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/128346
PHOTOS BY JAMEY BLUf>lT
Cachuma Lake Vintage British Motorcycle Rally
Live Oak Campground
British Invasion!
By JAMEY BLUNT
LAKE CACHUMA, CA, SEPT. 3·6
I ocated between Santa Barba ra an d t he
L.soivang turnoff along Highway 154 is California's Lake Cachuma. Every year since 1995. a
Vintage Motorcycle Rally has been held in this
pictu resq ue setting. This year, over the Labor
Day weeke nd , the private live O ak Ca m pground was full of pris tine vintage mou nts, as
we ll as some of the friendliest and most knowledgeable peo ple o ne cou ld hope to mee t. The
original fou nder of the event was john Healy of
Coventry Spares Ltd. in Massachusetts . However, in 1998 the even t was taken over by john and
Do nna M ulrean of Sa D iego, California. wh o
n
have turned this even t into a family-orien ted rally
with field events for mo to rcycles, bicycles (for
the kids), a mo torcycle show, organized rides
and a live band. Also added to the British motorcycles we re the sidecars and tear-drop trailers.
Th e cam pgro und was filled with 244 parti cipants, each picking the ir special oak tree (fro m
mo to rcycle show - which the Trium ph won,
hands dow n.
Fo r the event, riders and bicyclists alike had
to negotiate obstacles. pull straws from bottles
w ithout tipping them over, throw rings over
orange cones fro m three feet away while
moving, and place tennis balls on top of cones just to name a few of the games thought up by
Jo hn and Do nna . Even t he sidecars got in on
the fun . Ride rs o n mo torcycles o r all shapes
and sizes partici pated . fro m vintage up to and
including a Honda 1800 Go ld Wing.
O n Sunday, a trip was planned to visit the
motorcycle museum in Solvang, with 71-yearo ld Dick Harris - who rod e his 1970 Triumph
all the wa y from New York to be her a - leading
t he way. Sponsors Covent ry Sp are s , JRC
Eng inee ri ng a nd Rab e r 's Par ts Mart a re a ll
ow ed many than ks fo r the ir supp ort. A vintage
Triumph 20 0 wa s eve n raffled off to rais e
mo ney fo r the rally scho larship fund. Next year
pro mise s to be even be tt er and is a must fo r all
British Moto rcycle enthusiasts.
eN
among hundreds) and settling in for the long
weekend. Three square meals a day were also
provided throughout the duration of the rally.
The guest o f honor was award -winning
producer/director Br uce Brown of On Any
Sunday and Endless Summer fame. Mr. Brow n
was on hand to swap race stories, answer any
q uestions , and hand out aw ards to the event
winners. He was a gra cious honoree and was
tire less in his efforts to please all.
Two Motorcycle Hall of Fame members and
former National numbers were on han d as
well : Eddie Mulder (fo rme r National number
12) and Digger Helm (form er Nat ional number
57). Helm brought w ith him his newly painted
Har ley with his fam ou s number 57 airbrushed
o nto the cust om pu rple gas tank for the rally
rides , while Mulde r brou ght a Triump h (the
o nly monoshock Triumph built to date) for the
One rider who made even a rough trac k loo k
smooth was jo hn Dehn, who has qualified fo r
several 125cc Nat ionals th is year. He was back
home at Grantsburg, do ing what he does best :
w inning the I25cc A and 250cc A classes. Dehn
is the points leade r in both of those classes in
District 23 and is looking to be the first rider in
more than 10 years to win both premie r classes.
His brothers also joined in o n the fun, with Bruce
w inning both the Schoolboy and I25cc B classes
and Kylewinning the 250cc B class.
The largest A class of the day was the Over
40 class . In the first mete. Bill Engstrom held
the lead until the wh ite nag, but Kevin Schlegel
and Tom Peterson stayed close. Then, on the
la st lap . both Engst ro m and Schlegel went
down, allowing Peterson to ta ke the w in over
Br ian Fish er and Fran k Barna. Schlegel an d
Engstro m recovered for fourth and fifth .
