Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

DRA 3S-Miler By :"learl LaCrack ADELAXTO. CAL., Ap ril 3 0 , 19 72 Loren H olmbe rg an d h is 4 00 Hush ' ran away fr om the other ~ ovice s ' and Beginners th is wee k en d to take to p h o n ors in th e DRA ' s desert ra ce, 17 mil e s ou t o f Adelan to . H olmberg too k over th e lead abou t h alfway o u t afte r th e le ad er, J im lI arwo od o n ano ther 400 Husk y. threw a c hain . This was Holmberg' s firs t o ve ra ll win an d watch in g him ride. I seriously d oubt if thi s will be hi s last. li e j u st kept th e beans di aled on. he ar in g th e ' swe et so und of suc cess as h e neared th e ch ec ke re d flag. L oren w as n ot th e o n ly o ne to h ave a first Sunday. DRA did to o, in a different w ay. with e very rid e r en jo yin g a beauti ful d ay o n a bi tchin ' c o u rse . T he race c o ns is te d o f o ne 3 5 mi le lo op. in order to prevent th e super -fas t lappin g Novices fr om forcing so me firs t time au 1 beginners to ea t a pucker plan t sa lad . T he new syste m, tried o ut fo r the fir st time by ORA (D esert R acing Associ a tion ) , seemed to w ork flawle ssly , with e ac h rider racing with riders an d ma ch in es o f their own ca lib er. Foll owin g l l o lrn berg in for first 250 Begin ne r was Dan iel Po p e aboard a super swift Pursan g. A lbert H u ll (Yam) . Creed Bin kle y (Yam) , a nd R o bert Wadl o w (CZ) we rc the nex t riders to reac h the h o me turn for th e 2 , 3. and -l th spot in the 400 Novices. They we re followed by th ree more 2 5 0· s. piloted by J o h n Nes b it t (Bul), John Magarro, Jr. (lIus) wh o beat ou t J ohn Magar ro, Sr. by one position. a nd J o h n Pol uja n ce wi cz (Yam). Glenn Bowman pulled off a Terrv Clar k tri c k on a smaller scale. riding i ~ th e wa ke of all those b igge r d ese r t sleds for 1 1th overall and first 10 0 Begin ner. just ahead of Open class win n er Phil Elery ( BSA). Jeff Conners also put in a fine ri de in th e trail class taking second wi th 20th overall. First 1::?5 to reach the finis her pin area was .Iohn Ph e it ter (D K\I') jus t ahead of Craig King (Yam). T hey w e re 15th an d 16t h o vera ll. Firs t Beginner in w as William Ca me ro n m oun ted on a 400 Husky . T he Beginner class started ab o u t 15 minutes afte r the N ovices , which by th e wa y st arted righ t o n tim e . a rarit y for th e desert. saw T ho mas Griggs o n hi s n ever-b een-raced new Yam ah a 360 :\IX j um p to an ea rly le ad a nd led th e p ac k to the smoke b omb so me three or four mil es out 'o ve r some ro ugh dese rt. T o m jus t ha d no t had enoug h ridin g h ou rs in o n hi s ne w toy t o re all y ge t it all together com p le te ly . a n d h ad to set tle for third o ve ra ll an d second 4 00 . E d J\lel an so n o n h is 2 50 M on tesa was one o f th e main reasons for T om's d ro p b ac k in place s. He za p ped h im on a roc ky fire ro ad about h al fw ay through th e loop . and go t h ome b efore T om fo r sec ond ove rall . Dave lI eddin g (Yam) fo llo we d Griggs in fo r se c ond 2 50 Beginner. T ed Le S ar ge o n a b ab y 12 5 Pursang was nex t to cove r the 35 mil e s for an am a zing fif th ove ra ll a n d a well earned fir st in the o ne and a q u art er Beginners. The ne x t finish er in this class d id n o t come into view u n til about 12th pl ace , whic h sti ll isn't too sh abby fo r a small bore 12 5 . when J im Watk ins rolled a cross th e finish lin c an d grabbed up sec o n d sp ot, just two posit ions in fro nt o f the