Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141042
Save the Hills Ap pea l b y Bill Spencer Comi ng up in the very near future , like last week , will be another of those legal d ecisions th at affects us all even th ough we n ever know the outcome . I n th is case, th e ap p eal on th e R ich m on d Ramblers law suit is to b e file d by Tom Shelby, the cl u b lawyer. Early last summer , a d ecision by the Superior Court o f Con t ra County left th e Point Richmond Hill s off limits to m otorcy cles. T he d ecision st at ed that . " motorcycles are a public nuisan ce" . T his precedent-setting d ecision is a real bummer because if it b ec o mes universal, m o t o rcy cl in g will d ie. Fo r this reason, th e club an d Mr . Shelb y have worked h ard to rais e th e ne ce ssary m o n ey to fight the probl em in court. They feel that it is not on ly an injusti ce to th em b ut t o al l m o t o rcycl ists. While it is also apparen t tha t nobody real ly gives a damn , th e re are still a fe w folks th at mi gh t want t o co n t rib ute t o th e Save th e Hill s fu nd . T he costs o f th is op eration will be in th e thousand s and sinc e little h elp is ava ila b le fro m th e AM A , any "con tri b u tion w o uld be gre a tly app re ciated. M .... '" O· M .c .., ~ W Z W ..J o >o ~'OT th o se of yo u th at d on't know what's happen in g, the Po int Richmond Hills in th e San Francisco Bay area have been used b y th e m o t o rcy cling p ublic for over 20 years . In Nov of 1970 a Ric hmo nd Ramblers rider was arrested fOT violation o f a co de law . The ensuing battle led to a co urt d ecision statin g n o matter th at th e public ' h ad used th is land , b lah , b lah , motorcy cl in g was a public nuisance. So th e lan d was d eclared off limi ts . What n ow -h app ens is that wh en th e local la w figures th at th ere is to o much riding going o n, th ey sen d o u t the hel icopte rs an d ru n o ff th e offe nd ers. The n ex t wee k , th ey start c om in g b ack and afte r th e group gets lar ger, o ut comes th e hel ico p ter. In effect , it is a harrasm ent operation th at will last until afte r the ap peals are heard in th e San Francisco ap pe late courts. H opefully the ap peals will run in favor o f the m oto rc ycl ist. If th ey d on ' t , be prep ared to fin d an other sport. . Con tributions m a y be sen t to : Richmond Rambl e rs S ave th e Hill s Box 4 84 S ta , A Rich mon d , CA. 94808 w ould be gre atly ap p recia ted . by Bill Spen cer OAKDA L E, CA L. , Jan. 7 , 19 73 - I n th e firs t battle of th e year, the number o ne scramb les rider bea t th e nu m be r tw o b lack plate specialist, in a head to head battle th at was o nly d ecided b y a cou ple of m in or m ist akes. Jeff Davi dson an d Al ex J orgen sen squared off in the 100 lap 250 Ex pert m ain to re new th e battle that had raged for th e be tter part of th e 197 2 season. David son was ab oard a Zakarian Bul taco a n d J o rgy piloted th e prototype Mo t o-Villa to keep u p a u n relen tin g b attle t hat saw th e m sep ar a te themselves from the pack b y the fir st comer. It was Davidson squaring the fir st co mer and getting a terrific drive to tak e th e ear ly lead. By the end of th e next la p , Jorgense n o u tp owere d h im off th e back co mer t o take th e lead fo r a lap . J eff came righ t back wh en Alex made ju st ab ou t th e same co rnering m ista ke th e next lap, but near ly lo st th e wh ole ball of wax when his hand dropped o ff th e bars go ing d own th e front straigh t. The 10 0 0 or so spectators al l d id a h uge "wow", when he d id a ~ CL sup er ta nk-slapper goi ng into th e firs t co mer. He di d save it, and with J or gy h avin g some co rnering p roblem s, Bu tch made th e w in b y ab o ut 20 y ar ds . Bo th riders are really fan tas tic to watch , especially wh en th ey try to p ass each other o n the st rai gh ts , and the tw o sleek so uls all of a sud d en become all arms and elbows . T he new k id to wa tch for the co ming season ap p ears to b e Neil MacDann ald . Rid in g a 125 Pen ton today in th e Ex pert ran ks, he w id en ed a fas t st art to decidedly w in over Steve Hollingsworth on a similar motor. Neil has the necessary sp iri t to win and has a n un canny ab ili ty to rid e the rough t ra ck s with fantastic speed. Trip p in g down fro m Sacramen to was Jon Boyetta (S u z) in the 250 Junior main fo r th e win while h aving troubles in th e smalle r class. He mus t be a MX 'er be cau se he reall y gets it on here , and this san dy t rac k has been under water for a mon th and w as su pe r slo ggy in one co m er an d super fas t in th e othe r. Th is is p ro bab ly the reaso n th at it attracts so much a tte n tion. After all, it is winter. Oakdale Scrambles EXCLUSIVE COVERAGEI Desch utes MX YAMAHA GOLD CUP TT STEEPLECHASE & ' " % SHORT TRACK MILE JANUARY 27th & ·28th ·1:00AM 1 REPEATED AT 4:00 PM DIRECT FROM HOUSTON ASTRODOME •••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• YAMAHA GOLD CUP PREVIEW ,J ANUAR 22nd thru 26th Y 7:35 AM AND 4:35 PM ••••••• ••••••• • • • •• • • • • • • •• • • •• •• • • ••• •••••••• •• ••• SPONSORED BY YAMAHA _ b y J an Newma n BEND, ORE., Dec . 