Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

THEUTm De fending World Champion Hei kki Mikkola (Yaml won the opening round of the 500cc Motocross World Championship at Switzerland, winning both motos. Roger DeCoster (Suzl is coming back strong after a serious injury earlier this year. RD scored a 2-4 for second place. According to Honda teamster Brad lackey's mechanic, Bill Buchka, Bad Brad suffered shifting problems in the first moto which caused a c rash but he worked his way back up to fin ish fifth. lackey's third in t he next moto gave him th ird overall. Behind Brad in the standings were: Jaak Van Velthoven IKTM, 3-61, Gerrit Wolsink (S uz, 9-21, Andre Vromans (Suz, 4-71, Andre Malherbe (KT M, 7-51 Graham , Noyce (Hon, 6-DNFI, Hakan Andersson (Hus , 8-91 and Frank Svendsen (DNF-8I. Another World Champ opened the season successfu lly,', Gaston Ra hier (Suz) won both mot os in the openi ng 125cc Motocross World Championship event in Austria. Gerard Rond (Ho n) copp ed a pair of seconds and Suzuki's Akira Watanabe took a pair of th irds. The 250cc Motocross World Championship opened its season in Spain, and the home crowd must have loved it. BultBco-riding Harry Everts won, followed by Montesa teamsters Jean -Paul Mingels and Torao Suzuki. Joe Wa lker , forme r Harley-Davidson of Sana Ana owner, died Fri ., Apr. 7 in the hospital where he was being trea ted followi ng a . heart attack . Wal ker's passing , along with that of Dud Perkins. marks the end of an era . Walker is survived .by his wife Edith . . Don' Tortorelli, AMA Junior #S6Y, . was killed at the Apr. 8 Tu lare half ini le event when he fell and was hit b y another machine. Funeral services will be held at Fairhaven Memorial Park, 1702 Fairhaven, Santa Ana on Fri., Apr. 14 at 11 a.m. An open invitati o n is extended to all his ra ci ng frie nds. .2 weeks, bu t he's still hoping to be able to cont est the 500cc Na tional series. Mail sent to U.S . Suzuki at 13767, Freeway Dr., Sant a Fe Springs, CA 90670 will be forwarded. Cecotto Ve nezuelan Johnny continued his winning ways in the AGV Helmets World Cup Series competition, scoring a victory at Paul Ricard in Bandol, France on Apr. 9. Kenny Roberts took s e c o nd ; Steve Baker was third . Dale Singleton qualified third fastesf but DNF with motor problems. Skip Aksland DNF with ignition failure. Cecotto's second at Daytona, first at Imola and now first a t Paul Rica rd puts him securely on top of the fina l point standings. Steve and Bon nie Bak er were instrumental in resc uing a do zen peop le from a hotel fire inFrance over the weekend. Among those owing their lives to the Bakers' warning is our frien d and corres pondent Chris Carter of the British pa per M Ot OT Cycle. Dick Burleson put his Husqvarna on top of the Don Thava Factory Works ' Apr. 9 Little Harpe.th National Enduro with a confusi.ng score of 4-242. King Richard 's closest competitor was ' Team Suzuki's Ted Worrell who chalked up at ' 4-243 on ly one whatchmacallit away from Burleson's score. Third best in the Nashville, TN enduro was Husqvarna's Bob Popiel w ith a 5285. Ted Leimbach, rid ing a KTM, took High Point " B" honors; no score was available at presstime. The Depa rt m ent of Parks and Recreation has scheduled workshops during April so that recreation users ca n present their view on southern Cal iforn ia recreatio n opport unities . On Apr . 12, the place is Will Rogers County Park, 1335 East 103rd Sr., Los Angeles, CA; on Apr: 18 it's at the San Bern ar dino Public Works Building , 825 East Srd St. , San Bern ardino, CA. T here are two meetings on each date , one at 2-5 p.m. and one from 7·10 . p.m . Questio ns? Call Odel King at 916/322 ·9601. HosP ITal STOP : Tony DiStefano, Team Suzuki's AMA 250cc National The third annual AFM Six-hour MX Champ, is down an out of action Endurance Race on April 30 at following a knee ope ration. Originall y Ontario Motor Speedway will offer $3000 I'n cash and $"000 ln prizes. don e to rem ove the medial semi -lunar: " cartilage, th e 45-minute operation A d rawing w ill be held for a KZ200 revealed a ligam ent problem from a Kawasaki. It 's a run-whatchaprevious inju ry. Part of a ha mstring brung-an '-see-if-it-Iasts race. muscle was transplanted to serve as a T" k AMA/Mr. D . replacem ent lig am ent. Tony IS IC ets N tional _PiBB a, . ·. exp, , (ep .t9 .bS: )1) a full Ieg cast Iorfive -;' _ e Cha m pionshi p MX Ser ies race ~ t Ra cing Worl d in Trabuco Can yon WIll be avai lab le at the gate , but you can save a buck if you visit your nearest Alpha Beta and pick up a discou nt ticket. Tell a friend. They're calling it the DG 125!25Occ championship Spring Nationa ls Motocross, and you can expect to see a continuation of the Glover! Barnet duel for supremacy in the 125cc race. Or if magic tricks are your bag, watch Bob Hannah in the 250cc event. It all happens at Racing World on Apr. 16; it's the on ly AMA National MX in the southern California this year. Papa says he ain't missin' it. Toyota's $50,000 point fund for the AMA Toyota Supercross Series, un like the Camel Pro Series point money which is paid to the top 15 riders , will go out to all ride rs who score series points . The series winner will pick up 10% off the top : $5,000. Then he and all the others