Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Those 0 you o.::iraven's "Senrl yo.u entries fpr the Min t, 400 yet have realt blown it. Although you can still 'ent er , the pre-entry deadline was March I , and had you made it you would not only hav e received a free race j ac ke t but also a co mmemo rative bo ttle! How about that? The fifth annual running of this b ig o ff -road classic will be held March 19 ·21 and fe atures a $5 6,0 00 purse. It sh ould b e w ell worth th e watching if the press release p h o t os ar e anyth ing to judge b y. They sh ow some Las Vegas showgirls "disp layin g Min t 400 bootles" (sic) . Bu t be carefu l: Two D esert D aisies , Pat t y Clagg an d Mary Bro o ks ar e entering, so there will b e co mpetition. T his year t h e race will b e televised , and it will b e scored b y a computer . ,.. * ,.. . If GARY NIXON is reading this, we have a change . We ca ptioned a p ict ure last week saying that you w ould ride a Triumph at Daytona this year. That isn't true. You will be rid ing a Kawasaki , as stated in the t ext . Got it? o 0 0 BOB BAILEY, the t alented Maic o tuner and h orse trader, knows a good thi ng when h e see s it , so he has teamed with R EY F RANK , the " Ind ian Kid" t o ride a Yam ah a 360 in th e Mint "400" and som e o f those other big dirt bash es. Bob i s se e k i ng the po s t o f Rider R epresen tat ive to t h e AMA and see ms to b e in t eres t ed in tum o ut the In di a n vo t e in h is favor. o 0 0 Motocross events, especially big ones, are i n famo us for their spectator accommodations. Well, Escape Co unt ry , where th e Pacific AMA race is to be th is weekend, says a new era is dawning . They int end to begin a trend toward s " st aging motocross events for , the sp ectato rs." They have all the good ies like parking, refreshment stands, etc . Overn ight camping is available by reservation (714/586 -7964). And they say : "the track is almost 100% visible from all spectating poirits" (!l . Cou ld it be? Maybe you should fi nd out. o 0 0 T here are too many fin e cameras heing . flogged about races everywhere th ese d ays with res ults th at leave much to b e desired. The reason, of cour se, is that mo torcycle photography has its o wn special set o f requ irem en ts k now n to but a few of us insid ers. N ext we ek, we will begin a three-part series cl everl y titled "Th e Blatant Image" , b y none oth er th an Ri ch ard H. Cr eed , mild-mannered Nikon fan who has b een su ppl y ing us wi th outstanding Texas coverage for some time. Richard wil l reveal scads of professional sec rets h er et o for e unb eknownst to t he masses regarding the dub ious nature off/stops, Y-2 filters , an d p re-war Leicas in th e kingdom of con ical h ubs a nd tren ch heads. Besides, it gives us an excuse to run a barr elful o f Creed 's p ictures wh ich yo u o therw ise would never have seen. Eith er way , you win. o 0 0 IF Y OU WANT SO METH I NG DO NE RIGHT, DO IT YOU RS ELF : Desert ac e Jerome Ru zicka, wh o wa s sched uled to team with Dou g Grant f or th e Mint 4 00 , fell off recently during a race an d broke a leg . Mike Jackson , the swa g that spon so rs them o n th eir AJS 's , pro m ptl y an no unced a replac em en t for J er o me , 19-yea r-old Gary J ohnson of EI Cajo n , Ca lif . Well, last w eek Do ug was leading John DeSoto and a h ost of o t h er shoes at the Arizona Sta te Motocross Championships in Pho en ix when he crashed, breaking his leg in two p laces. Jackson now ha s t o co me up w it h another rider, so wh o does he choose? Himself. Don't lau gh t o o ha rd, th ough . Mike fini shed 15 t h o ve ra ll at Barsto w-to-Vegas last No vember ..and just took fifth in his class at the Viewfin ders Gran d