Found this video last week. An amazing view of what it was like to desert race back in 1967. I'm absolutely blown away by how some of the riders manhandled those ol' 4-strokes. Check out J.N. Roberts on that Husky -- he was on it the entire race. Good stuff, and great film quality! PS -- Thank God for Pentons in 1968!! :)
Hope you guys will like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a64niu0db8
That was footage from an ABC Wide World of Sports. It has to be scary to swap ends on a Triumph pig. By 1972 when I started racing desert, almost all of the sleds were gone replaced by mostly Husky 360s. Pentons were not the bike of choice in the 100cc and 125cc classes. Of course there were some out there racing (Bill Friant on a 6 Day was pretty fast)but for the most part it was other brands. Trailbike 100cc was dominated by Hodaka and Harley Davidson with a few Sachs/DKW and Rickman Hodakas thrown in. 125cc to 175cc class was dominated by the killer DKWs along with a few Puch 175cc and even a Yamaha 175 MX (Monte Lee) thrown in from time to time. Mark Adent earned 1x (250 class) for 1974 on a 185cc (German Army motor) DKW then switched over to a Penton to carry the plate. It was not until 1976 as KTMs that they really became popular in the 175cc and 250cc classes.
Again, my hats off to men on those 4 strokes. I guess right about that time, the 2 strokes began to take over, and boy o' boy, it must've been a HUGE relief to ride/race a big bore 2 stroke Husky, Maico, Bul, etc...rather than having to stay on a big o' Beezer, Triumph, etc...I couldn't even imagine the physical pain a racer must've felt from being out there all day on one of those behemoths!!...Whew, God bless 'em!!
Just finished watching. Very cool! Thanks for posting it. Definitely some On Any Sunday footage in there.
Jeff
I have had the pleasure of getting to know Mark Adent. he came to the St. Louis area for the 2001 ISDT Reunion Ride, and I supplied a bike for him to ride. Nice guy and a real character also. Haven't heard from him in a while and will have to see if the email I have for him still works.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Mark's sister Linda was THE desert cutie back then. Fun times for sure!
Thanks for putting up that link! What a hoot!!
In many ways a desert race is a desert race. I got to ride a few 100 milers in Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington back in the 1970's. My first one was on a 100cc Hodaka Super Rat (chrome tank) . . . almost everyone had gone home by the time I got to the finish line. I was really bummed when I got there and the place was empty . . . cuz I thought I was going purty fast! :-)
The video also brings back memories of the Barstow Two Day Qualifier - dang those sand washes going uphill were no fun on a small bore!
Ed
Keep the rubber side down!
Really neat video.Spotted some old Checker friends-the late Don "Dingus" Watkins my mentor?/bad influence-RIP my friend.
Thanks for posting this.
Ric Emmal