Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

After all these y ears , we 're go nna have ano th er Ho daka. T h ere are pl ans fo r 25 0s, too, but that will b e a lo ng, long time. • • • While we are on the su bject of Hodakas we shou ld mention that the Jesters he ld another one of those end less "fun" enduros . We got a letter from them tel ling us wh ich of t he 45 1 entrants had done we ll. Seven-yea r-o ld Rusty McCoy fin ished as d id an u nd isclosed grandmother of a disclosed age . The Hoda ka Super Rat wa s won by Tom Ry an of Garden Grove. People sure give awa y a lot of Hoda kas . * The New 250 Kawasaki Enduro Sp ecial th an ks t o Tom Johnson at T o m 's Cycle for lend ing us a bike to h elp get us aro u nd th e Min t 400 . The bik e was no ne o ther than a BSA 250, w hich was a ston e gas to rid e. It was probab ly th e o nly bik e out there th at didn't sca re the h orses. We also awa rded an instant endo . Third 12 5 at the Mint w as a Monark. De spite (what else ?) numerous flat r ear tires, Walt Baer and Utah ace Pr est on Gerber rode to 17th o verall . Mo n ar ks, kno wn elsewh ere as MCKs , are sta rting to be so ld in th is part of t h e co u nt ry * From the condition of the tires on the Daytona Suzukis it appears that they almost certain ly would not have gone the full 200 miles. It remains to be seen whether or no t anyone w ill be able to come up with a tire that will go the distance at Talladega under the stress of sim ilar 170 .rn ph speeds. It was t ire problems that put Suzuki rider, Jody Nicho las, o ut of the race at Daytona . * * * w o >o ...J * Her e's ano th er d esert family -type o rga nizat io n . J o e St riss, presid ent, says that the Un ited R acing Associa tion has the main o bjec tive of h old ing desert eve n ts for famili es and will have "easy cou rses, no t too lo ng lo ops. pl en ty o f co urse markings, and c om p lete instructio ns. Their firs t event will be "The Easy Enduro " at Four Co rners Ap ril 9 . Sigh . Call J oe at (2 13 ) 78 7-5 208. • • • If yo u would like to receive this b ec-y u-tee-ful re d, white, an d (y o u gue ssed it ) blue st ickie , and h elp the 197 2 Am erican ISDT effort, mail $ 1 or more to t he AMA , Box 141 , Westerville, Oh io , 43 081 or p ick o ne up at yo ur or ISDT local nat io nal enduro q ualify ing even t. discovered that Tom is sellin g Triump hs that are eq uipped w ith five -speeds. Check it o ut at 1320 Main St . in Las Vegas. • • • American Jaw a unveiled a new CZ 25 0 Enduro at the Mint. Nothi ng spectacula r about it - it appear ed to be a mo t ocrosse r w ith decent run ning light s - b ut it nearl y ma d e q uit e a sp lash o n it s mai d en voyage. Preston Petty was t o team with Gene Can nad y b ut Petty b ro ke his sh ould er a we ek before t h e even t , Late Saturday b efore t he ra ce a co uple of 's hoes wan dered into th e CZ cam p ho ping t o t ak e h is place and a bit of t he good mo ney that could be w on. Ted Mo ore and St a n Cerny pu t their heads toge t h er and decided t o ask Jack McClu rg to fill in, w ho at that m oment was h ome in O nt a rio , Calif., prep aring for a ple asan t w eek end with his frien ds . A q uick ph one call an d 12 h ou rs lat er McClu rg was ridi ng the Mint 400. As fo r t he bike , it performed we ll and ran a st rong seco nd when the bra kes let go o n the f ift h lap. Th e bike will be fo r sal e here come Sept ember . * * * Kawasaki sprung another o ne at the Mint ; a 250 piston-port En d uro with perhaps the most advanced productio n frame yet to com e o ut of J ap an. Ron Bishop and George Walker ro d e one an d despi te the usual re ar fla t tires the b ike performed w ell for t h eir gr uel ing 8 V2-hour ride fo r a 16th overa ll. Ho ward Utsey an d Steve Kirk were en te red o n anoth er o ne and also fin ished. Kawasaki R&D dude Bryon Farnsworth d id n ' t h ave mu ch t o say about th e b ik e because he didn't know too mu ch abo u t it h imself. T h e bike we ighs less than an Ossa Pio neer or Ya ma ha End uro and h as thanks to the supe r h andles Ossa-Bu lt aco cop ycat frame. In an ex clusive Cy cle Ne ws Test sit, we found the b ik e to h ave a low ce nter of gravity, well -positioned every t h ing, an d shrouded hand co n tro ls a-la Magur a, similar to the Honda 250 set-up . and have an impressive list of accomp lishments to he lp it -alo ng. We'r e thin