Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Add the name GalY Myers' of Denver tp the ever increasing list of jumpers. Without a ramp Colorado's favorite son of motocross jumped one car at the Motocross Championships, S ta te Sunday. In point of truth, after some teasers he actually just lofted his Husky's front wheel" and smacked the Volkswagen in the rear and -rode over it; the crowd loved it. One might remember this little trick the next time a VW stops short in front of you on the M ri o ~ w Z * * * * * * JOEL ROBERT, who recently made history by capturing the World Motocross Championship the third year in a row for S\1zuki, will see a break in motocross competition, Joel sustained a knee injulY, which may require minor * * * * * * "Yes I know I'm' kinda dirty this ( mOrn'ing, Miss Mendergast. I had some trouble with my motorcycle on the way to .school. I've kinda let my chain adjustment go, y' know. Y' see, the rear wheel is turned by a chain, and I let it' get sorta loose and I kinda, uh, forgot to oil it,'and, well, it broke on my way to school this morning and wrapped around the rear axle, y' know, and it made me crash which kinda made me dirty and ripped the right leg off my pants and tore the toe off of my tennis shoe. Boy, I was scared when I first saw that 'cause I couldn't see my toes, y' know? So then I had to put my chain back on and I got my hands all dirty doing that. Do ya think I could go home and change pants?" * * NEW FACES OF 1973: OK, we confess. They're not really new faces. They're old faces in new places. C.H. Wheat, for years Mr. Maico in SoCaI, will be new General Manager of Cooper Motors, who import the Deutscher Motos. Brian Fabre will be going back East to fry to get more of the Cooper product going there. It also appears that Bill Friant, class winner of the Check Chase, will no longer be able to just ride a Puch. He also will be working for Puch, undoubtedly tlYing to persuade other racers that it's the machine for them. After all, this guy Friant got a Desert Number 1 plate on it... * * * M&M: We got on the subject of motorcycles and media again. "Mod Squad" had another slurring reference to bikers, this time to mechanics, of all people. The Wresident Wrench was mucho upset. The tears made little paths on his greasy face. One film made not too long ago that got a lot of people upset, but everybody around here liked was "Big Fauss and Little Halsey" or vice versa. Some people screamed about the image problem but to most of the staff rider/racers who saw it, the film was, at least, not too far off technically or actually from situations and personalities we have (and you have) known. It was also a very funny film with an-adequate budget. Reality about a sport or elements of a sport is something everybody should be mature enough to take. Distortion and falsification is another thing. Every time that film comes up, evelYbody around here cracks up and starts playing "Remember the part where ..." It could be a matter of taste, of course. Funny, sexy movies about motorcycles have a certain appeal to a certain type of person. But there's no need to get into that. * * * * * this thing sure doesn't have the performance that they advertise." Have you though t about naming your cat "A200"? * "I can't understand it - * We notice this week that Motocross Cat is getting off to a bad start in the Baja 1000. He is leaving from Ensenada. The race starts in Mexicali. * * * Remember, if you are one. of those foolish folks who are going out to see dumb old cars at Riverside for the Time-Mirror Grand Prix, get there by noon and see the Real Thing. Some of the top west coast bikies and (as opposed to "including") our staff road racer will be out there scratching for 15 laps. We were perusing a shop and parts manual for a Kawasaki Hl-R road racer recently and noticed what has to be misnomer of the week: the expansion chambers are called "mufflers". * '* * How come they never have sand drags ou t' west like they do in the east? * At the Race of Champions GalY Scott in throwing away his last throw-away shield also threw away the permanent one. Hello, mud. More noise, less toys. More girls, less boys. * * * West Coast Bower from Mettco will take ove'r the Penton 250cc from Jack Penton for the remainder of the 250 Support Class in the TransoAMA. Jack, who started with the 250cc as soon as he returned from SiX-Days, entered four events with the machine. His best finish was at St. Louis where he finished sixth. He had two DNF's; line at Copetown with ignition trouble and one at Atlanta with a crash at the start line. Jack has had a hard time adjusting to the power output on the 250cc over his normal 125cc mount and never really has turned the throttle on. Chuck, who has won several 250cc mains on his 175cc Penton at Ascot may be able to adjust faster to the power output of th is new mach ine. * * The Dirt Diggers North have canceled their November 12 motocross (boo) but are going to try and run a Lilliputian Hare Scrambles on December 10 (Yaay!) Current plans include running part of the course over an MX course and having a LeMans start just to see if you can start your bike. Entry is limited but the Northern Old Timers have issued a challenge to the Southern Calif. Old Timers to match their entry. Everybody except the old guys will go for an hour and a half on the five mile course. That'll give you a chance to, learn tbe turns. Dirt Diggers North get their mail at Box 338, Orangevale, Calif. * * * rider Chuck * * * street. surgery, when he was involved in an accident during Euro!