Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cap 'n Crunch Cereal on the mornin g after the n ight before at th e Lam e Dog Enduro, on a win e b loa ted stomach , ei ther cures or kill s. • * * The AFM Sears Po int road race has been postponed , pending installation of permanent san itary facil ities, as deemed by offic ials of Sonoma County. All riders who have pre-entered will rece ive a cred it with the AFM North . Th is applies to any event wh ich have been planned at Sears Po int. Note though : th is is a postponement, and there is hope for remedying the situation . • • • ....'hat w e thi n k is that Yamah a has a w a t e r -c o oled 2 50 twin up th eir in scrutable sleeves. The liq uid 500- fo ur running aro un d Europe lo ok s lik e nothin g so much as two 250 twin s grafted together. T he Four even h as tw o separa te water cooling j ac ke ts aro und th e p airs of cy lin ders. The on ly reason we can figu re that t he y ha ven't brought a 25 0 T win in to produc tion fo r racing is that they d on't ne ed to . What 's th e last time any th in g othe r th an a 25 0 Yamah a air-cooled twin wo n a bi g ligh tweigh t race ? • * * The U.s. Forest Service curtailed the available land fo r the High Mounta in Enduro so that the length of the run was cut from about 120 miles to about 80 miles. It makes more sense to us to rotate the areas in wh ich events are he ld on a regula r basis so t ha t no one area gets comp letely wasted. Th is would provide new riding a reas for more int er esti ng events to be held and never do a ny sign ifica nt damage to one area . J.R . Pen ne y 's comp la int abo ut the I:. ucerne Valley be ing " d enuded of veg at ion" wouldn 't have any justi ficati o n if orga nizatio ns and clubs were allo wed to run ' eve nts any plac e else bes ides t hat a rea. • • • A semi-works su pported team ride r " i ll be ca mp aigni ng a spe ciall y modified Montesa 25 0 Veh kon en Replica in the ISDT Two-Day Qu alifiers in Oregon ne xt mon th . T hey h an d le well enoug h and are fast eno ugh fo r an ISDT ·type even t, but ligh ts on a VR ? Kahl evi wo uld n o do ub t be am use d by the whole thing. * • • commented upon by As Peter White elsewhere in th is issu e , Gabdrachman Kadryov is World Ice Racing Champ ion fo r the si xth time. The Wor ld Champ ionsh ip has been held seven times. He must have been off form one year . Not much else to do in Russ ia during the w inter we suppose . Indoor sho rt t rac k, anyone ? * * som e pic t ures of Go rdo n * After view ing Farley 's brillia n t win at th e Cotswo ld Trial in England on hi s Mon tesa Cota we can only co nclude that Britis h Master s' Trials unb elievabl e. S o me o f th ose riders dean se c tions that we coul d n "t eve n imag ine lay ing o ut . Try a four foo t vertical j ump up a sto ne wall fro m a strea m b ed , fo r in s tanc e . StilI can't figu re o u t h ow they di d th at o ne. * * * Joel Robert reported ly came bac k fr om t he Span ish 250 Grand Prix and stopped by fello w Belg ian and S uzu ki t eammate Roge r DeCost er 's house. He flopped dow n on th e couch and sat fo r ha lf an ho ur muttering, in Belgian , " Pomeroy won . Pome roy w o n ." J im apparen tly has the capacit y for boggling eve n t he World Cha mp 's mi nd . .: > " ::E ~ w Z • * * Re scue Th ree got and deserves thanks for help ing Randy Brown of t he Des ert Sq u irre ls M.C. when he bro ke hi s leg in t he Antelop e Ramb lers D-37 Hare and Ho und . There was a lso a plea fro m the clu b for all spo nso ring clubs t o pu rchase t he AMA su ppleme nta l insura nce t o ma ke up t he $900 d iffe rence t o t he rider. • • • MOR E DES ERT GO OD GU YS. Don n a Ray rece ived a wh ole buncha b lood fro m th e Fo o th ill Haw ks M.C . (literally) to supplan t th e b lood she neede d fo r surgery, Do dese rt rac ers ha ve b e tt er bl ood than regular p eop le ? • * • SC HOOL DA YS , BIKE DAYS. Lon g Beac h , Ca lifo rn ia h igh schoo l stude nts have an opportun ity to ta ke a 12 ho ur co urs e in mo t o rcycle operatio n a nd safet y includ ing eq uip me nt ca re an d ma int enance . T he cost is o nly $1 2 an d yo u have to be 14 yea rs old an d have parental approval , etc. It so unds like a good opport un ity to learn to rid e if you do n't know h ow to qualify fo r a d rive r ed ucat ion d isco unt on y o ur motorcycl e insurance . S ign up at 121 Linden Ave . in Lo ng Beac h. Classes start May 12 so don't wait aro und . * * • U.S . Dep t. o f Fo restry is curr en tly co n sid erin g o ne of two pr oposals regard ing "'their" lan ds in t he Lo s Padres N at io na l Forest. On e is th a t all land in that area be closed ' un til the President 's use surve y is .c o rn p le te in 19 76 ; th e othe r is th at it re mai n o pen to use until that tim e. Ballinger Can y on, specifically, is affected by this action , A le tt er stating your fed in g abou t having rid ing areas in San ta Barbar a Co un ty should go to Mr . Lancaster. Los Pad res Na tional Fores t A rea, 42 Ae ro Camin o , Golet a. Ca. 9 30 I 7. • • * T his y ear's Baja 500 will, in fact, be about 560 mile s w it h o nly mino r co urse var iat io ns from la st yea r. The f irst 90·odd miles is still