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/128307
A Triumph-ant Year 3 0 YEA RS AnD.•• January 22. 1974 A couple of pho tos of minis sloshing t hrough the mud adorned the cover of Issue #2, as 829 riders took to The Triumph·ant Eddie Mulder: Alive and well in 2004 the course at the World Mini Grand Prix in Valencia, Ca lifo rnia. After the N MAtook a little time to make the track "ridable ," the riders took to it. Among the fastest riders was Brian Myers. co ugh, who won by a half a lap... Mitch Mayes (Hus) won the first Hare Scrambles of the year, the Vikings' Hare Scrambles, in Lucerne , California ... Due to the gas sh o rtage, Ho nda stopped production of its CRI25 and CR250 Elsinores in order to up prod uction of street motorcycles, which got much better mileage than cars normally did. t shou ld come as no surprls~hat HarleyDavid son r u led th e AMA N ati o na l d irt t rack series in the I960 s much in the same way that it does now. From the tum of the decade th rough the 19 65 season , the American - I taking Another Triumph ride r, Buddy Elmore, put the brand in the w in column right off the bat by claiming the Daytona 200. BSA's Sammy Tanner w o n the next two ro unds, leaving Harley winless unt il defending series champion Bart Markel won the Co lumbus Half Mile, round fo ur of the series. Babe De may made it two in a ro w for Har ley by JANUARY 21 ,2004 • case off it and took the complete pr imary We d uct-taped th e fro nt of the engine case and Ga r~l~=;;~~;;~~~~: Park in Ascot one in the win column when the competing British brands, Triumph, BSA and Matchless , took w ins away fro m each other as well as Harley. But in 1966, things changed. Already a player in the series, Triumph had constantly improved its stock in Class C Racing w ith the idea of one day wresting the title away from Harley. While the British-built, overhead-carnrned SOOcc twins were at a displacement advantage to the mighty, side valved 750cc Harley KRs, Triumph made up fo r it by hiring some of the hottest talent to be found in the sport, guys like Gary Nixon and Eddie Mulder - the latter a Californ ian whose legendary career literally started in the crapper rather than ending t here: Mulder was "indisposed" as the field thundered away to start the 1960 Big Bear Scrambles, yet he came from dead last to win anyway. He was also a gifted TT rider, a fact that wo uld pay big dividends for Triumph in '66 . 94 the four straight wins for Trium ph, with Mulder claim ing the TT wins at Castle Rock, Washington, manufacturer and its dom inant, flathead V-twins not only won the most titles but also the most races. If Harley didn't just plain dominate a season, then it would rank number lincol n, Illinois, Half Mile. But t hen Mulde r an d N ixon to ok over, r eeling o ff dena, California. Nixon backed up his Indianola, Iowa , road race win with another at the Springfield Mile. assembly and clut ch and stuck it on my bike. together, and then I went o ut and qualified. We bro ke the single-lap reco rd, set the heat- race record and won the Nat ional. The Triumph dealer was so happy tha t he gave 500 bucks to the guy we borrowed the bike from and put his bike back together on top of that." No one knew it at the time , but Mulder's Peo ria win would be Triump h's sixth of the yea r. It also snapped Harley's string as, for the first time in Grand National history, a foreign brand won the most races. Mulder's Then came the Peoria TT in August, a three w ins tied Tanner 's three wins for most race that Mulder had won the year before. wins that season. Two years later, Triumph Another w in there would really establish would become the first foreign brand to Triump h as the brand to beat, even though wrest the title away from Harley for con- Markel was posting consistent finishes on secutive seasons after Ni xon won it in '67 the way to a successful title defense. Mulder and '68. re me mbe rs how the stage was set. Mulder continued to race into the '70s "Triumph was having a good year in '66," before heading to Hollyw ood to pursue a Mulder remembers. "T hey had come out career as a st untrnan, a career that he con- wit h the TT Special th at year and the whole tinues today. He also pro motes his own race deal. I remem ber going to Peoria and getting series, Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage the white flag during qualifying when my pri- Dirt Track Series, in wh ich he act ively races mary chai n broke and spit pieces of the a Ha rley -Davidson(!). Mulder says that engine case out the front of it. I got it there's a neat epilog ue to his '66 Peoria stopped and pushed back to the pits. The experience . Triumph de ale r in town - his name was Smitty - told me to go up on top of the hill '~bout 10 years ago , I was standing at Willow Springs, and this big huge kid walks where all the Triumphs were parked and to up to me and says to me , 'Re me mbe r me?' I just pick o ne and bring it back. I grabbed a said, ' No,' th inking to myself that I hoped I brand new TR6C and was riding it side-sad- didn't do anything to piss the guy off, dle down the hill when its o wner hollered, because he was a monster. He opens up th is ' Hey, where are you goin' with my motorcy- bo x, and inside it was my fast time trophy cle?!' Smitty told the guy, ' Hey, we're going from that '66 Peoria TT. I had given it to that to bo rrow it, but we'll make it good.' Triump h dealer way back then. It turns ou t that th is guy was his so n, and he had come "So we rolled it on its side , and Howard Barnes and Ken Maely took the primary CYC LE N EW S to give the trophy back to me ." 40th Anniversary eN 20 YEARS AnD... January 25. 1984 Jeff Wa rd led a green sweep of the Golde n State MX Series, and fo r that he was granted the cover of Issue #2. Ward won the 12S and 250cc Pro classes , while Todd "Goat" Breker won the 500cc Pro class... Terry Poovey won the grand slam at a Fort Worth, Texas, short track , winning his scratch heat, regular heat , semi and main event. Ronni e Jones finished second in the main, over Billy Herndon ... We inte rviewed Wes Cool ey , who headed up th e Professional Ride rs ' Orga niza t io n (PRO), a sort of union for road racers who were sick of unsafe track conditions and poor refereeing. The goals were reportedly to increase safety, exposure and purses at the National Road Races. 10 YEARS AnD•• • J anuary 19. 1994 Je remy McGrath, Brian Swink, Steve Lamson , Larry Brooks and others were placed on the cover of Issue #2 in ho no r of our yearly Supe r. cross Preview. The 1994 season wo uld be the last that RJ Reynolds Tobacco would sponsor the Camel Supercross Series, and we predicted McGrath would take the last Tobacco $100,000 chec k. We also predicted Damon Huffman to win the 12Scc Wes t and Ezra Lusk to win the 125cc East... Jeff Em ig (Y am) won the GFllnvitat ional Supercross, and the suitcase full of $SOOO. for the second year in a row. Damo n Huff m a n won the 125cc class... Joh n Dowd (Y am) won the 250cc Pro class at an extremely muddy Florida Winter AMA Series opener at Gatorback. Ezra Lusk (Suz) wo n the 125cc class. Kevi n Wind· ha m (Kaw) swept the 125 and 250cc A classes , Ja m e s Stewart (Kaw) the 65ce (7- 11) class, and Travis Pa st ra na (Suz) the 85cc (7- I I) event.