Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

almost lik e a bicycle until you glance down between your thighs and spot that big 500cc Jour-strok e single cylinder motor. Lubrication is constant -loss , and th e tank is miniscule; this isn't a bike to use for an afternoon oj riding. Front wh eel travel is only a couple in ch es. The rear end is rigid. And th ere ar en't any brakes .. . Bast is a master. He has the skill to be a crowd pleaser in the style of Alan "Crazy" Christian, Jim "T he Animal" Fishback, Da nny " Berserko" Becker and all the rest. Bu t he chooses not to do so. Instead , "The Human Computer, " as announcer Larry Huffm a n calls Bast, uses his complete control of the Maely speedway bike to whittle split seconds off his opponents' best lap times in a ride more secure and steady than an y machine could be programmed to accomplish . No t on ly is he competent as a rider - a winner - but his analytical nature makes it possi ble for Bast to figure out exactly how he does it a nd t hen convey t h at in form atio n to ot hers . For wou ld -be speedway stars among us, the re's hope. On occasion, at irregular intervals of app ro xim a tely two months , Bast combines his rid ing/teaching tal en ts with the track/shop/cu linary facilities of hotshoe legend Ken Maely and wife Judy, and they hold a two-day speedway school. No gearbox, no neutral. On ly a clutch disconnects th e crank from the rear wheel. Starting is accomplished by the push and bump system, an d the fuel-burning single fires up readily, producing a soft mellow sound. The flywheel effect is quite pronounced. And the monster piston plomping up and down wants to make the entire skinny machine hop along at low rpm. Horsepower-to -weight ratio is eyeopening, to say the least , That's how two Cycle News staffers and a lady morale booster/assistant fou nd their way to the Maely goose ranch. (There's a sign on the gate the first of many Maely witicis ms that reads , "Geese on d uty. Trespassers will be goosed ." Other signs hang throughout the house by the pool , in the bathroom , .. everywhere.) There we found the perfect host and hostess, good conversation , hearty food and th e cou n try's best speedway rid er. It was a lso our introduction to th e real ity of th e speedway rid er's world . . . Mike would include , in his Sa turday int rodu ctory talk , a segment on the sometimes harsh facts of becom ing a to p speed way rid er. Dealing wit h p ro m oters as a b usi ness m a n a nd lea rni ng to und erstand SoC a l speedway's versio n of "T he System " a re part of th e train ing p rogra m . It 's hardly wha t th e rider who 's only excited a bo u t learning how to get sideways wants to hear , bu t it's exactly wha t th e rider who p la ns to ge t serio us a bou t speedway ne ed s to know. Th e rear wh eel breaks loose and spins readily on t he well -groomed , smo ot h d irt su rface , and a first im pression, or discovery, is that uieight transfer is crit ical to both ac celerat ion and corn ering, Weight th e real wh eel and th ings happen . Fast! Impression number two comes as Ma ely 's white wall grows larger in th e rid er's field oj vision : No brakes. It 's a helpless, near panic Jeeling. Instin cts leave th e right han d fingers and right toe waggling in space in search oj non-exis tent brak e controls. Normal first -time pr ocedu re is to lay it over and scribe a wide awkward arc . It really looks stupid, and it Jeels even worse. We got a sample of the top level speedway rider's business tactics before class began. We hadn't signed up like normal people do. 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With extra palm padd in g , plus reinforced protection on both the thum b and little finger to help min im ize seam tears . _Made of the fin est co whi de w ith tri pl e brai ded do ubl e-sti tc hed seam s to hel p redu ce tear-outs . Compet it ively priced and availab le in men 's sizes , small, medi um , large and ex tra-large. Castre gloves give you the comfort and cont ro l you need to hand le th e most d ifficul t ri de . Gloves f o r all s ea sons, and all reasons ! C ·3000 Cr oss Country Glove Availab le Navy /Yellow CASTRE INCORPORATED 429 TRENA AV ENU E LANCASTER, PA 17601 All Ca str e Moto rc yc le Produ ct s ava uao re at oarn c ipat mq Cas tr e dea lers o r through Ca st -e Inc .. Lancaste r. 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