Round·up
ROUND·UP
JOE PARKHURST
THE DUCATI factory in Italy has long been known for its marvelous overhead cam Twins and Singles. Fabio Taglioni, chief designer at Ducati, has now designed 125, 175 and 250 single-cylinder two-strokes with piston ports to be used in a new six-speed motocross bike. I thought I had heard the end of such things when Honda started making two-strokes. Is nothing sacred?
Ducati is also working on new 350 and 500 vertical Twins with chain-driven overhead camshafts instead of the traditional bevel shaft system. The switch to chain was made, according to Ducati, for reasons of cost, width,
• Honda was right in the t place years ago. Both scrambler and road models are in the testing stages. Their new 860GL is due to go into production shortly also.
King of the drum brake builders, Daniele Fontana, has just started producing disc units. Two models with 10-in. discs are ready. You might drop him a line at Via Alzaia Naviglio Trento II, Corsico, Milan, Italy. Fontana’s magnificent drum brakes have been used by nearly every prominent Italian road racer for years. Japan is coming to Italy fast.
OOD OLD California, often called the belltfather state, is at it again. A cent bill submitted to legislation by Senator Craig Biddle would subject the 730,000 motorcycles in the state to a special pollution control standard based on state smog control regulations.
It just so happens that the Senator lives in Riverside. That’s where most of the foul Los Angeles air is carried by the normal westerly winds coming off the ocean. It is easy to understand how he would penalize all of the bikes in the state to make the air around his constituents cleaner. Elections coming up?
Senator Biddle says that “an increasingly significant source of air pollution” is coming from motorcycles. It’s curious that he would say that, the EPA hasn’t released any figures, so where is he getting his information?
His assembly bill would give the Air Resources Board the authority to impose sanctions against motorcycles; such as a restriction on the total number that may be registered in the state, and a ban on the daytime use of high-smog machines. In other words, motorcycles, the lowest polluters of all presentlyused motor vehicles, would be expected to suffer in a way that has not even been considered for automobiles... that is through banishment and unfair restrictions on their use.
California readers, if you have never written to Sacramento before, you had better do it this time. Biddle is a menace who can only be controlled by huge volumes of public opinion.
I UR FRIENDS in Japan sent the photo of the group of guys standing in an airport terminal holding flowers. They are Hakan Andersson, Ake Jonsson, Jaak Van Velthoven and several reps from the Yamaha factory who were there to greet them when they arrived. (They gave them the flowers).
The powerful Yamaha motocross team was there to conduct final tests on the latest factory bikes prior to the opening of the 1974 season. 250cc class World Champion Andersson was quoted as saying: “I will do my best to defend my title this year. I am very happy to have Japan-
ese number one rider Torao Suzuki as my teammate for this year’s title battle.” It will be a very interesting year for Yamaha, from both the motocross point of view, and in road racing.
At the same time that the three motocross aces were visiting the factory, Yamaha introduced their new YZ250 production motocrosser that utilizes the “mono-cross” rear suspension similar to that on the factory bikes.
Our Japanese friends failed to send a photo of the new bike, but they did say that it was intended for use by “thrill-conscious enthusiasts.” I guess that’s us.
THE STATE of Iowa has a proposed House Bill (number 1103), that could make for some pretty strange motocrosses if it goes through. It would...“prevent drivers of two and threewheeled vehicles from operating with the front wheel not in contact with the road sur-> face.” Eddie Mulder had better stay out of Iowa.
ONESTY AND honor among men is something we see so little of today. It seems as though we must scheme, plot, negotiate, evade, lie a little, do all sorts of things to get ahead. Degrees of dishonesty, like beauty, seem simply to be something in the eye of the beholder.
But I know an honest man; one with honor, as well. He is Bob Nickelsen, the superb trials rider. Bob lives in Colorado now and rides with the Rocky Mountain Trials Association.
Bob entered the Cycle World International at Saddleback last January. He arrived with several Hondas. We expected him to be on a new secret 250 Honda trialer. Instead he entered on a 125cc. He won the class, as was expected.
Later, we got a letter telling us that the bike was not a 125cc. The engine had been stretched to 163cc. He wanted us to take the trophy back and retire it because no other 125cc finished the trial. We are going to retire the award for just that reason, but I want to quote Bob’s letter.
