Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

...a""'...... · .. ~~~~~~ .." - Sj5e-:ll:lhrof - :\ra~I1 IlUI1r;--lT\"tl s been written about Gary Bai ley being the first A merican to beat the By Maureen Lee We scrambled up to the San Jose Mile for th is week's ac tivi tie s and if y o u were o ne of th e unluc ky on es wh o coul d n' t ma ke it, yo u mi sse d one h ell of a race. as was reported in last wee k's paper. But, j us t for th e fun we 'll ch uc k in o ur o wn impression s of it. . The las t time S an Jose ran was in 19 5 8 (Yeah. h ere comes m y n osta lgia bit ). Bac k then just a bou t all the h ikes we re 50 0's except for th e facto ry Ha rley sidevalvcs wi th 75 Occ ' s, In th e lap times from '5 8 to '72 you can see h ow ra cin g has progressed and of course, no w everyone has the chan ce to run a 750, but n o la rger , on oval tracks. T his year Mer t Lawwill , who is staging a grea t stead y come back afte r tw o seasons pl agued with inju ry an d sheer b ad lu ck set the fastest time with a 3 9 .9 0 in qualify ing. In ' 5 8 it w as John G ibson with 43 .3 1. Mer t went o n t o win the semi afte r so me he ats th at wer e so devast atin g it left a bun ch of co u ld -be -win ne rs o n the sidelin es. The fir st h ea l w on b y C an ad a' s Dave Sehl was ab solutel y fantastic t o ap p ly a mu ch u sed adjec tive bu t it wa s an ex -scrambl es rider from District 37. G a ry S cot t , who set th e fastes t ti m e for th e h eats o n h is Triu m p h wi th 6.43.49 bea ti ng C arroll Rcsweber s o ld record for the ten lap s o f 7. 17.77. Congrat ulations. G ary ! It su rprised q u ite a lot of peop le to see a rookie sitting on the p ole in the Main and if your mac h inery h ad m ad e it we co uld have se en a rook ie win a mile! Ano the r Dist ri c t 3 7 rider showin g great fo rm was S teve Nich ol s wh o al ways shows such b eau tifu l con tro l of hi s mach ine bu t had th e b ad luck to swallo w a valve. \\'e'll go on rec o rd righ t now as tapping him for a fu ture N at io n al N umber One and the re aren 't man y J u n iors w e 'd d ar e m a ke that predi c tio n for . And th en there's J im Rice. BSA . h an g yo u r h eads in your Birmingh am fac t o ry . The Bee zcr did it again even if yo u can' t ge t e nou gh p ennies to gether to field a te am. the rid ers still love th e m ac h ine s enough to ride them as privateers and th at's what Ri ce is. But won 't th e adver tis ing be ni ce ? Jim, .c h a rge 'e m 5000 fo r u sing your n ame in ads. The Main was just unbelie vable and to cro wn it all when w e h eard th a t Rice h ad run m o st o f it w it h a fra c tured shoulde r. that w as enoug h to b lo w everyo ne 's cool. Kenny Rob erts , Yam ah a' s prid e an d joy gave it a tre mendous go b ut the d ay before in the San J o se papers Rice. in an ex cell ent in te rvie w said he felt h e . Ro mero an d Mann stood a be tter chance because of their experience. Bugs, on b oard another you -know-w ha t go t a thi rd b ut he lost th e groove several ti me s d id R ob erts. Ri ce d id n't . T he con trolled sli des by Rob erts and Mann were beautiful to b eh ol d b ut as th ey w ell know . going side w ays do es not get you go ing the right way . T o all racers : ride trials so you ca n re all y le arn thro tt le control. That's th e secre t . Am on g o rher o dds and en ds from the grea t day. if yo u d on 't thin k the m ile w as ro ugh you should have see n the scooter b el on gin g to (we thi n k) U oyd Houchins. li e hi t a h ole Aldan a swore w as hi ll: en ou gh 10 bury yo u in an d to ta lly rip p ed th e top of h is rear shocks o ff plu s all th e rub ber on the rear tire leaving jus t the casing , nev er seen any th ing lik e it ! Aldana himsel f sho wed tremendous fonn and style , there was no ride r wh o \.. ·as tucking in fas ter co ming out of the lu rn s th a n David and no. he d idn't fall off, no t even o nce! The wind created an in teresting situation, first part of the ra ce it was a tail wind, then changed into a head wind as the race progressed. 