Cycle News

YolI'lI Alwa,s SHit FIRST In PubU.r & EdUor•• Cbucll dayton Balliness Maacer•• Sbaraa Clayton Omce Maacer••Gaylene ThUlllaSOll Prodac:U Manager••Deaa1s Greene PraducU Ass!. .Dean CUnainpam Calen.r & Club Dir••• Ray Mendez B!Iokkeeper•••••• Susan Whitelaw Lab Techa.lclan••••••LIJy Laklch Want Ads••••••••• Sandra PurllV Pu blished weekly except the first and last week of the calendar year by C&S Publishing Co.• Post Office Box 498. Long Beach. California. also publishers of State Cycle News for the Eastern states. Second Class Postage paid at Long Beacb. Calif. Editorial stories. cartoons. photos. etc. are welcome and will be paid for on the 15th of every month for material published the previous montb (except press release·s and "Voice" lellers.) Address~d. stamped envelope assures rebJrn. Reprinting in whole or iri part expressly forbidden except by permission of the Publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. THE NEW IMAGE By Barbara Adams Dahms LET FREEDOM RING It's overl California Assemblyman John Foran amended out mandatory helmet wearing requirements trom his proposed law. Also removed were requirements lor renting or se1ll.ng helmets with motorcycles. The blll as it now stands will ask the California Highway Patrol to set standards for belmets sold 10 California and prohibit the sale f1 belmets w!lich do not meet the standards. At last we can get back to reality. Mandatory helmet legislation bas bad very unfortunate effects \lPOIl the popularity f1 belmets among some motorcyclists. A few sbort years ago a belmet was a prized and valuable accessory. The rider cbose a belmet carefully, cared for it meticulously and replaced it when sutl1clent damage made it no longer safe to use. Most riders owned or planned to own a good helmet, for they felt their belmet served a definite need. Then the legislatures of the nation and the fifty states stepped 10 and tried to tell the cyclists that they knew more about rld1ng from statistics than riders knew trom experience. Well, riders are an 1ndependent lot and it didn't work. They knew wben they wanted to wear helmets and when they wanted to ride without one and tIKr lelt the choice was theirs, could onlY safely be theirS, and they sald so. The legislature listened In California and a few other states. In other states they are now beginning to listen. Eventually the national government will listen and the whole controversy may be a thing of the past. But It will be along time before everything returns to normal. One unfortunate side effect that nobody foresaw was the polarization f1 oPinion loto pro and antibelmet. At present many riders who would have worn a helmet voluntarily mucb of the time are refusing to wear one at all lest they seem to coodone the efforts f1 the legislature to take away personal liberty. When Mr. Foran realized that his well-Intentioned efforts to protect cyclists could result 10 their being less protected than ustal, he began to retb1nk the whole idea with this amendment as the result. The other problem that legts]atloo bas brought ts no Jess v1taI. The mpnUfacturers f1 quality belmets have been put through tile llassle of competing with many "cbe8pies" made to sell for a price. The tact remains and always w1Il _.when you buy an Item because you want It, you bay the best you canmanage and tab care of it; w1leII you buy it because someone Ba7S you bave to, you buy the least you can away with. In spite f1 taD: f1 standards w!lich have been set with crat variation between states and often not at all, I have _ helmets 10 use 10 maDdatory states with corrugated cardboard liners. 'Ibis bas given a false _ f1 securtty till riders and • dIftlc:ult martet1nC situatloD till thase mU!Ufllcturers 'lIbo retue till COIJlIIl'OIII1. quaUty. Qaallty m.""cturers IIIlV8I' ~ ad Jec1sIatioll. AU tile pegpIe part1c1patIng 10 tile bassIe bave bad tile arne thing 10 m1Dd: tbe f1 Utes. We all want - till avoid needless death and d1sabIl1ty. We just didn't acree OIl tbe way to do it. Now the Iec1SJature bas said to motorrycIe riders 10 effect, "O.K. do it your way.... And we must try. We must give that extra thougbt to safety, to defensive r1d1ng, to proper apparel. And belmets are part of the safety picture. They just never were the whole picture. Freedom Is part f1 the picture, too. At last, the legislature understands. em sanae HATS OFF TO BARBARA It Itweren'Uor Barbara Adams Dahms you'd all be wearing belmets In California now, whether you liked It or not. Thanks to ber, Assemblyman John F. Foran bas seen the ligbt and the leglslaUve threat Is