Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

'" i La ck.ey Ca n't Ki ck th e Ha bi t By Steve Castillo Photo by Haru o Yokota .... LAGUN A SECA, CAL., June I I, 1972 - What Brad Lackey did again today at c " CMC North's Laguna Seca Motocr oss is :J .., becomin g a habit...h e won two classes. BTad made the wins seem more w impress ive because he rode his 250 Z (CLR) in both classes. For all you w un-hip motocr oss fans, CLR stands for -' Cranke/ U Lackey Rep lica, secretly it's a >- CZ. U The best action of the day was between Bob Grossi (H us), just back from Europe , and Lackey. Gary Chaplin (Mai) took the lead of the first moto with Lackey (CLR) second and Bob Grossi moving in to third spot. La ckey was really on Chaplin but Gary couldn' t seem to pull more speed from the big Maico on the straigh ts. Trouble hit Chaplin when he "endoe d" hard in one of the many whoop- de-doos . : When he got going again he was in third place . Lackey was way-y-y out in front with Bob trying hard to move up on him. ..then Bob hit the old sandy earth in the same place Chaplin had . Lackey won going away. Bob got go ing again for second and Rob Norggar d (CZ) took third . The second moto saw Chaplin again take the lead, with Brad second and Grossi third. Chaplin dropped back with mechan ical problem s letting Brad into first with Grossi second. After a very heated moto, Bob got by Brad for the , win. Both were now tied fOT overall. The third mota saw the quick Maico of Chaplin take the lead again, with Lackey second and Bob Grossi moving up fro m a poor start in to third. Lackey was really h o t on Chaplin , ready fo r any mis take. It finally h ap pend . A lapped rider was p ulling over to let Chaplin and Lackey by when Chaplin turned too sharp and lost it. Lackey ra n in to Chaplin 's downed Maico, but Gary lifted Brad's rear -en d off and helped him get going again , this time in second and in ho t p urs uit of Bob Grossi. It looked open-an d-shut that Bob had the win . The dis tance Lackey h ad to overcom e was too great. But fa te set in to unseat Bob on a short uph ill. Bob was a lo ng time in getting up. Quite shaken from th e cross up, he finally got up an d fin ished the moto . Brad took the overall with Parry Clausen (CZ) tak ing second and Bob Grossi grateful for third. Bra d Lackey , still aboard that remarka ble CLR, got the point on the first 250 Senior mota with ease. Bill Grossi (Hus) was h o t on Brad's tail-end and really pushing hard; bu t Brad no ticed the younge r Grossi's charge and just dialed in more gas. Brad won this moto easily with Bill taking second and Ron Bass (Hus) third. '" 3l T he second 250 Senior mo to saw tragedy hit Bill Grossi. A t the start, Brad was first off the line again. Then the whole field got very tigh tly b unched going down the drop-of f hill and along F_S T SHO RT TRA CK .. 14 YEA RS By Ann Ca rr LO D! , CAL., J une 10, 19 72 - Eight h un d red spectato rs and 116 rid ers were trea ted to someth ing d ifferen t at the fir st Lodi Cycle Bowl short t rack since 195 8. T he 100 Novice Main had ru naway first an d second place finishes fo r Gary Lo ng and Jo hn Madri d wh ile local Kaw rider George Wells held off the pack for th e thi rd trophy . In the 100 J unio r Ma in, local boys Larry Burton and Mark Ruckma n, evenly m atch ed on Kawasa kis, dueled 10 laps with Larry coming in first; T he 125 Am/Ex class saw Skeeter Holland (in h is last race as a Junior) best Expert Sk ip As hland. Familia r trop hy win ne r Ma rk Pro tz (B ul) followe d closely beh ind Rod Murphy (Kaw) for a second in th e 250 J un io r Main . Then came the 250 Experls ! Inste ad of nervous Novices , tonigh t we had nervous Experts . Starter "T iny " Tramm e ll tried to be patien t bu t none of the you ng men wanted to be left at the line and kept nosing ahead . On the third try, the Old Man said to himself , "Tiny's getting tired of this stuff" . and that was the last we saw o f the yellow Suzuki as District No . 