>'ean motocross competition. Robe.rt had originally been scheduled to compete for the full Trans AMA series now being held. He is expected to participate in the last three races starting November 19, in Puyallup, Washington. The other Suzuki riders, Roger De Coster, BlYar Holcomb, and Richard Thorwaldson, will be competing in the full series. * * * If you went out to the "Grand Opening" of the Turkey Track Ranch on October 14th you might have been surprised at the level of non-regulation and about how cheap it was. That's because- they went out of business before you got there. * * * AMA Director Russ March has been quoted to imply that Brad Lackey's good showing at the Motocross des Nations was a matter of machine. "He was the first American to have good machinelY under him," he told the British press in an interview. Good for Kawasaki, but doesn't it seem that the rider just had a little bit to do with it, Russ? * * .* Mark Brelsford has an Incredible new house near Woodside, California, and if anyone is looking for a contingency to give him, it should be furniture. • * * * * * * * * "'- MISSING A WHEEL: Jack Weatherwax (N 0 known relation to the Desert Ducks M.C. member.) of the Sidehack Assn. managed a giant getoff over the dropaway jump at the recent D-37 MX. This might not normally be big news but it seems that 'he was not racing, merely inspecting the course layout on his little bike. He explained it away as due to the lack of a third wheel. He couldn't really get it together with them funny two-wheel mo'sickles. honor," said Nixon, uI'm the Grand National~Champion.""Case dismissed," said the judge. * * * - * * * Mark Brelsford goes cowtrailing on his 900cc TT bike: Tum to P. 34 of this issue. Cut out Paragraph No. 1. Glue in the foIIowing paragraph before you read the article. 1. 50-50 dampening. This means that the movement of the plunger is dampened equally on the downstroke (as the springs are being compressed) and the upstro ke (as the springs are uncoiling)_ It's interesting to note that a lot of other suspension builders favor one-way dampening only, or velY moderate dampening on the downstroke which amounts to almost one-way dampening. Now that should make more sense. Or does it? * * LATEST SALTY STORIES: At BonneVille, the Kawasaki-Yamaha struggle in the persons of Bill Wirges and his streamliner and Don Vesco and his streamliner continued, though somewhat dampened by untimely precip. Bill Wirges went OVllr 240 MPH on a wet course and has demonstrated the potential to go all the way if the salt ever dries out. Rain on the course put three of the eleven miles under water, which curtailed record runs. Don Vesco running dual Yamaha 750 four-strokes coupled by a gear drive had bad vibes between engines as the gear drive broke. when he was only getting about one-third of his available horses through it. Vesco has gone home to try to sort out his coupling. He has the horses to do it, but has to get his machinery together. Bill Wirges is still sitting in Wendover, Utah waiting for the salt to dry up. If anybody can beat Harley's 265 record this year, it looks like Wirges will be the one to do it. He must beat the 26S for a new motorcycle land speed record by December 1 it' he's going to get any of that K'awasaki contingency money. NAMEDROPPING DEPT: Nothing in particular reminds us of the stolY we heard about Gary, Nixon. 'We can't vouch for its accuracy, but it makes for good teiling. Shortly after Gary had won the number one plate, he was out on his Triumph doing wheelies on the street to celebrate. Lurking about, naturally was a policeman who cited him for unsafe driving. When he appeared in court, GalY was asked by the judge what he had to say in his defense. Nixon said simply, "Your honor, it wasn't unsafe." The judge replied that Gary had been observed riding on just 'lne wheel and that seemed unsafe to him. "But your * On the way from his new house to talk to Dick O'Brien about contracts, Mark found himself wearing a Bultaco t-shirt, for which he made quick amends. * * * * * * Unfortunately, Mark had to borrow his sister's car to make the trip as h is van is broken down after being fed too much premix. Daytona will be run on a slightly different track next year. The banking has been reduced substan tially - one of the turns at the e"d of the oval has been removed - and - the infield has been altered with one of the slow turns being cut out. * * * . REVERSING THE GOLD DRAIN. Evel Knievel intends to fire up and bolster the U.5. economy by taking home some pounds sterling in a 100,000 pound (about 240,000 US green ones) with a. British speedway promoter to jump in' England. The jump, or jumps, will be sometime next year, possibly in conjunction with dirt track races by American riders who will also be signed for the show. Knievel, though, is clearly the main event. Has the President heard' about this solution to the balance of payments problem? MX Champs Robert G"ro9g and Gerhard Martinez, both Swiss. get a hearty handshake from Rhind-Tutt whose Wasp chassi's they put a 750 Norton in and won World Championship at the last round in West Germany. '{Vho says four-strokes can't win motocross? w oJ o > o

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