ki ng of t urnin g Ro n Sch neiders lo ose o n one, so watch t h ese pages for th e results. • • • Be on t he lo o ko ut f or t he next issue of C-N , particula rly if you plan to be at th e Cycle Wor ld Sho w. We go nna prin t maps an d all th e othe r stu ff to he lp you find y our wa y a rou nd th e S po rt s Aren a . You ' re go ing t o n eed h elp, t o o, b ecause t h is year all t he b oot hs have been sol d an d t he plac e w ill b e pac ked wit h geegaw s, doo-dad s, and h eaps of ot h er co nsume r-o rien ted ent it ies assorted d esigned to make y ou wa nt to go int o deb t for t h e next mille nium . Besides, th e lower level will feat ure o ne of the mo re am using results of This Tech no log ical A ge: kustom kars, If yo u app reciate t he intrinsic be auty of a ba r in the back seat , don' t miss it . Oh , y eah , the p ap er is go ing t o b e 72 o r 80 pages , the biggest motorcycle newspa per ever printed in th e hi st o ry of the u niverse . * * * Go od news, for a change : We migh t get rid of that h elm e t law hass le fo r good . Charles Simon of Foxboro, Mass . has p aid a $5,000 r eta in er fee to Crane, Inker, and Obe rti, an A-I law firm, and suit h as been filed with t he Fed eral Dis tr ict Co urt to h -v e all h elm et laws d eclared u nco nst itutional. Boy, that's doing it fo r ke eps, Problem is, it co uld cost upwards of $ 2 5,000 to finally b ring th e thing t o a h ead . It w o uld b e wo rth your wh ile to Giv e To The Caus e , Helmet Nat io nal Unco nstitu tional Committee, c{o Mot orcyclis t's Post, Stiles Lak e Ave., L eices te r , Mass. 01524. • • • * str aig htened o ut and arc b ringing in lo vab le Ra lph Nader to raise some more hackl es. As for us, we manage to get alo ng fairly we ll with the grooves b y hitting t he m a t a slight angle , whic h m ean s yo u mus t sort of weave across your lane and then weave b ac k. Yo u m igh t raise th e ire of an observa nt p eace o fficer but at least it gets rid of th at " sear ch ing" sensatio n it gives yo ur mach ine . Feels like you've go t a low tire o r so met hing. • • • WHOA : You Ha rley owne rs must get tired of see ing all these high -revv ing Ho nd a d udes runni ng aro u nd w ith a we ll-o iled organization that has neat b lazer patches, right? Well, get out the pad and pencil and d rop a line t o World Harley Ow ners Associatio n, Box 30319 Te rminal Annex , Los A nge les, CA 90030. * * • • • sp ic-n-span, * * Than k s to th e Racing Ac ti o n T eam fo r sending us a n ent ry to th eir Hare Scrambles April 2. We ap preciate th e offer, particularl y b ecaus e the event is fo r no vices an d t h e lik e - b ut h ave to declin e b ecaus e w e w ill b e b oogyin g about H an gtown that d ay . • • • * * Elsewh ere th e I FOA h as called a Califo rni a State Highway study and report o n high way rai n grooves " a p oor j o ke" . The st u dy co ncluded th at rain gro oves d ecr ease bo th moto rcycl e and cars accid en ts w hi le the IF OA clai ms t he opposite is true ; " th e report itself sho ws a drama tic inc rease in both motor cy cle and auto acc ide n ts ," according to I FOA p res iden t Bill Rob ins on. T he I FOA ain 't foolin ' around, eit her. T h ey ar e as king the .De part m ent of T ra nsporta tio n to withho ld federal funds until the mess is * Aggie do ne good . Ascot is shaping u p to be one o f t he fi ne racing stad iums in the country _ It used to be a bummer to take yo ur new lad y-friend to see the far-o ut half-miles o nly t o rea lize yo u've b ot h been sitting in a pile of relish during t he sem is. That's all changed an d n ow yo u can pro udly escort h er to t h e ladies room k nowing f ull we ll eve ry t hing 's * Poo r Gene Can nad y sta rted th e Mint 4 00 on t h e first wav e, was first to th e co rner, an d wen t on his head . He p ick ed himsel f up , ro de a bit furth er, and ne arly cras h ed again . The problem was in th e n ot-too-clever Schlit z b eer can mo un ted o n his machine. (A ll bike carried the can - a 16-ouncer - whic h was slotted, p iggy-b ank style. A t each ch eck an official wo uld drop a ticket in it as an alt ernative for tan k cards . It proved to be imp erf ec t. On e ride r squashed h is can in a crash and sq ueezed ma ny stubs ou t.) An wyay, Gene's was m o un ted so that when h e t urned th e h andleb ars it pushed again st t h e front brak e cable. When he went in