Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Scott Head did some feet-up riding to win the V,a,T,E, Trick or Treet Trial. VOTE's Trick or Treat Trial Great Scott, some Heads up riding; Schreiber treats with Italjet exhibition By len Weed LITTLEROCK, CA, OCT. 26 Halloween means jack o'lanterns and black cats, goblins and ghosts, the Great Pumpkin and a headless horseman or two. What better situation for a Head to score less points? Expert Scott Head, who had clinched National Number Two three , , T his wee ks ear I ler m exas, won fifth ATA trial of the year. His 12 win of his club's fifth annual Trick or Treat Trial enabled him to tie Mark Eggar in victories in the best· nine· rides chase for ATA Number One. Eggar retained a narrow points lead with three events remaining on the schedule. One could say that Scott has been making a lot of "He.ad-"way, winning five of his last 10 ATA rides after Eggar took the first three. Or he has a full head of steam up? Head and shoulders above the competition? But Eggar can still leave his Mark. Head, sponsored by Bay Area Bultaco, posted the year's lowest loop score in the National Series this year, a two in Texas. The Trick or Treat nicked him for 88 points. The T and T has traditionally been a point-grabber, By contrast, the final two Nationals in Colorado and Texas were both 10 point winners. H d the only rider to score und:: I~a~ints _ officially. That noted "foreign" rider, English ACU license holder Bernie Schreiber, came out to his club's trial to give the American trials community its first view of his Italjet ~50 prototype in action. Bernie had the bike on which he won the final four world champion· ship trails. (Watch for a full report on Bernie's Italjet in a coming issue.) Schreiber won a record six trials this year, but failed to retain his world championship. He was plagued by machine problems his first two times out on the prototype last June and failed to score points in either trial. Obviously, the bugs were gone for those last four rides. Bernie had 17 cleans in ~6 rides. He dropped 45 points as an exhibition rid- er. Because of his ACU license, he wasn't free to ride the trial officially unless it carried an FIM sanction or he had prior permission from the ACU. Bernie hopes to return to his AMA license next year and ride the National series, provided it doesn't conflict with his world schedule. Italjet USA, the American importer of the Italian minicycles, was out in full force to watch the factory's first trials machine make its American debut. Production units are expected here by next April. ltaljet had a video crew following Bernie to get footage for a tape that will be used to help promote the green machines. Bernie also had more on-camera action slated the following day. He planned to perform some of his incredible feet·up feats for a film company that has sold footage to TV's That's Incredible. The desert trial attracted several Mojave moto·enthusiasts known for fast flying rather than footless finesse. Mitch Mayes came out for a look and Mike Burke and Carroll Ditson also showed up. They got to see Gary Conrad, one of the Mojave's fastest racers in the 60s, ride the event. Spectating was a real treat because many of the rock and water sections were located right off the main fire road. However, the back half of the loop included a rather i»vigorating descent. Section selection was handled by VOTE President Howard Phelps, Competition Chairman Andre Plouffe and Schreiber. Amateur Clive Hannon really displayed the holiday spirit. He rode the first loop sporting eye glasses, a big nose and mustache. Rumor has it he kept saying, "Say the secret word and win a hundred dollars." While Hannon was playing with funny faces, Chris McHugh was making more and more like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Getting off his line, in section I3 naturally, he slipped sideways and submerged. Trapped under his bike, at one point only his head and a small portion of the front wheel were visible. The section checker hurriedly pulled the bike off McHugh, but only after being promised some candy corn and an apple. Section six gave Expert Anthony Dilabio a thrill - mainly because he got through it. The first three riders to attempt it before him - Sl:hreiber, Head and current ATA Number One Plouffe - all fived it near the entrance. Perhaps Dilabio's conference