Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

. M t ... M BLITZING THE CONTINENT C> en 3 w Z CONTACT : K&N ENGI NEERI NG, P.O . BO X 1329 CN -W RI V ERSID E. CA 92501 TR IUMPH SUZU KI of POMONA 104 9 W.M ission (714) 623 -443 1 Fe at uring Works Mecha nic Po rt ing . and En gine Bui lding and ou r CHE NOA LE L EK Custom "RACERS PACKAGE " O n All New Bikes W e M ail O rd er - Pa rt s - B ikes - A cces sories FACT O RY OUTLET FO R PRE MIER H E LMETS S TREET - DES ERT - MX DYNO-TUNING PREMIER YAMAHA 19721 BEA CH BLVD . HUNTINGT ON BEAC H, CA . 714 ) 536-755 5 " Taki n' a tr ip?" T he S uzu ki takes a b reath er for a pic tu re while t he Ho nda ha ngs in there . side of town advertised " over I 0 billion served". They sold three billion burge rs j ust in the h o u r we were th ere. To picture . Bi rmingham yo u mu st imagine a medium size Los A ngeles w it h n o f reeway s. T he "Interstate" leads th ro u gh th e city fo llo wing a h aphazard co u rse to en sure tourists " ave ample h opportunity to thro w a way th e lon g green the y ca rry . In Los A ngeles you can p rett y mu ch j u st jump on a freeway headed in th e general direction you wan t to go and ge t th ere withou t a map b y followin g the sign s. Here , forget it ! You don't have a c h a nc e . -. It stopped rain in g in Birmin gh am . and th at was the good thing about the city . It suffe red advan ce d b illboard b light, and the only go o d o nes we re fro m Kawasaki , featuring a peace-s ign ing d ud e on a n en duro , and a just- married c o up le on a c o up le of th ree's. T en nessee cops got blue ligh ts! Mobil e h om es ar e the bo t set-up, bric k schools h ave d ome tops , and angus c o w s are everywhere . In Bean J unc tio n a cam p e r truck played submarine in . an imp ro mp tu fa ctory park ing lo t lake. Lo cal me mbers m ade me thin k that FFA st ands for Farm Foxes of America, and T en n esse e r ou te 25£ m e ri ts an an n ual pilg rima ge fr om ever y se lf-respecting b iker. It's a great ro ad with gre at sights, an d live bears at th e crest. We j us t got lu cky and e nded u p . lo st , find in g th is p erfect ch alle nge b y chance . 1\ is a r o ad through an area th at con tr asts- w ith th at a lo ng t he In terstate. Coal t ru cks plod up hill s at a good two MPH, probibiti on lives in Granger County , shac ks border a patch of land wh ere an old m an works hi s fie ld behin d .tw o h ors es , an d his o u tho use is five feet fro m th e cre e k h is down stream n eighbo r dr in ks fro m. Catt le p lay mountain go ats on steep h ills n o cy cle co uld con q ue r , an d o u r app roac h stampedes a small h erd on fla tter land. Po verty an d e x treme we alth coexis t , each so extre me it is hard to be lie ve th e o the r exists so n ear, Sweet Virginia V irgin ia , sweet V irgin ia . Jus t inside th e b o rd e r we fo un d " H u n gry Motber S tate Par k" . It h ad the best handle sin ce "B ig Mam a 's Cafe " in Lo uisiana. T h e t owns h ad to ad sto ol water to wers an d buried u tilities. Farms h acked ou t o f t he fo rests in o ne o f colo n ial Ame ric a's fir st ec ologi cal in te rfe re nces b ad seen gen era tio n s co me an d go . V irginia is very big o n glorify ing Civil War carn age sites. It w as a national dis grace, bro tbe r fighting brothe r, .unspeak able atrocities , lo o tin g, r ap e, k id nap p in g o f civi lians, ro t te n P O W c a m p s , h o rr endo u s d est r u ction . V irginia glo ri fies and celeb ra tes fiel d s that ran red wi th bl o od. Perhap s that is a com me n t on th e h eritage o f American warmakin g (an d