Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

FINISH HIGH SCHOOL AND ABOUT MOTOR LEARN CYCLES Th ere's n o d oubt abou t it motorcycle s are here t o stay . Why d oesn' t so rne bodv show th ese kids h ow to ride ? . At Dos Pu ebl o s High. Sch ool in G oleta, Cali fornia. this is ju st wh at is be ing d one . Mo torcy cle enthusiast' an d Industrial Arts teacher, Bill Poehler, h as foun d a way to teach studen ts abou t mo torcycles. In November of 1970 while visiting Honda of Goleta, a passin g comment to the o wne r, Dougal House , abou t a class in mo torcy cles st arted the ball rolling. Five weeks later the result o f this meeting was a co urse title "M otor cy cle Safety, Theory , and Tune-Up ," A cou rse offering safety instruction, b oth on and off the road riding, in clud ing proper riding tec hniques and protective clothing. Instruction in the 4 stroke and 2 stroke intern al combustion motorcy cle engine, drive train , frame , and susp ension sy stems.. Mainte nance, repair, and t une-up problems are co m p le ted on the studen ts own unit. Study o f co nsu me r information as pr esen ted to the pub lic by th e manufacturers is also co vere d. t o move fast to hold their sp ots - 16 th and 17th . Ke n ny was h aving th ro ttle ca b le tro ubles a f te r a ta ngle-up in a corner. IIi s th ro ttl e wasn 't cl o sin g all th e w ay, a nd he w as m id -way b ack in to the p ack b y the end of the m oto. Fo r th e seco nd b eat th e to p th ree spo ts read th e sam e - Mik k o la , DeC oster. and Ab erg. Gros si came thro ugh wi th the bcst US A finis h for 13 th p lace. Blackwell agai n sta r ted o ut beh ind Bob an d was stead ily wor kin g up wh cn h is hand slip pe d . o ff th e hand lebar o n a rough d ownh ill section . In the tu m ble he h urt h is wri st an d co uld onlv of con tin ue at a sna il's pa ce fo r the res t the race . Bry an, s till fe el ing o u t his new ma chin e. did n' t rea lly tu rn on th e st ea m until th e las t h alf o f the heat. lI e fini she d a p resentab le 19th p lace. Over all scores were no surpri se for one. two . and th ree . Mik k o la co u ldn ' t be beat en . DeC oste r's second p lace keeps h im ah ead in world p oin ts after tw o G rands Prix. A be rg finis he d th ird ; Ake J onsson is st ill holding ba ck wit h fourth overa ll. Gr o ssi brough t home a 12t11 for th e d ay which makes it lo o k m o re an d m o re ' like 19 72 m ay be the year fo r so m e GP p o in ts for the US of A ! M ark an d Brv an were b ac k about mid-way in th e o~eralls, not having h ad a particularly lucky day . T he It ali an GP has been ca n ce lled for ne xt w ee k so w e arc all sp reading o ut for int ernatio nal ev en ts to p ick up o n lo cal co lo r. Hop e to have so me re al go od results to tell yo u ab o ut in m y nex t letter. For n o w thi s is ll o tS h o t: and the A1\lXT sign ing o ff. 49ER ENDURO By Bru ce C. Young FOR EST IIlLL, CALl F. , April 16 , 197 2 - As u su al th e Polka Dot MC o f Sac ram e n to p u t tog ether an e xc e llan t perfor ma nce wit h th eir 9 th A n nu al 49 'e r Enduro he re a t F ore st Hill, Cal if. T here h ad been so me quest ion ove r the previo us mo nth s as to wh ere they w ou ld run this year's Enduro but d u ring the last m o n th th ey made arr an gem e n ts to run it as usu al. This w as my very firs t Endu ro a nd I h ad b orrow ed a full race 4 0 0 Hu sk y mo to cro sse r as mv m oun t for the even t. I did ma ke it t o the gas c he ck , wh er e I re c upera ted awhile and th en to o k on th e second half, o n ly to go ab ou t tw e n ty mi les befo re I could ta ke n o mo re. T he b ike was run n ing fin e. I was the o ne th at was ru nning ou t of stea m. At the sta rt of the race eve ry th in g lo o ked fine with al l th e rid ers ge t tin g o ff to a c om fo r ta b le first few mil es. Th en I a n dseve ra l o th e rs ma d e the firs t mi st a ke by followin g an o th er du m my off the tr ail. We go t back onto the trai l again, late. T he Polka Dots put up a sign th at sa id . " tes t yo u r bra kes ", ju st like the o n es o n h igh ways. \Ve went d ow n a steep h ill th at seem ed head ed to th e mi d dl e o f the eart h . T he re was a slip pe ry t u rn a t th e b ott om wh ic h so me of u s m ade a nd so me (me ) d idn ' t. Gol goi n~ again an d ran in to ano ther little ite m th at d ivided the p ac k up real go od: the first water hole , a bout ei gh t mil es o u t. T hi s is whe re I watch ed th e race for a little b it wh ile m v bi ke