Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

DA V E ALDA NA aban doned hi s Norton tempo raril y, went skiing and, while shussing th e slopes c ame up to an d o ve r a 6 0 ft. cl iff. Gra vit y a n d m oment um being w hat th ey ar e , h e we nt th e fu ll tw ent y m et e rs vertic all y . in t o a sn o w b a n k . Af t er re c o v er in g consciousness, the " ruh be r b a ll" o f fla t track allowed as h ow h e h ad no pl an s fo r comp e titio n in th e win t er O lympic s. • * • While talk ing to a distributor of Span ish motorcycles recently, we learned of a primary example of Spanish patriot ism . The Spanish Trial brought out nearly 20 ,000 people who encircled the small sections, nearly five people deep. Mic k Andrews , who recently sw itched from OSSA to Yamaha , made his pass to an accompaniment of a cha nt. The c rowd chanted OSSA , OSSA, OSSA . * * * Nex ; m o n th "Cycle World" m aga zin e will h a ve a special in se rt from "Xatiorial C e o gr ap h ir' maga zine. * * * Du e t o th e cla m o r wh ich f oll owe d my letter published in 'V OICES ' several w eek s ago. I am acce pt ing your s uggestio n. It's o nl y natu ral that t he great Cycl e New s read er sh ip - after be ing t itti lat ed b y lurid p hotos o f luscio us A l ic e Rh ea and vap id K .C. Br in t nall - wou ld cry out f o r pho tos of another cont rib u tor na med Ly n n. F irst o f all, I am a true ch ampion , as seen by t he elastic goggle band o n th e h elmet (Sne ll-a p pr o ved I. Next , I am a me m be r o f th e D ist r ic t 37 Board of D ic t at o rs. as w itness t he large AMA p in on th e hear t -sid e of th e ISO T -t v p e w axed j ack et. L astly, n o t on ly am I a top ri der (ex cep t w h en on th e b ottom and b ein g r id de n by m y bi k el .,?ut a Qual ifi ed me cha nic as w ell , pr o ven in th is can di d sh o t wh ere I w as holding a cou ple o f nuts in m y hand w hi le preparing my b ik e for t he S il ver St at e T hree D ay s Tr ial , i n which I emerged as the t o p sco ri ng ri der and o nly Gold Med alist last y ear . It w as jus t a shame that everyone else assume d th e even t had b een canc ell ed. L y nn Winelan d In Eog lan d , they ha w bo th Duca ti 45 0 and Mai co 400 engin es in H agon an d Elsta r speedway fra mes for long t rac k a nd gra ss t rack . There are p lans for usi ng a 5 0 I I\la ic o engin e. • * * * * * * • The new works Husqvarnas f or the 500 World Championship rounds will be 3S2cc reed-valved five-speeds with a little w ider gear ratios and frames that are partially lead-filled to comply with 1973 FIM weight m inimums . The engine is still based on the 125c~ Husqvarna . Frame and forks are ent irely new . Husqvarna seems determined to rega in their fo rmer prominence in wo rld motocross. ~ Norton has put up a who le b un ch of pri ze mone y (no cont ingency) fo r the AMDRA Nat ional drag rac es to' be held at Orang e C o u n t y I nt e r nat io na l Raceway o n F rid ay an d Sat u rday , Ap ril 6 a nd 7 . T he A MD RA ha s al igne d it se lf wit h t h e A MA in a limi ted sort o f wa y and the total amount o f buc ks u p f o r this eve nt w ill be about $ 15,0 00 , a th ird of wh ich comes from Norton. Th er e is a good chance that so me of th at moolah will reach Norton rider T.C . Christensen who presently is The Qu ickest at 8 .52 seconds. Gosh, t he y're already ha lfw ay to se ven second s. * * * HORS E POW ER VS . CO W POWE R: T hc dudc w h o is Ia rgely resp o n sibl e for th e clos ing of J aw bone an d Be an Can yon s is named R ud n ic k. li e d id it so th at h e co u ld graze h is ca t tle in t hem . T hose ca t t le a re the w ay to get thc c an y o n s open aga in. R u d ni c k o wns the Kern V alle y Pac kin g Co mpan y wh ich distribu tes b eef to m u ch of Sou thern