warloving) . Virginia, (an d to a less e r degree other states we visited), is proud o f th e ca rn age. S ic k , sick , sick. T he last b last into D.C . was frantic. With three h o u rs until we we re due a t the D .O .T ., we were 125 mil es aw a y on the d awn of April 18. Riding in towards the ci ty , a scant few mil es' from ou r q uest , a d ude on a Yarn mi e ca fe: ra cer p u lls up a t a light and asked us if we had really rid d e n from Cal . Wh en he got h is an sw e r, h e y elle d , "Remember LS D 195 8 , my phone number", offering us a place to stay as he pulled sawy , D .C. traffic was the worst I eve r saw. We m ad e our first appointment tw enty m in u tes la te , and got stuck in a revolving d o o r wi th Ou r packs as w e left tbe D .O .T. buildin g a few bours late r. Amused sp ectators t h ought w e were th e co med y kids 'till we got out and lo cated o ur b ik es. With n o t imc to ch an ge be fo re the appoin tme nt, we really lo o ked like freaks ...i t h ad been a long road. We cal led th e mystery number an d lo cated J ean Webb , the ca fe race r of the morning, who t u rn ed o u t to b e service wri te r fo r C ycles, In c., th e bi ggest bike d eal er on the Eas t coas t. T be shop co ve rs b loc ks , w ith separate b uild ings for set u p , repairs, tune ups. p arts. an d sales, and us es its own semi ri g to h aul in bikes. Jean' s h ou s e became o ur bead q uarters w hil e in th e Wash ington area. Be fore w e foun d it , hO\'1.. ver, w e e t o o k a few w ro n g turns in th e h eart o f the white b u reau crat ic core o f D .C. and h ead ed into th e b lack ghetto inste ad of t ow ar ds Jean ' s h o use in A rlington , V i r gi n i a. Gr o u p s o f dudes an d o ccas io nal hookers li ned tbe stre ets. We were the only b on kies in sight , an d tb e ro le I was used t o was re versed , O n ly b y th is kind of experienc e far from hom e can yo u see wh a t it is lik e to be an undesired min ority in an enci rcling maj ori ry. No wa y co uld w e ma ke tw o b i kes wi th C alifornia pl ates an d a ton of b a g g a g e a nyi h i ng bu t a tte n tion attrac te rs , Ca tcal ls, h o stil e ' ques tio n s, an d u n identified flying objects sailed o u r w ay as we p utt ered alo ng at the legal li m it. I entered th e. area a liberal , bu t after an h o u r of b ein g lost w ith a ca p i ta l " I.", I felt like a wh it e raci st, w ish in g I h ad a flam ethrower. It w asn 't un til I Was well into Ten nessee on tbe way home tw o d ay s la te r th a t I fe lt lib e ra l again . T be sigh t of J ean's p ad in Virgin a (swe e t V irginia) was a welc ome sigh t when we finally arrived. In a w o o ds se tting; J ean an d Marvin e , hi s marvel ous wo man frie n d" an d as sorte d prize wi nnin g d o gs and ca ts m ade us fe el righ t at h ome. We drained the cb oco la te mil k lo o kin g o il o u t o f th e 5 0 0 as we lea rn ed that Marvine ta ug ht English rid in g at a n earby st able , an d tha t th e ribbons co ve ring one wall h ad b een won by he r in a so rt of m otocr o ss for ho rse s. Late r as we all ro de out fo r some pi zza, it seemed sh e was reall y a roadrace r at h ea rt . On J ean's brea th ed on RD 5 , she smoked off t he b igge r b ikes on the un familiar road. Flat T racking Underground We returned to th e city fo r more appoin tmen Is the second day of o u r stay . Jean c a me along, p laying n at trac k on the D.O .T. polisbed co ncre te u nder ground parking lo t floor. Later we we re amazed a t Cbet Holifield's agility - and sp eed movi ng aro und the cap it o l. We had tro ub le keep ing up w it h