10 Ray Huff jumped into the lead, never to be headed. Howard Arnaiz was the only rider to come close. Young Dennis Huff finis hed t hird. Cow Trail Your a a ENDURO SPROCKETS 2 TOOTH CZ Co un ter Sp rockets 59 .25 Ca l. res . add 5 % sales ta x. C& M SPECIA LTIES -P .O. BO X 717 MOUNT AIN VIEW CALIF . 94040 $ 100% Financing £.T. CYCLE SAL ES 226 8 El C;omonQ AM I SUZ UKI 1 1SI 964 66 22 4 MI. V'_. CoO, 9 4{)4() BA Y AREA DIRT BI KE HEADDUAR TERS SELB Y MOT ORS A good place to buy a great motorc ycle ACK PRODU CTS, 346 EI Ca m ino, Redwoo d City (4 15 ) 369· 4112 676 Auzerai s Ave., COLIS EUM CYC L E MAIL a nd AC CESSO RY CO. ORDE R • ~ KAWAS AKI ~ MOTOR CY CLES 39 58 E. 14th ST ., OAKL A ND , CA L. (4 15) 53 4·5 461 94601 Bultac o • Maic o . Norton . )::jQ .dllka • Yamaha ."*' .-. Bay Ar ea '5 l6ul il1g~Yainaha P%: dealer A& A'li fOT OR S 2 7gt"E.fiC ami no Real a ec wece City. Ca lif ornia 3 6 6 -175 5 3 6 6-3814 San Jose, Ca 95125, I~ I 408-293 -5111 Sa!e , ,. Serv ice CU",I o l11 work' JlI ma k ev - iPhY t . eye . SUZU K I ES MAI CO 184 San AnIOn;" Rd . Mt. View , CJ lif. 9 4040 9 4 1-73 17 the st raig htaway . Toward th e en d of th e straigh t , one rid er go t ou t o f sh ape ahead o f the fast -eh ar ging Grossi. Bill we n t down, taking Pat Legge (l\lai) with h im. Legge was u p after a few m inu tes b ut Bill was no t so lucky - he h it very hard. damagin g his left arm - it is unknow n whethe r he broke so mething or just sprained it in that spi ll. Grossi definite ly would have been a top money placer since he had already won the 125 Se nior mo to and ta ke n a second in the 250 . While most of the attentio n was focused on Bill Grossi, this second rna to di d co nti nue wi th Lac key agai n th e win ner. T he last 25 0 Se nio r round saw Brad take the lead with Ro n Bass providin g some close racing. Bass was so close to th e speedy Lackey th at Brad le t him pass fo r the win and a better o verall placing. Brad had two firsts going for h im anyway . Bill G rossi took the first 125 Senior easily but because of his 250 Senior acciden t, was forced out. J ack Keese (Bu l) domina ted the class with two good rides. Fred Bennett (Yam) took secon d and Ti m Ronsee (DKW) third . The Diamondback Strikes Hard By Bruce C. Young SUSAN VIL LE, CAL., J une 4, 1972 The comme n ts th at came back from the few riders that m ad e it all the way in th e Lassen MC an n ual Diamon d Back Enduro would make a preache r cringe. T here were ove r 400 rid ers that rode ou t but only 86 fin ished the eve nt ove r the m arked trail. Bette r than half dropped ou t befo re o r at the gas check . CY CL E RAN CH T O CLOS E As of June 3 0 the Laguna Seca Cycle Ranch will cease its operatio ns as a p ub lic motorcy cle recreati on area, it was an nounce d today . T he Cycle Ran ch which was first opened on July 3, 1971 is being closed due to the lack of su pport for this type of faci lity by local rid ers. Henry P. "Rip" Mc lntosh, IV, Preside nt of the Cycle Ranch stated, " o ur reason for open ing the cycle ran ch was to p ro vid e a safe and conveni ent p lace for local cycling enthusi asts to ride thei r mach ines. We felt that the re was a demand in the area for this type of recreati onal area . Unfortu nately, we guessed w rong, and we have not received the support from local riders which was needed to operate th e facility on a break-ev en bas is. The few riders who were regular custome rs will certainl y be disappo in ted by