over. Mrs. Dahms deserves the most credit for persuading the California Legislature that it Is neither In the Interest of safety, nor individual liberty to apply police power where 1ndIvidua1 responsiblI1ty and selt control works better. Your telegrams and letters to the legislators belped a lot, but It was Barbara's steady devotion, and her many trips to the state capital, that finally won the battle for us. In doing so, sbe saved the Industry approximately $3,500,000 a year 10 sales that would bave been lost. All sbe asks Is a little belP toward ber Iravel expenses. She's just a motorcycle rider like us. Were it not for United Motorcycle Enthusiasts sbe'd have been unable to defend our rlgbts. U.M.E. received $350 since It was establisbed last year. Nearly all of it went to pay Barbara's travel expenses, but sbe's still about $200 sbort of breaking even. We urge every reader who appreciates what Mrs. Dahms bas done, and Is doing for us. to send a bealthy donation to U.M.E. today. You'll be enrolled as a member. U.M.E.'s address Is Box 1154, Reseda, California 91335. VOICES OF THE WEST ANOTHER JOB FOR U.M.E. Senate Bill 1199 bas just been introduced by Senator Alquist whicb will require motorcycles to run with beadligbts on at all tlmes In California. PHIL PSZENNY Santa Monica, Cal. COMMENT: Assuming. of course that they HAVE beadlipts? NECKBREAKER KILLS EXPERT RIDER We bad a funeral bere April 2nd. One of our charter members, Gordon Septlnelli, was killed 10 a very unfortunate accident Sunday, Marcb 30th. Wblle rld1ng with a grouP laying out our 49-er Enduro, be struck a cable used as a barrier across a dirt road. Due to Internal Injuries, be did not llve long enough to reacb a bospltal. At one tlme the cable bad a small wooden sign on It. There presently Is no mark1ng at all. The cable normally bangs about IS" above theground.ltapparently fiipped uP over the bars and wiped him right f1t. Gordon, at 42, was tar from a novice. He was In tact an Expert scrambler and bad been for several years. An exprf1essional rider, BIg Bear veteran, an enduro Expert and a toP- notch all around rider, but under the circumstances didn't have a chance. He apparently never saw the cable, as be made no effort to avoid It. We hoPe that your newspaper's campaign to do someth1ng about these death traps bas some effect before there are any more fatalities. They can get anyone ••.anytime. DON LINK Secretary, Polka Dots M.C. sacramento, Cal1f. . THE MYTH OF HELMETED IMMORTALITY I've read IDIUIY wordS written by your readers and editor reprd1ac mandatory belmet laws. I feel I have to speak my piece OIl this subject. I am sure there are a lot f1 P80PIe wbo feel as I do. As the S811DCcoes, "somepeopledOll't bave a.lse to come In out of the ra1n," and tbe same goes for waring a belmet w'- r1d1nC a bike. I 1ml 10 the high desert around Victorville and 10 the past cOllPle of years four boys under the age of 18 have been killed riding bikes w1leII the attending doctors said if they have been wearing a protective helmet they would not have been seriously burt. Each one of these doctors caused a lot of talk In the community about restrlctiDg the use of motorcycles. This k1nd of talk we don't need. I am not for a lot of unnecessary legIslation against bikes and riders, but every time I read about some ldd who was killed because l1e did not have enough sense to wear a belmet, I leel that it is time that sometb1ng be done. LET'S FACE IT: A PROTECTIVE HELMET IS NEEDED TO PROTECT ALL RlDERS AGAINST SERIOUS HEAD INJURIES. Some people put very little value on their bead and eacb time one of them gets ldlled it puts a little more pressure on the entire sport. Maybe we need helmet legislation for our own protection. JIM MAHER Apple Valley. Cal. COMMENT: Your emotional reaction to four tragedies bas affected your capacity to reason clearly. 'What Ill1lkes you think a belmet law is going to "protecl all riders against_bead 1JIjuries-? Many doctors a sume that belmels are effec:tive prophylactics against alI serious bead injuries. Heimet manufacturers make no such outlandisb claims. If belmet laws were the cure. Cycle News would no t oppose them. Bu t sucb laws onlJ! lessen the pleasure 01 motorcycle riding without compensating for the freedom that they remo~. A belmet Is good insurance. but the issue here is freedom. not me.rely safe~. LETTER TO AWORRIED WIFE: I have had your same problems myself. Two years ago my busband bought his fIrst dirt bike _ our three boys were at that tlme ages 5, 3" 2. We are now BOTH members of the Southern California Trials Assoc.; be