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/126399
(Above) Dennis Thomas contemplates continuing on in a thunderstorm at the Twin States Mini,IBelow) Senior rider Sox Brookhart, Championship Enduro The Riders 18 Enduro stars Like the champions and top contenders in any sport, enduro stars come and go ' with the years, IOlDetimes staying in the limelight longer than usual through extraordinary talent and effort, but inevitably succumbing to the effects of age and the pressures of hot new riders anxious to wear the crown. Experience is valuable" but youthful drive and daring can upset the most stable throne. Dick Burleson, the current king, has been the U,S, enduro champion for five years now, and he seems to go faster in the woods each year, if that is possible, although he seldom looks like he's racing. And his consistency is phenomenal. His talent as a rider, mechanic and mechanical engineer have helped make Husky the fine ,o ffroad racing motorcycle it is. Dicit wor1ts for Husqvarna i~.Te~nessee and 'des S-offi the ~uro sertes and ' two-day qualifiers, and in 1976 he was the fastest American rider in ' the ISBT. Second to Burleson in the enduro standings in recent years has been Skip Olson , a very determined contender from Wisconsin, who now rides for the Can-Am factory, at the same time working full time outside the motorcycle industry. His home is far from most national events so he drives 60,000 or '80,000 miles in his van each year to compete. Jack Penton, youngest and fastest of the Penton clan that put Lorain, Ohio, on the dirt rider's map , is a constant 'challenger for the enduro crown, having come close more than once . He's young, yet he's got years of national' and international off-road competition behind him , and his chances,of winning the championship can only improve with time . As Burleson himself put it, "I know if 1 make a mistake, Jackie's always there." When he was 17" he rode his first Six Days and earned the first of many medals, mostly gold, he's brought home from that most difficult event. Jaek'll ~r .Gl'Olher, "fom, IS a1lo one of ;America's best entluro and reliability trials riders . He's a regular entrant and class winner in the nationals and the qualifiers, and he's been riding the ISDT and bringing back medals almost every year since 1969. He missed the 1970 trials when he was in . Vietnam, and in 1975 his bike caught fire neac ~he start ' and forced him ,out. ,, ' Serious contenders for Dick Burleson's enduro crown are as numerous as ever. Maico factory rider D,Q.n Sanford from Texas placed fourth 'in 1976 and is still running strong and taking some wins at nationals. Burleson's Husqvarna teammate, Bob Popiel, who rode the new Husky Automatic to his first national win in the 400'mile Jack Pine in 1976, his second year of enduro . competition, placed fourth nationally in '78. He learned fast by ri!!ing with the master: Kawasaki's Mike Hannon of California wins in the West and usually places well everywhere, and riders like Suzuki's Bruce Kenny, Ted Woqell (he got se~d in the 1978 standing,s but is no~ with Honda) and Herluf ohnson, K!~·!'9.(junted Bill ~ier, aa's" ~¥ Can-Am ride Kmn f~app are becoming familiar as they tally ~ore points in the natiOnals, And the Six Days riders , who sometimes ride enduro and who are certainly stars of off-road competition, can't be overlooked; Bill Uhl, Barry Higgins and Lars Larsson, and former enduro chariipiClO and Silver Vase winner Ron Bohn, now on Hercules, Carl Cranke, Kevin LaV,oie, and the Leimbach brothers, Dane and Ted; the West Coast Yamaha crew with John Fero and Mike and Mark Deyo. The list is long, and the names keep changing.