Round Up

ROUND UP

JOE PARKHURST

MOTOCROSS REALLY ARRIVES

The enormous success of the U.S. Grand Prix in Carlsbad, where more than 34,000 paid to attend, followed by Mike Goodwin’s sensational Superbowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Coliseum where over 38,000 watched Marty Trippes do his once a year thing, made it obvious that motocross has at last arrived as a spectator sport. We expect to break records at Saddleback Park on Dec. 2nd when the Europeans make their only Southern California appearance this year (after Carlsbad).

When the ABC TV network ran its coverage of the 1972 Carlsbad Trans AMA event they published the fact that over 28 million viewers saw it, more than anything else running at the time except one of those gruesome boxing matches where some so-called world champion beat the hell out of a challenger. (Sorry, sports fans, I prefer bikes to everything.)

U.S. Suzuki hosted a pleasant luncheon after the U.S.G.P., and I had a nice visit with my old friend Roger DeCoster. It was Roger and five time world champion Joel Robert, both riding for Suzuki as you probably know, that got me and CYCLE WORLD into motocross promoting. Back in 1966 or so, after a day of laying out a motocross course at the newly established Saddleback Park, we spent several hours over hamburgers and cokes talking about just what one did while going about getting into the motocross business. It was well worth the time. We successfully promoted the Inter-AM series for several years, working with the granddaddy of motocross, Edison Dye.

American riders have progressed at the predicted rate. We will probably have a world champion one of these days. If the kids in my neighborhood are any indication, it will not be very long. The city fathers in my home town of Costa Mesa, just north of Newport Beach, recently decided to do something about all those boys riding bikes with motocross handlebars and number plates doing wheelies and jumping off curbs—they built a bicycle motocross course. It’s a gas! Sure wish I had had something like that when I was their age.

If you saw Bruce Brown’s film, “On Any Sunday,” you may remember the opening scene showing a bunch of guys making engine sounds and riding bikes like De Coster. That is no longer a limited neighborhood sport in Bruce’s home town of Dana Point. Nearly every corner of Southern California has a similar scene being enacted. Those kids are going to make fantastic riders when they stop pumping and starting turning a throttle. Just can’t wait.

ISDT BMW

No one in this country really con siders BMW an off-road challenger, but in the area of reliability trials like the ISDT, the big opposed Twins have proven competitive.

To prove the point on American soil, BMW is entering a works team of three riders (Herbert Schek, Kurt Tweesman, and one other rider still to be nominated) and they will be mounted on very trick machines indeed.

The bikes utilize the road version’s 745cc, 57-bhp Twin, but beyond that there is little similarity. In order to obtain the necessary ground clearance, the electric starter and complex air intake system have been discarded. The frame has also been altered slightly for proper off-road handling and now sports a 56.05-in. wheelbase.

A lightweight 3.5-gal. fuel tank special fenders, minimal lights and special hubs (the rear unit is in electron, the front is manufactured by Zundapp) have helped reduce weight from 420 lb. to an unbelievable 298 lb. with a full tank of gas!

Complimenting the mechanical changes is a distinctive paint job designed by the BMW Sports Department which is charged with the preparation and supervision of all official factory sports activities.

The big Bee-Em might not be the thing for pulling wheelies, but with a top speed of 109 mph, it’s definitely capable of making time!