Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Sitar takes Ridge Runner Enduro By Bill Hernd on T UJU NG A, CA, J lJN E 3 In riding dress from cas ua l to full- out en du ro gear , rider s showed up for th e AMA 's first of five Dual-Purpose poker runs Ray Richardson (54481 leads eventual winner Gary Pena in the final of the Pro Comp class at Famoso; Pena qualified at 8 .52. 42 0.399 yo u red li ght. Pen a pull ed a lo ngs ide o n th e top en d for a p hoto fin ish . Pen a cut th e beam fir st with an 8.65/1 52.28 to Durham 's 8.83/ 149.25. Th e final - Pena vs. Ri ch ardson sa w Ri ch ardson lose traction o n th e line, hand in g Pen a th e win . "Even with th e ti re sp in . I got th e hol eshot a n d h e never passed me until fifth gear," Ri ch ard son sai d . " And wh il e yo u ' re quotin g me, put a p lug in for m y sponsors, G atl in Ra cin g /We b Ca m /The Shop and especia lly my tuner and crew chief, Levon T urner." In round o ne , Sargi s' (The Shop/ Web Ca m / AP E/ R C Eng./Wiseco/ Tsubaki ) Kawasaki had a n easy 8.42/ 169 wi n over a bogging Bosworth (H B Racing Ent./Sa n J ose Chem ical s/ Ce ntra l Cycle Salvage/ Cycle T u ne Fresno). Nigel Patrick (NE O / APE/ Fal icon/SoCaI Fu el/Web Ca m) d ispa tch ed Ude ll Wilson to the trailer with a meet best of 8,23. That left Sargis with a final bye run which h e promptl y executed in 8,76 a t 166,65, He's also the cu rre nt FB points lead er , The Pro Stock semi . fina ls had number one qualifier. Craig Burns aga ins t number three, Byron Hines. Both left quickl y, Hines a Iitrle too quick as he red lighted. The next pair wa s Tommy Bolton and Jeff Riddle, Bolton got squirrely off the line a nd had to back off, handing Riddle a trip to th e fin al s. Burns, who's been running a hot str eak latel y, laid th e hammer down in th e fin al with an 8.73/152.02 vs. Riddl e' s losing 8.869/ 148.27, The Pro Gas final pined Honey Bear, who broke, aga i ns t Don Earll 's Kawas ak i PIG record h older , turnin g a 9,538/136.98, Super Elirninaror saw L ynn Kenn ed y, Ken Dea gl e, J oe Dobos an d Randy Ranneberg advan ci ng to th e sem i. D eagle 9,22/1 31.77 (9.10d ial in) d ispa tched Rannberg 9.6 5/125.34 (9. 74 dia l who broke o u t. Wh il e Do bos' 9.87/ 134.73 (9.62) n ipped Kenned y 9.35 / 128.02 (9. 16). It must be not ed here th at Kennedy, th e number o ne poi nts lead er , holds th e E/XGB MDRA record a nd a lso set both ends _ of th e D/XGB record during th e m eet at9,1 6/1 45mph, Not ba d,cons ideri ng h e ca m paig n s a 65Occ. pl ain bearing mot or agai ns t engines tw ice th e d isp lace me nt running rolle r cra n ks. T he fin al round , Deagl e ca ugh t Dobos a t th e fir st light to secure a win at9.22/ 148 (9. 10 dial ) 10 Dobos' 9.82/ 134.73 (9.62) . Desp ite h is runn er-u p fini sh , Do bo s (Eye ba ll Eng ./Steve's M/ C Sa lvage) was a ll sm iles a nd 50 poi nts riche r in selli ng both en ds o f th e DDlA record a t 9,66/1 36 mph o n Sa turday , In the P ro Street semi. Charles H enry co m forta bly p u t Don Ear ll o n th e trai ler wi th a 9.52/147 vs. Don's 9.85 /142.4 . Tomm y Bo lt o n had a bye at 9.50/143 .76. Bohon ca me out of th e ho le in the fin al wiih just th e ri ght amount o f clutch a n d gas, short shi fted into seco nd and third to keep th e front en d wh er e he wanted it - just off th e ground , and cu t a winning 9.43 6/ 143.31 to H enry's 9.6 11145,86, Competition E lim i n a to r boi led do wn 10 Steve All sta edt , H arl ey, and Randy Cochran , single ca m H onda , for' th e final. Steve look it with a n 11.10 /11 8,36 to Cochra n 's 11.17 / 112.78. Outlaw H onda (sL~g le ca m o n ly) Cochra n cut a n I UO at 118.26 (10.99 dial ) to edge o u t the Bj v Le n ho f Team at 11.17, 112.78 ( 11.24 dia l) for th e fin al. L im it ed Pro S tree t Ch ris Sa ue r wad ed through a hea vy field to meet Abe " Speedy" G onzal es for th e final. Gonzal es flogged it a bout as hard as he co u ld .cu t an I 1.88 o n an I 1.90 di al but had 10 set tle for seco nd banana as Sauer bested him with a n 11.56/ I 0 1.92 ( 11.31), Ryan captures