pa vemen t t o Chec kpo int O ne Cama lu. • • • * T on y M urph y (of "M o torcyclist " magazi ne) , q uo ted d u ring h is t hi rd ho u r of wa it ing fo r press credentia ls at Imola : " I' ll never bad mouth Wes Cooley again." * • • • • Bul tac o 's deci sion to go with J im Pom eroy in th e 25 0 class, ra th er than th e 5 00 as o riginally pl an ned, seems we l l -f o u n d e d . T he f a s t 4 0 0cc p ro to types are st ill havin g sortin g-out p ro blems unde r British fac tory riders Vic A llan and Malcol m Davis. Sr . Bu lt o decided th at the 400s wer e not ye t read y for world class compet ition at the be ginning of the season an d he wa s righ L T he 25 0 seems to be doin g j us t fine, in case you hadn' t notic ed' * * * Br it ish National Motocr oss Champ io n Brya n "W ild " Wad e ha sn't been ta med do w n a b it . He is consist en t ly st ick ing it to th e Husky fact o ry riders wh ile p ilot ing a p rod uct io n 454 Husq va rn a . • • • >- • • • • • • AND FOR THE DIRT . The 340cc Sachs-powered automatic transmission Rokon endu ro bike is now in production. Dealers should have some by the end of Mayor early June. U U We h ear th a t th ere is an evening cla ss in moto rcycle repair and main terrance being given a t San J ose Co m mun it y Coll ege in San J ose , Cali fornia. It's o pe n to all ages and they don't care wheth er yo u rid e a thu mper o r a ring-ding. Yo u can re portedly call 4 15/298 -5064 fo r more in fo. J o hn Rice is curre n tly scheduled to ride a Ro kon 34 0 au to ma tic in th e Baja. TA KE T HAT, HO ND A ! Mo ta Guzzi bas re vea l ed a single o ve rhe ad cam five-speed 35 0 fo ur cylin der. They claim 38 HI' at 9500 RPM. W ...J In Fa rmington , New Mexico d irt rider s faced w ith la nd closure problems ar e tak ing action at the grass roots level by mend ing fences that inco nsid erat e riders ha ve torn down and policing themselves so cattlemen and sheepmen don 't ge t the local sheriff to do it . The Four Corners M.C. have undertaken a loosely-structu red program aimed at impressing la nd owners and other la nd use rs that b ikers are responsible and should get to use the land ...if they don 't abuse the land. * * * " I may as well te ll you Mr. Hinchliffe, that th is is one pretty sick motorcycle." • Ma ybe th ose car guys aren't all bad . Bill Mitch ell. th e Vice-Presid ent of Gen er al · Mo to rs, J ourn ey ed all th e w ay fro m De tr o it just to sec th e 2 00 miles of Im ola. Mak es sense. Bikes ar e much mo re int e res tin g than th o se borin g fo u r-wh eel ers. • • * Ga ry F isher, a good all ' ro und rider, is go ing t o stic k mostly to the asph alt. He likes t he grace of it , he say s. He does pla n to ride th e Mile an d Half-m ile at San J ose, howeve r. • • • Lo ok for Yam ah a to ca mp aign ' th eir wat ercoole d 750 two-stro ke (w ith fu el inject ion ) in National road races next year. * • • • • Am er ican pro moters an d t he A MA c o u Id Iea rn so methi ng f ro m t he Europeans about plann ing a prog ram that never drags and t he ref ore attracts spectators - and money . American spectators could learn so mething from Europeans about how to t reat a winn ing rider. uNi ce ride." Doesn't cut it . * • * • * • Seen in th e back o f t he Yamah a van at Im ola was th e 5 00 fou r-cyli nder road racer wh ich was fir st raced a t th e French GP th is weekend. Ro n G r ant . mad e a fo rtune at Imo la ...from the oth er r id ers. He's an ac e card playe r. • • • Suzuki ma y also ch alleng e Yamaha in th e ligh twe ight class by creating a 250 three, possibly wi th water coo ling. A UTO M AT IC FEEDE RS , PL EAS E DON'T FEED: Because of a custo ms strike n o th in g was being let in to Italy ex cep t livestock and perish abl es. When 11·0 Racin g Man ager Dick O ' Brien found th at Irnol a-boun d ride rs' bi kes were st ill in New Yo rk be cause of thi s, he had " HOGS" stenciled on th e crates. The bikes arrived in time . T he wo rd f or " sid ecar" in It alian is "side car". Is t he Se eley fram es works to go bell y-u p? Perh aps. But t hen Suzuki migh t make a 75 0 six b y coup lin g two 38 0 's . T here is a d raw ing float ing around . Is th ere no end t o all t his? • • • • . • • '" • * • * • • • .- Gulf • • • PIT SQUID D EPT: G ary Fisher ta ugh t supe r En glish Ro ad Racer Barr y Sh een e ho w to do reverse (fro n t wh eel ) w h e e I i e s on Ba rry 's Y a m ah a min i-en d uro in the pits a t 1ma la. Gary crashe d it tw ice. Then they did so me tw o-up re ar wheel wh eelies. Sh eene co uld bring th e thin k u p to its bal an ce poin t and ride it fo reve r o n th e rear wh eel. • * * • • • * • DO N ' T THR OW AWAY TH OSE ST OCK YA MAHA SHOCKS , J a rn o Saa rinen uses st ock shocks o n h is Yamaha road race r. In fact, e'veryt hin g yo u can see is st oc k e xcept th ose d roo py ha nd lebar s and be lly pan o n the fa iring. He even used to rid e Yo ko hama roa d racing t ires that came w ith th e bike . En glish girls ar e prettier than Italian girls. (Wh a t no moustaches ?) * Gary F isher showed Barry Sheene how to do front wh eel wh eelies on a mini-endu ro in the pits at I mo la.

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