.....
End uro rid er -edi tor Dave Ek ins had th e
'"
g>
misfortune to c u r t ai l a M e xi can ridin g
trip wi th a b roken co lla rbo ne. He
sho uld be o u t for abou t six we eks
during whic h ti me he ca n b rush up on
h is Spani sh for read in g the south of the
b o rder terrain.
0..
M
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a>
U
WO RLD AN D CHAXGES : If yo u
foll ow suc h th in gs. th e st affs o f several
m on t h l ie s h a ve p u lled th e o ld
swit c he r o o. T o wit: Bo b Braverman.
fo rme r ed itor of "Cycle G uid e", an d the
wh o le sta ff of th at p ublication h ave
c o ll ecte d th ei r Chris tmas bon uses,
cleane d o u t their d esks, an d tro o ped off
to start ano the r m o to rcy cle m onthl y,
" wh ich will b e kn own as " Cy cle Ride r" .
(A t least one staffer wan ted to call it
"B o b Braverma n ' s Cycl e Ride r" , we a re
to ld .) Taking up so m e o f th e slac k at
" Cycle Gu id e" will b e Fran k Conn er , a
fo rm er " Cycle " sta ffe r, and Sam Moses.
T he result s of all thissh ufflin g shoul d
n o t be o bv io us for an o the r. o h , four
mo n ths at le as t.
• • •
We made o ne ve ry signif icant error in
our po lice b ike test in t he last issu e. T he
8 5 0 Moto-Guzz ] E ldorado was sa id to
be a four spe ed . Eve rybody k nows t hat
th e Eld orad o has five speed s.
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DOGGO NE IT: Did you not ice who
fin ished in pos it ion numbe r 18 1'/2 in
0 ·3 7 Desert Heavyweight stand ings? O r
487th ? Turn t o page 48 .
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THE YA N K IS CO~ IING . Kaw asak i is
se n din g its numb e r o n e m ot o crosse r,
Brad le y Lack e y , to Eu rope fo r the 19 73
Grand Pri x season as me nti on ed above.
Brad will have bikes a nd a m ech an ic and
w as o riginally t o h ave had 19 7 2 AMXT
Cap tain Bry an Ken ney as a m a nager but
th e re w asn ' t su ffici e n t m o ne y in th e Big
G re en racing · budge t to ge t tw o racers
and
I h e i r e n t o u rage aro un d th e
con tine nt , Brad will be return in g t o th e
U.S. for th e : In terAMA se ries an d the n
hack to E urope fo r th e final th ree GP
r o u nd s . This co uld be th e b ig
hrea k th rough for Ameri can rid e rs in the
G ra nd Pri x ran ks. Ho pe Brad m a ke s o ut
as well as he is ca p ab le of d o in g - as he
sh owed in th e Trans A:\IA series.
• • •
N EX T , A U 5T RA LI A . Th e state
go ve rn me nt o f Victoria in A ust ra lia has
pa ssed a bill, due t o become law th is
year, restrictin g o ff-road r id ing and
closin g a great deal o f t he Do w n Unde r
" o ut back" to d irt b ikes. Included in the
law ar e o ff-road licen sing and fi nes of
up to $ 5 0 0 with no specif ic p ro visio n
fo r ma rk ing o ff-Iim its areas to bikers.
Whe re have we seen that before?
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T he A MA professional se aso n w ill o pen
at Ascot o n J an uary 14 . Th ose Al\IA
pro s wh o w ant to r ace i t h ad b es t renew
th eir licen ses n ow . T here are also
d at es for Fe bruary and ear ly
March. Rum o rs th at th e A:\IA w o uld
not ru n a t Ascot a nd th at o n ly th e C:\IC
wo uld o pe ra te th er e a rc . o b viously.
false.
• • •
Billy Urban , former CMC Nu mb er O ne
plate ho ld er , is back in the motocross
business after a length y lay-off.
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C:\IC h as arrived in New Mexico. T hey
m ay e ven put o n r o ad r aces .
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• •
ANG LOP HI L E S : T he read er s of
Eng lan d's " Mo to r Cycle Ne ws" again
c h o se th e Nor ton C o m mand o as
m ach ine of t he year-- for th e fift h tim e
in a ro w.
WE
On Mar c h 6, 1973 the fi rst issue o f a
new w eekly motorcycle newspaper will
go on sa le. The t itle ? Cycle News
East·D ix ie! (Gotcha!) The id ea is to give
the eastern and so uthern parts of the
You-nited States ' t he same t ime ly
coverage that t he West now en joys (O r
at least, tolerates) . _The second issue of
East·Di x ie will provide "day afte r"
coverage of Daytona for those pavement
frea ks th at jus t ca n't wait to get the
truth, the whole t ruth .and , with any
luck at a ll, nothing b ut the t rut h.
