Round Up
ROUND UP
DEPARTMENTS
JOE PARKHURST
TRANS AMA MOTOCROSS COMING
The final event in the 1972 Trans-AMA International Motocross series will be held Dec. 3rd, at Saddleback Park. The series begins in September in Ontario, Canada. The Saddleback purse will be $16,000 this year. Top motocross stars of the world will again compete, but of course it is too early to give any names as yet, because the riders rarely commit themselves very far in advance. My old friends Roger DeCoster and Joel Robert are leading their respective categories as of this writing and we will certainly do all we can to obtain their services for the CYCLE WORLD Grand Prix in December.
Last year several riders we expected to race were either injured earlier in the season or were forced to return to Europe for one reason or another, making a lie of some of our advertising, which must be prepared well in advance. The last five races in the series offer a combined purse of $66,000, so we can expect the second half of the 11 race series to be the largest supported by the leading riders.
SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE ENGLISHMEN
As I have mentioned before, probably too often, CYCLE WORLD is not a magazine devoted to the motorcycle industry. We consider ourselves sort of a part of the industry, but the magazine is published for riders and enthusiasts. So there, I have again apologized for something I am about to say. And that is....goodbye to Mike Jackson.
Mike has been on a tour of duty with Norton Villiers, distributors of Norton and AJS in this country, for two years. His stint as sales manager is ending and he is returning to the parent company in Andover, England, this month. I, for one, will miss him. He is one of the most amusing people I have ever met.
Never one to miss an opportunity to convert a straight conversation into a horrible pun-filled rap session, he has a peculiar knack for brightening things up that is not often found.
Just before he left, we were talking about the extreme variety available to the bike buyer today. Vertical Singles, Twins, Threes and Fours in four-strokes. Vertical Singles, Twins and Threes in two-strokes. Horizontal, opposed fourstrokes, etc. I remarked the next would be an opposed two-stroke, maybe. Mike shot back that there already was an opposed two-stroke—Feets Minnert.
Mike’s effect on the motorcycle scene in America does not end with his jolly and jovial personality. He used his motocross and trials riding abilities well, and even finished well up in the recent Barstow-to-Vegas run. The thing he did that so endeared him to many of us was to create the Laugh In Trials.
Mike reasoned that since the industry and press was run largely by motorcyclists and current or ex-competition riders, they might like an event of their own. It is a regular event in England, and one greatly enjoyed. Mike contacted me and with my enthusiasm for the idea and the use of Saddleback Park, he poured his and other members of the NV’s staff time into the event.
The third Laugh In Trials will be this year, and Mike hopes to come over to run it and ride the Barstow-Vegas run again. I’m glad he will be there...if he weren’t, the trials would probably not be held again. The trials is, of course, an all-in-fun day. Journalists, advertising men, sales men, executives, dealers, etc., from all levels of the industry come out for the day. Mike lays out every detail and supervises the whole event. Norton provides lunch and sets up a party for all who participate or spectate. It’s a great day, if one dosn’t take it too seriously.
Mike is being replaced by Roger Strang, not an Englishman, but I like him anyway. Mike’s final bequeathment to the American scene was a weekly fling at journalism in one of the newspapers, using a nom de plume that used some strange reference to an eating utensil. I will miss his wit and wisdom there as well. He was very kind to CYCLE WORLD and me personally. Cheers, Mike.
