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Cycle News 1980 01 09

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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EA decade of trials: Non-boom and th ~ E o 00 0') 1"""'4 (Left) Bernie Schreiber. in 1972. en Expert et ege 13. (AboveI1978 Americen. 1979 World Chempion Bernie Schreiber tackling Town Hell Brae in Fort William Scotlend. By Len Weed The decade, for those who count their footings, began with Sammy Miller the' dominant rider, Britain the dominant nation and Spanish bikes the dominant machinery. America was still four years away from an AMA Nal' h d d b . tiona Senes. As t e . eca e 'beS hr gan IO-year-o1 Bel"!ue c el er d was on a Kawasaki 90 and 11year-old Marland Whaley had a Suzuki 80 he found under his Christmas tree. Ten years later Miller still competes I.ocally, aiming for his l000th career win Britain has just four riders in the worid's top 10 and hasn't had a World Champion since 1975, Bernie Schreiber rules the world roost and Spain still has a lock on trials bike sales. Miller dominated trials in the 60s about the same way Bob Hannah dominates American motocross. Miller won two of the first three European Championships as well as the British title for 11 straight years, from 1959 through 1969. Some predicted that the 70s would witness a great trials boom in the states. That never happened. But here, year by year, are some of the highlights of the past decade: 1970 18 Gordon Farley opened the new decade by ending Miller's win skein in British trials. But Sammy won the European Championship that year and also won the Scott Trial, a trials event that dates back to 1914. That .t ecord seventh for Miller , VIC ory was a r a former factory road racer. At the time Miller also held the caree.r re~ord for ~ins, five..in the ScottISh SIX Days Tnal; the sectloneers v~rsion of the ISDT. Bu~ in 1970 the SIX Days bel~nged to Mlck Andrews. Four more Wins over the next five years enabled the Derbyshire rider to tie Miller's rec~rd. . .. In America, trials competition was even sparser than today, with no national organization. Nineteen-yearold Lane Leavitt, who had taken up the s~rt two yea~ ~arlier,. was recogniZed as the nation s top rider. He won the Northern California (~.I.T.S.) Championship. Bob Nlckelsen was. SoCal number one. Lane also ~on the first ann1;1al EI ~rial de Espana In 1970. That mal survlVed the decade and enabled Lane and SoCal riders like Bernie Schreiber and Marla.nd Whaley to go ove~as, see what It was all about, and bring back some riding techniques for the rest of the troops. 1971 Mick Andrews, riding the Spanish Ossa, won his first European Cham- pionship and came to the U.S.' for some schools. Farley repeated as British c:hampion and Lane Leavitt again won El Trial de Espana. A surprise visitor to the trial was Senor F.X. Bulto, head of Bultaco. Lane's victory earned him a trip overseas. 1972 Andrews repeated as European Champion and won his third straight Scottish. A young Yorkshire ex· scrambler, Malcolm Rathmell, claimed the British Championship. Meanwhile, on this side, Americans and Canadians gOt together to stage a two-day Nonh American National Championship Trial in Michigan. Leavitt, 21, topped runnerup Bob Nickelsen by 27 points. Bob Hopkins was third while Don Sweet took founh. Among the top 10 finishers only Leavitt, Hopkins and Sweet are still active in national trials. Earlier in the year Lane had ridden the Spanish world round and the invitational San Antonio Trial at Senor Bulto's ranch. Lane also competed in England. The year saw the first Japanese involvement internationally. Don Smith, two time European Champion, was hired by Kawasaki to do development work on a 450cc plonker. Sammy Miller came to southern California at the end of the year to give some schools and compete in EI Trial de Espana. He beat Leavitt in a close match. Miller had also visited the states in 1968 and 1969. 1973 Another Yorkshireman, Manin Lampkin, moved into the spotlight, topping both the European and British Championship Series. Leavitt again won the Nonh American Championship, this time by a 50 point margin over runnerup Bob Hopkins. Finishing fifth was 15-year-old Marland Whaley. Japan entered American trials in 1979. Factory exuberance, no doubt, was stimulated by the large crowds drawn to the annual EI Trial de Espana, effectively promoted by Fred Belair. By year's end all four factories had jumped into trials development, signing the best available English riders. Yamaha grabbed Mick Andrews and Suzuki signed Gordon Farley. Miller joined Honda for the 1974 campaign. The first production bike to reach the U.S. was Honda's TLl25, followed by the Yamaha TY250. The TLl25 sold out and encouraged further production over production by all four factories. Kawasaki and Suzuki had 250s on the market within a year. And Yamaha thought of the kids, coming up with a dandy little TY80. Lane Leavitt went to Scotland and earned a Special First Class Award at the Six Days. He went back in 1974 and 1975. 1974 The United States hosted their first event in the European Championship Series. Rain turned Saddleback Park

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