SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/590058
time either ventured south of San Diego was to reconnoiter the route, which they did via a Cessna 180 piloted by former Catalina GP winner Walt Fulton, just a week before their planned ride in March 1962. "The only time I went down there—that Bill and I went down there—was in an airplane," said Dave. "The California medical group had an association called Doctors Without Borders and they'd fly down to these different ranchos which all had an airstrip just for them!" Each of those ranchos had a couple 55-gallon drums of high-test fuel for the Doctors Without Borders aircraft, but transferring fuel required siphoning via an old garden hose into a dingy one- gallon wine bottle. Then it had to be filtered through a worn chamois. (While it wasn't a huge ordeal during the ride for the bikes, putting 40 gallons into the Cessna was not a quick affair.) It took just a day to aerially "pre-run" the basic route, landing four times along the way and finding ranchos where they could refuel since there were no paved roads or gas stations for the majority of the journey. Since the Pacific Coast side seemed to be shorter and less rocky, they chose to go that way. The only navigational aids the Ekins brothers had were a AAA map from the 1930s and dead reckoning. Though the Ekins had some experience with celestial navigation for the night portion which proved to be fine when they could actually see the stars. Prepping For A Baja Run With a rough idea of the lay of the land and how to reach La Paz, the next order of business was doing final prep on the two little Hondas which, while marketed at the time as dirt bikes, would currently be regarded as dual-sport machines, since they were street-legal and street-biased. According to the Ekins' modifications the Hondas consisted of replacing the chain and tires with heavier-duty versions, replacing the stock shocks with Girlings, adding a tank bag that held a one-gallon gas can for emergencies, and making sure all the nuts and bolts were snugged up. Due not only to their more aggressive tread but more important their six-ply construction, 3.25/3.50- 19 Goodyear Grasshoppers went onto both front and rear. The only tools or spares they carried were the standard small Honda tool kits, a couple extra spark plugs, and a spare headlight bulb. Those who go on trail tours in Baja nowadays have far more backup. "If you take spares, you have to pull a trailer!" Dave said in jest. Testing the bikes revealed an interesting fact. If they went faster than 55 miles per hour, they'd drain the BAJA 1 9 6 2 E S T FROM THE BEGINNING A RARE COLOR PHOTO FROM THE 1962 HONDA RIDE SHOWS DAVE EKINS (CLOSEST TO CART) AND BILL ROBERTSON, JR., ATRACTING ATTENTION IN MULEGE. 050 SCORE JOURNAL