Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

3 .. .. .. • • .. • LONG ... EDITORIAL THE MOTORCYCLE DILEMMA By C. Clay ton At present California is churni ng with the bir th of new organizations. associations , riders societies, etc. all ostensibly dedica ted to " Improving Things" for motorcycle en thusiasts. We at Cycle News have chosen not to devote ou e scant pages to the aims and claims of thes e organizations bee au s e I. ) they ale too lengthy and 2.) we prefer to report progres s, not promises. There is no Q uestion that organization is needed to combat two perils to our favorit e spo rt. One of the mena ces lies outside our ranks and the other bores from within . But none of the organizations we have heard propos ed comes near what is needed. One group promises to improve public relations on a nationwide scale while its charter members je er at poli cemen. Others limit their appe al to jus t one faction of the total soo rt People as k, " When is the A.M.A. going tl' do something about it ?" But the hard fact is , we would not be wis e to expect Columbus to solv e this problem for otorcycle us as long as the Americ an M Ass ociation continues to operate. li ke a s mall business , trying to s erve nationwide needs . M ost of the A.M.A.·s energies go toward governing nati onal racin g and even there we find no out s tanding succes s es to report . The fact that t wo championship events were cance lle d across the nation las t year cauti ons us not to hope in- vain for help from Ohio. W view with alarm the sudden prolie ferat ion of new as sociations all struggling so mewhat blindly to enli st enough members to make their voice s heard . W e as ked one promoter of such an as sociation what he would do it he sudd enly had a million members . "I would walk into Governor Brown' s office without an appointment and demand our rights !" was his immediat e reply. Obviously this is not the right kind of manners we need to suc ceed in Sacramento. Repres entation in state and local g0vernments is often mention ed as the most important thing we need. Even thos e who subs crib e to the legislative report occasionally fail to note an inj urious bill until it has already passed the hous es of legislature and is forwarded with a " Do • THE REVYIN' REVEREND (Reprinted from Burbank Free Pres s ) By AL FRIEDENllfAL Nobody ever said that GOO's messenger couldn't drive a motorcycle and Burbank's circuit-riding minister is certainly proving this . The Rev. Robert E. Sanders of the Burbank First Congregational Church is currently attending to his pastoral duties aboard a Honda and he's received no complaiDts-lllthough some parishioners worry about his health. The Rev. Sanders assures all that riding a sports cycle is perfectly safe. Mrs. Sanders supports his contention. Not only are the small cycles safe, they are economical. One can minipolate them in dignity. The Rev. Sanders says he gets 160 miles to the gallon. whereas before. with his auto, he was limited to about 16 miles. This can mean a great saving to a minister, who must always be prudent in the expenditure of money. The minister, a native of Pasadena, averages about 1.500 miles a month making calls to parisboners. His "circuit ride" covers hospitals throughout the area to tend the sick and make house calls. The first 300 miles on the Honda cost him 52 cents. A man of the cloth certainly can retain bis dignity as well as his casb by this means of travel. Attacbed to the Sanders' cycle are pouches-which he calls saddle bags. In the bags are vital material as well as notes for the church newsletter. dubbed "Notes Irom-the Saddle Bag." The Rev. SlDders first got the idea for going about his ebores on the cycle wben be viewed the recent Tournament of Roses Parade. He saw many well dressed parade officials going up and clown the parade route on motorcycles. After investigating-their cost, be purchased one. Recently, the minister dropped into this newspaper office. wearing a neat business suit and holding a crasb belmet in his hand. Mrs. Sanders. a New Englander. also bas taken to the twowheeled means of transportation. pas s" recommendation to the governor. The cris is in volving off-the-road riders 15 the mos t pres s ing problem facin g the motorcycl e sport and indus try today. All up and down the state . but es pecial ly in Central Cal itomia where the Sierra Club holds s way, funbike t r a i 1s are bein g pos ted as fast as you can say "no motorcyc les ailowed." Rev. Sanders The Rev. Sanders had just come from a meeting of other ministers when I met him. If there were any comments about his leaving on the cycle, he basn't heard them. The Rev. Sanders served in New England churches for 10 years before coming here in August. He and his wife have a daughter. Laurie Jea n. t-t one dressy church occasion when bis wife wore heels. the couple left the affair together. he piloting the Honda and sbe sitting side saddle on it. . 'This will only be a temporary happeninll. bowever, sinee Mrs. Sanders is most anxious to have one of her own. Three of our good deal ers in the central coastal area told Cycle News they have not been able to s ell a single trai l bike in the past three months because of the wholesale closing of trails, permitt ed by a recently enacted state law. .P rivate property which us ed to be accessible to cycles is rapidly becomin g off limits while a greater number of cs- cUsts are tlyi ng to have fun on the shrinki ng terrain still available to ride in . There is much that needs to be said about this matter and the problems confronting road ride rs and even racers. Next week CYCL E NEWS will sugges t a few so luti ons to the trail riders pli ght. We welcome letters from readers on this subj ect. Ito be contin ued) -----------------:::::;;;;;;jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;, UNDEFEATED EDDIE MULDER AT LONG BEACH INDOOR SPEEDWAY Feb, 26, 1966 SEMI MAIN 1ST TROPHY DASH 1ST MATCH RACE 1ST A MAIN EVENT 1ST

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