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/126845
l.!") 00 O'l '. (A bove) A vint age Ha-rley stages for the hillclimb. (Below) D ick "Bugsy" , Mann's (2) and " LiI'l John" Hateley's (9 8) BSAs. Dick Mann Dirt Bike Rally Old men, iron bikes By Bill Spencer BRENTWOOD, CA, OCT. 13 It was li ke going back in time. The Second Annual Dick Mann Dirt Bike Ra ll y at Sand H ill Ra nch brought out unusual antique and vintage equipment and people in great 30 numbers. With motocross cornpetition set for pre-1974 bikes, I display areas for viewing a n d a general swap-meet atmosphere Old men and iron machines participated in Dick Mann's Vintage Dirt Bike days. Nearly 3000 spectators attended the festivities. a lo ng with hillclimb and short track dem onstrations all made for a gr eat day of reliving the past. Combine all that with live interviews with T om Sifto n, Hap J ones, Dick Mann acting as host, Mert Lawwill and even Kenny Robert s, abso lu tely en th ra lling the nearl y 3000 a ttendees . Racing pl a yed center stage for th e morn ing with the first event certa in ly the most entertai n ing as far as th e classics were conce rne d. Leading o u t the first wave for big twins and preunit co ns truc tio n wa s L 'il John Hat eley, back on a 1965 T riu mp h, with But ch Cochran e a n d Buggs Mann chas ing . Neither Cochrane nor Hatelev co u ld hold o n to Mann as he la m basted a ll come rs in th e first mo to a nd the n retired to hel p in other orga n izi ng. In th e seco nd m oto, Hat eley led o ut easily, but Coch rane a nd hi s T riumph reeled him in, only to lose gro u nd o n th e last two laps. At trophy presentation, Hateley remarked, " I sn eezed a nd he went by." At davs end o ver a co ld o ne , Cochrane said , " I rea lly had a bias I and hope th ere will be more j ust lik e this o ne ." Wild Bill Fleet rounded ou t th e LOp three in big-bore stuff, whil e Da vid Breetwor won both en ds of th e Junior pre-unit on a Matchless, with Sand y Ross second on an AJS and Tom Baird third on his 650 non-uni t Triumph . J ohn Ford led out a nd easily won th e first Vet Novi ce mot o o n a che rry T ri u m p h. while J ohn McCoy a nd Dennis Buckley were hav in g a side by-side ba tt le for seco nd. McCoy a nd hi s Brirali a Motors Husky slip ped behind Buckley 's Creeves, with Glenn Oliveri a fourth on a CA over team- mat e Randy Edgem on. In the seco nd round , Ford led early on but crashed out to finish 13th and sevent h overa ll. Buck ley took o ver the front-runnin g portions for a 2-1 and overa ll win , with McC o y a pai r of thirds for seco nd over Edge mon . Old Timer Norm Armstrong han d- bu ill a ll the trophies o ut o f vi ntage pa rts a nd winners viewed th em ca refu lly. Iookin g fo r spa re pa rts . Pam MacDonald led th e Powd er Puffer s to th e bra ss, but o n ly a fter a battl e with Jeri McClin ton . MacDonald rode a 125cc Yam aha o f 1971 vint age, while McClinton had an ageless Rickman. Vern Forsyth topped th e Expert Sportsm an cla ss, with J on Proto LOp Amateur on a restored Triumph over Mike Green on a BSA. Steve Stasiefski wo n the overa ll on an ex-Brad Lackey Kawasaki, still o wned a nd maintained by Lackey's dad, Do ug. Stasiefski commented that after much tra ining in Ren o , he drove over the hill to California LO have some fun . After a flat rear tire in the first round, Stasiefski left town early in the next to easi ly win the overa ll on th is 1974 bike that was th e National champion. Old Timer Expert competition saw Canadian National champion Zoli Beren yi, 53, fight out a win over Jim a nd Bill McClinton. Jim , under 50, won th e first moto on his early '70s CCM with Beren yi second on a Honda Elsinor e. Big Bro ther Bill , over 50, led out both rn or o s but succ u m bed to th e pressures to fini sh third both times. Jim appeared to hav e th e upper hand until he had an unfortunate me eting th at led him to deep prayer