Round·up
ROUND·UP
JOE PARKHURST
THE FIRST-ever World Trials Championship got off to a good start with three different winners in the first three rounds. The first was held outside of Belfast, Ireland, and, considering the strife in that area, it was not surprising that many Europeans did not compete. Dave Thorpe won it. It caused a big upset since he had just been fired by Ossa and had been taken on by Bultaco. He had a clear win, losing 11.1 marks to the 16 of Benny Sellman, the Swedish motocrosser. Following tightly were Martin Lampkin (Bul) with 23, Ulf Karlsson (Mon) with 24, Yrjo Vesterinen (Bul), 25, Thore Evertsson (Ossa), 26, and Alan Lampkin (Bul), 27.
It was a masterly victory for Thorpe, but one week later he was never even in the running at the Belgian round. He finished way down at 14th. The winner was Malcolm Rathmell (Mon) in a trial made extremely difficult by an overnight frost. Rathmell lost 98 marks, putting him in front of Frenchman Charles Coutard (Bul) and Martin Lampkin, who was 3rd with 119 marks.
The scene then switched to Spain, where Ossa suffered the indignity of not having a rider finish within the first ten places. Martin Lampkin lost 71 to the 84.8 of Vesterinen; 3rd was Rathmell, who lost 107 to Mick Andrews’ (Yam) 107.4. As a result, Martin Lampkin leads the world title fight with 35. Rathmell has 38, Vesterinen 24, and Coutard 21. But it is still early in the season. British riders are normally the kingpins of trials, but they must be worried by the strength of the Europeans, four of whom are in the first six places at present.
Kawasaki has dropped all factory support for trials and is substituting a bonus plan, with payment ranging from $12 for a Novice winner in a small trial, to $180 for a National win. Bonuses rocket to $1800 for winning the Scottish Six Days and $480 per round for the World Trials Championship, with $2400 for winning the title. Top class riders will probably be better off, considering the salaries being paid, and the plan offers some chance of incentive to British club riders.
INCE Suzuki let Paul Smart go, he has found a new sponsor—none other than Mike Hailwood. Mike will furnish a Yamaha Four for Paul to ride. Hailwood is still recovering from a Formula 1 car racing accident, but he hopes to be on the Isle of Man with Smart for the TT.
ATER - COOLING has arrived in motocross; it’s something I thought I’d never see. Yamaha is the factory responsible and the first versions are 125s.
How do they go? Factory rider Seo led most of the Japanese National Championship opener on one, even though he ultimately finished 2nd.
Yamaha claims vastly improved efficiency, due to the constant operating temperature made possible by watercooling. The new engine also turns higher revs than the air-cooled model.
The Single’s cylinder head, cylinder and finning are cast in one piece. Bore and stroke is 56x50mm and, with CDI and a 34mm Mikuni carburetor, 22 bhp is claimed. As is common practice nowadays, a six-speed transmission is used.
Front forks on the 125 are conventional and Yamaha has retained the monoshock at the rear.
Yamaha is also experimenting with front suspension systems, and at the Japanese meeting factory riders Hideaki and Toraro rode 250s with gas/oil forks. In these units, Yamaha says, the inert gas improves damping because it overcomes the ill effects of heated and diffused oil.
The engine in the 250 is air-cooled. Bore and stroke is 70x64mm and, with a 36mm carburetor, 32 bhp is on tap. CD ignition and a five-speed gearbox complete the package.
As always, Yamaha remains one of the most innovative manufacturers in motocross.
In addition, Yamaha is overhauling its street bike line. Most impressive is a four-stroke Three with a displacement around 750cc. It will be a double overhead cam, 12-valve unit with shaft drive and, more than likely, water-cooling. Power output should be in the neighborhood of 70 bhp. Weight should be around 484 lb.
Two new four-stroke TX models (a 250 and a 350), are also on the way. They will be almost identical to the TX500, using double overhead camshafts and four-valve cylinders. >
It’s also a good bet that Yamaha will have a 500cc four-stroke Single ready for the dirt. Are you ready for that?
Any company capable of producing the fabulous GL1000 is likely to stay abreast of the times in other displacement categories, as well. So, look for a new 750 or 850 Four from Honda shortly.