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• • •
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AS YOU AL L KNO W" .a n o ff icial u.s.
go vernment repo rt has con fi rmed that
no damage was do ne to t he prehistoric
foss il beds in the Yu ha desert area
where the EI Cajon Valley M.C. ra n
their " illegal" Hare Sc ra mbles on Dec. 3
of last year. Of cou rse , t hey club k new
t hat and we kn ew t hat bu t now the
BLM has an atto rney st Udy ing one of
t he ir o w n re po rts t o se e if t he y can st ick
t he cl ub fo r damag ing t he d esert land
wh ich the co u rse was run. A BLM
spo k es m~ n
was q uo t ed as sa y ing ,
"There IS no p recedent fo r say ing in
mo neta ry terms what dama ge was
do ne ." E xactly how m uc h is a rock and
a t hou san d gra ins of desert sa nd wo rt h?
WHAT THE WOR LD NEEDS NOW IS
A NEW S ICK L E RA G : T he re is a new
U.s. m ot orcy cle mag azine. " Di rt Cycle "
t hey call it. T he who le scene see ms to '
be catc hin g a seve re case of ov er k ill. Th e
A ust rali an s have th e right id ea . T hey
ha ve a new bike/g irlie mag called
" Bare bac k Bik ie". We don't yet k now
what th eir po licy o n helm ets is.
T H E
U .S
DEPT '.
OF
TRA NSPOR TA T IO N was scheduled t o
issue ne w st and ards f or moto rcy cle
safety helme ts in Mar ch . Due t o Nixon ' s
cabinet shake-u p, t he new st a nd ar ds will
be d ela yed another ye ar o r so wh ile
t he y ar e re -stud ied ,
T HO UGHT liE WAS
I' U~ IB ER
ONE (AI' D SO DID
EVE RYB ODY ) . G o lly , i t see ms th at
d ue to a sligh t mi scalcu lati on th at A .C .
Bakken is n o t reall y the Deser t
Heavyweight Number One in Distri c t
3 7. T ha t h on or goes 10 Art Kn ap p .
Des e rt s te wa rd T o m Cen te r disc o vered
th at he had awa rd ed 280 points to A .C .
instead of 18 0 in o n e even t las t year, sa
ins tead of being 9 5 poin ts up on Knapp.
Bakken is five p o in ts d own . T hat's
racin g, sports fa ns . I t was a hell of a
good show b y b oth rid e rs : th e yo un g
c h a r ge r a n d ' t h e
o lde r ve te ran .
Congratulations to b oth of,yo u.
o f their 25 0 th ree cy linde r S- I and th ei r
750 triple. T o he d ubbed the S-IR and
H-2 R , th ey will be availab le in limi t ed
quan ti ties , if a t all. Some have already
sh own u p in Australi a wh er e 175 MPH
top en d is claim ed fo r th e H·2R.
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:\1.'1. YIIE: Kaw asak i is
T HE Y' RE NOT DO WN YET. On t ari o
see ms t o he al ive, if not k ickin g. T h e six
million dollar faci lit y was closed do wn
due t o an inab ility to make th eir b ond
paymen ts: :\'ow,the A F:\I is hol ding an
A~ IA -san c tioncd tw o dav road ra ce at
the m o nst er facility on january 2 0-21.
A lso, t he 25 0-m ile A:\IA Xational road
ra ce for this spring is 0;'\. T here will be
an " O n tar io " this y e ar o r, we p re sume ,
a Champion S park Plug Mo t o rcy cle
Classics to be co mp le te ly acc urate.
C II Il'\ESE YA:\IA IIAS . Now appea ring
i n t he U.S. arc the new PD V
dual-purp o se bik es fro m Taiwan . I they
look a lo t lik e Yam ahas, d on ' t be too
su rprised, Yam ah a sold t heir to o lin g and
sp ecs fo r the 60, 125 , 175 , 25 0 a nd 360
to T aiw an . The PIl V 3 6 0 , fo r exa m ple is
about the equivalent o f an RT -I and is
n o t vc ry m an y p esos a t, all to o w n . O r
Ne w T aiw an D oll a rs - o r w h at ever th ey
u se .
WELL .
FOR SA L E -
conside ri ng b u ildin g r o ad r aci ng ve rsions
CHECK LIST:
take vitamins, new goggles, helmet, padded gloves,
shoulder pads, vest, nose guard , knee guards, J ofa,
super jock, leathers, racing jersey, elbow pads,
boots, everything here.
N,ow I hope they don't have a Le Mans sta rt.
YO U WO UL O:\,'T CA TC H ~ I E RIDI NG
ONE OF T IIOSE TIII;,\GS : We atten d ed
a p re-Christmas bash fo r memb er s of th e
m o t orcy cle industry . O nly one person
of the 100 o r so in atten d ance arr ived
on a m o t o rcy cle , and h e's w ri tin g th is.
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.
Wh ile fathe r Ron was out h o p ping
aro un d o n t he moon near Apollo '17 ,
Jon Evans spent h is t ime hopp ing
a round in T e xas on h is Honda SL-70.
