Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Overell winner Mike Melton snekes his Husqveme through the reeds on his way to e 20-poinu-lost finish in Delewe,.. AA winner John Mertin (left) decided to welk his Cen-Am through the difficult "Sluice Gete" section. rether then take the risk of dunking. AMA National Championship Enduro Series: Final round Delaware State win to Melton By Tom Kolnowski BEAR, DE, OCT. :SO Maintaining the .winning form that h(!d already garnered him the National Enduro title, Mike Melton dealt one final blow to his co~pet~tors by notching his seventh overall NatIonal WIn of the season at the Delaware State Enduro. The Team Husqvarna pilot, who r h d h .I h BI k c Inc e. t e tit e at t e. ac 10 Coal Nauonal Enduro m Indiana on September 1I,Iost a total of 20 pomts en route to the wm over Can-Am's john. Marun. and Husqvarna S~pport nd~r Kevm HI.nes, who both fmIshed with a 22-pomt tally. :'It,~a,s a~ excell~nt run," Melton said. .IL s nice to fmlsh out the season with an event ~s good as thiS one. They had everythmg - you had to ride hard and think all the time. IL was definitely National caliber, and even the secuons that we zeroed you had to s.tay on the gas." . The tHle went to Melton over Marun, 285-227, after the lengthy season of 12 events. A rider's best 10 rides are counted, and Melton had three seconds to go al.ong with his seyen ~ins. "I was a little nervous gomg mto the last ,two events," Melton said: "I dldn t hav~ any pres.sure on me, smce .1 ~ad the title, but I Just wanted to do well. I changed over to th~ 500WR, and wasn't completely used to riding it. M,artin h!is been one of the most consIstent nders all year long, and he:s always in ,~here, so that made thmgs tougher. .Organized by the Dela~are Enduro RIders M.e., and sancuoned by the E~EA as well ~s AMA, the event. was gIven hlg~ praise by most, especIally the AA n~ers. Club preSident Bill Bowen enlIsted the help of endu~o nders CharlIe Stapleford and BLII Glenn - names that are lIkely to appear at or near the top of any endur~ results list. The end r~sult was a ndeable yet tough event, with a very high level of organization. With 1:S5.2 miles on the route sheet and a total of 12 miles in mileage resets, riders put in well over seven hours of riding time. Speed averages varied from six to,24 mph, with a total of seven speed changes. It was evident that much thought ~as p~t into the layout. As Glenn said pnor to the start, "We are going to test the rules, test your timekeeping, and test your riding skills." That they did. Timekeeping presented a problem for all, including Melton, Martin and Hines. With a total of 20 checkpoints, even the most sophisticated electronic timing equipment wasn't always enough. Melton collected two of his points for early arrival at check 14, which came at the 90 mile mark. Martin also clocked into the same check early, as did Hines. A constantly changing speed average added to the problem. The toughest sections came toward the end of the run. Melton lost five minutes, 20 seconds in the section which began at check 16. Martin was marginally faster with five minutes, eight seconds. Hines was 17 seconds off Melton's pace. The last section proved to be the biggest point-taker. Martin again set the fastest time through, with a 9:01. Melton was another 16 seconds behind While Martin had the quickest times in the two tie breaker sections two points for early arrival at anothe; check handed the win to Melton. Martin's day got off to a bad start. He suffered a flat rear tire in the first tight woods section of the day, but still managed to stay even with Melton through the sections leading to the first gas stop at 49 miles. Both lost three points up to there. While Hines admiuedly prefers to ride hare scrambles his enduro skills are rapidly appro'aching those of Martin and Melton. "The event was good, the trails were good, check placement was excellent, organization was tops - a'n overall good evem," Hines said. "I had some minor problems, like a broken footpe/l; in the morning, and I had to ride 45 miles like that. I also seized the motor midday, which didn't hurt me too bad. Martin beat me by about 40 seconds for second overall - I needed a second to finish the year third in points. There's always another year. I can still win the National Hare Scrambles title." Hines finished out the season fourth in the point standings behind injured Terry Cunningham, last year's champ. Team Husky's Mark Hyde filled the fourth overall spot behind Hines with a 25-point score. "We went into the woods at 82 miles, and I was riding a minute behind Mike (Melton). I forgot to turn my gas on, so I reached down to turn it on and I hit one of those tree roots. IL pushed me over to· a tree, then I hit the tree and crashed..1 was using a pair of hand guards, but since my hand was off the bars my thumb took most of the blow. IL still hurts." Rick Scharphorn, from Grand Haven, Michigan, made the trip worthwhile with a 26-point ride, good enough for fifth overall and 16 series points. The Lake Cycle-sponsored rider pondered his score card at the finish line, and with the 20 checks, there were times wriuen on the front as well as the back ofthe card. "I think that I'll have to get the calculator out to add up this one," said Scharphorn. What it did add up to was an 11th overall placing for the year in the series point race for Rick. Scoring efficiency was achieved through the use of five microcomputers. With scores of Band Criders climbing well into the lOOs and 200s, the ability' to key in the arrival times at each check for a rider with his completed score card in hand saved much time. The result was a posting of results only minutes after a rider finished and contributed to the overall smoothness of the event. High Point A honors went to KTMmounted Chris PuH. His score of 30 points placed him sixth overall behind a field of five AA riders-a very creditable ride. Husky-mounted Don Tomlin was the next closest A rider. His score of :S3 was good enough for the Open A class win. . Dwight Rudder capped o££ his first season of attacking the Nadonal series with the 250cc A win and eighth_ overall. ''I'm happy with finishing the way I did, but I wish I could've gone a little faster to collect another overall A award. I'm hoping to get more support for next season and go at it again." He finished eighth in the series. Finishing second to Rudder in the class was Michigan rider john HoHman. "IL was a good ride all da,y long," HoHman said. ''I'm tired they really hit us hard in the last sections." He was Husky-mounted. On the DNF list was Husky.Support rider Dave Bertram, who hails from California. "I seized the motor in the first fast section in the morn'ing," Bertram said. "I pulled onto a road and didn't even have it honed out - I don't like to holda bike wide open. II I could've ma'de it into tbe first gas I would've done a quick top end job." Bertram retained his AA status by finishing seventh in the series. The top 20 riders will be classified as AA for '84. When the first riders headed into the woods at 7:00 a.m., the thermometer read a rather crisp :SO-deg,-ees. With most bikes jetted for warmer temperatures, seizures such as that which Bertram encountered were common. Also a topic of discussion at the first gas stop was the reluctance of suspension units to respond correctly - oils are thicker at the low temperatures and rider comfort decreases. Spectators were kept entertained with seven spectator points. The most popular area was the "Sluice Gate," a corridor carved out of concrete formations with rapidly flowing waters. While most made it through the gate itself rather easily, the entrance, which was·on the downhill side of the water flow, was liuered with engine-sized rocks. Not surprisingly, water and slippery rocks caused trouble for, many. The best method seemed to be walking the bike across. Once over the rocks and up into the gate, the rest was easy. A gas stop and layover immediately after the obs'tacle were a welcome sight to many. Another interesting area was a quick trip through an abandoned housefollowed by another craftily-placed check. How about a quick journey through a tunnel, complete with more flowing water? Amtrak trains rapidly went about their busines of transporting passenger on the rails above the 24 mph crowd. Terrain ranged from very fast, open • sections to "real, real tight," as Mel-

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