fast c h a rging Ted Lind ( Puc) wh o fin ishe d th ird . ( Resul ts on page :~6) H.T . GETS SWIFT Dav id S w ift . formerly Editor of Cycle Xe w s We st, h as jo ined the staff of l li-T o rq u e Pub lic ati ons. In c. S wift will he assisting in the editorial p rep a ra ti o n of the h ouse's three mo n thl ie s - "D irt Bike " m agazin e, " Big Bike" m agazi n e . and "Choppers" m a gaz in e . Acco rding to Hi-Torque's Publisher. William R. Golden . " David 's addition to the staff of the three m agaz in e s wi ll not o nly continue th e pattern of editorial exce llence es tablished in the past. but add ne w dimensions as we ll." These di me nsions are about 5 feet 1 1 inc hes and 200 p o un d s. Swif t , wh e n asked abo u t it said. "D id you say ' H i-Torquey' o r 'Iii. Turk y' ?" SRA Clears Its Pits By Lou Whi tn ey Pho tos by Dal e Coats VI CTORVILL E . CA L.. ~I ay 7. 1972 The first thing we n otic ed driving in to th e SR A p its w as a m ass of strea me rs tru ng a u t in each d irect ion fo r a bo u t 200 y ard s an d a sign which read " No Rid in g In The C ircle ". A ft e r so me super sle u thing, we discove re d th at th is w as th e n ewe st (an d p erh ap s th e best w ay ) to con trol th e o ld n eme sis. the w ild a nd w o o lly pit racer. Th is svs tern was sim p le : yo u drov e into "h e ci rcle. t bac ked your ri g up to th e edge an d un lo ad e d . If y ou w ante d to take a ride you p u sh ed the bi ke ou t to "X o :\I an'~ Lan d " across th e s tre amers. In th e me antime th e fam ily cou ld b ask in th e su n sh in e with out fear of bod ilv h arm. Funniest th in g w as th at it' reallv w orked ! . SRA h as b een u sin g this c o ncep t t or abou t tw o month s n ow an d report n o incide n ts or problems. Th e r iders seem to app reciate a quiet pit and no o ne wat:tts t o vio late it . This inau gu ra l Earlv Bird Was held in a little -used area th at h as grea t p ot ential and is still n ot to o fa r from town , Th e cou rse ran uphill from th e sta r t to a b omb a bo u t th ree m ile s ou t. sitting out in p la in sigh t , S RA uses a la rge orange b an n e r an d a lways starts away from the: sun so it can be seen li ke a be ac on . T his co urse w as fast and abou t:! 1 mi les in %~~~~~~:,1~~" • 2 ith. The h orse o wne rs did n't wan t to sec th is first time even t nor di d th e lo cal ci ty co uncil th at s lated th ey were worrie-d that it wo u ld draw "the wrong type of peop le." T h e wrong type of people did in fact show lip a t the an nual Redd ing, Pa. annua l Bill I luber Me m o rial H al f-M ile in April. The bad boys burned up a street hike. walked out on the track while the races were ru nning, beat u p at least th ree people. T he penalty? They were given an escort ou t of town! Small won der th e Read ing City Council is trying to ban future cycle racing, as all of this took p lace in front of many officers of the law. Talladega police ..:. help. help if there eve r is another Re a d in g event. Pro mo ters are ge tting the idea you do n o t h ave to have a "X a tional " anymo re ·to h ave a successful r ace . There 's o ne in th e mill n ow th at will p ay 11,000 fo r a n on -n a tion al h alf mil e in Iowa o n th e op en weekend in August . Joe S ca lzo, the author o f the G ary Nixon book . h a s a n cw one ou t on Bart Mar kel. In fo rm a tio n in the June issue o f "Cycle World" m agaz in e. The book will be out in the near future. Don Emde, one of the American riders w ho competed in Italy in April . came ho me w ith