Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

... C> N .... C> '" > . ::;: ~ W Z w ~ U >U . . . " e, ~JI~I [I.w. Am er ica 's Nu mber 1 week ly motorcycle new spap er . Yo u 'll a lways see it fi rst in Cycle News OSTEENS DE FENDED In re ply to Ed Porter' s comments abou t Ost een s Ap ril 9 motocross , 1 thi n k th at he should know tha t th e wa te r tr uck was ro lle d while a tt e m p tin g to wa te r d o wn a ro ugh part of th e co u rse . Fo rtunate ly. th e driver wasn't hu rt. Mr . Mar sh al wen t out th e night before th e ra ce and found a driver to w a ter th e co u rse . MIK E S AUNTE R Diamo nd Bar , Ca lif. T HINGS GET CUR IOUSER A ND CURIOUSER 1 have cleared ni ne bi cy cle s ly ing d own , an d a di stance of 19 ft. In d oing th ese ju mps, 1 h ave d est ro yed o ne bi ke fram e and have b ro ken m y co llarbone and h ad a co n cussio n. My main am b itio n is to clear a car o n a bike . ROBBI E PE R E Z Fu lle rt on, Cali f. Charles Clayton . . . . . . •. . .. . . .. . . .. .. Publ isher Shar on Clayto n Business Manager Tom Culp Gen eral Manager Joh n Bet hea Managing Editor Joh n Huert er Edi t or Art Friedman Assistant Editor Ed Drechsler Adverti sing Manager Barba ra Richard Advert ising Assistant Rheba Smith Circulati on Manager Marla Tarbet .... .....•..... Circu lat ion Assistant AI Duke Circulat io n Assistant Pau l Boudreau Producti on Manager How ie Fowler Prod uct ion Assistant Larry Groves Lab Technician Marion Hatashlta T ypograph er Bob i Culp Assistant T ypographer Rand y Diet zel Book keepe r Book keep ing Assistant Eleanor Duke Barbara Bebeck Book keep ing Assistant Saueekv Haynes Gener al Secretary Recepti oni st Beverly Townsend National Advertisi ng Direct o r (Cy cle News West, Cycle News East , Cycle News Di xie) : Tom Culp . Cycle News West , P.O . Box 49 8 , Lon g Beach , Cali forn ia 9 0 8 0 1. (2 13) 4 2 7-74 3 3; L.A . 636-8844 . TELE X NO. 673474 V Subscription : SID On e year, second class mail 2 years, seco nd class mail S17 3 years, second class mai l .52 I Single copy price .. .. . . . . . . . . . • $ .3 5 Major Inside Reports Section: CN North ... ..... . . .. .. •. ... . .• . •.. •.•. •.... .. . ..6 Co lu m n: The Latest Poop . . . ... •.• ... •. •••........ . . ... ....9 Speed way : Bak ersfield .. •....• .. . .... •. .• • ..... ..•...... .. 11 End u ro : Sh amroc ks, Dist . 37 . . . . • .. . ... • •••.. .. • .. •. ... . ... 12 De se rt : The Mo nthly Po nd e ro sa • . . .... .. •. . . • . .. . . • • .•.. . .. •14 G ran d Pr ix : A Big O ne in Europe .. .. . . .•..... .......... . ... •2 2 26 AMA Nati onal: A scot Park TT Moto cr oss: Knievel's S na ke River Ca ny o n •. ..•• •. •.... .••. ... •28 Interview : J ov ial J oe Pa rkh urst . . . . . . . . . . • • . . . . . . . . • . .. .. .. .3 0 Ha lf-Mile : G ol d Cup Nigh t at Ascot .... ... • • .• . .. . .• • • •.. . . .•3 2 CMC : Aseot a nd Li ons Weekl y . . • . . •. .. .. • ..... .. . • . . . . • .. . .34 Colu m n : Sc rarnbl ln ' A ro u nd ••. ••. ........ .....•...• • ...• . •36 Co lu m n : T he Home Worksh op • • . •. . .•.. .... . . .• ... . . . . • . . . .39 Sect io n : Cale ndar .. ... ••.. • .•. •.. .. ... •. .•... •. ... • ......4 0 Ro ad Race : AF M at O ra nge Cou nty . ...... .. . ... . •• .• .•... . . .4 1 Sect io n: Resu lt s •. . . . .' .....••. .. . . .........