our decision to close the park, but we simp ly cannot afford to contin ue runni ng the operatio n at a loss . "Becaus e of o ur co mmittm en t to Bob Co leman and the Monter ey County Mini-Bi ke Associa tion, we will undoub tedly be reopen ing th e Cycle Ranch on specific dates during the summer months for the conduc t of MC:-'IBA events, bu t only for such special even ts . "On July I, the Cycle Ranch gates will be perman ently closed to the public , and due to the liability facto rs, it will be necessa ry to strictly enforce the no trespass ing signs whic h will be posted. " . Mcintos h further stated, "I deeply regret the necessit y to close the Cycle Ranch . Wh ile I realize tha t this will mean a loss to the co mmunit y . I cannot continu e this operatio n w hich h as been a serious financia l b urde n . I feel very strongly that Monte rey Co un ty m ust have a place for motorc ycle en thusiast s to ride their machi nes witho ut ca us ing damage to p riva te prope rty or a nuisanc e to p ro p e rty o wners . It is indeed unfortu n ate t hat th e Laguna Seca Ranch ca n n o lon ger provid e this co m m uni ty servic e. " T he Lassen MC put togethe r a good cou rse that was mar ked we ll but th e terrain after the gas check, and just a short way before , was o ut of this wo rld . Sand, san d, sand, rocks , sage b ru sh, and mo re roc ks and sand was w hat it was all abo ut. O nly th e very har d y an d well p repared end uro rid ers made th e trek to it's en d. T he first half was m uch th e same as last ye ar 's even t with ride rs goi ng over a su pe r high mou nt ain about 25 m iles fro m th e start. The hill left m an y behind bu t th e first b ig challeng e w as between Ch eck one and two. T he course ran in and out of gullies that w ere fiUed wi th rocks and sand. T his wen t on fo r about ten miles when the track led to a sheer drop to the valley floor . T he downhill was sand from to p ' to bottom with lit tle ch ance to rest in between . It must have been ove r a mile h igh from top to b o ttom; it sure loo ked that way. Many riders bulldog ged their bikes down the hill then started out ac ross the deser t floo r h ead ing fo r the gas check which was miles away. Abou t te n miles from the hill, the route we nt into a long gully ove r three miles long with more rocks and more sand and man y riders d ropped out here also. Just be fo re the gas check the p lace loo ked like a parking lot with riders running out of gas just shy of their pit crews, w ho h ad no idea of what w as happeni ng just over the hill. Th is is where many good sportsm en took their cue and stopped to hel p their fellow riders, thereby ending their chances at the brass . There was a lot of towing an d p ushing go ing o n over this first h alf of the Enduro . On ly the very brave left on the second half. This year the h igh desert has not received m uch rain. so the sand was fine and rutted easily leaving many riders lookin g like they h ad been dusted with flour a t the end of the day. It was a welcom e sigh t to see the finish area at the end of o ne of the ro ughest endures tha t has come along in a long time. The old ti mers were the ones that mad e these stateme n ts so one has to believe wh at he he ars abou t th e trail. T he Lassen :-'1C di d a fine job p utting this en d u ro toge ther even th ou gh th er e were bad vibs from some of the rid ers who tho ught it w as too ro ugh . All the rid ers kn ow that th ey co me ou t to th e desert to ride tough eve nts; wh en th ings get tough , ke ep cool an d make the best o f it . Bad stateme nts o nly make it worse , and harder for the club to sp on so r fu tu re even ts.. L = ~ _~~~ ~~ _

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