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
~ SANDERS SWEEPS TROJAN . 8, 0. N .... ell ci .ri '" u. ~ w Z W ..J U >- U John Y a w, Feature Editor of the America n Motorcycle A ssociation 's one-and -onl y magazin e (w hi ch also m ak es a marvelous substit ute f o r Sleep -Eze}, AMA News, patiently awa its the arrival of the new headauarters. Photo bv Rick Kocks. By Art Loya SO UTH GATE, CAL ., J an. 2 7, 19 7 1 After k eep ing up with Bob Sander 's m ore recen t riding performan ces o n his Ka wasa ki mo unts, ' on e just co uld not overlook that he wa s going t o do so mething spectacular p retty soon. Wh en h e came roaring h ome with five or six Mai n Even t wins only a few weeks ago at T rojan Sp eedwa y , tha t seemed p retty spectacu lar enough for th e fou r-time 19 71 ch am p io n fro m Wh ittier. Bu t San d ers was o n ly warming up . Tonigh t h e p ro ved with a spectacular n ight' s perfo rmance t hat his previous h er o ics were n ot in t he leas t b it a flu ke wh en h e became t he first rider in th e trac k's history to score a cl ea n sw eep of all Main Eve n t ac tio n winnin g all six fe atu res of T T and F.T . That, needless to say mo re, is a n all-t ime rec or d. By no mean s is Sanders read y t o t ake o n Ge ne Romero , Di ck Mann , or the likes, b ut th e cra fty 17-year·old ve te ran o f three fu ll seasons h as co m e a lo ng way in the past year. Du ri ng the h eat even t s, Sanders bea t out S te ve O k u da (Ka w), a nd Tom D oty (Hon) , in the 100 IT heat, but o u t-d u ele d b y his t op r ival, Dory, in th e 12 5 IT h ea t when Doty cam e from behind t o take th e lead and th e checkered flag ahead of Sanders on t h e What everyrid rshouldknow e about helmets. What is a helmet supposed to do? Not a dumb question-a smar t one. Because a helmet is supposed to do at least three things : Absorb the shock. Dissipate it.Resist penetration by a sharp object.We also think a helmet should be as good-looking and lightweight as possible. But let's start with the safety features . Fiberglass or thermoplastic? Many helmets are made of molded polycarbonate. But this material has serious shortcomings. The shell may become brittle with age. Gasoline, grease or oil can break down the molecular structure of the plastic and weaken it. Finally, polycarbonate helmets bounce on impact, rather than absorb shock as fiberglass does. A fiberglass helmet, properly engineered and constructed, absorbs and dissipates impact without bouncing and is far superior in resisting solvents or penetration by a sharp object. What's the best of the fiberglass helmets? We believe Top Gear Helmets are"the best protection available and here's why: Five layers of Blue Line bias-cut fiberglass fabric are cross-laid in the mold. Blue Line fiberglass fabric was originally developed for aircraft components and it gives the highest strengthto-weight ratio of any fiberglass fabric. Now about light weight-and comfort. Top Gear Helmets are up to one pou nd lighter than some imports. One reason is, since Top Gear uses Blue Line fabric , it can avoid using extra resin fillers in the helmet. Another reason is a unique , lightweight liner. That combined weight-saving makes a big difference on long trips. Handsome for a reason. In Top Gear Helmets, colors are locked in, not just painted on. The effectis that the color and metal flakes are suspended in the gel. This means greater resistance to chipping and cracking plus greater depth of color. What about State safety standards? Most states require that a safety helmet meet a testing standard referred to as Z90 . But-this standard is based on an accident at only thirteen miles an hour. So a helmet can pass this test and yet offer a low level of protec tion. However, the 1970 Snell Foundation tests are far more stringent than the Z90 requirements. All Top Gear Helmets have won this vital approval. Two Models. Top Gear Helmets come in both the regular and full-face coverage models. The regular model (TG 750) has a five-snap design to accommodate all standard visors and shields. Itsellsfor$27.95. The full coverage model (TG 950 ) is designed for competition riding. The vision part is extra wide for better side vision, and the chin bar is double: stressed for lower-face protection . It comes with a flip shield , complete with st uds for racing tear shields. The helmet also carries conventional snaps to take any regular shield. It sells for $49.95. Bo th To p Gear Helmets come in Op aque White, solid Met aIftake Red or Metalflake Blue. And both come in Top Gea r's unique, new Rainbo design. This blends six colors in a free-form rainbow-like design. Top Gear Helmets, all made in the U.S.A., are a good reason to get acquainted with your Top Gear dealer. There are hundreds of other good reasons, from lube to leathers , from batteries to boots. A cassous 11K. Price and soectncettons subject to change. Printed in U.S.A. TOP GEAR ACCESSORIES, INC. 2745 E. HUNTINGTON DR., DUARTE, CALIF. 