• . . . ... •... ...4 4 Why d on 't yo u start with t he Gr an d Ca ny o n and se tt le it once a nd for all? Jumpi ng is expen sive, dange rou s and ca n be hazard ou s to your health ...Ed. SUIC IDE IS ILLEGAL Aw c 'mon yo u guy s, chaine d to a heIm et, und e r a cros s? 1 d on ' t thin k th e h elm e t law wou ld be all th at bad a th in g. I'm a m oto cro sse r a nd r o ad ra cer. a n d my helm et h as saved me fro m a t least two go od dents in th e skull. A nybod y else wh o race s can p ro bab ly say th e same th ing. We all know th at helm ets are a good thing, an d so we wear the m when we ra ce. l Vhat"s m ore , it's the " la w" am ong racin g associa tio ns th at we wea r helmets, and I have yet to hea r a nyone co m p lain . The "law" is t hat yo u can ' t ride a t Indian Du nes or Sad d le back wi th ou t a h el me t, and no o ne co m p lains. So, wh at' s th e b ig d eal abou t a sta te helm e t law ? This law isn ' t aim e d at you or ine, the experien ced rider w ho wear s a helm e t anyway. We already prote c t o u r heads , an d so our sta tu s would be un ch an ged by th e law. Wha t th e law does is to in sti tuti onali ze com mo n sense , an d so p ro te cts the inexperie nce d rid e r. lIe 's the o ne m o st lik ely to h ave an acci de n t, an d least likely to wea r a helmet. And not only d oe s it p rotect th e k id on th e Honda 90 ; it p rotects the m o torist who h its h im fro m h avin g manslau gh ter charges lodged in wh at sho ul d have been a min or acciden t. However, if op pone n ts t o helm et law s are re all y ju st invo ki ng th eir G od-given righ t to d ash th eir b ra in s ou t on the nea rest b u mper, they shou ld be reminded th at su icide is illegal in California . JAM[ E Ll NXWIL ER Los Angeles, Ca lif. T HE MODERN AR MY WANTS TO JOIN IN Never t hough t t he A rmy wou ld come to th is, di dja? In formin g y ou th at we've go t o u r stu ff to ge th er , and th at you ' ll b e gettin g re leases fro m me with am azin g reg u lar ity - local eve nts , IS DT progress, a nd th e m o torcy cles that the A rmy is using ta ctically . I' ve jus t been given the job of ins urin g m ax p ubl icit y for the A rmy 's bike s (enj o yed Paul H anson's ar t icl e in y o ur Mar c h 14th issue), as we ll as o u r lo cal A~IA club , Th e Fort lI o od Dirt Ri d er s. Th e IS DT st uff wi ll b e co ming from u s, bu t lo ts will be co mi n g fro m th e AMA nat io na l PR pe opl e . to o . BENNY BRAUN Pu b lic Re la tio ns Direct o r Fl. Ho od Mo to rsp orts Complex THE WAY TO A PUBLI SHER 'S HEART... Earlv in 19 72 , Cycle Ne ws proclaimed th at thi s w ill be the year of "con su me ris m ". Did you me an the VOICES OF THE WEST co nsu mp tio n o f file t and cap p uc ci no? Harl e y-David so n sco red an easy c ou p . by wining and d ining Chuc k Clay to n . T he n igh t o n th e town res u lte d in so me ni ce words fo r Harle y's " di rt b ikes" in Clayton' s colu mn, h owever, th e PR effort will d o li ttl e to p laca te th e hundred s of Baja owne rs who p urch ased the bike afte r re adin g Harl ey -David so n ' s ad ver tising. A stock Baja bears scan t resemb lan ce to the b ikes th at wo n eigh t of the to p ten T rail bike numb er s. Eigh t bi kes and rid ers wh o , in cid en tally , have recen tl y ap p ea red in d ouble tru ck ads in Cycle New s. A Baja rid er mus t spe nd a n ad d ition al $300 on h is already overp rice d b ike to mak e it perform like th e h o t Distri c t 3 7 Trailb ikes. If th e "dream y " 17 5 and 250 di rt H-Ds ever ge t bu ilt, an d if th ey m a tch the 100' s m eager perfo rm ance , I' d swap 100 o f th em fo r a wo rn -out DT -l. E . ROS EWAT E R Marina Del R ay , Cali f. It co sts extra to make any st ocker p e rf o rm with the District 37 de sert winn er s. $ 300 do esn't se e m too much . N o t a ll of th e Baj a top ten we re sponsored , e ither...Ed . ROOSTER TALE Th e Ch ic ken En d u ro , p u t on b y th e Pathfinde rs Mo torcy