Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

YEti YEARS AGO Hideo " Pops" Yoshimura ret urned to th e United States, and a nnounced th e forma tion of a n ew co m pa ny: Yo sh im ura Research a n d Development of America. Pops had tak en a l2 -m onth ret reat i n J apan a fte r len gth y leg al battl es - whi ch resu lted in h is lo sin g co ntro l o f a n Am eri can firm th at bo re h is na m e. Workin g in part ne rship with Mack Kambayashi , the pa ir 's first p ro ject was to cons truct a p ro duc tio n Z-l Kawasak i for Wes Cooley to race a t La gun a Seca . Local r ide rs Sonny Bu rres, Chuck Joyner an d C harlie Bro wn swep t th e top three spo ts a t the Cas tle Ro ck TT National in Cas tle Rock, Wash in gton , bes tin g th e effo rts o f fourthpl a ce Mert Lawwill a nd fifth- pl ace Gary Scott. Kenn y R oberts wa s o n th e pole a t th e start, but a fourth-lap cras h in th e Na tio na l fi nal pu t h im out o f th e co ntes t, ca usi ng a sin g lefile restart. The openi ng ro u n d o f th e 1975 Inter AMA series bo iled do wn to a co ntest between Tony DiStefano (S uz) a n d th e 1974 Inter-AM A wi n ner lden ek Velk y a boa rd hi s CZ. DiStefano , the 250cc Na tion al Ch ampion , rook hom e a ll th e marbl es b y beating Velk y, Pi err e Kars makers (Hon) . and J im Weinert (Yam) in th e fir st moto. Though Velky edged DiStefan o in th e second m oto , hi s fourth -pla ce finish in the first ro u nd moved him to second o vera ll. Karsmaker s ' 2-3 tally earned h im a third overall finish. Harry Klinzmann won both the 250 and 350cc a t Sear's Po int ra cew ay . moving him severa l steps closer to snatching th e AFM #1 plate awa y from Rudy G a lindo . At this point in the seri es. Klinzmann held a 19-point lead ov er th e troubl e-plagued Ga lindo. a nd 15-year-old Ra ndy Mamola was tied with G alindo for seco n d place in th e sta n d ings. John Ul ric h logged h is 21st st raight 125cc Production class win a boa rd hi s Kill er DKW . The perennial Honda T ra il 90 was obta in ed for a p roduct evaluation . and wa s judged to " wa ll o w lik e a loaded bicycl e in the sa n d ... th e Trai l 90 goes nearly an ywhere th at a bett er motorcycle with a skilled rider can go, but get s th ere graduall y, q u ietly, torto ise fash ion. " However , the mach in e wa s excep tiona lly quiet, and was felt to be th e best availabl e tool for teaching basic off -road skills to first -time rid er s. Th e Trail 90 wa s obtai ned fo r the above test so th at a pair of Sie rra Club members - wh o had criticized offroad de sert ra cing events - co u ld have a cha nce to ac tua lly ride a motor cycle. Once o u t in the desert, on ly one of th em proved bra ve enough to try th e ma chine. an d a fter co verin g nearly II miles he co m men ted "( It's) much m ore work than I ex pected ; the y tell m e th at th e fast er yo u go th e eas ie r it is, but I understand yo u r survival ch a nces diminish a s the speed goes up. So I kept it down ." • MICHELIN HI-SPORT 120/70 120/80 100/80 110/80 110/80 160/60 130/70 140/70 160/60 160/80 V V V V V V V V V V 16 TF11 16 TF11 18 TF11 18 TF11 19 TF11 17 TG22 18 TG22 '8 TG22 18 TG22 16 July D.O.T. Approved Street Legal Highest Performance and MICHELIN SLICKS 12/60-16 11 09P Softest 13/60-16 1144 3 ,50" wide rim 11 /64-18 SF12 Softest 14/68-18 1238E Softest 16/70-18 1 145 0 Softest 18/72-18 1145K Softest 18/72-18 945 Drag Racing 18/67-164.50" wide rim NS/RS 500 800-628-4040 DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED A "'~MIITII UNBEATABLE ,~ TRRC ~ P BOX B61 • W .O ilBRAHAM. MASSACHUSETTS 01095 413 -734 -6211 - Outside Ma ssachusetts 800·62 8-4040 21

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