“The characteristics that make trials the wonderful sport that it is are that the riders are all sportsmen and that it is amateur the world over. Due to the growing popularity of trials, it has become apparent that many of the new riders do not yet fully appreciate these characteristics. If we are to maintain the sportsmanship it is important that we uphold the established traditions, especially at an event such as the first International Trial held in the United States. For this reason, I am compelled to return the award to you.”
Bob deserves the silver, no question about it. If not for winning on an enlarged 125cc, at least for his honesty, sincerity, and for practicing something that he genuinely believes in. Gotta say it...we need more people like Bob Nickelsen.
A ACING IN Baja is by no means dead. I mentioned a rumor some time ago that Mickey Thompson might be taking over all off-road racing in Baja. It could still happen with the 500 and the 1000, but as of this writing we have had no news of either of these classic Baja events.
But...Mickey Thompson and SCORE International are putting on the Baja Internacional on July 25th through the ‘27th. It will start and finish at Ensenada, and will consist of a loop of about 500 miles that will go as far south as Mike’s Sky Ranch, as far east as San Felipe, through the Valle De Trinidad, and back to Ensenada.
SCORE Int., 2701 East Anaheim St., Wilmington, CA 90774, is the promoter, and it will be run under their professional rules. The entry fee is $350. The purse will consist of 50 percent of the money taken in.
The Baja Sports Committee has asked Mickey to take over the 500 in June and the 1000 in October, but the details are still being negotiated. This will be SCORE’S first Mexican event. If all works out well, it could be the start of a new International racing partnership.
Meanwhile, Bill Martin’s veteran Baja Racing Association—the group that gave the Baja Sports Committee so much help in the somewhat ill-fated 1973 Mexican .1000, and that is also helping SCORE with their event, has announced the Lucerna 250.
It will run May 18th, a date that will have come and gone by the time you read this, thanks to the extremely lengthy lead time a monthly magazine must live with. That leaves the month of June, the traditional time for the 500, empty. That is unless the BSC, the BRA, or SCORE decides to do something about it.
While on the subject of Baja—and I do seem to be on it a lot, I realize—a team of guys from the CYCLE WORLD staff entered the Los
Ancianos MC’s 500-mile Tecate Enduro recently. Los Ancianos is a San Diego, Calif, club that rides Baja a lot. I’ll have to admit, they do know the territory.
Two-hundred-and-fifty riders entered the first half, which ran to San Felipe on the Gulf. About 70 started the return half the next day. About 40 finished. To say that it was a tough enduro would be the greatest oversimplification I could ever be guilty of.
It’s hard to say just what made it so tough. It wasn’t the length. Five-hundred miles in two days is pretty hard; but not for anyone who rides regularly off-road. It wasn’t necessarily the course, which was superbly marked. The checks were very well run and intelligently spaced. It wasn’t just the average speeds, either, though some judged them to be too high for certain sections. Neither was it the terrain itself. It was all of these things!
It really got hot in the rocky mountains west of the Gulf of California. Not too bad a thing, except that that was the part of the course with about 83 miles of the rockiest country anybody ever saw.
Team CYCLE WORLD didn’t fare too well. Editor Atkinson’s Kawasaki shed the spokes in the front wheel well before the noon check. Ad hustler Gary Bisel ran out of gas between checks. CW’s old friend Jerry Platt and I rode our trick Honda XL350s. He finished the first day but
didn’t want to ride back alone. Me? I bought the farm on a long, oh-so-big rocky climb when I got knocked off the trail by a rider I was passing, and spent several hours approximately 20 feet down a rock cliff wondering whether I would survive.
After several hours of waiting for the follow-up crew to find me, I was joined by Lynn Wilson, lady desert ace, and one of the finest companions anyone could ask for when. contemplating a long night on the desert. The follow-up crew came to retrieve me, my bike and Lynn who had had ignition trouble earlier.
I rode in the dark o^P more of those damned rocks to the last check, where one of the Los Ancianos dumped us in the back of a truck and got us to the highway leading into San Felipe. We hitchhiked a ride on a truck piled high with...rocks, dammit, rocks. We managed to make ourselves comfortable and made it into San Felipe about 4 a.m.
My thanks to the great guys of Los Ancianos. They put on a fantastic event. They even brought what was left of my 350 home the next day. I tried to pull my shoulder out of its socket when I fell, so I’m combing my hair with my left hand for awhile.
In 1973 the Tecate 5^x was judged to be too easy. So for 1974 they made it a “little” bit harder. Yes, I’ll ride it again in 1975. Just can’t wait to see what the club will do. 151
