Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125437
3 LOIIG EDITORIAL THE MOTORCYCLE DILEMMA By C. Clayton Informa ti on has r ea c h e d this office that in ot he r pa rts of the world , e motorcycles are used fo r every day t ransportation by mos t of the populace. W don ' t c a re what the re s t of the world is up to , I only cite this information as a warn in g to al l us mem ber s of the in c rowd that unles s we are careful , th e s ame si tua ti on could h ap pen he re . J ust let the Amer ic an public discove r a ... real in sport and next thing you know everybody ' s doing it. Remember how exc lus i ve sporty c ar s us ed to be? One day you we re explaining t o skeptical friends about s uperi or handling , low pri c e, high performanc e and the fun of downs hift ing and nex t day the re they we re toolin g about in a 'Porsche of their own . F ortun a t e ly we re gained our sens e of e xc lusive ide nt ity when we discove red or returned to motorcyc ling. Day s still go by without s eein g a nothe r , cy cl e on th e road , but I've encount e re d an a larmingly lar ge numbe r of fe llow riders on weekends l ate ly. My arm las t Sund ay gre w tired from wavin g, and I shudde r to th ink wha t summe r will brin g, Unles s we ac t now , motorcy c lin g e le ct ric toothb rushing, and we individu alists will may become as common have to take up he licopt ering or po go stic ks to be differ ent. W must act now e if we are to pre s er ve motor cy cling as an in sport . He re ' s my plan: as •HOW TO STOP THE TREND TO MOTORCYCLING without doing anything different Firs t of a ll, the manufacturers , deale rs and dis tri but ors of motorcy c les will have to s top advertis in g in th e enthusiasts pu blications . T hen they (the publicati ons ) will qui ckly go out of business and stop tellin g new ent husiasts all the secre ts of the in s port. W ithout this information the new ent husi ast will be left to flound er in his own mistake s and soon will give it up for a hobby that is e asier to master , like s ailboatin g. All ad ver t is in g should be ch annelled in to th e ge ne ral interest media, wit h a hea vy emph asi s on the brand that is Vay ing the bill. If possible, ad agencies can think up subtle ways of disparaging c ompetin g brands ( " T he re ' s no s ti gma attached to riding a BuzBu g" ) and th us c onf use th e buyin g publIc. All mot orcy cle cl ubs an d or gan izati ons curren tly est a blis he d should be disband ed, l eavin g only th e A rne r i c an Motorcycle As sociation as 0 u r spokesman . Any stree t rider who hasn 't already remov ed his muffl er should immed iate ly do so , then run up and down his stre e t in fi rst and second gears until a ll the ne i ghbors a re thoroughly annoy ed. Then he shou ld complai n lou dly abo ut bein g harass ed by th e police . Honda s hould immedia tely destroy all existing copie s of its excellent safety film, "The Circl e." Shou ld any de aler have to sell a motorcycle to an insistent customer , he s hould giv e him a fe w bri ef words of ad vi ce, then s end him ho me on his new cycle with out furthe r rid er training. Costume Is Import ant . Th os e of · us who are already ad dicted to motorcycling s hould le t our hair and be ards grow , wear T ijuan a jackets and heavy' chains a bout our waists . W should contrive to be seen In public drinking e heavily, using foul language . an d saying " Th e Hell 's Angels aren't all bad ," Th e steps described above , combined with what we are a lready not doing , sh ould ve ry effectively scare away any normal pe rson and thus keep motorcyclin g for the few of us who re alize wh a t a gre at sport it really Is . Becaus e one thing y ou c an be s ure of , any li ttle pus h in the oth er di rection ri ght now c ould have eve ry body rid in g cy cle s . T hen where would we be? Better off? You're ri ght! Ne xt week we take tongu e out of ch e ek .to discuss "The Street Riders' Dilemma" THE RUN AWAY 175cc MONTESA ENDURO CONSTANT KICKS IN c PETIT 0 , The mean Montesa 175cc Enduro is more than a t rack terror ... it' s a bike a guy can soup-up, knock -down. add to or strip to his racing heart's cont ent ! Top rider John Cassis knows th is kind of excitement. First he added a 175 tuned pipe and a 175 scramb ler head. Next he switched the carburetor to 30 mm. On went a kill button and fold ing pegs: off came the headlight. Result: IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S EVEL KNI EVEL! . Look, up in the sky .• did you jus t see a Norton treetop high? W , you soon ell will , becaus e Evel Kni ev el and his "Motorcycl e Daredevils" will be coming back to California with their st unt s how. Here he is at a rec ent exhibitio n in Barstow, jumping 80 feet from ramp to ramp, clear over two pickup trucks . Evel' s · partner TIm P erior says ramps are being const ructed " in order to attempt a jump of 120 feet. " Sponsored by Goodyear , Berliner Motor Corp. and W ebco , Evel also spec ializes in rear wheel riding at hi gh speeds , as s hown below. TV TAKES TO 2 WHEELERS Best news to come from the ent ertainment world this week was the sale of " Cycle Time." a weekly ~ hour program produced hy enthus iasts , Bob Boatman and Ray Connors , to a sponsor as ye t unannounced. Featuring a catchy theme by Henry M ancini tha t we predict will soon s weep the nation. Cycle Time will film all-new shows under the te chnical direction of Clyde Earl to spotli ght th e fun s port in all its phases. Watch Cycle News for the time and channel of the first program, and be ready for our contest to write the lyrics to the tune " Cycle Time" , soon to be announced. Proving once again that nothin g moves on the screen lik e motorcycles, ABC-TV's " W World of Sports " featured the recent ide Ascot 100-l ap TT , reported last week in Cycle News. The producers and directors deser ve to be commeoded for their excellent presentation, and Cycle News hopes they'll show it again on APril 12th so our announcement on the front page won't have been in error. Lat est to COme down the airwaves was M onday night' s t r i b ute to Prado Park scrambling on KCOP-TV' s Darin g Ventures . The Bas t fa mily of Van Nuys, Sharon Matson, Bill Riley and Jim Hunter co-starred in the segment. one of the sweetest. tou ghest scramblers that ever dug dirt. John Cassis and hi s Montesa Enduro smashed t he field -34 t rop hies to prove it! The price is right. ri ght now. If your Montesa dealer can't supply you with a 175cc Enduro, write t he addr ess below. And hur ry! MO TESA MOTORS J INC. Sole U. S. Importer and Distributor 3657 W Beverly Blvd., lo s Angeles 90004 . 48-HOUR PARTS SERVICE AVAILABLE ANY PLAC IN THE U E .S.