30,19 72 - Even th e little gu y s were out in greater nu mbers for a go a t the mini bike race wh ich was recen tly added to the sla te he re. Dan Fri estrnan (Yam) to ok top h on o rs with" Ron O'Halloran (S teen ) second and Mik e H oward (Yam ) third. T he 10 0 ra ce b elo nged to Paul Sweo HOd ) all the way. Scott Nickerson Yam) squeeze d out a second de sp ite a sixth p lace finis h for th e th ird race. A li t tle gal o n a Hus ky d rew a lo t of a tte ntion in the 125 Jun ioT as she showed a wh ol e fie ld of guys so me p re tty fa ncy rid ing . Mari on Kern ad ded up a first, a fo u rth an d a th ird for h igh poin ts , Brother Harry Kern , also on a Husky , was righ t b ehind her m o st of th e d ay but had to settle for fo ur th behind Do ug Eckelman (Pen) an d R od Ken tn er (Hon) in a tight p o int race. , Steve Stotesb ury (Y am) cam e o ut on top of one of the fastes t 125 In term ed ia te ra ces we 've seen latel y. Alex Mauck led th e first rnoto m o st of th e way until he sk id d ed out in a co m e r giving S to tes b ury th e lead. Mau ck re m ain ed a real con tende r un til he w as fo rce d to re tire h is Pu ch with a b rok en wh eel befo re th e last m o t o leavin g th e b attle to J e ff Scovi lle (Bul) and Ba rney Ne wman (Mo n ) for second and thi rd respec tivel y . T h e firs t d ivision o f 25 0 J unio rs was up fo r grabs rig h t up t o th e w ir e. Kenneth Pay n e (H us) pulled it o u t with two seconds an d a th ird . Kevin Nofsiger CZ) was second and J e rry Eiche ntopf Yam) cam e back fro m an eighth place first m o ro to take a second an d a win for thi rd overall. Divisio n two belonged to Dennis Pickles all th e way . T he three 250 In term ed iate mo tos were like a carbon copy with Dan Lin dsay (CZ) first, Mike Ahalt (H us) second and Ken Maah s (H us) third. Lindsay simply got o ff th e line first each time and led all d ay lon g. Two first s and a sec on d put Duane Sm ith o u t front on h is CZ in th e Open ra ce . Ex perts Randy Limbeck and Kei th Nerse th had a real Maico battle going in th e first moto. Limbeck was for ced to y ield wh en they tangled b riefly in th e l l _ firs t co m er, an d he w en t down for a second. Ne rse th fe ll back to an eighth finish in th e second ra ce b efo re he retired fo r the day. T h is le ft Dale Demaris (Y am )" and Mi ke Kin nea r (Hus) to give Limbeck a challenge. Kin n ear was reall y in h ot pursuit when he was forced to d rop back with a flat tir e in the sec o nd race leavin g Li mb eck to go o n fo r the win. T he final m o t o saw Lim be ck take the chec ke re d agai n wit h Kinnear com ing b ack for a se co nd and De maris third. Th e fi nal tal ly came o u t Limbeck, Dema ris and Kin n ear, SRA MX at Argyll _ b y R eese V I tz DIXON , CAL., Dec. 17 , 1972 - By 8 :00 AM , m o re than 15 0 riders h ad asse mbled fOT th is final race of th e 19 72 season. A nd fo r those th at b raved th e ele ments, it was a d ay of racin g th at will lon g be re me m bered. Endos would fin d bi k e s 'a n d riders, alike, all b u t d isappearing in the mud-ho les, R id ers w ould tackle th e big h ill only to find the ms elves swap ping en ds and re tu rning fro m wh en ce th ey h ad co me. Flagm e n wer e n ot o n ly co vered wi th mud fro m t op to bottom , but fou nd t he ms elves frequentl y ru n n in g fo r safety. In spite of th e difficu lt ies, the d ay wen t well with n o seri ous cas u al ties . T his was undoub tedly attrib utable t o slo w speeds a nd 'soft' lan d in gs. Mark Sh u mate best ed the Juni or Mini-bike field, while J eff Well s and Dan n y Chandler to ok top h on o rs in th e Lower a n d Up p e r rn in i -b ik e D ivisions, respectively. Wayne Seeburg nailed th e 10 0 Novice even t, whi le 125 Novice 'firsts' wen t t o Way ne Johnson an d Frank Fernand ez. Danny Faucett and Ken Gerard walked off with th e big b rass in th e 12 5 Amateur an d Expert classes , respectively . 250 Novice honors wen t t o Mike Hughes and Jerry Barrich cop ped the trophy fo r 250 A mateur. Bobby May, a regular at Argyll Park, wrapped -u p h is first win today, sweep ing the Open Novice event. Les Whitehead cop ped top honors for Open Amateur an d th e Op en Ex pert la urels we n t to Alle n Yarrow.