In the second mo to , Engstrom agai n le d
earfy, with Schlegel, Peterson and Fischer close
behi nd. Schlegel got by o n lap th ree and ra n off
with th e win . Peterson also got by Engstrom,
se curing the ove rall win, over Schlege l. Fishe r
ran strong in fourth unt il he went down on the
66
Event announcer Mike Van Lienden
and his passenger maneuver a
Honda SL70 thraugh the slalom
co u rs e at Live Oak Campground.
third lap . Barna's consistent 3-4 sco re landed
him third ove rall. Meanwhile, in the race that
started behind them , Mark Brunsbe rg escaped
his duties at the starting line lo ng enough to win
both Over 4 0 C moto s , a nd jess ic a Kight
overca me several falls in bo th races to take the
overa llwin In the Wo me n's class.
R ESULT
S
so OIL .INJ (4 . 6 ): I. De vyn Elle fson (KTM); 2. Maxwell
Petersen (KTM) ; 1. Dal lon lyons (KTM); 4 . K.J- Do w ne y
(Yam); S. Jacq ue line Ries s (KTM) . 50 O IL-IN) (1- 8) : I.
D.... K,or (Cob); 2. Ian ero.by (Cob). 50 CHA IN (4-6);
I. joshua Campa (KTM); 2. Logan Monster (KTMJ; 1. JUStin
evan. (KTM).
50 CHAIN (7-8) ; I. Eric _
(Yam); 2. Rya n Stalberger (Ho n) ; 1. Ja so n Doyle (Hon) .
2S0/0PEN B; I. Kyle Dohn (Yam); 2. J
amie Koch (Yam); J .
Drew Houg (Hon); 4 . Brian Uebel (Suz): S. Jeff Stalbe rger
(Hon). 150/0PEN C: I. Mike Herman (Suz); 2. Tyter Olson
(Hon); 3. larry Hart (Yam): 4. Kyle Cu rry (Yam): S. Wade
Walvat ne (K.a.w). W MN : I . Jessica Kigh l (Hon) ; 2. Jessica
Hadler (KTM); 3. Beth Schwantz (Hon ). SCHBY ( 12- 15) : I.
Bru ce D e hn (S u z): 2 . Nathan Rosso (Ya m); 1. Rand y
D iBart olo (Suz); 4. James Larso n (Yam) ; S. Ke ho Ho lcomb
(Yam). 16-14 A: I. Ryan Stalberger (Hon ): 2. Jaso n Doyle
(H on ). 16-24 B: I. Tyler Zelazny (Suz); 2. C ase y Fishe r
(Hon) . 16·24 C: I. Tyle r Olson (Hen] : 2 . Mike He nnan
(Suz); 1. Casey We ist (KTM): -t. Brand on Murph y (Yam): S.
Jeremy Schroeder (Yam). 15+ A: I. Josh Patzoldt (Yam); 2.
Bill Me d e k (Ya m ) ; 1 . Be r n ar d Sel e s ki (Yam ); 4 . Ro n
Thompson (K.a. w) : S. Jeremie Reinhart (Yam) . 25 + a : I .
Charles Forrest (Hen) ; 2. Drew Houg (Hon) ; 1. Jamie Koch
(Yam);". Poat Petersen (Yam); S. Jeremy Ringler (Suz ). 15 +
c: I. Kevin Dennison (Hon); 2. Mark Robitaille (Yam): 3. Kyie
C urry (Yam) ; 4 . Travis Butte rfie ld (Yam); S. Joe Jaroscak
(Ho n) . )0 + A : I. Bill Mede k (Yil ) ; 2 . [erernie Reinhart
m
(Yam); 3. Bernard Seleski (Yam); 4. Bill Engn ro m (Hon ); S.
Ross Th o m pson (Kaw). 30 + B: I. MlC
hilei Riva (Yam); 2.
rd
Paul Dyck (Yam): 1. Rob Murph y (Ho n); 4. Michael Mart h)'
(Han); S. Pal Petersen (Y
am). 10 + C: I. Tl