Californ ia under the n ames "Valley Prid e " and " Ke rn V all ey Reef". S om e smar t bi kics h a ve go ne to the ir groce rs wh o ca rry the se brands an d told th em th at unle ss th e y s to p car ry i ng th em , th ey w o n' t shop there an y mo re . T he gr o ce rs stopped buying bccf from R u dnick . Yo u arc a force to b e con ten ded wi th. Bik e r pow er! • • A moto rcycle deale r called us a nd po inted out th at you can buy Be ll Stars (and the like) from motorcycle de alers as lo ng as you prom ise no t to use t he m on the street. Of course , if you should , u h , fo rget a nd w ear it on th e street it isn't ille gal. They just can 't be so ld for street use. S ure makes a lot o f sense. * * * A l th e FOri Pie rce Winte r·A:'>IA Jo hn Lan ci o nc brough t a long a scale 10 do a lillie ch ec kin g on so me o f th e scooters . A fe w tid bits : R ich T h o rw aldson's Suzuki ca me in at 2 06 lb. ( un de r the FI:'>l m in imu m), K a rsm a ke r' s Ya m a h a an d Lac ke y's Kawas a ki at 2 12 lbs., an d fou rth w as Ron H u ffm a n ' s G ran Pr ix Cycles CZ a t 2 14 Ib s. Now, ge t thi s, Ma rt y Tripes CZ tip ped th e scale s a t 260 lb s. T he mind boggles. It so u n ds li ke it h as th e st o ck tank . Wo n d e r wh at h c co uld d o With a b ike w e ighin g ap p ro ximatel y wh at his co m p e ti tio n 's m achin es d o ? * * • The Huns M.C. had a giant motysickle race fandango down in Guaymas on the weekend of March 3 and 4 . Marring the festivities was the fact that at least six b ikes were ripped off . Anybody who had a scooter removed shou ld send their frame a nd e ngine n umbers to Dave H igbee , 804 E. Hotlaway , Tucson, Ariz. Phone 602/888-2317 . He w ill forward them to t h e Me xica n rac ing club president who w ill nail anybody that sho ws up at a lo cal t rack with sa id bik es an d see t h at the people ma k ing th e payments get their mach ines back. None o f th e rip -offs were bi kes ma rketed in Me x ico so th ey'll b e f ai rly obvio us . * * Ind o or ic e raci ng h as to h e even crazie r tha n in d oor sh o rt tra c k. It ' s slic ker. Yamaha is runn ing their 500 single two-stroke engine (as tested in this issue) in a 'Wasp chassis for Dutch national sidecar competition . Rikus Lubbers ' and Bart Notten, who toured the U.s . last fall as part of the Eurohack contingent, will also be campaigning a Yamaha sidecar in International competition. Theirs w ill be a 650 (out to 723cc) four-stro ke twin , --aIso Wasp ish . Biggest prob lem encountered so far w ith the SOD si ngle is that it has too much power and " d igs in like a mole." * * .* A lf lIago n also h as a 2 50cc Y am ah a m o to cr o ss engine in a Haga n fr am e for Aust ra lian long tra c k . • • • Hot dog , my !t+$%/& * x-large je rsey (w inter style) came in the mail today , I is so excited! It f its and it's blue and yellow and heavy duty and golee,•. I extend my thanks to JT Racing in Bonita , Cal iforn ia. * * * Ca rl Cranke a p pe are d a t th e Aub urn M.C . m o to cross at Plymouth o n the on ly 25 0 Pe n t on a ro un d the West th e se d ay s and, much to n o b o d y 's su rp rise , wo n both m o t e s goi n' away. So it goe s. • • * San Bernardino County Supervisor James L. Mayfield either needs some immediate educatio n as to what desert rid ing is all about or else needs to be voted out of office. He is all for having BLM cops, "pay fo r play"riding areas and other discriminatory stuff. * * * Ho w come ' all th e d ogs in th e pits at m oto cro sses lift th eir le g on my b ike 's b ac k tire? Pro b ably m a kes th e Barum we ar out even faste r. • • • * • "\\' IIAT , 1' 0 BA:" i\ :>:AS?" Wh o says th e A merican infl uence in Europe is lesse nin g? Eve rybody a t t h e Bultaco [artory in Ba rcelon a is m u lling aro un