Cycleland ST By D avid James CHICO, CA , JUNE I ]MI Raci ng/ ABCO Business Forms-sponsored Dave Ryan captured his first 250cc Expert main of the season at Chico's Cycleland Speedwa y. Ryan , from Yuba Cit y, raced his J ohn Ma son H onda past H onda-mounted Bill Rogers ea rly in th e 10-lap main. R yan , wh o races th e Camel Pro Series part time, showed the specta tors lots o f exc ellent riding ability. Rogers took secon d a fte r holding o ff Kawa saki-mounted J oey Bol en. In o the r action , H onda rider G ilbert Smi th, sponsored by Smi th Painting a nd Dallas Smith , ba ttled th e entire eigh t laps with Mark Clark ( Hon) for th e O pen No vice victo ry. But on lap five, Denn is Hillier (H o n) closed in o n both Smi th an d Cl ark . When th e wh it e flag ca me o u t, Sm ith managed 10 hol d o ff th e p ressure from both riders. In th e last tu rn , H illi er mad e a la st- ch ance effo rt to go aro u nd Cl ark. Hill ier settled for th ird after a lmost bail in g . Results . PEE WEE : 1. Nichol as Qu ir ing (Yam); 2. Dall as Smith (Yam). 80 NOV; 1. Lowell Moura! Jr. (Hon); 2. Travis Sh ute (Yam ). 250 NOV : 1. George Gu thrie (Hon ); 2. Shannon Painter (C·A): 3 . Dava St ahl (Yam) . 250 JR : 1. Joey Gr esham (Hon); 2. Garn ett Est as (Yam) . • . 250 EX: 1. Dave Ryan (Hon); 2 . Bill Rogers (Hon): 3. Joey Bolen (Kaw). OPEN NOV ; 1. Gilbo" Smith (Hon ); 2. M ark Clar k (Hon); 3 . Dennis Hillier (Hon), OPEN EX: 1. M ike Gr esha m (Yam ); 2. Dave Ryan (Hon); 3. Bill Rogers (Hon). 200 HND CP: 1. Ralph Auer (Hont: 2. Clint Balli n ger (Hon); 3. Joey Bol en (Hon). 25 0 HNDCP; 1. Dave Kerr (Yam); 2. Joey Bolen (Kaw) ; 3 . M ike McDonnell (Hon) . OPEN HNDCP: 1. Randy Freema n (Yam); 2. John Loon ey (Hon); 3 . John Taylor (C·A) . of 1985. T he firs t loop began with rid er rese ll ing odom eters to 0.0 a t the Foothill Yamaha/Kawasaki drivew a y. At 1.2 miles, th e rou te took a right o n Mt , Glea son Road to Big Tujunga Road , a n d Angel es Forest Highwa y for 13.9 miles 10 Big T uj u nga Road. The first real problem of th e da y was a t 22.3 miles. wh er e riders wer e to leave th e asphalt and hit th e trail. The layout odometer was off en o ug h that almost a ll o f th e riders missed th e poorly-marked turn . Ribbon was not allowed . and there was such a small a m o u nt of lime, it wa s hard to see. After backtracking in varying deg rees. a ll riders eventually found th e elusive off-road entrance , into Lynx Gulch , By th en , most th at didn 't have resetr able-in-LOths od ometers wished th ey h ad . 10 reco rd th e p roper 22.3 miles d irt beginning . The riders' instructions sta ted "easy fir e road " which fo r th e most part, . was true. But th ere were still plenty of off-ca m bers, tight , decrea sing radius turns, a nd other low-tractive surfaces to keep riders ei ther on their toes, or h eads . Large elev a ti o n c h a n g es brought a wi de varie ty of brightco lo red la te .spring blooms 10 surround you - if yo u could look. A genuinel y-fun off-road loop brought everyone out to the finish of loop one a t 32.6 miles at Mill Creek Summit, an d ch eck two. This was also a rest sto p and free soft drinks, punch, and chain lube were provided. Loop two put riders to another 0.0 reset , and provided just what most riders had come for: off-road riding, From the start, through Liule Cedars, and out past Littlerock Dam 10 Four Points for the lunch stop, the majority consisted of the dirt side of Dua l-Purpose, with even better flora l scenery and landscape then loop one. After ending loop two at26.1 miles, riders again zeroed out th eir odos under the "Gas/Diesel" sign next to Oscar's Resta urant, for th e longest loop of the day: The 70.5 loop th ree . T ha t is , it wa s supposed to be 70.5 miles long. Taking Cheseboro a n d Mt, Emma Roads back up 10 Angeles forest H ighway, riders hit ch eck three at Mill Creek Su m m i t, in preparation for th e last and best pan. At 21.35 (cl a ime d) miles, i t was time to be up on th e tank o n Dual-Purpose ska te tires. Aft er r idin g handl ebar-width through th e