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/126643
shots wh en one of th e ed itors had to tak e pi ctures. It is often said that there is n othin g accomplished if there are n o obs tacles encountered. Others just point to Murph y's Law. Our trip h ad elem ents of both. A Camel Pro Series doubleheader, to be co vered by twoof th e three editors, was rained o u t and rescheduled to the weekend we had planned for th e trip. The tr ip wa s. rescheduled a week earlier . And so it came that Great Friday dawned, clear, sunny a nd minus one of th e four dual -purpose machines. Panicsville. The distributor was having trouble setting up the machine to its satisfaction , but the machine did ar rive at 2 p .m ., four hours before bl ast-off. So it was th at a t 6 p .m , we had all the riders, (a lm ost, the rider for th e camera bik e back ed out, so we loaded it on th e truck just in case ), a ll th e bikes, a ll the personnel, a ll the gear , all the maps, all th e reserv ations. The only things that were em p ty were the ga s tanks of the bikes and th e stom achs of the participants. Following a ga s sto p, the Cycl e News Road Test an d Canyon CleanU p Crew em ba rked on th e first of several "dro ne s." Drones a re th e 250s on freeway or stra igh t stretch es o f more than a few m iles. T hey ar e n ot fun. (If yo u want to duplicate this trip o n you r dual-purpose motorcycle or other two-wheeled veh icl e, note the following directions: San Diego Freeway n orth to th e westbound Santa Monica Freeway. That will turn into Pacific Coast Highway. Follow th at to T opanga Canyon Road and turn right.) Turning u p Topanga Canyon proved to be a br eath of fresh air, chosen for th e ride because of I. ) His good looks and charm; 2.) We needed an Expert's evaluation of th e machines as well as a talented rider to pose for the action photos; and 3. ) Mr . Motocross' full -time employment as a m otorcycle mechanic made him a natural to head up the Morning Motorcycle Maintenance and Trailside Flat Fixing Brigade. Cycle News looks at ever y angle. Once the four riders were set, th e arguments then centered on the logistics of the trip. Pack Rat , a motorcycle purist if there ever was one, argued passionately that the trip should be lim ited to just the four dual-purpose bikes, and that all necessary gear could be fitted into tank and saddlebags. Pack Rat also argued in favor of a completely organic trip, right 'down to camping under the stars. Trail Boss and Treasurer both took the opposite ta ct; Trai l Boss' idea of camping bei ng a cheap motel. Treasurer, who a t th e time was riding one o f the bikes to and from work to break it in, also a rg ued in favor of a support truck by quoting a well-known proverb, " Nikon s and vibration don 't mix," By majority vote , a su p port truck and hotels were agreed to . To pilot the truck, we dipped into the Cycle News' production staff and came up with Pit Crew One and Pit Crew Two. Pit Crew One is blonde, pretty, and somewhat en amored of Mr. Motocross. Pit Crew Two is also blond, but wears a beard and was designated Alternate Ri der . This was because the editorial staff had been corrupting him of late, teaching him how to ride, and he had learned his lessons well enough to fill in in group riding despite th e long-standing Cy cle N ews /East claim that suc h a breath is technically im possible in Los Angeles County. T rail Boss, Pack Rat a nd Mr. Mot ocro ss prom ptly d isappeared, p assing ca rs up o n th e road in spaces too tigh t to properl y pass ga s, followed at a more leisurel y p ace by the Treasurer, and then the su p port truck, mired behind th e slower traffic a nd lacking th e n imbleness o f the 250s. Ere long, we found a welcome establish me nt ca lled Rocco 's; wel come if for no other reason than th e fact that it is a n Italian restaurant and offered a welcome cha nce to p ass the past a . Some lasagna and linguini later, it was both dark a nd time to go , because . the p lans called for th e first overn ig h t stop to be made in Camarillo. Between Rocco's and Carmarillo lie so me of sou the rn Ca liforn ia 's fin est racer road , And wh at a co llectio n of ro ad s it was, more turns p er m il e tra vled than ca n be found in human intestines. Up Mulholl and Highway, th e Rock Store is a pop ul ar ga th eri n g sp ot for mot orcycl e rid ers, but at 9 p .m . on a Friday ni gh t, it's dark , desert ed a nd eer ie as on e fla sh es by a t 55 mph. We began to susp ect tha t after a wh ile, Mr. Mot ocross was bored riding with mere m ortals , or simply missed th e dirt. When a 'p art icu larly twisty downhill sectio n of th e ro ad featured an a sp halt cu r b, Mr. Mo tocross wa s quick to turn it into a berm. He went down the hill like a n extended bank shot in a billiards ga me . It a lm os t seemed too soon when we reached the en d of the evening's ride, making the sweep ing corn er aro u n d th e C amarill o S ta te Ps ychiatri c Hospita l a nd heading for Camarillo . Tha t we wer e going past th e hospital only now seem ed a p pro p ria te. (For those wishing to du pl icat e this portion of our trip on a full ydressed Gold Wing, p lea se be v-e-r-y c-a -r-e-f-u -l and follow th ese directions: T opanga Canyon to Dix Ca n yon, Dix Canyon to Sadd le Peak Road, Saddle Peak Road to St unt Road, Stunt Road to Mulholland . Highway, Mulholland H ighway to H igh way 23, Highway 23 to Portrero Ro ad , Lo s Posas Road to Camarillo .) After the Trail Boss sa u ntered into a Carl's Junior on th e co rn er of Las Posas and Daily Drive to ask for directi ons to Daily Dr ive, we found o ur m otel for the even ing a nd slept th e sleep of th ose a t peace, T o ta l miles: 91. Day two began with th e cra ck crew getting lost. G etting lost ga ve Mr. Motocross a ch ance to show off hi s wheelie prowess. He did , an d we were treat ed to the sig h t o f th e KL 250 loop in g out and bouncing down th e stree t, wiping ou t its ta ill ight len s but doing little o the r damage. " Did you h ear it lean out?" cr ied Mr. MX in a barely-dis guised a tte m p t to sav e face, " I tell yo u th e bike leaned o u t?" we responded with smiles so wide that not even full -face he lm ets co u ld cover th em. Sure. We event ually got our act straigh ten ed out, found Santa Paula , an d th en streaked up Hi ghway 33 in th e direction of Ojai. Along th e way we 'en co u n tered two waterfalls, call in g for pi cture stops . We d isco vered a n other benefit of having a Pro -level rid er a long , with Mr . Motocross' willingn ess to ri de th e bikes down sheer cliffs to get the bes t p ossi ble phot o a ngles. Eventually 60-odd miles of sceni c Highway 33 led us to a lunch stop a t Th e Pl ace, located right in th e h eart of th e bustling m etropol is of Ven(Continu ed to page 66) CONGRATULATIONS Jimmy Adamo - Winner Battle of the Twins Grand Prix Class and to all the Winners at Mid-Ohio Battle of the Twins G.P. Class Formula 2 Side Car 2nd Dave Emde 3rd Ron Sbordone 1st Dave Emde 2nd Hugh Humble 3rd Randy Renfrow 1st Pete Esaff - Dennis Crueger 2nd Fred Hopp - Bill Alston 3rd Bruce Li nd - Jack Hart Superbike Formula 1 2nd Fred Merkel 3rd Jeff Heino Thanks for riding with Castro/-Americas #1 Motorcyc/e Oil Engineered for Performance CastlOJ 401 Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601 ..... ex: (1.: c ~ ~