Prix. Mea nwhile, if y ou would like t o se nd a ca rd to J erom e or Doug, mail it in ca re of Nor-Vii, 6 765 Paramount Blvd ., Lon g Beach, CA 90805. o o o When yo u are installing new p o ints in yo ur scoot here is a t ip. Clean them fir st with a solvent that d oesn 't leave dep osits , su ch as Petrochern 's Contact Kleen or o th er commercial electrical clean er. Don't use gaso lin e or kero sene. Th ese both leav e deposits. The reaso n for this is th at points often co me with a light coat of preservative th at will shorten their life considerably. o • • Quote from MIKE RUNYARD: " T h e Americans are going to take the C") r ~ '" '" '" N .... ell 11. - e atest T rans-A MA series in ' 72 and will beat the Europeans" . • • • Locali tes who want to give '" ON AN Y S UNDAY" ano th er lo o k-see should h it the Surf Theatre in Huntingt o n Beach, Calif. As a b onus, it 's showing with J ohn S e v ers on ' s "P ACI F I C VIB RATIO NS " , an o u tstandi ng surfing mo vie. T he salt water w ill h elp wash off the d irt. Or , if you like b ikes w ith buffs, try the Art Theatre in Long Beach.Yup, "Helstrom Chronicle". • • • Look for your favorite publisher on the telly . Watch " Yo ut h and the Issues" and see CHUCK ' CLAYTON meet face-to-face with the dreaded S ierra Clubber and come out with a new friend. Two showings: Thursday, Marc h 9 at noon and Fr iday at (gadfry!) 6:30 a.rn. Both on Channel 9. • • • Sports man entires fo r HA NGTOWN are j ust ab o u t filled b u t t h ere is room left in t h e Professional ra nks , particu larly in the Open class . T here 's $2000 up fo r grabs there o ut of th e total $5000 purse. BR AD LA CKEY has j ust sent in hi s entries; o ne each for th e 125s (Pento n) . 2 50 s (CZ) , and Open (th at b ig, bad Kawasaki) . o • • • • pro cess. He used a ski -jump ramp startin g at the top of th e grandstands. Th er e was a standing-room-only crowd which included S up er J oe Ein ho rn a nd his manager John Renesch. They had a special interest in the affair because if Evel mised he was go ing to award Joe $2 5,0 00. Evel did break his ankle upon landing but he'll be ready for some jumps in Detroit near the end of the month and 15-Cadillac jump at the Atlanta Mile on June 1 1 . Meanwh ile , his Idee-ho motocross is shaping int o the first real showdown of Amer ican champions. Evel who? Yo u gotta be kidding ~ aMI GOS H , ANOTHER CRE EPY BILL: The latest one to me nt io n in letters we h ope you are writing : A B 286 . Northern Cal ifo rnia promo te r Bob Barkhimer b rought it to o ur attention. AB 286, b y Asse mblyman Bid dle, if passed, will levy a whopping five percent t ax on all gro ss gate recei p ts of " professional sp ectato r sports". This will cost everyone who likes to w at ch a race . Uh , h orse racing is exempted from th e tax, by the way. Y ankee's 5 00 c c Z-twin will be asse m b led in the U.S. Many of the parts w ill b e A merican made at the Massach usetts factory of Sm ith & Wesso n firearm s, which Yankee's p are nt co mpany , B angor Punta, o wns. Eve ntually , p lans ar e to m an u fact u re the en tire m o t orcycl e here, eng in e an d all. T he bi g two-stroke will be coming off th e assemb ly line j ust in time fo r the reju venation of IT Scrambles, wh ich it shou ld b e ideal for, The m uch d iscussed fo ur cylinder f o ur-st ro ke f rom Kawasak i is b eing t est ed in th is c o unt ry accordi ng t o ru mor . Disp lac em ent is said to be in th e n eigh b orh o od of 900cc, and an overhead ca m design is a lso likely. A lt hough th is is probably just a prototype, the production version may be expected to carryall the current ly expected features such as disc brakes, electric st arter, and possibly even fuel in