'Ib is co uld have hurt Rice a bit because h e ' s a b ig m a n and cant tu c k in as well as th e lillie guys. Rober ts always seemed faste r d own th e b ack sh u te an d Rice down the fro nt. Back to Aldan a's tu ckin g in , th e on ly as Arizona Dirt The first of severa l, new regional columns to appear week ly in Cycl e News West . By Rand y Bailey The go ds a re-sai d to prote c t fools an d little chi ldre n . Now a n Ac t o f Congre ss calle d OSIIA will p rot e ct eve ryon e else - including motorcy clists. . OSIIA . th e O c cup ati on al S a fety an d Health Act of 1970 . was e nac ted b y Con gress ., .. to assure as far as possible that every w orkin g man and woman in the n at ion 'will have sa fe an d h ealthful workin g co nditio ns and to preserve hum an resour ces." This safe ty ac t covers all busin esse s emp lo yin g o ne o r more workers - th is includes m otorcycl e repair shops. motorcycJe race tracks and any busine ss that uses mot orcy cles for delivery work. OSIIA provides for federal or stat e inspe ctors to ent er any busin ess premise 10 o bserve working co nditions a f te r a com p lain t h as been filed th a t sa fe ty rules ar e n ot being followed in th at busines s. Th e insp ect or may issue a cit ation for zrry violation o f OSHA rules which m a y result in a fine or jail sen ren ee o r both fo r the offending party . Don 1I00ver. director of the O ccupational S afety an d He alth Division of the Arizona Industrial Com mis sion - the sta te branch of OSIIA said e ven the sinallest m otorcycl e repair shop or race track co u ld be liable for up to a $ 10 .0 0 0 fine p er OSIIA vio la li on. ·" It w ould be a grea t benefit to ea ch m otorcy cl e rep air shop an d operators o f race tracks (0 take the first step to sec that his p lace of bu siness is in co ndition to ab ide h y th e p oli c y of Congre ss." 1I0 0\e r urged, .. Failure to d o so co uld result in fines of up to 10.000 per offense fo r repea ted vio lations of safe ty regulati o ns an d stan dards." Ty pical violations in a m o to rc ycle shop , h e added , mi ght be oil sp ille d on th e flo or an d n ot wiped up , ungrounded elec t rical to ols, failure 10 provide and u se safety glas ses when o p era ting gri n d ing eq ui p me n t o r fa ilure to u se a fac e shield when welding. Other items which co u ld resul t in a st iff fine include dan gerous sto rage and use o f fu el. oil. a cid o r parts. Anoth er vio latio n, and o ne whi ch is p articul arly dangerou s, is th e imprope r use and storage of welding cylinders o r o ther tan ks o f com p res sed gas . Improperl y h andled, 1I0 0ver con tinued, these tanks can b e come leth al h omb s.. A s fo r emp loyees at m o torcy cle tr ac ks . the re is some difficu lty in determining whether race co mpe tito rs vyi ng for a cash purse arc co vered by th e A ct. 1I0 0ver said th is question would be up to the cou rts t o d etermine. But, paid trac k o fficia ls and w orkers are covere d b y OSHA . These w orkers w il l h ave t o b e p rovid ed with safe an d h ealthfu l working con di tio ns or the opera to rs o f the race track s will b e liable for OSHA fines. 1I00ver sa id . T his may result in track o perato rs b ein g required to issue h igh -visib ilit y cl oth in g, ea r protection (fro m high noise levels). and an y o th er equipment needed 10 make a particul ar race track emplo ye e's j o b sa fe an d health y. Hoover a lso said th e Act ap p lies to a ll sta tes equal ly and that in many sta les th ere are both state and feder al OSIIA dep artments in operati on. In Ariz on a th e re will b e a staff o f 26. as o f July I. in the st a te OS IIA department and severa l mor e fede ral inspect ors workin g in th e st a te . OS HA will undo ubtedly h ave its effe ct on m otorcy clin g. Th is A ct means the e n d o f slo p py, unsafe motorc ycle repa ir shops an d h op c full y, a fa re we ll to th o se race tr a ck s w ith a hi gh ra te of accidcn ts, injuries and deaths. Th e e ffec t o n the m o to rcy cli st consu me r may be a sligh t in cre ase in repair bills refl e c tin g th e cost of im prove d eq u ip men t and . shop alte ratio ns fo r safe ty reaso ns. T o the mo torcy cle race spectator, this may mean higher admissio n price reflec ting track imp roveme n ts to curb accidents to particip ants and spec tat ors. 1I0 0v er concluded . th e en d result o f thi s safe ty effo rt wi ll b e a grea t savings in human resour ces and pain and su f fering - wh ich will fa. o u twe igh any expenditu res required to meet adequa te safe ty requirements. rider Tve seen do it better