To the best of our knowledge, the updated Four will not share the 1000’s flat engine design. It will, however, be longer and lower than its predecessor. Aiding the lower center of gravity theme will be a 17-in. (instead of the usual 18-in.) rear wheel. Disc brakes will be present both front and rear.
An updated CB550 is likely too. Ceriani-type forks will complement a new styling theme centered around a four-into-one exhaust system.
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Continued from page 34
Look for it later this year.
Suzuki is also a force to be reckoned with. Afterall, they produced the revolutionary RE5 Rotary, and that machine is only one of several innovative designs they’ve unleashed on the public.
The safest bet is that Suzuki will direct its attention toward four-strokes.
Its first effort looks like a lOOOcc model with double overhead camshafts and four cylinders. Eight valves (two per cylinder) and watercooling are used. At present, brakes are disc up front and drum at the rear, but production units may feature discs at both ends. It should be a fabulous machine.
Kawasaki is concentrating on simpler machines in the medium-displacement category and this is probably wise, since the other Japanese manufacturers seem to be avoiding them. Its new bike is a 750cc four-stroke Twin featuring double overhead camshafts.
IUST IN case you were wondering what the Motorcycle industry Council is doing, or, for that matter, what it is, I’m here to tell you. It’s made up of such companies as Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, HarleyDavidson, Pabatco and many others.
The MIC’s accomplishments during the past year include the following: 1.
Helping defeat federal nofault insurance for motorcycles by introducing an amendment that excludes bikes. 2. Persuading Congress to pass federal noise legislation that is favorable to motorcycles. 3. Succeeding in its requests to the Environmental Protection Agency that proposals restricting motorcycle registrations and limiting their use be rescinded. 4. Filing and winning a suit that enables federal lighting standards to preclude unfavorable state standards. 5. Proposing and getting passed, through intense lobbying efforts, an amendment to California noise laws that prevented much economic disruption to makers and distributors of equipment. 6. Defeating a number of antimotorcycle bills with the cooperation of state dealer groups and succeeding, through those same organizations, in introducing legislation favorable to motorcycle interests.
And that’s only the stuff that was completed. A great deal more effort is in the works. Just thought you might like to know.
OMETHING else you might like to know about the motorcycle industry. Most of the sales and management executives in the field are motorcycle riders. Many are ex-racers; a few of them still are.
As an example of what I mean, I invited a few of these men and women to join the CYCLE WORLD staff on a nice ride in Baja. We rode from the Hotel La Pinta in Ensenada, down the coast and up the mountains to Mike’s Sky Ranch. We blasted down to San Felipe the next day for shrimp and beer, then back to the bar at Mike’s that night.
On the third day we all rode the near-150 miles back to Ensenada, making a total of almost 500 miles for the three-day weekend.
We called the occasion the CYCLE WORLD Baja Trek. Everyone tells me they had a great time. Guys like Gary Robison and Dick Lague from Can-Am, John Taylor from Yankee, Preston Petty from you know where, Craig Vetter, and even the president of CBS Publications, John Suhler, came from the East and Midwest to make the ride. They joined exhaust system guys like Dave Spangler from Hooker and Darryl Bassani.
Also riding were Tom Heininger and Neil Holt from Webco, Dale Stevenson from Kawasaki, Carl Hailey of Honda, Ted Lapadakis from Hercules/DKW, Lynn and Bob Wilson, Don and Mary McGee of Scott goggles, C.H. Wheat from Cooper Motors (the Maico people), Malcolm Woods from Harley-Davidson, Don L’Heureux and Dean Fisher of Bell Helmets, Bob Evans from Husqvarna, Dean and Stan Wixom (the original Wixom brothers), Gary Bryson of Goodyear, Walt Fulton Sr. from Jacwal, and a whole bunch of guys from CYCLE WORLD and PV4 magazines.
Can you imagine the executives in any other field going for a 500-mile ride in the dirt on a motorcycle? This is an industry that I’m extremely proud to be a part of. There isn’t another one like it in the world. The members of it relate closely to their products and the people who buy them. They are, almost to the man, fully involved with the sport, as well as the industry it supports.
ANT TO go to the International Six Days Trial on the Isle of Man next October? Executive Travel’s John Wyckoff is organizing a> tour that will leave New York on October 6th and return the 21st. The $629 per person price includes just about everything. Write to Executive at Suite 424, 1720 Peachtree St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30309, for full information.