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RID ER ROSTE R : Kenny Zahrt will
ride a Bu l in ' 7 3. Billy Payne is lookin g
for a ride. J ohn Cooper will rid e a
No r t on. His sala ry will h ave a five figure
n u m be r. T he Britis b ISO T team will ride
Bri ti sh bikes - Ri ck rnans. What will
Pau l S m ar t rid e?
• • •
MY MOT O· G UZZI IS A FORD : Fo rd ,
who o w ns Benelli, has reall y gon e in t o
th e bike busi ness. Bene lli has bo ugh t
ou t Mo t o·G u zzi a nd Bian chi.
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We were lo ok ing th ro ugh an old issu e of
"Cy cle Ac t ion " CN ' s p red ecessor , an d
no t iced a pi ct ur e of so me fel lo v•t na me
" Fee ts" Mine rt , wh o had just won a big
race. He was rid ing a liSA 5 00 single ,
•
• •
T he re may be some sem i-officia l Honda
entries at Da ytona , T h ey w ill be an
Eng lish team .
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T im Hart has sign ed with Yamah a,
.
*
NOT A NOTHER WORLD BE ATE R :
En gland , ac cord ing t o one of it s
publ ications . is b rin'ging o ut a fo u r
cyl inder 35 0
rac ing mach ine . The
ma ch ine, w h ic h is su p posed t o make th e
roa d ra ci ng co m m u n it y gasp, is d u b bed
the " KR M S up e rst rea k" . Yamah a has
not announced any plans for build ing
new machin es t o counter the Brit ish
U hreat " .
t
T HEY C O ~ IE .'1.1' 0 GO : La tes t rumo rs
have it th a t Scars Poi nt will be reopened
b y thi s su m m e r. On th e o ther h a nd,
som eo n e seem s to th in k tha t O n tario
Mo to r S pee dway ma y be made into a
h o usin g d evel opment. We don ' t beli eve
it. We th in k th at it is go ing t o be used
fo r ro ller d e rb y . A lso R o ad Atl anta h as
b ee n so ld , bUI it will co n tin ue to be
used as a race trac k.
• • •
The manag ing ed itor laid down h is chair
aga in .
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Kaw asa ki is goi ng t o fiel d a te am a t th e
Sco ttish Si x Days T rial. The m ach ines
arc base d on th e sam e 4 5 0cc engine tha t
has been so su ccessfu l in US m o to c ro ss
c o m p e t it io n .
• • •
Pa u l S ma rt , big m o ne y w inner in last
year' s road ra ci ng (he w on Vaca ville) ,
has f ina lly foun d a rid e for t his yea r. He
will ride h is Se eley Kawasa ki aga in . Th is
t im e , however , th e tab will be p ic ked u p
by Co lin See ley as w ell as the Kawasa k i
Racing Team he re .
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Ilcik ki :\Iikkola is go ing to ra ce a 250
Hu sk y in world c h a m p i o n s h ip
m ot ocros s th is year.
.
• • •
. Why d e sinq le-cyl inder t wo st ro ke d irt
b ik es cost m ore than two a nd three
cy lind er street mach ines ?
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(More Po op on page 3 9)
ATTENTION . CYCLE
CONTRIBUTORS
NEWS
If a ny of t he fo llowing CN
co n trib u to rs w ill co n ta c t u s and give u s
y ou r ad dresses, we will pay the m lo t s
of m one y -:- o r at leas t w h at th ey h ave
ea rne d . Bill A rms tro ng , Dalk Bacon,
D on Be as o n, Ro n Bowe r , Lane
Ca m p be ll, Beardsley R aceway , D an
Den son , Larry D ow, J ack Dunn , J am es
Dunn , V ic . Eb bu tt , Sherri E llis , Don
Graham, S arg Gravert , Lewis H ale ,
Dottie Ham pto n , Penny l Ia rz ell , George
l l u r l b u r t • W al t
I b e rt i , G r eg
K am m e rma n, Bru ce - Ki on, Danny
Kn o t t, J im Kn owl es , Che t Ko ch er ,
T ilm an Kre ft , Doug Lar o , Mar k Le Font ,
J oh n Li ttle, Lind a Lrammel l, Betty
Lu ch t, R o ck v Man d eville , Dave Ma rcia,
Ma rla ~IcC lc l~d on, J o h n :\l cManess , A rt
Mc Narne c , T im Me ye r, Chris Mil ler, Kris
Mitc hell, N ic k Musu raca, J an Newton ,
Gary N o rris, Pa ul Petersen , Mike Preb lo •
R ai :\ley . J ack- Rober ts , Ro n .R usse ll.
Cha rles R o ssell, J oe Salvo , C .W.
Sanders on. Tim Seller, Bob Shaw, Ro n
Sh o ck , J ay Smith . Norman S t o ne ,
Sh irlev Warne r , Wes Whitman , Owen
Williams . Key se r \\'h iley , Xeal William s,
Wrigh t Wo ods, Kurt Wo oll ey. Rich
Ya rb er , J. Ziegle r . Sand y Ziegle r.