jection . • • • KBIG radio (74 AM) will carry coverage ~ of the Dayto na 200 Gra nd Natio nal ~ Road Race this Sun., March 12. o • • • o • • Next Week a trick Maico * We ha ve a swell rep o rt on t h e odd go ings-o n at Fort Hoo d in Texas th is issu e. After t hat repo rt came in, ano ther story d evelo p ed at the fo rst . JO HN PE NTO N and AMA Executive Directo r (a nd CN 's Man of the Year) RUSS MA RC H were seen roaming about the go vernment grounds, check ing the viability of h o ld ing the 19 73 ISDT there. ' o • • An o th er T exas flash : J ack Hicks was reported ly getting danced-and-ro manced by Kawasaki. S eems they wa nt to put him a board on e o f their new prototypes . Wo nde r h o w man y Kawasaki has in the country right n ow? Th e b ike seem s to have power everywhere thanks to all the cubes but, unlike all th e other J ap anese ra cers , has a Husky-like to rq ue curve. Wide and flat. • o • The new desert flick "ON THE LINE" has been picked up by Inte rwest, the folks who distributed "Ra Expedition " and other successful documentaries. "Line" , although a mild-mannered film on the surface will be t h e object of many arguments among racers everywhere. It's a thought-provoking flick. • • • Pro racers w ho can stick around for th e weeke nd aft er Evel's m oto cross May 6 and 7 can catch a $ 10,0 0 0 motocross b y CMC Ut ah. Write Box 15055, Salt Lake Cit y , Utah 84115 fo r more d etails. o 0 * AI helmets worn in any AMA-sanctioned event must bear the Safety Helm et Co u nc il of American sticker . • • • Chalk up another first for the AMA! See S p 0 rtsmen and Professional racers co mpeting o n t he same course, same day! The St umpjum pers and promoter KIM KIMBALL of TEAM announce a " split run" with District 37 Experts and the motopros all running at Escape Co untry March 12 , while the District Novices, Amateurs and Juniors race at Elsin ore, just a few miles away . Mind y ou, this is motocross, n ot TT. • • 0 TOM HORTON has a sp onsor for th e Daytona Short Track o n h is Mont esa spe ci al , n amed R a c e rs Infini ty . T ranslation: Out of Sigh t . • • • CAL RA YB O RN ha s signed to drive fast fou r-wheelers for Dan Gurney, it : was confi rmed . This w on't affect his racing for th e Harley-Davidson factory until ne xt year. • o • CARROLL RESWEB ER is now em p lo yed b y th e Harley-Da vidson racing department as, in his words, "Coach". Besides being Grand Na tional Champion a couple of y ears running, Resweber is a reknowned welder. • • • Eve l made it over 1 5 cars at ,th e Cow Palace, setting a new reco rd In the Mice? N ot q uite. Just a sample of some of th e super-sane work Mike Chamberlain has done on his sub-200 pou nd t itanium Maico 400 . This ultra lightweight firecracker will be feat ured next week in CYCLE NEWS along with compiete coverage and photos of the Daytona 200 mile. Don't miss it . ROBERTS STANDINGS. LEADS AMA Y oung fi rst-y ear Expert Ken Rob erts is o ff to a fly in g st art, d oing better t han any ro o kie ever has at , th e start of a Nat io nal season. A ft er the IT and sh o rt t rac k at Houston , here's h ow our b o ys st ack up: POINTS TO DATE 1. Ken Roberts . .250 2. Eddie Mulder .180 3. Dave Hansen .1SO 4 . Jo hn Hateley .1SO 5. Gary Seen .140 6 . Mike Kidd .120 7 . Mark Brelsford . 80 ~ w z 8 , Gary Landry . SO 9 . Dick Mann , 40 10. Chuck Palmgren . 40 For th e first time, th e AMA is rackin g u p p o ints for th e m anufacturers. Here's h o w they are d o ing: MANUFACTURERS' POINTS 1. Yamaha .. . . .250 .150 2.Triumph " " 3 . Kawasaki . . . . .140 .100 4 .Suzuki . . . . . 5. Harley·Davidson 90 6. Ossa 50 7.BSA , . 40 8 . Butteco . . . . . 40 Now Daytona.

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