Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Second annual/SDT Reunion Ride By Je ff DeBell CASS, AR, OCT. 3-4 eroy Winters and Dick Ma n n we re L returnin g h o st s fo r th e seco n d a nnual ISOT Reunion Rid e in th e O za rk N a tio nal Fo res t, n ea r Cass , Arkansas . Th is A HR MA - and AMA san ctioned ev en t is dedicated to p reserving th e h is to r y and spirit of the In te rn a tional Si x D ay s Trial. Motorcycli ng legends Jo h n Pen ton, Pres to n Petty an d Malco lm Smith were in attend an ce , a lo ng wi th o th e r fo r m er ISOT ! IS O E ri de rs and vi ntag e- bi ke enth usiasts. Th e Razorback Riders used its past experience wit h the White Rock Qualifier to se t up a rida ble ye t d em an d in g co urse, and th e Tu lsa Trail Rid ers p ro v id ed the special tes t ti m in g a nd com pu ter sco ring tha t th e club perfected at the 1994 ISOE. The resul t of the clu b memb er s' hard work was an enjoyable and smoothly run eve nt. The Reunion Ride is set up like a vintage [SOT, running over trails and fire roa ds and including various spe cial tests to es tab lish class ra nkings. Pa s t [SOT and [SOE riders can rid e in on e of two AHRMA vintage cla sses - pr e-1975 o r p re-1 981 - o r opt to rid e m o d ern m ach in er y . Riders w ithout pa st Si x Day s ex pe rience are limited to the tw o AHRMA classes; ho w ever, a "W an n a Be" class was establis hed thi s ye ar fo r . non-Six Days riders who were unable to procure vint age bik es. Th e 1997 Reunion Rid e was limited . in attendance but wa s considered a success. The hot, d ry and dust y conditions e vo ke d m e m ories of places such a s Camerino and EI Escor ia l. The 1998 rid e had more rid ers and som e celebri ties, a nd the m is ty, fog -s hrouded woo ds were remini scen t of such class ic Six Days loca les as Garmisch , Spi ndleruv Mlyn, and Lland rid od We lls. . Motorcycles were im pound ed on Friday in a sheltered parc ferme, as the ingredi ent s for a great weekend were coming toget her. N ew a nd retu rning rid ers ren ewed friendship s and admired some nice examples of classic off-road mac hinery. Vin tage en th usias ts p oured over Dave Mungen a st ' s 1973 Triumph 500 (which was still wearing number 299 from the Dalton ISOT) and ogled fine examples of Pe n tons, Mai cos, Bu ltacos, Huskys, Herculeses, BSAs, BMWs and Hodakas. Rid ers s tar te d ou t fou r to a mi nute on Saturday morning across a sho rt trail 'co n n ect o r and a qu ick ro m p u p th e as p ha lt to a bo u t 12 miles of fas t fire roads to th e first checkpo int. As the riders m ad e th eir way u p Bos to n Mountain, th e fog an d mist thicken ed, slo w ing the pace to the point that - in spite of so me fla t-ou t ha uling w hen visib ility 'a llow ed - m ost ri ders m ad e the ch eck wi th just a m inute or two to spa re . Th e seco nd sectio n was a b ou t 15 miles of s ingle -track trail, po w er line roa ds an d ro ck y Jeep tra ils . Th e fe w short fire-road connect ors ga ve riders only a few m om e nts to ca tch their breath b efore being arrowed ba ck in to the woods aga in. . Mist and intermittent ra in mad e for some slick going in spo ts. A t the secon d check, a n u m ber of rid ers were seen c hecking ti r e pr es sure . T he sli ck Arkansas trails m ade it feel like their ti res 'h ad go ne fla t. M ost r iders were able to ze ro this sec tion, but the RM.orback Riders were just using this sectio n . to p rim e th e field fo r th e next , which was a rea l poin ts taker. Sect ion th ree was 15 m ore mil es of p ure trail - m ore th an enoug h to keep you on you r toes on modern bikes, an d extremely cha lle nging in spots fo r the vi n tage bikes with limited suspension travel. The firs t special tes t of the day preced ed the checkou t for this section, but firs t rid ers had to pass through the most d iffi cu lt par t of th e cou rse. The trail lead ing up to the specia l test w as a mil e and a half of incr ea sin gly difficult u phill with sw itchbacks, w at er bars and loose rock. This' sect ion took its toll, and exhau sted riders crested the hill only to -be checked in to the special test, a mile of win d ing first-gear virgin trail shoehornin g th rough "barely Bark Buster-wide" trees. A t the checkou t, riders were relieved to see th at th e rem aining course work . would be fas t fores try roads lead in g back to the remai ning specia l tests and pa rc ferme. Dick "Bugsy" Ma nn ran the first sp e- . cia l test, a n acceleration a n d braking test. Fro