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/141062
... impressive. He tail o rs each bike to th e racer 's needs , even d own to the pJ acemen t of con tro Is for maximum co m fo rt. Tom is a pe rfe ctionist , wo rking la te in to th e nigh t, always stri ving fo r th at " N o DNF " season, Tomm y Brooks' reco rd, ta len te d as he is with n ine overa ll wins 'in highl y co m pe titive desert races, still say s a lo t for T o m Ruddy . As a tune r and inn ovator . T om is a 'raging success. He 's wh at th ey call a pr ac tic al engi neer. and is fo rever b affl in g th e fac tory engi nee rs with his inn ova ti on s. He has played a maj o r ro ll in th e d evelopmen t of th e DKW "B" engine , wh ich many fe el is the finest 12 5cc tw o-stroke aro und . . T o m is co n fide nt but mil d-mannered , a good t rai t in a tun er. He talks in tell igen tly ab o u t busin ess trends an d the stock ma rke t with the expertise of a business con su ltan t . But th e best ability. a t une r ca n have is b uild ing bikes that win ; th at is what T om Ruddy seems to do best. . Abo ve. T om R uddy the T eacher. D KW Service Schoo ls are held frequent ly at headqua rters. TilE: Mall BEllilld TilE ~VillllEI~S by Rich Baker Gen e Cannady , Preston Petty, Max Sw it zer, Steve Hurd, Larry Watkins, T ommy Brooks, Billy Gros si. T hese ar e all fami liar nam e s, right? An d that 's as it sho uld be. Ho w ab out th e name Tom Ruddy ? Does th a t ring a bell ? Probaby n ot. Unless y o u 're o ne of th ose guys mention ed above. Th ey kn ow Tom be cause he is, or was at on e time, their tune r. And th ere are n ' t an y tw o guy s in th e world th a t resp ect eac h o the r more than a racer and his tune r. Tom Ruddy h as spe nt the last three years of his life eating, living, and sleep in g DKW m otorcy cles. He's a re al wo rry wa rt , but that's wh at makes hi m so good - he really car es. Sin ce De cember of 1970 Tom has be en instrumental in winning for DKW such races as the Baja 5 0 0 and 1000, Elsinore, Hop et ow n, th e Canadian Cup Ch ampion ship , an d most recen tl y, T ommy Bro oks' nine 0 -3 7 desert o vera ll vict ories o n the 125 Deck . Being raised in Southern California an d being vehicle-o rien te d seem to go t ogether .-T om is n o exc ep t ion . His first mo torcy cl e invo lveme n t was with an AJ S 5 0 0 sing le . "Lt - was a 194 6 di rt bike that someon e h ad h un g a light on . I play-r aced it un til 1 went into th e Navy in ' 5 1. " (T om 's a h ard guy to foll ow, unl ess yo u h ave a tape rec order o r take short h and, I didn ' t h ave the ben efit o f ei ther.) He tells a co lorfu l story , bu t if y o u don't pay close a tten t io n , yo u ' ll find y ourself left so me where be tw een 'a 2 00.009 MPH two-way average run in a " p latypus-nosed " Bonnevill e Class C Mo dified back in 1956 , and a pi t stop on the barren Baj a peninsula du rin g th e run nin g o f the 1970 " 10 0 0. " A very active guy to say th e least. Durin g his stint in th e Navy he. serve d as a di esel mech an ic on a 36-foo t LCM landing craft. " Ha d two 6 7 1 G.M.C. d iesels, same blower s they use on th e d ragsters." After his d isch ar ge fro m Uncle Sam's Peace time Ya ch t Club, T om worke d at various kinds o f specialized mech an ic al work, On th e weekends he raced dragste rs and late r camp aigned a desert sled, fini shing as high as fifth overall a t different times. This well-rounded back gr ound is probably what makes T om such a c o m pe tent racing team manager. He has a real talent for spot ti ng potential winners, and th en helping them in every way possible to a t tain the goal of victory. The attention to detail on the DKW s he prepares for competition is Ruddy the racer ~888 ) here leading Gary 8 a jl ~y in b rief glory on the fir st lap. , . Ruddy the driver campaigned th is hot rod from 1955-58 . Ruddy the tuner as Tommy Brooks picks up his Deke for the weekend Desert war . " '" '" C1. M .... '" til ~ w Z W ...J U >- U CYCLE NEWS HOAX EXPOSED by Chuck Clayto n On a prominent page in this issue reade rs will find an examp le of harp o o n h um o r in the form of a parody of the Ellsberg-Warergate investigations . It may be in exceeding ly b ad taste and reek of ramp an t paranoia, but we figure if you can ' t laugh a t yo ur tro ub les, why put u p with the m ? Obvi o usl y , th e camp aign agains t vehicle recrea tion has its mo men ts o f high humor. Th e wh ol e an ti-rno t o rcycle ca m paign is p retty ridi c ulous wh en yo u thin k of it. Here are self-proclai me d "friends of the Ea r th" attemp ting to discre d it the bes t tool man h as yet de vised to cope with his down-to-earth problems , with th e least de mands o n the enviro nme n t - th e mo t o rized b icycl e . If th e ceo-illogi cal ex tre mists we re not so serious all ' the time th ey mi gh t enjoy wit h us a h uge , hear ty laugh ove r th e latest e x tre me to wh ich th e an ti-mo tor orat o rs have go ne. \Vriting in th e Sierra Club n ew spaper recentl y , colum nis t Les Reid sta ted th at " moto r vehicle proponen ts are asserting th at veh icle righ ts are gua ra nteed b y the U.S . Con stitu tion , the same as human righ ts ." If Mr. Reid were n o t so rab id abo u t fin din g reason s to dislike peop le possessing m or e good sense th an he, p e rhap s he would reali ze how ridi culous . h e soun ds. No b o dy say s moto r veh icles are co vered in th e Bill of Rights. A ll we are asse rt in g is what any on e wit h a grain of commo n se nse alr ead y kn ows: that yo u d on ' t go exp lo ring n ature very far with o u t somethin g besides your o wn ,two fe e t to ca rr y y o u. S om e m or on's w an t to ban mo t o rcycle use in the deserts on th e g ro und s th at Nat ure 's sand pile is so me how "threatened. " Wha t paran oi d poppycock! An ybody crazy enough to wander more than tw enty mil es into the d e sert wit h o u t so me means o f lo co motion other than Sh an k 's m are is sure to be threatened - b y th e de sert itself. So Mr. Reid and his ilk wan t th e des ert fe nced off j ust fo r c razy pe opl e ? He ' s go t to b e p ulling o ur leg. Th ese e co -ex cluslvis ts are reall y fun n y. They see m to see th emselves as th e n ew arist oc racy. Well, as Sen at or Soaper says, "There is n o inh erit ed aris tocracy in this coun try . Inste ad, every p erso n is en titled to as much of it as h e can pay fo r." T he Sierr a Clubbe rs want th e privile ges o f aristocracy withou t paying for them . What's real ly funny , if yo u like mo rb id h umo r, th ey see m t o be ge tt ing th ei r way . Even so me motorcyclis ts take the m - seri ously! N ow , d ru n k with victory . the arrogant ne w aristocrats are clo sin g o n their quarry fo r th e kill, onl y we , th e q uarry, do n' t know it. Do I exagge ra te? D o I sound p aranoid? Is it paranoia when th e bast ards ar e reall y gu n nin g for you? Okay , I' m exagge rating . I d on 't reall y t h in k that the re is a co nscious co n s pi r acy to deny di rt rid in g. Un consci o us ; mayb e . T he powe r rests with Pre sident (as th is is written) Nixon to cu t off the so urce o f m o t or cy cles and parts by res tri c ting impo rts. I thin k the industry got t o him first to be su re th at wo uldn't h appen . But I th in k there ar e people in high plac es wh o feel punitive towar d mo t orcyclists. I h ear the m honk whe n I p ass between their cars st a lled in tra ffi c jams. I see th em pushing no-f ault in su rance which in cludes motorcycl es. I feel th eir w eigh t when I lu g around thi s helmet in st a tes th at would jail me for sh owing bare head. S o th ey 're out th ere . I am n ot parano id. This t o o will pass, as all things must. T he bike h at ers wiII d ie off from an e xcess of b ile. The na ture lovers will accept recreatio n vehicles as part o f nature. Good sense will win, Whil e waiting for all this, don't forget to have fun .