d gree ti ng each o ther a n d any visi t ing gringos w it h th e a bove phras e as a re sult of Jim Pome ro y 's craving for banana spli ts. I t see ms tha t one S p a nish re st auran t was Flat out of bananas an d Jim indignan tly co m me n te d , " What ! :>:0 b an an a" ?" T h e Spanish th o u ght th at w as funn y . • • • * Yamaha trials b ike w ill have an • The new int e rc h a ngea b le 2S0 to 360 top end and the reed valve and auto-lube w ill go f o r sure. Mick Andrews is st ill not too pleased w ith it . The trials engine is an entirely new design , The Spanish are st ill down on Mick for switching brands and made the Spanish trial rough on him , • • * * • • * * * Bultaco ma y d evel op a 4 UO Ma tad or. A p rototype h as alre ad y been built . T he 250 will b e redesign ed. Mon resa is simila rly e x p erime n ti ng w ith a 348 Co ta tri al s b ike b ut a re sti ll stic king wi th th e 247 for n ow. I t turns o u t th at th e Mo ntcsa p rototy p e Kale vi V e h k on e n u s ed a t th e Lumm en , Bel gium m oto cross so sp ec t acu larly has about 3 8 0cc disp laceme n t. • • • , t / • I -'- • • YOU'VE SEEN ONE FINN , YOU'VE SEEN THEM ALL , Our European reporter fo r the f irst Belgian Int e rn atio na l had F inn, He ikk i Mikkola , o n a Mo n t esa f ini shing rather well. Everybody k n o ws t hat Mik ko la is on a H usk y and it wa s , in fact , He ikk i's fellow F inn and roommate, Kalevi Vehkonen, who won the f irst heat in Lummen, on a p rototype 360 Montesa motocrosser that hardly anybody even suspected existed . Vehkonen won his qua lify ing heat aga inst form idable opposit ion and was leadi ng DeCoster in the main when the cy linder came lo o se a t the base due , appa rently, to im p ro pe rly t ightened studs. Mikkola did end up sixth on a works Husky which had lost its front .fender thereby blinding h im with mud, Vehkonen has also grown a big bushy moustache , * * * In the same race , Joel Ro b ert wren c he d h is left knee. It w as. his rig h t one in w h ich h e tore: the lig-am e nts la s t yea r. ... t ~' • SWEET REVE NG E will be ta ken o n 0 -37 desert rid er s t h is com ing Ju n e 10 . , -- -- • We note w it h a m ixt u re o f sad ne ss a nd a ng er that the Interna ti o na l Fo ur Owners' Assn., a gro up whose sole common interest is owning Honda (and now, presumably, Kawasa ki) Fours have made an official commitment in support of Sie rra Club envi ronmental act ivity and policy. At the same t ime, r o ck h ou n d s and other amateur geologists who dig the desert and the stones in it are becom ing even more firmly comm itted to preserving the right to ride the ir off-road vehicles, four and two-wheeled , into areas of geological and mineralogical interest. You really can 't tell who your fr ie nd s are until it comes do wn to the cr u nc h . * * * i\l ic k Andre ws had the new Yamaha 250 Trials bike, still an R&D prototypc, at th e Spanish C ham pi onship round wh e re h e finished ou t of t h e top te n but still w ay a head o f a ny Americ an r id er s. J o e G uglielme tt i fr om th e Pacifi c Nor th wes t w as top A m e ric an rider wi th a pl a cing in th e thirties. C omplet e re por t nex t w ee k , -0 - ~ - " • "CZ " sp el led i\1·A· I-C·O. As (a lmost) everv b o d v kn ows, Rex Stat en. winne r of ' Ih e . 500 Ex pe r t cl ass a t thc Yamah a-Torco-Ostcen 's-e tc . C P, r id es an Am eri c a n M o t oc r o s s Ma ic o. Some body th ou ght th c yellow b ikc was a C Z. A h em. Fo r th a t m u t tcr, R ich Eie rstcdt r id es one t oo , on ly hi s is a 25 0. • John Banks may have the only four-stroke on the World G rand Prix circuit th is yea r as he is campa igning a Cheney BSA. He won h is f irst moto on it in England. * \ ... ., .'" e, ... en M 0" N ;;; :2 i@ w Z W ..J U >- U

• Cover