will be paid the remai ning 45 gr and at $16.69 per point, acco rding to AM A MX Manager Mike DiPrete. The Bureau of land Management has announced that a public meeting ' t o consider the wilderness selection on public lands will be held in Twin Falls, 10 on Apr. 25, according to the Magic Valley Trail Machine Assn., Inc. newsletter. Unfortunately, they didn't pr int the time, place or a phone number to call for info. The MVTMA address is P.O. Box 1023, Twin Falls,ID 83~1 . Papa just sent off for his free 0 RV map of the Sequ oia Na tional Forest to see how the recent establishment of Golden T rout Wilderness prohibits the use of motorized vehicles in the Litt le · Kern Basin and some ar eas of the Kern Platea u. T he maps are available at the Forest Head~uarters, 900 W. Grand Ave., Porterville, CA 93257. 20917841500. Honda dealers are accepting orders for the '78 version of · Honda 's 125cc road racer, the MT125R. Power has been increased by two bhp, to 28 @ the 11,000 rpm redline. A front hydraulic d isc braj(e hasbeen fitted. It's delivered unpainted, ready for your own racing colors. The grand pr ize drawing to have been held at the Apr. 2 Saddleback Par k round of the Coors Trans-AME MX Series will be held at the Apr. 16 Sprockets Park race . . Poor weather . condition that forced a two-hou r delay in the race were cited by American Motocross Enterprises as the reason for th e postponement. All who sign ed up at Saddleback will b.e eligib le for th e Honda XR75 . H,Points Boots, two day Russ Darnell MX School, 16X20 color photo , Mikun i Ca rb o Spectre Oil and 12 Electro Helmet T -shirts . Bob Bitchin fans w ill be int ere s t e d in learning that the Street is Neat column writer received his recall notice from American Honda. For h is GL1000, that is. Honda 's " Im p o rta nt Recall Information" describes the rear disc bra ke problem like this. "When the rea r disc brake is applied . d ur ing operation in heavy rain , there . ble ini I d . may be a noncea e mina re ucuon in effectiveness of th e brake followed by gradual recovery to normal, dr y condition effectiveness. If peda l force . d f h is not mc.re.a~e to co~pensate or t e reduced initial effectiven ess, a longer .•• . _• •• • ~ ,•••.• stopping distance will result. If pedal force is increased to compensate for the redu ced ' initi al effectiveness and then maintained despite the recovery of the brake. availa ble tire traction may be exceeded, resulting in skiddi ng of the rear wheel. If the rear wheel remains in askiddi ng condition. loss of control and vehicle crash can occur." Kawasaki will soon release the ultimate killer superbike: t he ZlRTC. Kawasaki sources ind ica t e that the American Turbo Pak assisted b ike produces in excess of _ 100 bhp at the rear wheel; quarter mile times of 10 seconds at 120 mph are expected. The Zl -RTC will be available at select dealers in May. A new group, Enduro Rid ers Association, plans to promote events where the whole fam ily can ru n together .on an easy course .an d h~ve fun. Beginners to those want mg to ~ve time -keeping a try may cont act Mike Merri man or Lyn Mallory at 213/3 73· 7109. According to the April issue of Car and DrIver magazine, a $26,240 Porsche 928 equipped with a 4,474cc, fuel injected V-8, will cover the quarter mi le in 15.3 seconds at 92.6 mph. 507 Well. according to the April issue of Cycle World, a $2,099 Triumph Bonneville equipped with a 744cc twincylinder engine (bas ic design goes back to 19371 covers the quarter mile in 13.86 seconds at 93.36 mph. • And if tha t doesn 't br ing a smile to your face, remember we're not talking ab out Yama ha XS-Elevens or Honda CBX IOOO 's or Suzuki GSIOOO's or Kawasaki Z-IR's - we're tal king about a Bonneville - a T riu m ph ~on nevilleJ To add ins ult to injury, according to the figures published in the aforementioned magazines, a $34,150 Porsche 930 equipped with 'a 3,299cc turbocharged engine will go through the quarter mile in 13.7 seconds. That folks, is .16 of a second faster than a Triumph Bonneville. Smile. . In issue #7 , an inco rrect phone number was printed for the Apr. 22-23 Sun land Shamrocks Two- Day ISDT Qu alifier , and the peop le who've b~en answering a ll the calls are losing patience with us. Please contac the Sha mrocks at 213/363-23 71. Dick Burleson (Husl notched his second National Championship Enduro victory of the season in the April 2 ' Lucky Hollow National at Lorman, Mississippi. Ted Worrell (Suzl rode off w ith "AA" class honors while Drew Smith (Suzl came out on top of the"A" c lass. 313 riders showed . up to compete in the 100 mile event. The Russia ns a re comi ngl 250cc World Champion . Gunneday Moiseev and his KTM teammates Vladimir Kavinov and V. Com eev will contest the Ju ly 30 250cc MX GP at Una dilla Valley Sport Center in New Berlin. N.Y. According to KTM America gen era l manager Jack Lehto. formal contracts were signed March 3 I. Corneev, who is new to the KTM team. was the overall motocross champion of Russia in 1977. While Americans participating in the John P layer Transatlantic Trophy road race series in England (see page 141 were paid starting money, their British opponents raced for prize money alone. First (Continued to page 13) -..--_._.,..-, - . . ,-,.--_. ,,, ,

• Cover