with VOTE course marshal Craig Smith did the trick. Craig was wearing a Failure Analysis Associates T ·shirt. Another thrill was Expert-only section 2~, your basic frontal assault on a 10-foot rock wall that called for gearing about halfway between second and third. The climb was followed by a quick right· hand tum to avoid a rock wall and then a quick left. The big probem for the third-gear users was trying to figure out how to shift down to second for the turns while both feet were planted, hanging on for dear life about 15 feet above ground level. Surfin' Dan Suffin, down from north· ern California, called it a make-it-or· break-it section. He made it. Plouffe outlined his game plan before his attempt: "Rev second gear until the pislOn starts making dents in the gas tank and hang on." And, just to make things more interesting, two dogs were folicking near the section entrance. Somebody suggested renaming the _ dogs "Balk" and "Reride:: The trip down was Suffin's third excursion to Littlerock. He finished second behind Head on his Miller's Motorcycles Bultaco. Dan is an alumnus of the ''It-Takes-Big·Boulders-ToRide-Big-Boulders" school. Beaming, he stated that he would drive 900 miles anytime for a chance to drop 101 points in a trial. Andy Puff, also known as Andre Plouffe or the other way around, was third on his Bay Area Bultaco. He picked up second place ATA points since Suffin is a PITS rider. Andre is hosting an evening arena-styled t.rial during Trials Expo Weekend on Friday, December 12. Schreiber's Expert Only (at Littlerock) and EI Trial de Espana (at Saddleback) will round out the weekend. Matt Pritchard, coming off a win two weeks earlier in San Diego, took fourth. Pritchard, president of the :ATA, put a little more space between himself and magazine color pinup Oli Thordarson, who finished fifth. The duo are battling for ATA Number Three for the year. Mike Stone picked up a five point victory over Michael Luxen in Amateur action. The second was enough to transfer Lauxen to Expert. Seniors don't transfer anywhere when they win, but Jean Fradette's ninth 'Victory of the year clinched the Senior A Number One plate for the year. Gil Smith, Number Three Senior in the nation the last two years, will drop back to ATA number two next \year. Art Webster, who competes with "Old Man" stitched on his riding pants, took second in the trial. Art was runnerup this year to Norm Saylor for the NA TCI AMA Super Senior championship for riders 45 or older_ Duane Stone edged Bill Markham by two points in the Senior B class, making it a father and son sweep for the Stones. Sonny Baskin was a seven.point winner in the Novice class. After the trial, Baskin denied rumors that he was planning a move to England to ride sidecar trials with novelist Tom (Even Cowgirls Get the Blues) Robbins, It's a shame; they'd make a great team. The Jenks brothers really made things interesting for the scorers of the Novice class. S. Jenks finished 11th, Il!th and 17th. Scott, Shawn and Steve. In Beginners, the deadlock between Steve Parrish ,!nd Robert Ring was resolved by counting twos. Both riders had the same number of cleans and ones, but Parrish, with the same number of toes, had three more twos to take the trophy. Cindy Scott topped Paul Schrater by 10 in the Kids class. The kids also did some pedal plonkin' after the big guys finished. Some of the finished big guys took to playing with three-wheelers in the sandwash. Somebody said they saw tbe Jolly Green Giant, or at least somebody in green doing a lot of ho· ho-ho-ingon a Tri-Moto. Then, the standard time sun sunk quickly to end a true trick and treat day. A day that gave SoCal trialsters the treat of their first live view of Bernie's trick green motorcycle and some real Heads up riding. • Results EXPERTS: ,. Scon . - (Bull 88; 2. Don Sutfin ftluO 101; 3. Andre PIoulle (Bull 115; 4. _ _ ftluO 117; 5. 0Ii ~ (MonlI24; 6. _ ~ ftluO W_. 140; 7. Poul (Bull 145; 8. Anthony DiIIbioftluO 149; 9. 0...... W _ lBull 173; 10. DIMI_lBull DNF; 10. DwWle WI~ors lBuII DNF; 10. J-v _ . (Bull DNF. AMATEUR: 1. Mik. Slone IBull 43: 2. Milt. ~ (Manl 48; 3. DenniI Nichols ISWMI 49: 4. Dorridt (Mant 51: 5. Rid< Spr_ (Bull 54; 6. Joe ~.. (Bull 58: 7. Gory Conrod lBulI 80; 8. CINe Hennon lBull 63; 9. Chris McHugh (ManI67: 10. _ ArIl"89. SENIOR A: 1. J-. "'-ISu

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