I fell in love with enduro riding in 1972 when I was 16, living in Ohio. I
read everything I could find about the ISDT and became fascinated with the
50cc class. What a remarkable thing; riding a 50 on the same courses as
everyone else and expected to keep the same time. Remarkable. Of course,
being in the States, it was near impossible to find much about them. I raced
a Penton 175 Jackpiner, and later other bikes but always liked the idea of a
50. I only weighed about 120, so that kept my interest as well.
Finally, in March, 1977, I happened to luck out. I don't recall why, but I
called John Olson, at Speed Center in Costa Mesa, CA. He told me the
ISDT/Baja Monark 50 was sitting in the back gathering dust and he offered to
sell it to me. The bike with a ton of spares for $600.00. I had it shipped
air freight on March 25, 1977. I still have his hand-written bill of sale
and freight bill.
I got the bike and updated a few bits like the fenders,
headlight/numberplate, tires, etc. Added a tool bag, and a standard Monark
tank, but not much else. I raced it in the 100 class, which in the Midwest
in enduro and cross country was quite a competitive class at the time. My
best finishes were good for me. I finished 7th of 27 in the Indiana State
Championship 100 miler, and most important to me, 2nd. Place, 125 class at
the Peacepipe Enduro, November, 1977 in Greenville, Ohio out of 35. I still
have that trophy, along with the 50cc piston from that race.
I sold the bike in spring of 1978 to pursue other projects to a guy named
Sonny in Tennessee from a Cycle News ad. That's all I remember. Attached are
the only photos I have, taken with a poor Instamatic. Wish I had better, and
more. Of course, I really wish I still had the bike.
I remember it started poorly but ran really well, brakes sucked, handled
fabulously, and was so light, we could bounce over most anything. The
aluminum bodied Konis worked really well. Shifting was never a problem. The
seat was fitted with double padding, the up-pipe was hand made.
Hope this adds a small bit of history to the U.S. Monark saga.
You can add any of this to the website, if you like. Tell Scott W. hello. We
go way back to his Cycle Times days.
Alan Wise
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