flower sh o wer, th e mileage turned 10 junk at North Fork Saddle, just past Moody Canyon , From 38.35 miles onward , 6,3 miles (o n this rid er 's clock, simi la r on o ther's) just d isappeared ! The results were that all forthcoming right/left turn mil eages wer e off, a nd o n ly r id ers th at kept a runnin g record. or h ad a rescuable odo, wer e o n course 10 th e next tw o checks. Course stewa rd Jim Pil on h ad n o ex p la na tion a t press time, but wi ll foll owup mil eage for fu ture events pr io r to mailing route sheets. Fo r th ose wh o found th eir wa y to check four o n Sa nd Ca n yo n , a nd ch eck five (fi n ish) a t Foothill Yamah a/Kawa saki , eve nt sponsors Ca li fo rnia Ca sual s, O'N eal USA , T su ba ki Chai n . J P Enterprises, a nd Fla nd ers Co. had some to p-ra te pr izes 10 hand o ut. Top prize , a n U l t ra l i te ISD E jacket, went to th e over all winner Dennis Sita r (XL 500), wh o took high hand with three-of -a -kind, by way of th ree aces . By shee r coi nc ide nce wife Con n ie won Passen ger Buddy- Up, Ir v J ohnson wo n Sma lles t Bike (XL 185 ), while J eff L u nd chose 10 be different by ta ki ng h is '78 DT 400 Yamaha two-stroke 10 O ld estBike award . T he Long Distance awa rd went to Pa ul Steive rs. wh o rode h is o ld XL 500 a ll th e wa y from Pal o Alto. Ca lifornia . Watmore wails, Serrano second By Daryl D . Drake T UCSON , AZ, J UNE I Yamaha pilot Ron Watmore took his Eastside Cycle/United Motorsports YZ250 to the top of the Experts at the Coors O ff Road Classic '85 , Cool tempera tures a nd a great new track brought out some of Arizona's best 10 co m pe te in th e fifth race of th e Am eri can Off Road Racing Association 's "Western Stat es Series." A two -mor e format ga ve Watmore th e cha nce he needed a fter Husk y rid er Carlos Serrano won th e fir st bailie. Off the start, Phoenix 's Bryan H ayes put h is Yamaha . o u t front with a stro ng holesh ot , but j us t beh ind him wer e Serrano , Watmore an d J ames George (h o n). Halfway through , Serrano got past an d started puu in g some distance o n th e field . H a yes h eld off Watmore and Tim Li cklitter (H o n) moved into fourth . Serrano built up a strong margin and even a stalled engine didn't cost him th e win. But Watmore got around H a yes a nd was threatening Serrano at the finish. Pat Eggman (M-Star) rounded out th e top five. In th e second Expert bout, Hayes got out first again but laid it down on the third turn . Serrano then took the lead with Watmore, George, Li cklitter and Eggman giving chase. The water trucks had been o u t between motos and Serrano slid out of the slick mud, destroying his brake reservoir in th e process. He restarted and wo rked his way back into second but couldn 't hit the corners fast enough to catch Watmore. " We ll, I tell ya, it was pretty exciting - gave m e flashbacks of supercross racing," Serrano sa id. " I had to do so me di cing th er e 10 ca tch up after I stalled my bike out - and I really liked the co urse. It wa s shor t, fast and had so me good rough straightaways in it ." Since th e secon d m o to was th e tiebreak er , Watmore got th e evenin g's win follow ed by Serrano, H a yes , Li ckl itter, George and Eggman. In Ama teur ac tio n , John Beaver (H o n) took both m otos for the 250cc win , Steve G arrison (Ma i) dominated the Open Am ateurs and Da nn y Bonham (KTM) was I25cc cham p . Th e 250cc Novice racing was as ho t with m any lead cha nges and Wa ymon Gladden (Suz) put together a third a nd a fir st to tak e th e tr oph y. Ri chard Varner (H o n) an d Bill Sickman (Hon) dominated the Open a nd I25cc No vice, respecti vely. Th e team o f Bob Schn oor a nd SCOll P ieper (Yam) won both sideha ck rnotos despite tough cha lle nges by Garo Rolnik/Steve Bail ey and Mik e C u rtis /Todd Redondo . Resu lts 2S0 /0PEN EX: 1. Ron W atmore (Yam ); 2. Carlos Serrano (Hu s); 3 . Bryan Hayes (Yam ). 250 AM : 1. John Beaver (Hon); 2. Tom Hawkes (Hon). . OPEN AM : 1. Steve Gar rison (Mai); 2. Willie Gir ior(Kaw).

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