gap Remem ber Sputnik? I was in high school a t t he time. W e all went to bed one night still believing the United States was a bo u t to ' lau nc h th e world's first orbit ing space probe. We woke up the nex t morning to find that the Russia ns had blo wn us " into th e weeds. Shocked ? Ho o , bov " were we! II:

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