Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Modifications & Creations HOW MANY MOT ORCYCLE PUBLIC A T IONS DO YOU KNOW? , We here at Cycle News have been fascinated by the growing number o f period icals r e g ul a rl y p ubl ished dedicated to the mo torcycle in terest in the Un it ed States . Ou r latest t a lly lists 38 d iff erent maga zin es and newspapers currently coming out w eekl y, m onth ly, b iweek ly, bi-rnon th lv or quarterly. There a re probab ly some more that we 've overlooked . -' So here is t he contest : Ho w many of th e currently-published motorcycle p er iod ica ls can you list ? Jot down you r ent ry o n a post card o r letter and mail it t o Cyc le News Co ntest , Bo x 498, Long Beach , Cal if . 9 0801 . Dead lin e for entries is mid n ight, March 1, 1972 . Prize fo r th e reader with the most names on h is list is five cr isp , new American un deva lued dollars . In ca se o f tie, a d raw in g will d e c lar e the w inn er . (Note: In case o f obscure p ub lica t io ns, in clude address a nd phone number of pub lication 's office .) Sheriff 'Drops In' on SRA By Lou Whitney Ph otos b y Dale Coa ts AD ELANTO , CA L., J an. 15 , 197 2 Midway in th e m orning sch ed ule of rac es, a " Wh a t 's it a ll about?" zoome d in to sigh t over the h ori zo n and lit in a cle ari ng j us t b ehind th e sign-u p ta b les. It ca use d so me q uick wo nderment from th e crowd getting a h eadst art on the Sup er Bo wl. As two o f the Sheriff's finest climbed out of their sleek hel icopt er. more " oh- oh 's" were hea rd at th e finis h line as the man y spectators cocldn~ d ecid e w here al l the action was goi ng to be. As it turned out, the sheriff had mad e a pass over the course and found a place where the riders were cutting it and hitting an unmanned ro ad crossing. This, coupled with the b urning desire for a hot cup of java , te mpted them to stop at t he pits. Many of the riders and their families we re heard talking afterwards that the sheriff wasn't such a bad thing after all! Th is after the deputies offered t he chopper in case of any injuries on the course! Somehow with th e continued co ntroversy over the legal status of dirt bikes, many of our rid ers have the mi sta ken impression that the law (in all cases) is down on'bikers. Generally, this co uld n 't be far ther from the truth . They are u usual ly caugh t in th e middle of having to enforce unpop ular laws due to the fac t that man y of the ri ders insis t on brea king them. T he choice o f either racing on Su nday o r watching th e Su p er-Bo wl game was ta ken off th e sh ou ld er s of SRA followers as they we re given the opport uni ty to h ave their cake and eat it too by a Sa turday race. Oddly enough , everyone who ta lked abo ut what to do on Sunday seemed to be planning to attend another race of some description' instead of going home for the ball game. This was made easier by the location of the next day's desert races. One was across the highway and the other was 20 m iles up the road. In the Open race the co mp et it io n was fierce as Bob Wadlow's CZ was seen in th e lead at the course entrance and was followed in quick su ccession b y five other thuderers within about ten fee o f him. l\lark Granger went by about 12th but seemed determined to ca tch up. The course wound over rolling sandy hills for about four miles before dipping into the Mojave River Canyon. The canyon entrance was the most fun riding as the terrain got short rollers that we re going to send the more daring riders airborne more often than they migh t have liked. All survived this ch allenge and headed down a short fircroad and an exit can yon that was long and not too steep but very sandy. From there the co urse wound th ro ugh "so me very pretty country and back to the pits for nearly I I m iles. The b ig bikes were t urning laps of abo ut 15 mi nu tes whe n Wadlow came in still in the lead with Dieter Altm ann on his Kawasaki righ t behi nd. Granger had moved up to fourth but was never seen again as his CZ parted with the ch ain and lost two lin ks in the process. The ra ce finished in that order . T he 250 Novice race produced a winner in AJS-mounted Ray Estrella and though he has raced many o f the SRA events in the past, I don't rem em ber him ever finishing. Somehow he see ms to have broken or crashed. This time he had it all together as he took the lead right off the starting line and stayed there a ll the way. 