rides a Bultaco Sherpa T, I ride a lOOCc Hodaka, our 7 year old rides a 50cc Honda, and the 5 " 4 year oldS are terrUy1ng trike riders• It I bad discouraged his orlg1nal enthusiasm 1 would have destroyed for all of us What bas turned out to be a wonderful family sport. You worry about your busband being badly burt or killed on his motorcycle. Yet, you tb1nlt nothing of pI1y sending him off each day to work to battle bundreds f1 other automobiles OIl tbe bigbways. TIle chances are the same. I thoroug1lly beUeve motoreycl1ng Is oolJ as dangerous as the rider wishes it to be. Your busband Is by tar sater on the desert than on tile streets. F1nd out more about his loterest, learn what It Is really all about. Take your children along 011 those Sundays; It's not easy, I know, but It can be done and Is so worth the effort. Get a babysttter occastona.lI7, the children woo't suffer, and enjoy a day of desert riding togetherwho knows, you may find this is really your tb1ng1 You'll meet some line people - we have. You'll lind they all have s1m1lar problems and fears. You'll see new places and ~njoy new experiences as a Single copy price. • • • • • • ••• 25t SIIbsrriplioll: ODe year 2ad class ..u 57.,. NATIONAL ADVERTISING DIRECTOR•• , •• Tbtmas R. Culp Cycle News (fesn, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, Calif. 90800 Tel. (213) 423-9431. EASTERN AI Hauff ADVERTISING Sute Cycle News (Easl) fI.o. BOI 13, Amherst, Ohio 44001 Tel. (216l 914-2433 tamI1Y. The old adage f1 "don't knock It 'till you've tried It" really bolds true here. Two years later I can truly say I have no regrets at all on the declsloo I made. Try it and see. MRS. DEE DEE EARL Long Beach, Calif. You wisb to know bow you can send your busband off on Sundays with a "happy beart." Don't send him! Go with bIm. Don't say It's impossible. Tb1nkpositive. I also have two small boys and a 5month-old baby, so I know bow you feel. Yet every Sunday we take all three boys and off we go. (1 also did the same wben I was pregnant.) Of course we all worry occasionally. But why be sucb a pessimist? Look to the plus side. Your busband Is happy doing sometb1ng be enjoys. (This alone sbould be enougb to make you happy.) Also your boys are learning at an early age a clean and bealthY sport. What could be better? You will be surprised bow you'll soon look forward to Sunday, confident In what your busband Is doing. Because from time Immortal man bas always enjoyed a cballenge, be It man against man, man against machine, or man against the elements. And being a man, your husband, and many more like him, have risen to that cballenge. In our bearts we wouldn't want them any other way. MRS. DON MORGAN Trailbike #63, LIgbtweight #962X Palmdale, Calif. Survey Ron & John Show Factory How After the Hauts Grand motocross In England Easter Sunday, the American Team riders Ron Nelson and John DeSoto learned that their Montesa mounts needed a little American know-bow in the bandI1ng department. So they returned to the factory 10 Barcelona and unlImbered their hacksaws, maldng minor alterations on the frames (to the Spaniards' borror). When the customizing was completed, the boys pronounced the motorcycles bandled "bltcben," and DOW they are ready for the SpanIsh G.P. Rewa.rd For Return of Speedway Bikes Racers John Carter and Lonnie Arnold came out of the Brass Ring restaurant 10 Van Nuys after the Whiteman speedway races last week to f1nd that tbe1r 1967 green Ford pickuP, contaln1ng two new Rotax J.A.P. racers was stolen. A $250 reward is offered for 1nlormatioo leading to the return of the outfit, DO questioos asked. Contact Carter's spoosor, Rich Motors 10 Glendale, Calif. ... (213) 246-1208. Playboy to Feature Big Bikes A forthcomIng Issue f1 Playboy mapzine w1II conta1n an article featuring the four biggest motorcycles In the U.S. Of course tbatwould be the Harley-Davidson 74, Sportster and the CIymer/Muncb Mammoth. But what will the fourth ooe be? HODda 750, BSA Rocket 3, Triumpb Trident, Norton Commando? Safari Trail Riders to C1eaa Up Bean CanyoB Dorothy Nickerson, Secretary of the Safari Tra1I Riders M.C. called to 10form Cycle News that about 30 f1 tbeIr club members have taken \lPOIl themselves the task f1 cl8lll1ing tile litter out f1 Bean Canyoo. The area was ordered closed to motorcycle rIdIng because bikers were thougbt responsible for the mess. Volunteers to belp 10 the cleanuP are Invited to meet at the Baccus Road entrance to Bean Canyon the weekend of May 3 and 4. The more people show uP (Continued on page 11)

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