m a standing start, riders accel era ted in a st raight line for about 100 yards, ma de a I SO-degree tu rn around a co ne, and returned ba ck , braking to a complete stop inside a marked square. The Tu lsa Trail Rid ers timed the fin al s p e cia l test of t he day : a si n gle lap around a se r pe ntine grass track. When the TTR s tabulated th e day ' s results, local ISDE veteran Steve Van Zant held a slim overa ll lead over John Fischer and Ch arlie Williams. An awards banquet was held Saturday nigh t at the Wiederkehr Win ery in nearby Altus . Host Leroy Winters called upon sev eral Six Da ys vetera ns to recall the spirit of the [SOT. Up on stag e w as the first Penton im ported to the Un ited States (#00001) and a classic 1973 [aw a ISOT model, bo th beautifully rest ored. A t th e 1997 Reunion, Jo hn Pen ton w as awarded the fir st Bud Ekins Pio- . I. 7 . ."isit,," (Above right) Charlie Williams was the overall winne r at the second annual ISOE Reunion Ride in Arkansas. (Right) ISOT legend Malcolm Smith won the Past Masters class. neer Awa rd - a fitting tribute to a man w ho almost sing le-h and ed ly k ep t A m e r ica's [S OT efforts goi ng from the lat e '60s th rou gh the 70s. This year, the award was p resen te d to The Ma n hims elf, Malcolm Smith, off-road legen d and ve tera n of nine Six Days. Malcolm h um bly accepted th e award, telling the crowd how he used to ride up into the hills as a yo u th o n a La m bre tta scoo ter to wa tch hi s hero, Bud Ekins , race in California. A new award this year was the A l Ea mes A wa rd . Kn own as "Mr. [SOT ," Eames was the ma stermin d behind th e first America n [SOT in Dalton, Massachusetts, in 1973. Eames and his wife, Marie, we re great suppo rters of end uro and reliability trial s com pe tition, and they were loved and resp ected by countless ride rs. The first Al Eames Award was fittingly presented to the Razorback Riders, a club tha t has embraced the sp irit of the original ISDT and again orga nized an outstanding event. . Day two of the Reun ion Ride would be a repeat of the first day's trails, follo w ed by th e tra ditional g rass- track race: five- lap mo tos by class . Overnight showers kept the trails slick, and the fog and mist in the m ounta in s w a s e ven heavi er than they ha d been the p revious day. Mo re than one finicky vintage bike balked a t lig hti ng off af ter the d amp night outdoors, bu t the majority of th e field was soon under way for ano ther shot at the Ozark tra ils: The previous day 's results had been p o sted and a number o f rid ers were wa lking the fence bet w een go ld and silver or silve r a nd bronze. Rid er s w er e push ed to stay on th eir minu te, especial- lyon the fast, tim ed forest ry-road sections where pea-soup fog kept visibility - and spe eds to a minim um. The second and third sec tions' we re again the tou gh es t - even more so tha n on the first day, du e to the ad ded wa ter and travel on th e trail. The course m arsh al s len gt h ened the special test in the third sec tio n but kep t it just as tig ht. A number of rid ers lost pr ecious seconds ta ng led u p in the th ick trees, p ickin g bikes u p fro m · th e s lic k leav es a nd pi ne need les o r straightening bent levers. In the end , it ca me dow n to w ho mad e the best tim e thro ugh the speci al tests and who stayed within th e allotted 10 percent of their class lead er' s pe na lty m arks to d ecid e w ho remained on the go ld sta ndard. In typical Six Days fashion, fi rs t th ro u gh t h ir d ove rall was decid ed by eigh t seconds acc rued in five specia l tes ts . Charlie Williams edged John Fischer and Van Zant for the overall, but Van Za nt d id post three of the top five special test scores on a 24-yea rold Yamaha . . f~ ISOT Reunion Ride Cass, Arkansas Results: Octo be r 3 • 4, 1998 HSTRC ISDT: 1. Steve Van Zant (Yam); 2. Chuck C ua rton (H us ): 3. Ke vin G rimes (H us) : -l. Bill Orth (Pen); 5. Randv Chieca (Pen). CLSSC fSDT: 1. David Keith (Ya m); 2. Steve Syler (MaD; 3. Tim Sing leton (H en): ... Mike Parker (KTM); 5. 1eff DeBell (BMW). PA ST MSTR : 1. Mal colm Sm ith (Hu s): 2. Dwight Rudder (Hod); 3. Dave Mu ngenast (Tri): 4. Bart Wi'bters (Hen). ' MDRN PAST MSTR : 1. Cha rlie William s (ATK); 2. Jak e Fischer (Kaw ): 3. Mike Lewis (Hen). WANNA BE: 1. 10hn Fischer (Yam); 2. David Hall; 3. Cu rtis Harper (Suz): 4. Randy Smith '(I-I n); 5. Lynn o Burto n (Hon) . , 00 C'l I-< c.; .g ..... U o 29

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