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/126072
\lIS! Volume XIII Number 44 November 9, 1976 New street-speed fun classes that six million motorcycles in the U.S. can win Bra cket Racing is an attempt by the Western/Eastern Ro adracing Association to offer competitive, inexpensive road ra cin g to anyone int erest ed . It works like th is: Riders mak e timed practice runs to find out t hei r average lap ti mes on the track (b ring your own wat ch ). Based on th eir practice times. Bra cket Racers sign up in one of t he list ed classes at th e track. You'I1 rac e against other riders go ing abo u t t he sa me speed as yo u are. The result is super-competitive racing for any man /machine com b ination. The average street rider can even bring out his stock transportation turke y and get in some rea l raci ng . See page 4. Trans-AMA: Squeals'.of protest PLANO, TEX., with two winners. Belgian Sylvan Geboers p owered his Maico to the overaIl win only to have a post-race tech inspection discover an aIleged aluminum axle. AMA rules expressly forbid the use of aluminum or titanium axles and frames. Geboers' bike had passed tech before the race and the AMA m ot ocross manager, Mike DiPrete, is bringing the axle back to Westerville for analysis. Complete details on page six. ' WHITEMTN., CA. Don Betswort h opens a series of trailriding articles designed to introduce you to the greatest invention since buttered b read: Bikepacking - all the best parts of backpacking and motorcycling rolled i n to one environmentaIly-sound recreational activity that both family groups and solo riders can get into. In ," Ride to the top of the' world, " you'll climb from 4,000 feet to .12,000 feet elevation in the space of two pages. St ory co ntinues on page 14 . tt!JJ~pan . T yph oon or n o typh oon , CN's island-ho pping editor winds up at the Su zuk a International road race/motocross circuit for a first- , ever ri ding impression of ' Ho nda 's RCB 1000 endurance road ra cer; and so m e very cautious fire-read ing on th e work s RC250 m otocro sser. Am azin gly , b oth motorcycles consen ted to ca rry the big turkey without spitting him off - which is a testament to their stamina an d character. St ory con ti nu es on p age 10 . Reg Pridmore, th e man wh o won the 1976 MIA Superb ike Production Championship on a highlymodified BMW R90S, wants to race a 'Honda RCB 941 in European Endu rance races next year. "I hate to sound too professional," Pridmore says, "but next ye ar I'm go ing where the money is." Amid confusion and flying protests and appeals the Texas round of the Trans-AMA motocross series ended in utter confusion Hikers, eat your hearts out More secret sauce Pridmore wants a Honda , Bikerpacking 750 Steve Mclaughlin finally wins a Grand Prix RIVERSIDE, CA. " I was cruising," said ยท Steve McLaughlin after slamming the door on David Emde's last-lap charge in the $2600 AFM GP race at Riverside Ra ceway on Halloween , "I just owe the Emdes and Don Vesco (Em de 's sp onsor) a lot, so I hung around to teach David a few things:'To spectators, it looked like the best race of the day. In any cas e, it was Mc Lau ghlin 's bes t GP pl acing this yea r. In AMA Nationals, his machines have usua1Iy blown up. Details on page eight. Sponsored sin ce 1971 by the ' U.S. distributor of BMWs (Butl er an d Sm ith, In c.], Pridmore and his racin g victories have played an important part in BMW's image change of recent years. Through the sixties, BMWs were con sidere d machines for stodgy old men and tourers, in the public eye . Now, BMWs have sh ifted in emphasis to sporting. It was Pridmore who gave BMW its first AMA Production class victory, at Ontario in 1974. Pridmore be at Kawasaki-mounted Steve McLaughlin and Yvon DuHamel so badly that DuHamel thought Pridmore had dropped out - he was out of sight. Last year, Pridmore and Gary Fisher teamed up on an alm ost-stoc k BMW supplied by the French Distributor fo r the 24-hour Bol d'Or endurance race a t Le Mans . The pair worked up into fifth overall before the bike expired. This year, I'ndmore . won the production ra ces at Lagu na Seca and Riverside, was second to teammate McLaughlin at Daytona, and took third at Loudon behind Mike Baldwin (Mot o Guzzi) and BMW team rider Gary Fisher. Pridmore's finishes guaranteed him the unofficial title of AMA Superbike Produ ct ion Cha mpion. Page 12.