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/141005
N '"> g Q. N .... '" ai CONLEY NEWSOME: KING OF THE HILL .c '" by Don Frank, Sr . u, g,: "''hat appropriate title do give a fellow who takes tlr s t plac e In the "Na tional, Z Regional, and 11th District ot the United ~ _ State s " In the ope n class ot the s portso man hillcllmbers ? ~ Why, you call him the KING ot them all, Cham pion of champions, he Is the mos t ec t ., ect ., a nd then you give It to CONLEY NEWSOME of Columbus , Ohio, who r ode his 74 Harley to the top to r three c onsec utive yea r s - 1969, 1970 and 1971. At the Sportsman H1ll Cll mbe rs Inc. annual banquet Conley got his Jus t r e- iii war ds, plu s a llfetime membership to the club . After the dinne r, a mid much talking and watching last year's h1ll climbs, I got a cha nce to corner Conley. .• - - Don: Hey, Conley! Stand still tor a tew minutes, won' t you. Conley: Yeah , "Old Man", whats on your mind ? Ha l Don: Now that you' ve gone to the top tor the thi r d year , what are your plans tor 1972? Conley: Well , old man , I haven' t gott e n It all so rted out as ot right now, but I' m working on It though. First ot all there Is the newbtke tha t I' m ha ving WE SPECIALIZE IN DESERT AND MOTOCROSS RACING HUSQVARNA PUCH COMPLETE MACHINE SHOP [213)785·4280 OK built by Tom Riser . You r eme mber Tom don' t you? Well he has a 750 KR that he Is fi tting Into a Yelman tr ame which will tak e oft the weight factor , Oh! I almost t"rgot - Tom wants me to come over next week to ge t fi tted to the bike. Stuff like where the seat will tit best, tront end positioning, and a tew other goodies to bring It on strong. Don: Did Tom have anything to with your present bike? Conley : Yes, he built my Spor tster tor me three years ago and the workmanship was what a lot ot oth er rider s would llk ed to have had. I ran the bike , as you know - thr ee years, taking the Na tIonal champions hip In the Open class al l three years . It the new " A" bi ke that Tom Is building tor me Is a nything like the spor tster he bui lt , the "A" boys can watch out because I won' t let Tom' S wor k go to was te. Don: Then you plan to bea t them ? Conley: No Don, I did not say that I would bea t all the old riders . But they will know tha t Conle y News one and Tom Riser and the HD make a good team. Don: I was nos ing around In your s hop la s t week and sa w par t ot what looked li ke a Beezer , What gives? Conley: You saw that huh? Well tha t was the BSA that Ea l Bowlby has set up for Tom Byers abo ut three years . ago and then Bob Yost ac quir ed It thi s year and took the 750Cc ti tl e with It. I just wan ted to see wha t kind of job I could do with It. Don: "''hat was the worst h1ll tor you? Conley: I thin k that the h1ll at Chillicothe was the meanest. You know I had It s tretched to 400 fee t, and tha t made It a real challenge to any sp ortsman rider or class " A" rider . Don: How about all those points you garned this year ? You didn ' t ge t those just riding on the local hm, did you? Conley: :\0, I didn't. I had to move a round quite a bit. Like, going to West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana illlnois and the six hl1ls In Ohio that I rode. Indiana boys gave me real trouble. They have strong bikes and they can ride . Don: How many top ti me can you r ecall tha t you hold ? Conley: Let me see now, as tar as I r e membe r - In 1969 I had 7 top Urnes . Then In 1970 I got a li ttle better and took 16 ot them . For the last year; 1971, I turned It on and took 22 top times . , Along with thos e top tim es I ma de al to geth er 15 hl1l r ecords , three fi rst places and two second plac es . . Don: Well, I can s ee now why the y cal l you the Numbe r I rider, But I ca n Imagi ne how busy you mus t. be with riding a nd r unnin g that garage , the N & W. By the way, what Is the W to r ? Conley: I though you knew. The W Is for my br othe r - In- law, Lonzo wor r tx, He r uns It with me . Don: What about your ta mlly? How do they teel about you r idin g? Conley: My wife, (F lorine) worries once Inawhtle, 'co urse sh e' s kind ot gotte n used to It now. Then my da ughter (Anita) thi nks It gr oovy . My youngest, David, does n't say much. And my old est son, " Mac" , well, he sort or ha d his mind on getti ng onto the sport, but his mother -as s aid no . One w enough to wor ry about . Bob Ewing's Motorcycles 8730 Sepulveda, Sepulveda, Calif. 91343 JO" .a"ar" '.s.ra.c. sa,s "Hey Mr. Dea'er" W carry al l typ e s of insurance e co verage - garage l iabili t yf ire - theft & dea ler bonds San Up To 25% JOHN W. MAYNARD INS. 3447 Motor Ave" L.A" Ca. (213) 836-5211 RACERS • J I..J ;"'S C ....OPPERS • 5TOCKI!:RS RACl i'~G CVCLES ACCESSORt£5 _ ...... RTS . EXP1!!:RT S£RVIC£ CO M ~ E 2 2 !5S MARII!IOR eLVC COSTA. M £SA. CA W "-. MAC..... IN E $ .... 0 ... J O ..... 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