The Tiny Bear

THE TINY BEAR

Mini-bikes come of age with a highly successful hare scrambles.

WHAT may have been the beginning of a bright future for mini-bike competition was seen a few weeks ago on the desert in Southern California when the Tiny Bear Run was staged. 48 entries showed up at the event that was sponsored by the well-known motorcycle booster John Steen, with the help of David Warnock. First place, and sweepstakes winner was Berk Eastman, riding a Berkeley Savage. He and the second place man Bud Murphy, riding a Bug, averaged over 30 mph all the way.

Pat Dale, riding a West Bend 700 powered Savage, moved into 2nd place on the 5th lap but he held it only until the 6th when his engine blew. First time rider Marvin Butler on his home-made bike put on a very good show; overcoming a bad start he advanced in every lap and finished 4th overall and first in his class.

Another first was Don Mummert, just 16 years old, who finished first in the 580 class riding a Go-Kart Scrambler powered by a West Bend 580. Richard Newell, a rider who doesn’t know what “quit” means, was holding 2nd and 3rd in his class but fell back in the 6th lap when his handlebar broke off, though he managed to hang on to what was left and finish the race. Another boy had quite an experience when he passed 3 riders, pushing their machines back to a gas check. He asked if he could help them and one of the three said he would give anything for a chain master link. The boy fished in his pocket, pulled out a handful of links, and the surprised riders all grabbed frantically and stormed off to finish the race.

Most of the competing bikes were powered by West Bend engines, though trophy winners Bob Souza and Kenneth Sliger were using bikes equipped with Power Products engines. Janet Murphy, winner of the girls’ trophy, rode a bike with a Garelli engine. One unusual entry, that of John Gates, was powered with an MV Agusta engine and 4-speed gearbox. There was also a Lawson 4-cycle engine and one McCulloch powered bike running.

A sophisticated touch was the use of radios at the half-way checkpoint to help those in distress and police the course. Frank Malenfant of the Valley Citizen’s Radio Club furnished the equipment and operators. A partial listing of the 23 finishers includes: 700 Class; Marvin Butler 1st, Ronald Pengra 2nd, and Thomas Ruddy Jr. 3rd. 580 Class; Don Mummert 1st, Joe Broughton 2nd, Bob Souza 3rd.

CYCLE WORLD'S reporter and photographer, who both rode the course with the race to obtain the photos on this page on a Matchless 500 and a 250 Greeves, came back with high praise for the abilities and stamina of the mini-bike riders. The course, laid across irregular high altitude desert country, was approximately 5 miles in length and the bikes ran 6 laps. The demands on the riders to negotiate the course at the speeds attained cannot be belittled. Mini-bike competition has arrived, and we hope to see a great many more events like this staged, all across the country. How about an EastWest Mini-Bike event? Hmmmmm.