a suitcase fu ll of It al ia n m o ney that h ad to be changed to the good ol d A merican gree n. The p rom o te rs told Don th ey overpaid h im, bu t th a t was o kay. Wh e n Do n switched to the Am e ric an rn on ev - h e found h e h ad been sho rted over one h un d re d racing bu ck s. J u n ior riders to watch th is y ear included : Iowa's Steve Dros te , Virgi ni a's Jim Il o u st o n and Texan. Jim Rawls. Droste rides Yamah a , H ouston is o n a Triumph and Rawls is on a BSA unless he join s th e Oklah oma b ased K&N ra cing team of Yamah a's. T h e n ew A~IA ra cing ra dio n etwork is build in g listene rs by the th o u san d s acco rding to repor ts . T he n e x t ones slated na tion w id e are the S an J o se mi le an d the L oudon road races. I f you want your lo cal sta tio n to ca rry the broadcasts, contact the s tation manager and te ll hi m to con tact the A:\IA - or bet te r yet . d o it you rself and m ak e it easy fo r th em to carry the race s from s ta rt to fin ish. X ow it m igh t see m that 42 mil es is great fo r ra cin g b eca u se of not h av in g to sto p for fue l in th e m id dl e. Righ t? S o wh a t d oe s th e leader d o ? Y ou guesse d it.. .he stops to take on gas! l fi-year-o ld Bry an Bre ker slid h is 4 00 Hu sk y t in to th e p it s fo r a qu ic k re fu e lin g job and th e inevita b le h appened in a tig h t race , h e was p assed . Bu t th en the thi rd an d fou rth p lac e riders d id th e sa me thing! T hi n gs got so r ted ou t okav on th e sec ond lo op an d Bry an ca m e ·in fo r th e win w ith th c 250 Bu l of Mike :\IcEl fresh right beh in d and G reg Sed a' s Yam ah a p us hin g h im to ta k e second 2 5 0 . Ed J ohns' 250 Y am a h a took th e h on o rs in th e Beginner s class b y com ing in 26 th o verall . (T he Beginner s sta rte d fo u r minu te s a f tcr th e N ov icc s. ] It d oesn't ap pear th at Ed will b e long in th e b eginn er s' ranks af te r th at rid e. Dave Egger , Jr. too k fi rs t Open b eginner ju st fou r pl aces b ac k o f Ed a n d se e m e d to he cl o sing h ard at th e wire . Ken Winkle to ok top 17 5 hon ors of the d ay b y pu shin g his Ossa into 19 th posit ion. T h e 12 5 firs t pl a ce go ld fell to Fr ed Cop pi's Sachs wh ile l fi-vear-old Ro n n ie Bragdon hro ugh t h is Yamaha in for the tra il win, na rrow ly beating Dave T h o m p so n ' s Il o d a ka to the li ne. Beg inner trailhike honors we nt to Rick Zamora. '" Q. N .... a> M' N . > ::: ~ w Z w ~ U >- U MAVRICK distr ibutors of Diff Brake INJUNOL CASTOR BLEND OILS 2-cyc/es st reet or track sample ]·pak on ly $4.45 Inj u nol Bedford, In d. 4742 / ••.... ................. ....... By Bob F . Re ad Bart Mar kc ls crash in th e Colorado Sp ri n gs Mil e Na tio nal at th e end o f Ap ril w ill p ut hi m ou t of ac tio n for a ll. or most , of th e season . Bar t w ill b e in ~ lc m o r i a l lIospita l in Colorado Sp rin gs unti l at le ast mid-May . T he repo rt is he w ill then he on cru tches for at least th ree m o n th s. It cou ld spell finish to a lon g and colorfu l ca ree r in cycle racing as this was to be Bart's las t season, according to Bar t . En try b lanks w ere sent out for a m ile track no n-national ra ce at Livonia. l\l ich. ea rlier th is vear bu t n ov.. the eve n t ' h as b ee n canceiled. Th is leaves the 5 0 00 non-national mile at A tlan ta on the Lak e w o o d track the on ly m aj o r d irt track Tact' ru nnin g o n Sund ay. J u ne I I tho Knievel also ju m ps a t this one . and long t ime tra ck con di t ioner. H arold