•ARLO Perelli, as many CW readers know, is our man in Italy. His latest missive contained the pictures of the new Ducatis. They are 350 and 500cc vertical Twins. A new 125cc two-stroke scrambler will also be forthcoming about the same time—later this year. Italian designer Giugiaro, from Turin, stylist of the Ducati 860, did the styling on the new bikes, as well. The famous bevel-shaft, overhead cam drive has been dropped in favor of a chain-driven, single-overhead system. Ducati claims it is quieter, more compact and less expensive to make. I suspect the latter is the most important contributing factor.
Despite its orthodox configuration, the new Twin has several notable features. The bore and stroke is oversquare
by today’s standards. The 350 is 72x43mm, the 500 78x52mm. This works out to 349 and 496cc, respectively. Using 31mm exhaust valves and 35mm intake on the 350, and 33mm exhaust with 37mm intake on the 500, Ducati feels it has an engine that breathes very well with a low piston speed. Thirty-two hp at 8500 rpm, and 42 hp at 7700 rpm is claimed at the rear wheel. Piston speeds work out to 2397 feet per minute for the 350 and 2649 for the 500. Just thought I would throw that in for the technically minded.
LAST MONTH Saddleback Park was eight years old.
I Sambo’s restaurant near the park catered a neat pancake breakfast for the celebrants. It was a cold and crummy day, but it hardly dampened the party.
It is difficult to believe that Saddleback is that old. It seems such a short time ago that Vic Wilson, Bruce Meyers and B.J. and I sat down to listen to Vic’s idea. It didn’t take much for me to realize what a neat thing it could be.
We named the high points in the park after some of our first staff guys: Meyer’s Folly for the hill that Bruce broke a buggy axle on; Velzey Park for Dale “Hawk” Velzey; and, of course, Mount Wilson and Parkhurst Peak.
Bruce Fever has been park manager since we opened, but I don’t know why we didn’t name something after him. Probably because we couldn’t print it here. Anyway. . . Happy Birthday, Saddleback Park.
Ducati’s new two-stroke Single dirt bike, called the Regolarita, or International Six Days Trial type, is claimed to produce a rearwheel hp of 20 at 9000 rpm. It uses a six-speed gearbox, a rubber-mounted 30mm carburetor, electronic ignition and primary gear drive. The engine case was designed to be enlarged to a 175 or 250, so Ducati is thinking ahead. Lighting equipment is quickly detachable. Weight is claimed to be 226 lb., overall length 82.67 in.
Saddleback Is Eight A Doggerel Epic Pome By Henry N. Manney
Saddleback is Eight. . . Its misty peaks towering towards the star. The scent of sage, the tang of Castrol R. Where flying W and endo happily reign, And WFO with awkward might and main. The air alive with bringga bringga bringga. I am King Of the Mountain.
Saddleback is Eight. Thru aeons before it lay beneath the sea. It riz, it sank, it riz again, and we Crept warily from funky caves and plain To hunt the mastodon, whose buried bones remain. Hunts still the hawk on soaring wing O’er bringga bringga on the mountain.
Saddleback is Eight. The chromatic hosts of riders wind around, Making sharp and frequent contact with the ground. A game preserve for creatures great and small, A place to run; four feet, two, wheels and all. A land preserved from Tract’s restricting ring. Playing at king, a-bringga on the mountain.
Saddleback is Eight. Discarded footpeg rubbers lie around And funny cigarettes perhaps are found Where young and eager racers bit the dust. They limp a bit but wheelie on they must, To buzz their engines till the pistons ping A ring a ding Erk on the mountain.
Saddleback is Eight. Memorial now to those who’ve passed this way, To Vic and Joe, Geoff, Cosmo and B.J., To Bruce and Rich and Mikes both short and tall, Because of them we’ve really had a ball. Without these chaps, who’d hear the stingers bringga bringga ding On the Mountain?
Saddleback is Eight. Its dusty sleep as desert long since past, Shunned by treasure-hunting Spaniard; now at last A peaceful ride ‘mong cactus and live oak, Nice for bod and bike, if nothing broke! A chance to stop and hear the bluebird sing With bringga ding On the mountain.
