Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Purple aze goin' ~round my Brain... Gona Ride· Up i Topanga Again yields glim pses of funky-looking h ou ses set back in th e trees and occasional open views of fields and pastureland with horses, Prolonged gazing at the. sce nery is not recommended however due to the numerous successive blind turns and diminishing radius curves enc o un te red in th is p ar t o f TCB. A lon g s traig h t wh er e th e experien ced rider can wring th e can yo n o ut to th e limi t goes p ast th e Uncom mon Mar ket and Topanga Liquor to th e Corral. The o riginal Corral has be en di scontinued d ue to ex cessive te m perat ures c a u s i n g co m p lete co m bust io n , bu t used to feature so me o f th e very bes t local ro ck groups an d p erformers such as T aj Mahal. The new model Corral is larger, mo re modern, probably more fun ctional but the pri ce is higher and, we feel . will n ot have th e same ap peal to th e purist in these matters. . t Some more lon g sweepers on a slightly widened road surface and o n e very invigorating straight stretch brings the rider to the top of Topanga both geologically and geographical ly, if not . emotionally. He re there is a trailer park, a new subdivision of tr ac k homes and, on un-s moggy days, a view of San Fe rnando Valley all the way to bea utif ul d o w n t o wn B ur ban k. Un doubtedly this is also o ne of the selling feature s of Topanga Canyon Blvd ., though not to o ur taste. Another series of long, bli n d apex sweepers is the last really noticeable feature of the road before it straightens out past another, more expensive, group of tract homes and finishes in a final long, straight run lined with trees for the mo st p ar t into the community of Woodland Hills, California an d a giant shopping cen te r. There are several more gas stations here which should allow CHI-up, if ne cessary. The quality of su ccessive m odel T CB' s can b e re flec ted in part by the fa ct th at it is us ed, without mercenary re asons, by so many motorcycle jour nalists. From opening radius sweepers at t he beginning to closing radius switchbacks at its en d, Topanga Canyon Blvd . is su rel y a "road that will ap peal to both th e serious biker and the everyday commuter. Los Angeles Co unty should be able to sell a lot of th em. M N "' g c, ... M C'> M ~ - U Unfortun ately , the '73 model has lost many of t he ad vantages of th e old er mode' Topanca, Unfortunately, in widening its appeal and, therefore, its usage we cannot help but feel that so mething of its original attraction an d p erfo rm an ce h as been lost to mass suburban tastes the co un ty highway departmen t , ~tate and fe d eral safety legislation and an epidemic of dogs. It may b e dJe road for you but it will never be the road it once was. Why, we re me mber back in ' 65.... It ~me s and goes. So w e lea ve our t esters. w onderi ng if this t est model , like pr evio us ones, has lost its spon ing character beca use o f fed eral and sta t e safety requirements . The results are in from th e Ist Yamaha-Terce Grand Prix Mot ocross-Desert Shoo tout and ,__ AMERICM MOTOCROSS MAICOS SWEEP BOTH 250 lod 500 EXPERT CLASSES' Rex Staten (1i80) 1st 500 Expe~t Rich Eierstedt (64) 1st 250 Expert If you're a serio us enthusiast th en yo u' re in terested in th e bes t ser vice and part s inventory you can find. And America n Mo t o cr oss stocks the l rgest a Southern Cali fornia 's top motocross and desert riders went all o ut for thousa nds of doll ar s in prize s at the Yarnaha-To rco G rand Prix Sh oo t ou t - and when the d ust cleare d , th e red , whi t e an d bl ue jerseys of America n Mo t ocross walked off wit h the top money . Penton and Maico parts inventory on the West Coast. Ou r service? Well . we like t o do it right - the first time! Were Eierstedt and Sta ten riding $2 0 ,000 factory specials? No . They won on the same Maicos that sit on our showroom fl oor. Maic os that were p repared and rac e t uned by o ur co mpetition ex pe rts. So if yo u've been lo o kin g for a new motocrosser or enduro b ike . or need parts and service for Maico, Pen t o n . Mona rk or Coope r - drop by and see the Serio us People. See American Mo to cross. •• •• For the Serious Enthusiast. MA ICO PENTO N MONARK COOPER MAICO CUSTOM TA NKS & SEATS Comp lete Mail Orde r Service Write for our fre e catalog. 7241 OralJ:ll!thorpe Buena Park, California Tel. (714) 521-2420

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