th e gra y haired vete ran o f 3 2 years as a Co n gressma n . D.C . traffi c ca use d it t o take u s 40 mi n u t es to cove r a h al f mil e that day . Lying in fron l of the cap i to l, we freaked to urist bus loads who gawked at us. We . reflec ted on the fac t that Suzuki w as the on ly m oto rcy cl e manu fac ture r with a fuII time governmen t liai son m an in Wasbingt on, and on tbe w ords o f a D.O .T . official wh en he learned I was stud y in g p olitical scie n ce ... ..When y o u get hi gh er up, do something about red u cin g this he re bureacracy .v. " Po lic c zi p pe d by oneverythi ng fro m L ambrc tt a scoote rs wi th "6 9 " plates to Harley H awgs to Honda step- tb ro ughs. May b e if tb ey c rash a H aw g th ey have to ri de a little scooter for a whil e. We me t Virginia cops on the trip ba ck to Arlingt o n , wh e n a lo cal fu zz stop pe d us for "R eckless D rivi n g" . If you're eve r in V irginia, d on't r ide side by side o r the y'll stop yo u, too . He bad me rcy on our C alif ornia so u ls and le t us off a fte r check ing th e frame numbe rs when I said I had "borrowed " the m. After the two da ys of nightmare tr a ffi c r un n ing, the H on d a would n't p u ll full throttle or over fo ur grand, a nd the Suzy id led on on e cy lin de r , altho ugh ru n ni n g fin e h ighe r up in th e revs . New p lugs restored the Honda, and Jean p ro ved hi s di agnostician skills by su ggestin g a ca rb re-sy nc h th at cu red th e S u zuki. We ga ve it n ew p lugs for be ing a n ice bike , too. T he balance tube ca ulking o n the righ t side had b urned off the Suzy, and h eavy a pp lic a tio n of G E Silicone seal cu re d the re su lting exha ust lea k. Wh ile we worked on the S u zuki in the li vin g ro o m , th e award -w in n ing liver dalmatio n ran in, th re w u p at Marvine 's fee t , an d im medi a te ly wagged ' it s ta il p roudly. J ean gave lesson s in hoppin g up Bridges tones and Yama h as, an d the n itro burning 'Sto n e 100 Marvine used to b low off powd er puf f 25 0 's in Texa s Was ad mi red . !GENUIN E! BU FF A LO BREAT H JERSEYS $1 6 .9 5 Wit h y ou r b rand of motorcycl e silk sc reened f ro nt o r ba c k $1 7 .9 5 S o lid o r Mu lti Colo rs A va ila b le. C ust om Mad e Chest Pro tectors w it h your b rand o n f ro nt . $ 15 .95 Se n d f o r fr ee c a t a lo g D ea te r i nq uires in vi t ed Sam e d ay m a ll ord er se rvi c e J & J Motors Box 0 6 3 9 6, Portla nd , Oregon 9 7206 503 ·235·8938 Fin ally , a step -by ,ste p InttDduc l,on 10 m OIO'CYChng . ne "",. colorful sport M ot o -Cr oss ThIS booIt le ll, t l'\e' beginner "",he'e 10 beg:,.n. ""'It h ctl aptel s on M Olo ,C, ou BIke ", ""Iy lols . Pre p",allOn I. . M"Inl en" nce , Phys oc,,1 Corlchtlonlng . W hat To W ea . , Rac 1I'1og' Tec h nlQue ~_ W ha l Tb E.pec l . Ra ce Str ategy . Race O..v ' II ' . lI l here In th,s 112 p age . 8 ',.,. , 1" b oo k . cra mmed ""'li n pnotos and ,n for m a hon If s yay, s. pos!pald . fo r $595 l A dd S, " yo u "", I Sh a lf m a ll s e r v t e e I Orde r f 'om IAGNA l l PUILISHING CO , Bo. 50 7. l oke Arro wlWo d. Co lif , 92352 T H E BEST SELECT ION OF CZ M A C H I N E S AND PARTS IN CA LIFORN IA ! WE ALSO BU ILD THE FINEST DOWN PIPES AND IGNITIONS FOR CZ CHECK O UR P R IC E S !! ! Homeward Bound We split for h ome on April 2 0 , but I knew I'd b e back to visit Dick an d Spiro so on, an d ma ybe even th e boys at the BLM, too. And o f cou rse th e horse MX lad y and her ac e mechanic side kic k. l SSG Balbu BI Yd. Van Nuys, Cal. 91406 Zll - 185-5136 W ...J U >- U

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