91010' P.O. BOX 6790, TOWSON, BALTIMORE, MD . 21204 final lap . Sanders bounced righ t back and ca me h ome th e wi nner in th e 25 0 IT heat which in itself sho uld h ave give n t he fans a slight indication of what was in sto re. T he 100 and 12 5 F.T . h eats we re a rep eat performa nce by th e same "actors" , as Sa nders once aga in wo n over Okuda and Do ty after tra ilin g in second, b eat out Sa nders in th e 125 event. In the 250 F .T . h eat , it t o ok a c h a m p i o n s h ipperformance by defe nding champio n, Rick Go ad e (B ul), to score ahead of Sanders, an d Mark Re vels (Bul) . Ta king starter Do n Petro 's starting wa ve-o ff, Sa nders shot ahead of a fast field in the 10 0 IT Main t o lead th e 10-la p feat ure all the wa y ah ead of O kuda, Alle n " Buckwheat" Swett (Hon), Jerry Mulkey (Hon), a nd Ch arl es Summers (Kaw). T he 12 5 IT Mai n was o n e of those tw o -rid er t rophy das hes as Do ty chased San d ers in close pursuit leavin g the rest of th e fiel d we ll behind. Do ty , giving it all h e had at te mp ting to sco re a similar win o ver Sand er s as in h is h eat race, fe ll short b y taking second ahead of R ob ert Cr ecelius (Yam) . Wh ile Sanders wa s b usy winning the 25 0 IT Main, the d efending cham pion, Goad e, was b usy himse lf st ea ling the show from Sander s as h e nee dl ed h is wa y th ro ugh traffic fro m seventh o n th e secon d lap, to t ake second on the eigh th lap, an d th en cl osed th e gap on Sanders as time an d laps ran out o n the 10-l apper. Joh n Carbone (Bul), wa s third a hea d of Re vels, a nd Mike Th omas (Ossa) . _ It w as Sa nders a ll the way in the 10 0 F.T . Main in h is usual sens atio n al d em onstration o f sh o rt -t rac k lo w-flyin g leavin g Doty, O k u da, Rich ard Kyzer (Yam) a nd Dean Meyers (Ho n ) t o settle fo r the remaining positions as th ey crossed th e finish lin e in this respective order. Whil e Sand ers was in the process o f w innin g his fi fth st raigh t Main Event, D oty and Okuda m ad e it a race for second in th e 125 F .T . fe atch, with Doty t akin g ad van tage o f Okuda's drifting in the com ers to take seco nd . Vern Ma xwell ( Bul) finished fo ur th ahead of Cr eceli us (Y am ). Sand er s who has known extraordin ar y pressure in his b rie f caree r of com petit io n , d id not permit d efeat in the final Main Even t o f th e evening, the 250 F.T. event, as h e w ithstood terrific challe nges b y G o ad e fo r ten grueling laps while o n his wa y to est ablis h a n all-time reco rd of b ecomin g the first rider t o blank o u t the field in Main Even t wins. In h is wa ke were hi ghly regar d ed r iders as G oade (sec ond ), follow ed b y Revel s (Bul), Carbone (Bul) a nd T h o mas (Oss a) . I (Res u lts on p age 32) Mackel Beats Matterhorn By R ich Hoffman IRVINE, CAL. , J an . 3D, 1972 - The first h illcl im b o f the n ew year was held h er e at Sa ddleback Pa rk today wi th wind and dust a t its wo rst a nd over 2000 sp ecta t o rs jammin g their wa y into th e park to watch riders tackle th e Matterh orn. Wh at has in recent years become almost a lo st sport is enjoying a tremendous revival today. If yo u haven 't see n a h iIlcl im b you're mis sin g a truly exciting sport, o ne th at will give yo u m o re thrills an d spills in a n afternoon than most other moto rcycle sports c o uld offer in a wee k. Neal Mac kel was o vera ll wi n ne r t od ay clearing the "Horn " five t imes wi th out any m isses on a 75 0 Triu mph. Chuck Ka y (Tri) was the 65 0 cla ss win ner an d second o verall. Firs t tw o-st ro ke a nd th ird overall was Wes Evans on a 50 I Maico. Frank Brec ken rid ge (H us) who h as taken overall winner several t imes at th e Matterhorn, co uld do no t b et ter than second 400-500 bike behind winner Ken Duttweiler (Mai). Ed Sh aver (Kaw) ran in three classes today and trop hie d in t wo o f them . Ed had the h o n or of being the o nly one of th e d ay to get h is bike over th e to p m inus the rider. Gary Hall (Bu l) was t he 250 go ld w inner. Second we n t t o Ro n Powell (Suz) in R an 's first -ever h illcl im b com pet it io n. (Results o n p age 32 )