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/126545
badly needs more time on the salt to son it out. , Don Engebreuen and Ted Gansberger carried on a week's-Iong friendly rivalry with their red-framed, turbocharged, alcohol-burning Honda 750s, before ending up with blown engines 500 yards apart on the salt that cold Saturday morning. Engebretsen's is Gansberger's of last year; the two met at Bonneville then. Gansberger's bike has an interesting feature, an intercooler to' reduce the air temperature in the carbs after it comes warm from the exhaust and is compressed by the turbo. Engebretsen's bike, Icsa complex and having been run more, ran well befo.re breaking, turning 187.754 in qualifying Thursday (the record is 176.277, set last year), with Gansberger a little slower. Engebreuen rode also his last year's bike, another Honda 750, to a 162.154 record on Wednesday, over a 160.000 minimum set for the new APS·ABG·750 class, devised to give gasoline-burning bikes a chance to compete separately from fud-burners. Four Honda records were set by the son and father team of Mike and Glen LaFollette, enthusiasts who ride their salt·beaters to work and also race, or have raced, elsewhere. These two kept very busy all week wrenching in order to set two records apiece, especially Glen wi)o convened his 900 from the Production to the M·AG·1000 class. Since Glen had displacement to work wi~h, he was able to bore the engine to accept hi,her dome Honda pistons of an unspecified model. as well as milling the heads for more compression. The lights came off for the Modified class, and a Busani Superbike pipe and racing Keihin carbs replaced their stock equivalents. Road racer Mike Ross used his friend Vance Breese's record setting Harley of last year, since Ross' ~i1ar new one wasn't fmished and Breese had another Bonneville bike to play with. Ross used his own piston, cylinders, rod set, and flywheels, setting up the engine with more compression and less displacement, also a less restrictive set of pipes two inches in diameter in· stead of 1"". Doug Draper, the tuner, is a past AFM number one rider, and the team got the Harley to go faster during the week until it bested Kawa· saki rider John Haider's 1978 APS-AG· 1500 record with a time of 171.994. Then ~ bumpe4 it to 185.498. rom Elrod campaigns a fonoidable double engine Zee with which he has been setting records at Bonneville since 1976. The double ran the best it ever has this week, and Elrod raised his 1977 A·AF-5ooo record from 188.006 to 196.957, qualifying on Tuesday at 200.255 for the s.econd highest 9ualifying time by a bike not a streamliner. New this year on the double were two-throat carbs which Elrod helped S&S design. These are the mOlt sophisticated of S&S carbs, with additIonal circuitry. They're like simplified Webers, but designed for motorcycles with their vibration and expoeure weather. They flow well and provide a good mix throu,rbout the throttle range, accordi~ to Elrod. For the serious enthusiast, Bonneville is a great place to see everything from the latest innovations to the his· toric, from purely functional machines to lovingly crafted ones. Until recently the only meet was SCTA's which is still the biggie, by far. The last few seasons the Utah Salt Flats Racing AaIociation has been holding two and three day meets, hopes to go for a big four-day one next July. • Don Engbreaon'••Icohol-bumlng H0nd8 went 187. eee Who in the hell is Pro-Star? - For information telephone 1-800-531-5330, outside Texas. In Texas, telephone (512) 734-5194. ...............................................................1 I Ilfl'~))tJC; (l(~(t t'!e:""rl.:J 17 dJ