was Blackie Bru ce. At S acramento, at the end of the straigh t .111 y o u co u ld see co m in g towards you w as a bike and a numbe r pl ate, n o rid er an d th at's th e truth ! I ntercstin g, to o. to see the tach s o n the fa ctory Harley s, only Lawwil1's bike d idn 't h ave o ne bu t when a b ike is runnin g na t o ut on a m ile kno wing exac tly what your rpm 's are can make th at im por t an t di fference. D oe sn 't ta ke mu ch to p ut th a t engi ne p ast th e critical poi nt as was well demo n s tra te d Su nday . As you ean tell, personally I ' m crowi ng for the BSA efforts an d ca n stil1 h old m y h ead h igh even th ough m y sec ret favo rite to win was Harley and Laww ill. H owe ver , Ri ce is pro b ably the best ova l dirt race r in the co un try today . expecial1y on the mile, an d it's no t a flash in the p an eithe r. He 's show n tha t q uality over th e past two years. Wonder if some of th e other facto ries still in rac ing have tried to sign him (they ' re d umb if they didn 't) o r d oe s h e just like to ride BSA . M y su it of a rm o r is o ff an d the soap box is in the corne r be cause I have an apology to mak e to a ne al friend . Couple of we e ks ago I co mmen ted on Keith Mashburn s crash a t A sc ot an d the lack of fla gmen but th e goof was 1 ha d h im o n a T rium p h ! Ega d , whe n h e's been rid ing Yammies sin ce h e go t off h is Trium ph in his Junio r year, so you can bet m y na me is m ud in th e Oriental - Europeans in mo tocro ss with his magn ifi cent rid" agains t Arn e Krin g a t wh en Krin g was in S addle back co n ten tio n for the 500cc ·moto cross ch amp io ns hi p . I t w as a great d ay and a ve ry sp e cial day fo r C ary an d hi s f rie n ds . me inclu ded. BUT, Bailey w as n ot th e fir st m an to · beat the Europeans. It was Mashburn. A t a muddy m o to cro ss at Cast aic in th e tidd le r e1ass all the Europea n s sh owed up with sprin ger -Iron t end bik es (I cou ld guess a t th e b rand b ut can' t be sure . so wo n ' t say it.) an d Keith hea t .J oel R ob e rt fa ir a n d square when J o el was then th e 250cc World C ha mp io n . l Iey , Cr a shhu rn, co me b ack o u t a nd ride motocross again , will y o u? And fo r a ret urn to nostalgia, we saw Dick Dorresry n in the pits afte r th e race. Y ou young sprou ts prob abl y d on 't even rem ember the name bu t y ou should , Dic k was th e gre ates t TT race r we' ve eve r see n. I'm sure even S kipper w ould agree w ith th at st ate rne n t. Wou ld yo u run a 50 lap TT a l Ascot witho ut goggles a nd n o t stop fo r anoth er shiel d . Dorrest yn did. Not only tha t h e h ad th e u n cann y a bi lity to pass .11 an y p oi nt o n th e trac k he wan led too. h e ' d j u st p ass and th at w as th a t. Over the ju mp, on the ou tside of th e turn or o n the inside, w hen D ic k d ecided to p ass, yo u go t p assed. In those d ay s he was as good at T T racing as Robert is a t mo to cro ss. Cheers D ick. y o u look grea t. VOICES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (Continued fro m page 4) co untries. \\re arc now beginn ing o ur sec o n d year of the "new lo ok " kn own as C YC LE CIIAl T ER and we a re ve ry prou d of it because it now con tains interest ing p ic tures and o ur subscribers have proven to us that they like it to o because ou r list o f subsc ribe rs have ce rtainly gro wn in the past two y ears. W have exac tly th ree w ork ing e pe ople . al1 gir ls . wh o spen ds h ours o r I sh ould say d ay s puttin g this lillie rag together. We also h ave seve ral fric nds wh o h ave h elped u s as p ho tograp hers and corresponden ts and all of us rece ive 00 0 . in the w ay o f p ay . Sometimes I thi n k we 're all a little nuts w ork in g a l1 th ese years fo r n o thing b u t we mu st en j oy do ing it . p robahly fo r so me in sane reaso n lik e ju st lo ving the spo rt . 1 wo ul d like t o poin t o u t to a ll o f yo u. C YCLE CHA1TE R d o es n ot c o n tain recip es nor do we give advice to the lov e -lorn as w as so sta ted in your paper, It do es co ntain new s and view s abou t m o torc y clin g in ge ne ra l and abou t the peopl e in our sport. Finally, I consi de r b ein g elected as the first wom an to serve o n the .