Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

! • .t TEN YEARS ~ AGO The northern California community of Santa Rosa hosted an AMA Grand National Championship Ser ies mile . and it was win number five of the season for BSA-m ou nt ed J im R ice . Following an opening laps battle with Larry Palmgren (T ri), Rice led all the way . J immy adorn (Tri) took second in front of C huck Palmgren (Yam), Gene Romero (Tri) and Dick Mann (BSA). In cont rast to current d ay mi le dirt track events. th e high est placing Harley- Davidson rider was Mert Lawwill, who finished eighth. Joh n Hateley (Tri) won the Am a te u r main event . In the point standings. Mann retained a slight lead over Rice and Romero. i: The BSA and Triumph triples that were to be used for mile racing proved to be u nr ead y for competition. Rice used his familiar twin to win , and during practice, D a ve Aldana had the throttle stick on his triple, forcing him into the haybales. In true Alda na fashion , he walked away fro m the crash and made the National on his 650cc twin. Your dream vacation begins at your local Kawasaki dealership, We're authorized to discount the KZlOOO Shaft up to $200 below regular price. And, to add to your bargain tour, we're offering$25 factory coupons good towards the bike itself,or any Kawasakiaccessory.Noadvance reservations required- but hurry,onlya limited number of coupons are available.Get away from it all on the KZlOOO Shaft. It's got all the power you need to cruise fully- loadedwith a passenger (double occupancy)and all the smooth-running, easy-shiftingdrive that you need to tour the country mileafter mile,day after day. The KZlOOO Shaft - a solid bargain on a yearround tour and a guarantee not to lose your luggage. At parti cipating dealers while supplies last. Kawasa ki believes in riding safely, Che local laws before you ride . Member of A ~IA and :\ISF. ck Spec ifications and part s subject to change without notire , ~!lxlel availa bility may be limited. KZ1000Shaft It was announced that a new motocross series - tentatively called the Trans-AMA would begin in October. Set to compete already were two European teams. Team Suzuki was to send Joel Rober t, Sylva in Geboers and O le Pe tte rso n , while BSA was to be represented by John Ba n ks, Jeff Sm i th , Keith H ickman ana Dave Nicholl. BSA said it would alsO have machines available for Arneriea n riders Dave Aldana ; Jim Rice and \Ken Pressgrove. I~ 'S8u thern Ca lifornia speedway wasn't Iterri bly di fferent than it is now, 'IIJf a ning if your last name is Bast, you're fast. At Costa Mesa it was the l:ito t hers' night , as Steve took the H and icap Main event. but was u pset b y brother Mike in th e Scratch Main . GN p ublished a list of National nurn and wouldja believe that only two riders have the same two-digit National r um bel' in 1980 that they had in 1970 ? Sure, Romero had his #3 and Ba r t Ma rkel had his #4 . But only Sonny Burres (#69) and Ron P ier ce (#97) have retained their two-d igit National numbers 10 years la ter. ~, Ohio was th e venue as Edison Dye's Viking MX Seri es cont inued with Torlief Hansen (Hu s) taking the International cla ss win . Second went to Greeves-mounted Arthur Browning, while J oh n DeSoto (Cl ) again finished as top American . The 250cc National class went to Ohio rider J im Kerns (H us) and the 125cc Na tiona l class went to another Buckeye State resident. Jack P enton. Ensenada, the coastal Baja California town more fa mo us as a jumping off point for off-road racing. was the site of a CMC motocross. Montesa's T im Hart, appropriately dressed in a "Viva" sweatshirt . topped th e 250 and 500cc Senior classes. Ru nners-up . respectively. were Ma rty Tri pes (Cl) and J im Daw son (Yam) . . Kawasaki Don'tlet the good times pass you by. POWERJET Mickey Fay wins Expert Regional TT at Sidewinders, Clackamas, OR July 13, Lectron Equipped, also 2nd place winner Tom McColiough•.•also 1st, Jeff McDaniel and 2nd Bret Barkman in the Jr. class. 5

• Cover