to th e fir st t um wi th brak es applied, he was The Int ern ati o nal Fo ur Owners Associatio n is o n t he warp ath after a cycl ist , Ch ar les Sch iele , crashed o n a free way ram p th at was wet wit h oversp ray f rom near by sp rin klers. An oth er mo torcyclist was killed at t he sa me spot ea rlier. IF OA act io n ha s res ulted in a slight change in waterin g procedu res . In t h e meantime , Sch iele is bru ised a nd sore a nd his bi ke is a wr eck, becau se of th e wat er o n a b lind curve. Pict ured here w it h Bruce Mc Dou gal is Barb i Ga lag her wh o will be t he t ro phy girl at t he upcom ing Can-A m cha llenge rac e t o be run at Coro na racewa y A pril 1 . Buzz Baty cau ght t h e int imat e mome nt . * * * Hodak a w ill h ave their n ew 125 in th is coun try aro und J une. Imagin e that. No bod y is having mo re f un t hat the fol ks at the Kawasa ki R&D Center in Sant a Ana. Every once in a wh ile they pull their prototype mac hin e motocrosser ou t of the shop and b low everybody's doo rs off be fore retreat ing bac k be h ind th e closed doors . Ride rs Bruce Baron and Brad Lackey are in love w ith the mach ine. Brad has sa id t hat th e bike is the easiest he's ever ridden an d proved it at t h e Viewfi nders Gran d Prix when he ro de the 45-minute GP and wh iled away th e rest o f the day by win ning th ree motos on the nearb y Shadow Glen co urse. What's more , Brad's fi rst race was t he fir st t ime he'd ever been on th e cou rse and had to foll ow some opponents to learn it on the initial la ps. The prototype has been exq uisitely relia ble; the only t ime it has fa iled is when a COl wire came lo ose d ur ing it s first race. * * * ~ w 2 • • • Californ ia Assemb lyman Jack R. Fen to n say s t hat mo torc yc les a re not included in his no-fa ult insurance bill, AB 125. Fen to n , t h e assem b ly ma jori ty lead er told t he Ca lifornia Mot o rcy cle Ind ust ry Coun cil, "I belie ve tha t no-faul t for motorcycl ists w ou ld co verage probably resu lt in an increase in insu ran ce rates for t hese ind ividuals, and it w ould t herefo re b e a disservice t o in clu de t he m u nd er such a plan . Conseq uently, I will contin ue t o oppose an y mo ve t o in clu de mo t o rcy cles under a no -fa ult p lan until someo ne ca n sh ow me figures that pro ve that I am wrong an d that no fa ult ca n in fact be offe red t o motorcyclist s wit hout an increase in premiums ." * * * No rto n-Vi lliers will probably go to Italian-mad e frame s soon for reason o f cos t. Th e present Reyn olds fram e cost twi ce wh at th e Italian items are expec te d to . F or th e sam e reason N-V will sw itc h to Japanese batteries. • • • A 4 00 Bultaco is b eing tested in Europe. It is said to have 40 hp , a 36mm carb , and we igh between 2 10 an d 2 15 lbs. Recent t ests ha ve b rought pra ise f rom ride rs sam plin g the bi g Bul. * * * Last week 'we said th at we wo uld tell yo u h ow many pe op le th ey to ld us were o n thi s Lam bre t ta, T here are 25 all to ld , we are told. It h appened in Sp ain in 19 5 7, an d they rode it. • • • While Bob Maynard wa s driving a dune buggy at the Min t 400 on Monday , someone rip ped off h is 4-w heel-d rive ' 72 Chevy super pick -up . His estimated $800 w inn ings can in no way pay fo r his $10,000 loss . Inf or mat io n will be we lcomed at (7 14 ) 53 0-7340. * * * * * * M IA Di st rict 25 Congressm an , Jim Zerb y asked us to p rin t h is tel ephone number so all yo ur p eo p le in his area ( Flo re nce , Colorad o) would kn ow ho w t o get hold o f hi m. (3 03) 784-31 19 . It appears as though t he Ulster Grand Prix Road Race is not going to be held th is year d ue to the politiCal sit uatio n now p revai ling in Ireland . * * * A four-st roke Yam ah a 750 tw in is in the wor ks . It will go o n sale in J apan in May . T he spec sheet reads as fo llows: 63bhp at 65 00 rp m, 121 mph, 743 cc . It will resem b le t he 650 in most other aspects. • • • The polling by California Motorcycle . Industry Council on man dat o ry helmets and headlights is comp lete and the result s a re tabu lated. Stat istics of t he res pon ses indicat e: Mandatory wearing of h el mets at a ll t imes when operating a motorcycle: YES NO 17% 83% Mandatory b urn ing of he ad lights when operating a motorcycle on streets or roads; YES NO 9% 9 1%

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