Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1971 08 03

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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VOLUME VIII August 3, 1971 NUMBER 29 PRICE THIRTY CENTS America's largest and most complete weekly motorcycle newspaper nST YamahaRS By Ron Schneiders The first impression one receives of the Yamaha R·5 is that it looks very much the same as most other Japanese road bikes. The lines are functional, but it looks a little squat. A higher, more tear-droppy' gas tank might help. The black engine looks kind of neat. But the rest, ugh. Dimestore candy-apple chrome-plated neo-modern nothing. It looks like what you'd get if you crossed a juke box with a slot machine. Maybe it really epitomizes American taste. Maybe you could make it a thousand times bigger, stand it on end in the middle of Las Veags and let it replace the Statue of Liberty. Maybe you would like it. Lots of people like Las Vegas and ·'59 Fords and the Yamaha R-5!s styling. I don't. De gustibus non est disputandum. The engine puts out a muted rata-rap-rap-rap. It's the two stroke sound, all right, but cut down to an inoffensive level. Nobody is ever going to make a two-stroke sound like a Velocette with a reverse cone megaphone, but at least this one doesn't hurt, even if it's nothing youll learn to love. When you drop into first, you know it's first. The shifting iever comes up solid against a stop and it doesn't travel quite as far as it does going between other ,pairs of gears. As you pull away and go through the gears, ~verything is effortless. The clutch pull is soft and easy. There's no transmission jerk (due to a well-designed shock-absorbtion unit in the rear wheel hub which the Yamaha people whiffisically refer to as a "clutch") and the power is very even. When I first got the Yamaba, it was out of time and not running qUite wen, so I took it over to my local Yammie dealer (World Cycles in Hollywood) and they timed it for me.. We also installed some new plug, one heat range warmer (NGK B-8 instead of B-9) which work much better for stop-and-go, around town and short treks on the freeway. With these chores taken care of, I I'roceded to put some miles on it. On the freeway first: Freeway travel is the most dangerous riding that any mo torcyclist is likely to do, at least th' side of the Sacramento Mile, and I'm always very conscious of the way a bike "feels" on the freeway. On the subject of freeway safety, I'm not willing to pull any punches; or spare anyone's feelings 1D the slightest. For reference, the best bike that I've ever ridden on the freeway is the Norton Commando and the ·worst is the Yamaha 650 twin. The Yamaha R-5 was very, very comfortable on the freeway crusing at about 70. It is just a smidgion behind the Norton as a freeway bike, lacking a bit of the top-end acceleration and some of the Norton's stability on bad surfaces. Now, realize that the Yamaha is a 350 (the Norton is a 750) and costs just about half what the Norton does. The Yamaha suffers a bit from a traditioaal Japanese ailment, the inability to design shock absorbers, but this is an easily cured thing. It manifests itself when riding over th e freeway ripples which occur when the blocks of concrete that make up the freeway shift slightly, something like a wash board that's been stretched out. A more severe (Please turn to pg. 3 CftLENEWS 2499 C'en'itusA'Ue.. Routt, By Roy Strawn NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y., July 18, 197I - Niagara Dragway was the site of the Second AMDRA (American Motorcycle Drag Racing Association) National event for the 1971 season, the Summernationals. And the crowd that bore witness will not soon forget what b.appened. The big guns from all over the nation gathered there to see once and for all where it was. The orange van from Mayland unloaded its lethal cargo on Saturday and when it was loaded again on Sunday it was $ll 00 heavier. The team of Routt and Welch had captured two Eliminator victories out of two brackets they en teredo Larry Welch proved that speed and consistency win the bucks. The Routt-powered Triumph qualified fourth in the field behind Boris Murray of LaVerne, Calif., who was in with a 9.24 blast, Don Escolas with his first pass at 9.34 and Dave Campos dialed in at 9.57. He put away Ron Maranto in round one, Dan Johnson in the second and Escolas was the third to fall victim to the wrath of Triumph. Larry faced off against favored Joe Smith from California in the final. Top Gas looked much the same as Sonny Routt rode his Gas double to the No. 3 spot in qualifying behind Ron Fringer (10.61) and Bob Mauriello (10.03). The old gasser knocked off Bob Nelson and Harold Eide on its way to the finals. Bill Smith from Langhorne, Pa., popped off a first rouIld 10.04 139.31 to show the way to his victory in' Jr. Fuel Eliminator. A 500cc Kawasaki captured the Jr. Gas category with Gary Karnes of Reynoldsburg, Ohio piloting the Straight Arrow Engineering special to an 11.04 victory dash. Gary also holds the E/D record at 10.89. (Please turn to pg. 11) GARDENA, CAL., July 24, 1971 Only nine riders went all the way in the 20th annual 50-lap National TT at Ascot Saturday night. For the other fifteen it was stop, blow, break, crash and get back in and try a second time. Another record crowd was on hand to watch the 24 fastest riders vie for the $10,300 purse. Mark Brelsford and his team Harley-Davidson swept to victory for the second time in three years. Mark led all but 'the first lap which was actually a re-start· affair. The original start found Oregon's Mark Williams .trying to full bore the second turn leading in to the infield. Williarns, of course, did not make it and fell in front of most of the pack. (Please turn to pg. 18) DE SOTO, ClAM HASSLE , empers Flare at Carlsbad IX By Eric Raits CARLSBAD, CAL., July 25, 197I Two of California's top motocrossers tangled in an unusual incident which left spectators at the Carlsbad CMC motocross puzzled and upset Sunday. Mike Cram and John DeSoto were the protagonists mixing it up in the first 500 Expert moto. They' locked handlebars in a fierce battle for the lead on the frrst lap and DeSoto went down and off the course. Cram continued around the course in solo possession of first place until he got back around to where DeSoto had fallen. DeSoto then reportedly kicked at Cram and rammed him. Cram stayed uprigh t and DeSoto went after him again, chasing the Maico rider up the long hill. It appeared DeSoto tried to ram Cram again but missed and went off the course to retire with a damaged machine. Several spectators lodged protests against DeSoto with CMC officials. DeSoto explained he host his temper at what he felt was a completely unwarranted action by Cram. The Ne-w-spaper Hawaiian suff~red a puned leg, muscle and a charley hors~ whell he fell. He said th e incident has been straigh tened out as far as he and Cram are concerned. He admitted losing his temper and regretted the incident. "I'm very sorry it happened and that the spectators had to (Please turn.to pg. 25)

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