cle Clu b of Fresn o , sh ows wha t can be d on e with good p lann in g and a lot o f har d work . It was no p iece of cake b ut we ll w orth your e ntry fee. T he cl u b should b e co ngratulated fo r giving a lot of rid ers a grea t Sunday in th e forest. MY L ES RI NG L E J R . WHAT'S AL L CLA MS? T HIS ABO UT It oc c u rre d to · me that a clam sh ell co uld be used in p lace o f th e p opula r .Io fa m ou th guard . DO UG KLASSEN Escondid o , Ca lif. DESERT THE DESERT Every tim e th at 1 glance at th e Ca len d ar in C-N it's swarm ing with organi za tio n s p ut tin g on d eser t events for b eginner s a nd n ovices. I t was alrig ht with just D-3 7 and one o r tw o othe rs , but n ow th e re a re sever al time s as m an y o rgan izatio ns . Soon the d eser t will be com p le tely • d estroy ed. S ome o rgan iza tions d on 't cle an up lime, trash, e tc. Can' t so me th ing be d one to co n tro l th em ? T he re's n o usc in more than one . d esert eve n t in th e sa me area on one week en d. R. FLE MING Cucam o n ga , Cali f. SPINN ING WHEE L MYTH It see ms th at at least 5 0 percent of th e cy cle publication s h ave a t o ne time or an o th e r , printed a test which c riticiz ed the re ar wh eel d rive speedo mete r system o n En d u ro bikes. When Dad (j o h n Pe n ton) receiv ed one of the first Hus qvarnas b rough t in t o the cou n try th ere wa s n o provisio n for a sp eed o d rive, so h e m ad e one for the fro nt wheel. Sh ortly , it was replaced b y rear wh eel d rive. He h as kept it eve r sin ce - incl uding th e yea r he won th e National End uro Cha mpionship . We p ref er rear wh eel sp eed ome ter drive . The m aj or reaso n is ca b le re liab ilit y . A cab le to th fron t wheel is su bjec t to mu ch m ore flex in g an d is vu lnerabl e to, b ru sh , ro cks, e tc . We h ave h ad n o p roblems with inacc u ra te speedo re adin g wit h rea r wh eel driv e . I'm su re to be told tha t different t erra in m akes a d iff ere n ce. Well , a fter spend ing tw o years at Ge o rge AFB in the Moj ave d esert , 1 h ad put in . ma n y m iles rid ing the san d, ro ck s, an d sage . Took in so me en d u ro s, to o . ma n agin g to win one and get class wi n s in a few o thers inclu di ng a lightweigh t A win in t he Greenh orn . A t no t im e did I have tr ouble with my transmission V DO being in accu rat e. T o co nclud e , 1 don't adh er e to the Spinn ing Wheel myth . SGT . T HmlAS PENTON AP O S an Fr an cis co , Calif. t LET'S HEAR IT FOR BUZZ I am wri tin g in re gar d to th e a rticle by th at "journ alistic ace " (d id I m issp ell th a t last wo rd?) Bu zz Bat y , His unmerit e d ca us tic remark s about Gary Ni xon o n ly serv e to fu rt he r my d oub ts ab o u t h is p ow er s of observati on . I am on ly su rp rise d tha t wh o ever had to write th e a r ticle for Ba ty d id n o t m a ke some effor t to correct th e erron e o u s statem e n ts. T o begin with possibly th e on ly pe ople h ap p ie r th an Gary ove r h is advan cc men t a re th osc who re mai n in Published we ekly e xcept the first and last week o f the ca lenda r year b y Cycle News, lnc ., Post Office Box 498, Long Beach.