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/126614
(Above) Bruce Penhall shouts out a last-minute set of instructions for the speedway plebes. (Below) "Third Division, here I eomel " (Bottom) After taking J un ie Briggs for II short hop, Penhall got the Aspencllde sideways. Gettin' sidewa~s - under the watchful e~e of a World Champ By Mark Kariya For those who have to endure the rat race that is southern California, there's nothing quite like heading to the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa after work Friday and 32 taki ng in the sp eedwa y races. It's no t li ke a mo tocross or TT I or road ra ce or a ny th ing. It' s ...different. For one thing, the crowd seems looser than your typica l race -type spectators. They're more akin to Beach Boys co ncert-goers, and though they might not know, or care, about the difference between a Jawa and a jawbreaker, they root, cheer and jeer for th e races like th e crowd at th e Ol ympi c Auditorium ga the red for a roller derb y ma tch . T he n . o f course, th ere a re the bik es and racers th ems elves. You 've probabl y seen p ictures o f them elsewhere in th is paper , and yo u know th e bik es are sp indl y looking objects with big methanol-powered thumper eng ines, n o brak es, and the y are always side wa ys. From your viewpoint in th e stands, sp eedway looks like it would be a kick . Watching Bruce Penhall come from the 60-yard line in a Handicap heat and ride around the outside of other First Division riders sets you thinking to yourself, "Man, that was great! " After that, the Third Division riders, the Novices of Class A racing, take to th e track... many of th em literally. Third Division often looks like a diving and tumbling class . "Shoo t, I could beat those squids! " Don't bet on it. At a recent press co n ference to publi ciz e th e 1982 World Speedwa y Championship August 28 at the Los Angeles Mem orial Coliseum, member s of th e m otorcycle press were invited to don th eir leathers and tak e a spin o n a speedway bike. Penhall wou ld be there to coach and obs erv e; besides, there was a free lunch . We couldn 't resist. Everything yo u' ve probably heard about a sp eedwa y bike is true. T hey don 't feel an yth in g like a regular motorcvcl e, th at 's for sure. The sea t is small and spa rta n, much lik e a 10sp eed bicycle seat, and is located low a nd to th e rea r o f th e bike. Wh en sea ted, th e strangel y sha ped handlebar s force yo ur a rms to extend a lmost stra ig h t o u t from shoulder level. T he rig h t footpeg is solid steel bar only a co u p le in ch es fro m th e ground an d is positioned well rearward. The left peg is a rubber-covered nub near th e front engine mount. It feels as weird as it so u nds. Forget about trying to grip th e fuel tank with your knees; it is only a couple inches wide and hidden beneath th e top frame backbone. What you see mostly in a g lance downward is the SOOcc four-stroke motor which looks like a throwback to th e '40s wh en there were no such nowcommonly ava ilable things as overhead cams, counter-balancers or fuel injection. There's not even a ki ck starter on these things! "Keep yo ur right leg rigid. Stand through the corners and use yo ur left leg like an o u trigger for bal an ce," exhorted Penhall. With th e clutch lever in. Pen hall 's a ssista nt Spike rolled th e bike back to take the piston just past the compression stroke. "When I say go, let the clutch out and turn the gas on slowly," h e advised. After a short push, the engine caught and the familiar " brr umm bah" echoed off the retaining wa lls and empty grandstands. A couple of slow , tentative la ps confirmed the rumors: A speedway bike feels nothing like a reg u lar mot orcycle. T he combination of steep ra ke, sta nding position and inside of the right th igh pressing against the frame wa s in deed a strange feeling entering co rners. Desp ite engine bra king , the lac k of binders meant going into each corner too fast, ti midly turning on th e th ro ttle to in duce a sma ll slide and watching th e wa ll leap towards me. Penhall motioned for me to stop and said, " Look at th e insi de o f th e