Motocross
Full Factory CZ RIDE
Team Seddon and Ken McLean's 1975 CZ 250
August 14th 2004 American Classic Racing vintage race
round 6 at Southwick MX338
A week earlier during a NEMX race at Southwick Ken asked if I would be interested in racing one of his CZs in a vintage race. Heck Yeah!
ACR put on a great day of racing. Some of motocross' greats showed up. The bikes were great and these guys ride them ...HARD.
Husquevarna, Bultaco, Ossa, BSA, Hodaka, Elsinore, Can Am, Monarch, CZ, oh and Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda were all on the track . No parade laps, real holeshots and CRASHES.
2 of the nicest BULTACOs I saw in the pits
I knew Ken's bikes are perfect and had all the best parts. I only hoped to not to crash and break something. Ok Ok I knew Ken's bikes are awesome and this would be my best chance to walk away from Southwick with some IRON.
I went out for practice (after practicing on my 01' YZ 250 for 20minutes) for 40 mins on the 1975 CZ 250. I knocked the bike out of gear a half dozen times each lap. I bogged down and was unable to get the bike in gear a half dozen times each lap. I brought the bike back to the pits early in hopes of fixing the problem. Ken assured me nothing was wrong with the tranny. He was right, my 2003 Alpinestar boots weren't designed for a 75 CZ. Ken adjusted the shift lever up. He then explained to me that I needed to shift like I meant it and stop banging my foot against the shifter.
CZ MECHANIC ADJUSTING SHIFTER
I was to take my foot of the peg for every shift. There was only one race between my "modern" race and my Pre 75 250 vintage race. I went out and rode hard on my YZ. I pulled in ready to jump on the CZ and Ken and Maria (my wife) both looked at me with a dejected look. I parked my bike and asked "What's going on?" Ken explained I had fried the clutch. I had fanned the clutch a half dozen times in practice. While nowhere near the way I would on my Yamaha or my Kawi ( which has a Hinson clutch) it had fried it. After further discussion with Ken we adjusted the clutch and felt the springs may have warped a bit and that I would be good for racing. NO MORE FANNING!
The first moto I placed between 9th and 12th. The second moto I was 7th over the line. The gate was mixed classes expert,intermediate ,novice. 28 riders in all ,only 2 of us were novice. Unfortunately for me the only other novice beat me. He placed 3rd. I lined up with the guy in the second moto after seeing the scoring from the first moto. I knew I would have to beat him to get first. We were close after the holeshot. Down the first straight I was 10 ft off of him. All the while we passed by amatuers and experts.
getting tips from Ken. Out of fear I holeshoted poorly
The suspension was great (all 5 inches of it) really.Maybe 7 inches ,I didn't use all of it.
This guy was fast ..too fast for me. I tried to keep him in sight. He was 3rd to cross the line. Only 2 experts beat him . Ken knew the 2 experts. I battled with several guys that were on 400 s and beat them. The suspension was impressive. Every lap I was faster than the last. These guys race clean and were a great bunch. I gave them thumbs up ,they gave me thumbs up.
Another special moment was during practice on the section of track that I consider my fastest section. I was passing an old Suzuki in a uphill left hand berm. I was flying. The suzuki went way inside I went only one foot further out and caught a smaller berm that at the end ran into the same berm the suzuki was in. I nailed it right from the start and was sure to beat the guy to the end. In my right ear I heard and actually could feel somebody coming up on my right elbow.He was on the outside of my berm . I was leaned over hard to the left ,I looked up 2 Oclock and watched the handle bar of the bike smoothly cross along side mine clearing by an inch. I took my eye of the bar (all the time on the gas and railing the berm) and looked at the back of the jersey of the guy on my right..BELL . It was no different than looking at a magazine picture. Mike Bell ,"Too Tall Mike Bell" 1980 Supercross champ. Team Yamaha rider. Wow , I got to see a little bit of what many riders of that Era saw. The back of Mike Bell's jersey. What made it special was that I was on a vintage ,as was he.(Yamaha)
Here are a few pics from the race day.
Old HUSKY They are FAST Everything is on the left ,Mikuni carb on this
one.
Now that is straight UP and DOWN!
Why sit when you can stand?
Don't let anybody tell you that the old bikes don't corner. I can only speak for 1 particular CZ but it cornered great . I was the only thing holding it back.
Air Cooled
Not the aluminum tank, Triple clamps
are machined jobs.
Old school racing (DOWN PIPES)
Just line up wherever you like. No number calling, now this is laid back racing.
Myself with my biggest fan. Jackie gives me tips on riding faster the next time.
Thanks again Ken, we all had a blast.
Southwick Motocross Nationals 2003
John Dowd places second overall at SOUTHWICK AMA NATIONALS:
The 38 year old KTM/Cernics rider went 2,3 to get an overall 2nd
place. The Chicopee,Ma native pleased the locals with his effort. Many "DOWDIES" were on hand to cheer their favorite home grown rider on. The nbr 16 (Dowd) spent the last few laps trying to hold off the nbr 14 of Kevin Windham. Windham took his new hairstlye to the podium with a 3rd place overall.
Australian Chad Reed didn't have a great day in the Southwick sand. His fellow Australians in the 125 class really put on a show. Battling it out for the entire second moto. It was a real crowd pleaser.
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Motocross
UPDATED 3/11/2003
PICTURES OF SOUTHWICK MX338
From Spectators looking down.
From inside of a tub looking up to pits.
There is light at the end of the tunnel!
That is my dog Gromit checking everything out...
Pits left of road.
Pits right of road.
Road from pits toward start.
Tube under the road.
New access tube in place.
New road to the pits area.
Road to pits and PA Speakers.
Looking down from spectators.
Looking towards start and tunnel.
Looking at start gate and new road.
Fan access tubes.
Looking towards tree section and new road (background).
Half of pits and water connections.
Fan access tubes.
Nationals drop off horseshoe.
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