d rie d ou t. I had to lau gh a t so me ;'f the goofy th ing s th at happen at such a pl ace. Th e w ater was o n ly about th re e feet de ep and not ove r six fee t acro ss. bu t the re w as n o way to jump it and with so man y rid ers li ke m y self wi th th eir bikes cluttering u p th ings, the re al en d u ro riders co uld on ly h ope for the best wh en th ey made their crossing . Then up a muddy slo pe o n the o ther side and on down th e trail. I finally d id get st arted and settled down for a fun ride, enjoying the scenery, which is just fantastic in this part of the state . The trail was well mark d II h e Way a w wen t up h ill an d dal e h ead ing fo r th e first c hec k which was lo ca ted on a road . In t o the chec k an d o u t the o th e r side we wen t. We made several creek crossings and di d so me hi ll cl im b ing o ver shale h ills th at to o k sk ill. I th anked m y lucky st ar s fo r the big 400 . I could just p oin t it an d close my eyes a nd w ould find m y self a t the to p . J ust before we all ca me in to th e gas che ck at Io wa Hill. the Polka Dots put in a tr icky few miles of creek bed wi th sheer m ountain s o n e ach side. We h ad to take to th e bou lde rs an d ride in and out of th e cree k th at ran d o wn the m iddle o f the vall ev, T he first half of th e 100 m i Enduro w as a 24 m ph ave rage and the second half was a 20 mph average . riders are really Yo u e nduro su perme n . I d on' [ care wh at th ey say about m o to cro ss. A Iter we left th e gas chec k an d head ed o u t o n th e seco nd half th e going was no t too bad. bu t th e h igh er we we n t the m o re w ater an d mud there wa s. I got ca ug h t on a h ill th at was o nly several h u ndred fee t hi gh , b ut the m ud wa s reall y bad for us lat e rid ers and some o ne was stu ck at th e top of the h ill. A b o u t a h alf an h o u r lat er I got o n m y way an d into check five . b ackward s. Le aving , I go t stu ck aga in a fte r chec k five , an d -it was at th is time that I mad e the decisio n to t ak e leave o f th is fo ol ishness before 1 e nde d u p a perma nent p art o f th e Fo rest Hill sce ne ry . The rest of the tr ack we n t o n up into so me sn owy sectio ns w ith man y mil es of ridin g in the snow and slosh . T he rid e rs rea lly d ug on th is section but man y go t in to t ro u b le . ~ 01 hav in g rid d en o n sno w bef ore , ma n y st uck their he ads in it. Headin g back toward th e fini sh a nd in to th e final c heck , the co urse bec ame very muddy . There w as a river crossing just ou t fro m the finis h lin e th at le ft ma n y rid er s on it's b an ks. Every on e was sitting ar ound talking abou t th e race and en j o yin g th emselv es as the results were posted an d the su n set. Result. o n p age 3 6 49 studen ts signed up fo r the class. The class starte d without a class room, ( th ey la ter shared th e auto shop and dr aftin g ro om s) with a $ 3 0 budget. and one se t of metric wren ches. The $30 was quick ly spen t so back to Honda o f Goleta. He then d on at ed tool s, rep air m an uals, an d e ng ine c ha rts. S ome of the o ther manufacturers don ated some rep air ma n uals and th e Hond a tools see me d t o fit a lot o f m o torcycles. Needless to say the class was a success. T he stu de n ts learned how and wh y to be safe ; main tenance was stre sse d becau se a well maintained motor cy cle is fun to ow n ; they understood the me ch anics of their motorcycles. The semester cl osed with an evening o f motorcy cle film s and a ta lk b y AJS rider Doug Gran t. Today th e stu d en ts, both street and d irt riders plus their frie nds, have a home . They have become mo re aware of the ir role an d rights as a moto rcycle rider. Some are be coming ski lled me chanics and co m pe t itio n riders. The commun ity and the o th er local motorcycle dealers are beginning to fo llow the footstep s of Honda of Goleta and Dougal Hou se by supporting the program. What st arted o u t as a go o d idea has turned in to a p opular class' on motorc y cle s. ~* STARTS THURSDAY NIGHT If"V IBth BPM * 2:3 R i\.CE S O F A L L - STARS '* Mille andSte"eBast ,*SonnyNutfer ,*Ricil Woods Larry Shaw Sumner McKnight Jimmy Gresham Don Cullum ,* Rueben Benetls Ed Williams '* '* '* '* '* AD UL TS $2.50 oJR. 12-16 $1 .50oCHILDREN 8-12 .50 ARCADIA Monrovia ~e=w==a::'y:::::-=!S!!~=:;: U e re:: f) II I F Ternpl e v City J EL:::\ It) M ON ~ ro O Q.l g' "~ C> ~ UJ Z UJ ...J U >- U

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