Sand Drags For Bikes
Sand Drags For Bikes
ED ORR
THE RUNNING OF THE INITIAL Mexican 1000 Rally last November opened a new world of competition to motorcyclists. For the first time they had an opportunity to compete with the dune buggies and four-wheel-drive vehicles over a course that made the average hare scrambles look like a ride on a merry-go-round. While he was technically 1 hr. and 10 min. behind the fastest buggy, J. N. Roberts ran all night without lights, and a lot of the riders began to boast they could take the four-wheel machines any time, anywhere.
So the two-wheelers followed the fourwheelers to Buttercup one day where the Imperial Valley Dune Buggy Association was conducting its Winternationals to have a crack at sand dragging — that’s right, sand dragging! Those nutty four-wheelers actually hold drag races in the dunes. It was AMA sanctioned and very legitimate, but quite a surprise for the riders, naturally, because, as far as anyone knows, it was the first motorcycle sand drag meet.
After watching some of the super-charged, dual-tired rail jobs turn 120 mph in 100 yards, the motorcyclists decided that, for the time being, discretion was definitely the better part of valor and elected to run against each other. Even that wasn’t as easy as it looked. The smaller machines, Hodaka 90s and the like, found they had to paddle the first few yards to get started in the loose sand. Big bike riders learned that things can get exceptionally snaky with a hot shift into second. The stuff is as soft to land in as it is to ride on, and the few that got off on their heads came up laughing.
Some strange bikes saw action, including one with two rear wheels and a track running between them. He just didn’t have enough beans, but it set some of the participants thinking about how they could do it next time. One rider plans no changes. He is Chad Lincoln of Imperial, Calif., and he was quite happy with his trophy for the first ever motorcycle sand drags. Says Chad, “The sand drags are a little tougher on bikes than any of us thought. It gets a little tricky sometimes, but as long as you are ahead of the other fellow it’s okay.”