'The d ay 's b ig race was in the 75cc b eginners under 16 year s old. Three brothers ; Dale , Danny, and D ol an ; 12 , II , an d 13 years o ld res pectively fo ugh t a fe rocious ba ttle o n th eir 70 Hondas t o fin ish 1, 2 , 3 in th at order . And d id th ey ever h ave fun! All th e d ay 's races see med to be ru n in th e same manner; fun and games. As th e racers picked up th eir finis her p ins, shaped like a lo ving cup , never was th ere a harsh com me nt about each other, ~h e course, the day, or any other t hmg worth mentioning. And after all, that's what fun racing is all abo ut . isn 't it? (Results o n page 28) By Ke ith Arnold Occasionally so meo ne comes out with a truly revo lu ti o nary new design in bikes, cars, rails or really any type of racing vehicle. Some people however, prefer to stick t o t he al ready established concepts and designs and further alter or mo d ify them to the desired affect. A n example o f suc h an effort is R uss Col l i ns ' R.C. E ngi neer i ng "Honda- Davi dson. " The basic o utlook is that of a Harley-Davidso n 74 complete with saddle bags, hig hway bar and all th e things that ma ke a Har ley a Harley. But there is one maj o r and very uniq ue change . Notice the absence of the WHO'S YOUR TAILOR? Whoever 197 2 's AMA Grand National Champion t urns out to be, he's gonna be a we ll-d ressed man. Cycle News, in conjunction wi th Bu rbank , Calif. tailor Pat Manning, will be awarding a co mplete custo m-tailored wardrobe of suits, jackets, slacks and shirts worth at least $ 750 t o th e next Num ber One. No m or e will A mer ica n motorcycling's lo p racin g represen tat ive have t o slo uc h arou nd , avoidi ng public appearances , b ecau se hi s p leated pan ts and o ne- b utto n-roll mark h im as being o ut of it. fas hio n-wise. Mr . Manning hails . like a ll the best tailors, fro m Lo ndon, England, where lie was clothier to such sartorial and speedmaking greats as !\like Hailwood Sr. and Jr., Pad d y Driver, Ph il Read, Jim Redman. John Surt ees and Colin Chap man. n ormal V-2 powe rp lan t . In th is b ik e the m otiva tin g force co mes from a Ho nda CB750 four-eylinder demon. Surp rising ly enoug h , t he modifica t ions needed to create suc h a hybrid were, if n o t eas ily done , in e xp en sive at 5750. (Sho uld anyo ne wish to ma ke suc h o r purchase suc h a uniq ue beast Russ Colli ns is usually availab le in th e bike pits for q uestio ns and b usin ess.] To get d o wn to the basic specs : Th e frame is a 1970 H-D 74 with a 19 70 CB 75 0 Ho nda four. Th e bike has h ad some mild m o d ificat ion but re tains stock bore and stroke. The 45 cub ic inc hes puts o ut a total of 74 hp, The fra me has o nly one majo r m o d ification: th e cen te r do wn tube wa s cut o ut and rel o cated in a rearward p ositio n. The fr o nt cradle tubes we re bent t o make r o om fo r th e unique exhaust pipes . The engine has been bala nced and b lue printed and the cylinder heads have been p orted and polished. Stock H ond a electrics were retai ne d. Bra kes, ligh ts, seat a nd a ll m ajo r frame components are ret ain ed from the H-D . Oddly, the b ike keeps th e footpcgs o f th e Ho nda and th e floorboards of th e 74. Total weight of the b ike is 710 lbs .. but it can still manage to tum a 14 .50 at 92 mph in the quarter. Top speed of t he Ho nda-Davidson is in the range of 1 10 mph . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MOTORCYCLE INOUBTRY COUNCIL In the bat tle against unfavorable laws, adverse public opinion, and closed-off pu blic lands, motorcyclists have one great enemy: Noise. And one great all y : T he Muffler. Get behind t he mu ffler movement , and keep down t he fences by kee ping down the noise. " '" '" ,.. 01 Q,. N co .ci " u. ~ w Z W ..J U > U

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