Murrell fro m C alifornia h as been hired to prepar e th e long time o va l that is loc a te d n ext to d owntown Atlanta . I f the tr a ck is right an d at its best. jt c o u ld be a national in '73. Wh en Mark Brelsford was as ked wh a t th e m a in reason was for his t h ird natio n al TT win at Ascot he rep lied simp ly . "900cc·s." J im Rice's BSA mile victory at C ol orad o S prings was by a h al f a lap . N ot typical of recent m ile tra ck wins in re cen t years- whic h usually fin d at leas t tw o to five ri d e rs going in to the la st lap in con te n t io n. J im lapped ov er h al f the fiel d an d, con trary to th e o fficia l AMA bulletin . h e d id not gai n a Main Event sp o t b y coming through the semi - he wo n h is h e at race. A w ild scram ble is going on for tic kets to th e May 21 Na tio nal Mile at San J os e. Seems as though tickets a re o n ly available in the Bay area and th e promoter's ph one is either busy , or n o o ne answers. 20.000 will he on hand for su re, and an o the r 10.000 will c om e if th e y can f ind a ticke t, o r a p lace to stand. The L ou isvill e Hal f-Mile National th e first S atu rday nig ht in J une will aga in pl ay to a p ac ked h ouse. The trac k will agai n host a n o n -n a t io n al ha lf m ile th e following a fte rnoon . Motorcy cli sts still are not any w here near organize d as show n o nce agai n by the ca ncella tio n o f th e L os A lamitos. Cali f. N ation al Hal f-Mile sla te d for May len gth . .'" 10 N ~ ~ ~\.\."t~~tl'_t_..~,,\t.~\~\. '8as~9.~~J .\;~:';I 1117 Fountain way, Anaheim. Cal. 928 06 •................ ..... ......•. ........ CZ RIDERSONLY Countershaft sproc ket - cover to meet AMA requirements . All riders in AMA events must have one . Easily installed, $3.9 5 . Expansion chamber for new model 250 only. Guaran teed to out perform all other CZ p ipes, $35.00 - with muffler, $42.50 . Fold ing pegs, with machined serrated ends. A bsolutely t he strongest, $14.95. Limited su pply . PRIDDY PIPE SHOP 609 B. St ad iu m Dr. East Arlington , Texas 760 11 (817) 265·7501 De a le r in q u iri es invited The place to go for OSSA DKW KAWASAKI Pe nto n Norton Moto Guzzi Spring Rat ios from 6S t to ust in stock Shock. come with 78 t as standard spare springs 58.00 pair. Complete re bui Id kits S5.00 ea. 112" Extens ions 53.00 pr, Seals 51.50 pair Please .pecify mot orcyc le make & model. Mount type re~u ired. Eye at eaeh end or eye and clevi. type . Now in stock a the n.w " M vrie k" 5-way adjustable ile. )' duty shocks . rebui idab le lus trous 1Y chrome .pring. , 1112. or 121• le ngth ava ilable. Center to center of eyes 311" trave l. 'lfe Pa y Postage on Pre paId Orders . Cdlifornia Residents a dd 5' , for sale s tal NOW NEW AODED WARRA NT y . If the seal 'ails on any MAVR ICK unit within 90 da ys from date of purch ase we "III replace the sea l free. P.S. Does anybody e l.e do thi.? M A V R IC K DOES IT AGAIN Ta lie advantage of the bes I buy of t he year. SPOOL HUBS , 40 hole with 5/8" bear ing. inc luded. Best alloy with chrome like fini. h. $10 80 on thl s i ntr oductory offer, regular priee SI5 .00. Ca lif. re. id. nts .d ~ 5", sales tax . " STAINLESS STEEL .. ...:,. SPOKE S . ~ IN STOC K NOW ~ \~ TEMPLE CITY KAWASAKI 5663 N . Rosemead, Temple City, Ca lif. (213) 287-6167 /lo m e of southern counties racing team No. 1 - '71 rlCA ;\IX team Corner o f Rosemead & Las Tunas ' -. .. ' Dealer lnqulri e s Invited MAVRICK NO RTH AMERICAN IMPO RTS 2325 Cerro GGrdo, P,O, Box N M ojave, Cal if. 93501 ..

• Cover