\ ~ l A Con gress as q uite an hon or and I am certai n more women will foll ow in my fo o tst eps, a t least I hope so, I wa s elected bec au se the majority of the clubs in Distric t 6, (which cove rs a ll of eas tern Permyslvan ia, Southern New J er sey an d Del aware] felt th at I w as well qualified for the position , DOTTIE VANIl"O Di strict 6 AMA C ongressw oman WANT ED: DEAD OR ALIVE The Dirt Diggers North MC members ar e o n the lookout for three so -called sp o rts man riders th at entered the 4 9 'r 9th Annual Enduro under the fa lse pre tex t th at they were members of th e Dirt Diggers North MC. If o u tsiders would lik e to be clu b members do it _the right way, join one. Remember it was the clubs that got th is whole motorcycle th ing going in the right direction in the first place. Th e names of the so called Dirt Diggers are Frank Gerrieo Jr.• Cal Murphy, and h is little brother; Paul I\lurphy from Rocklin , Calif. You thre e better keep an ey e over y our shoulder bec ause we will he watching. BRUC E C . YOUNG, Pres. Dirt Digge rs 1\. MC LLUCKY LLOY D I w ou ld like to ex p ress m y th an ks to A.C.E . at Indian Dunes for the ne w Kaw as a ki and Ed Sh aver' s West Cycles in N ewhall wh ere I took delivery. LLOYD JOI N ES Woodland llills. C alif. WHAT ON E ORGA N IZAT ION WROTE : De ar Californ ia Legislator: The enclosed newsletter expresses o ur c o nc e rn abou t compulsory motorcycle helmet legislation such as AB 744. Such laws a re questionable on the grounds o f co nstitu tio nali ty . d iscrim inatio n and p recedent settin g. Mo st a u to dea ths are fro m h e ad inj uries. so it ma ke s n e arly as mu ch sense to req uire drive rs and passe ngers of cars to wear c rash helme ts. T he Fa thers of ou r cou ntry put freedom first, safety second . The inscription in your Sena te chambers says , " It is th e D ut y of th e enators to Protec t th e L ibc rtv of the Peop le. " T he in scrip tion i~ yo ur Assem b ly cham ber says. " It is the Duty of th e Le gislature to Pass J ust Law s." I am a m otorcy clist m y sel f. I d oubt th at m an y o f yo u a re. I usu all y wear a heIrnet, bu t th ere are occasio ns when it is very in c o nvenien t or very uncomfortable to we ar o ne. You d on't kno w what unsafe is un til you have go tte n a b ee in sid e y our helmet wh en you are at hi ghway speed! Motorist s Un it ed believe th e c oncep t of ca n tribu ting negligen ce is mu ch more sound th an com p u lso ry helmets. \l'e urge yo u to a me n d A8 74 4 with language tha t would make it easier for th e courts to find tha t co n t ribu ting n egligence existed . Such lan gu age cou ld ap ply to sea t b e lts. also. :\I1L ES BR UB ACHER Fou nd er Motorists United 1'.0. Box 2042 Palos Verdes, C ali f. 90274 ANOTHER · A LSO·RAN HEARD FROM In resp onse to Chuc k Cl ayton ' s article on the Snake River Motocross, d ated May 16. 1972. as usual a gross e rror ap p ea rs in th e t op photo on page 28 . The pi cture c a p tion say s "D . Martin s (95) an d D . Smith (3) le ad the charge in to the b ack sweeper ," Maybe it w as th e dust in his eyes . h owever anyone famili ar with motocros s would h ave kn own th a t th e lead ri der w ith 9 5J pl ates and la rge LW initi als on the helmel is Larry Watkins! C layton's article was a bro ad brush resume written in a lawn c ha ir a n d resemblin g a p aid Yamaha commercial. Mr. Cla yton is an ex perience d writer but not motocross o rien ted . Th e picture in que stion , a lth o ugh n ot indicated in th e article, is a ph oto o f Larry makin g a clean sw ee p win in the 5 0 0 professi on al qualifying round . Even th ou gh Clayton indicated a du eling. wheel to wh e el b attle o f run aw ay Yamah a ri de rs , i I was Larr y Watk ins th at led the m o tn fro m th e third lap t o th e fina l win . T he dust was th at left by Larry for th e J on es• Wein erts. C lemen ts an d We sts. If it had not been fo r th e sh ee t metal rims "provided b y C Z " tha t ca used th e fro nt tire to roll off the rim in the turns , Larry w ould h ave provided the same d u st to th e Y ama h as indica te d in th e com me rcial a bou t the final round. The article should h ave p ro vid ed ac tual c re d its due t o a ll the great riders wh o particip ated and m ade the event th e su c ce ss it was. Who ever he ard o f Yamah a an yhow? JOHI\ WATKINS en ;: w Z W ..J U >- U

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