• Cal ifornia. A lso publish ers of Cycle News East . and Dixie Cycl e News . Second Class Po st age pa id at Lon g . Beach , Ca lif. Ed it o rial sto rie s, cartoons, ph o to s, etc . a re we lcome. Add ressed, sta m pe d e n ve lo pe assu res ret u rn o f ed itoria l matter . Reprinting in w hole or in pa rt on ly by permi ssion of t he pu b lish ers. Ad verti sin g rates an d circu latio n info rmat io n w ill be se nt upo n request. See S .R .D .S. Cop y righ t €I Cycle News, Inco 19 72 all righ ts reserved the J unio r class . A lso, I am sure th at eve n th e du bi o us ly cle ver Buzz Baty wo u ld gr un t in ag ree me nt that any bo dy who wins 16 a u t o f 16 m oto s and be time d at tw o seconds slo wer per lap th an Ti m lIart just mi gh t k now wh at fast real ly is. From now on let's put cre di t wh er e cr ed it is du e. BR UCE A. NE LSO N 6 7S MX 544X Desert ON THE TRA IL The C alifornia Re creational Trails Committee is ch arge d with the re sp onsibility o f c oord inating and develop in g trails sys te m s th ro ug h o u t th e State . It has long been a bastion of stre ngth fo r th e eq uestrian s only b ec ause those gro up s a re o rga n ize d and make th eir demands kn own to th e C ommittee in public testimony . Your fu ll page notice on AB 2342, te lls the cycl ist what he has t o do t o re gister, but it does n ot tell him wh at h e has to do t o o b ta in these parks and trails in his area. One o f the m ost im por ta n t things is organizati on, prep ar ation o f maps, co o rd ina tio n with th e County Plan ning C ommission and lastl y h avin g the tr ail s adopted in to th e Co un ty ' s m ast er plan .. O n ce AB 2 3 4 2 ge ts rolling, th e Cou n ties will b e e n ti tled t o 5 0% o f the Off-Highway Vehicle T rust funds for th ese purp o ses an d it will be on a first come fir st se rve basis . (Co u n ty provides 25 % - O ff-Highway Ve h icle T ru st Fund 75%) . The Counties of Southern California, h avin g th e lar gest population o f motorc yclist s, sh ould begin to develop their pl ans now so that they ma y h ave first crack at the matching mo ney o f AB 2342 when it becomes availab le . Represen tatives o f o ff-road user group s ma y be in terested in a ttend ing the Recreational Trails Committee m eeting t o ge t so me insight in to the problems o f settin g up trail sy stems and p arks in Cal ifornia. I h ave in vit ed th e Directors of Parks an d Re cr ea ti on fro m the Counties o f Los Angeles, Oran ge, San Bern ardino, Riverside an d San Die go to presen t th eir pl an s to th e T ra ils Committee for imp1emen ting A B 23 4 2. Whe th er any o f the se p eople atten d is still up for grabs. In an y even t, 1 thin k it would be go od if rep rese n tatives from so m e o f th e m otorcycle gro u p s, o ff-ro ad veh icle gro ups an d othe rs interes te d in ORV activities would a tten d the Trail s Comm ittee m eetin g. T he T rails C ommitte e is re tu rn in g to Lo s A ngeles th is fall to hol d h earings to d evelop cri te ria for the estab lish me nt o f S ta te Mech ani cal Par ks. O RV people can also at this time testi fy if d esired co nce rn ing their id eas o n tr ail s and parks. An y presentation s made sh ou ld be well th o ugh t ou t co nta in ing p ositive id eas, n o t c om p lain ts abou t past t rea tm e n t. I am n o t lo o kin g to pac k a me etin g hall wi th b odies , but for p ositiv e ideas to influence the Co m mittee. An y t hough ts yo u m ay have o n the atten da nce of any o f these people a t the Co m mi ttee h earin g would be appreci a te d . T he Com mi ttee will be gin ·ta kin g p ub lic testimony 1:30 p .rn, ~ I ay 18 , [ 97 2 co ntin uing through May 19 ,1 9 7 2 until all p e rso ns a re heard. If a t all possibl e written cop ies of t he testi mony should be give n to Committee mem bers at th e hcarin g. RIC HARD M . BROWN R oeme r a nd Hamwi . Attorneys a t Law Lo s A ngeles, Calif. SATUR DAY A NGER The ~rustra tion of trying to score a race when a rid e r refuses to clean h is num b e r p late is fa rcical. Most rid er s change partne rs wi th in eigh t to ten lap s. (Please turn to pg, 36)

• Cover