Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

LONG EDITORIAL 3 Bv Chuck Clayton - - -- - - - - j NEEDED: RESPONSIBLE STREET · RIDERS By naw yo u've proba bly heard that in Ameri ca motorcycl e lo ve rs in general ha ve so mething of a public relat ions proble m. Our reput ati on (I hesitate to us e the wornout word " ima ge") has been so tho roughly slandere d Qy th e s ens ationhungry pres s ove r the ye ars that it is a wonde r to some citizens that motorcycles ha ve not been declared cont raband lon g ago an d al l of us " addi cts" round ed up. W hav e come a lon g way s inc e the e early 1940' s whe n the Hearst News pap er syndi cate tri ed i ts darndest to ha ve all motor cycle s in California except thos e us ed by th e police declared ille gal and co nfis cated . Now the grandson of Wm. Randolph Hearst romps around the family estate at San imeon upon, of al l things, a Honda . Shades of Citizen Kane. Th er e is s till much to be done and the j ob now facin g us can only be done Qy the s t ree t rid ers, singlehand edly, because it is th e daily or weekend transportation rid er that the public s ees and thinks it knows . The l ett er from Richard Hoffman in the Voice of California this wee k calls for tolerance from car drivers (the publi c ) for cycle riders. Tolerance is flne, but why not go a step furt her and work for respect? How do we earn respect and do we deserv e it? I think we do. Certainly the men who rac e their machin es in fair co mpetition deserve respect and this is ofte n deni ed to them by the antic s of their brethren on the road. Th e rider of the roa d des er ves respect as well , for he is one of the ru gged individualists, ready to match his s kill a gai nst the ha zards of traffic. And, li ke th e man with th e ne t and trident ag ainst the armored gladi ato rs of Rome, he is usually victori ous . But the approv a l of the c rowd is Withheld and thumbs are cast downward to ward hi m for al l his nimbl en e s s and wit. W ? hy RESPONSIBILITY EARNS RESPECT Resp ect is an outcome of respons ibility. If respe ct is a motorcy clist's goal, then responsibility is the road to it. F or many years to come we motorcyc le rid ers will hav e to be jus t a little bit better than any other category of e motorist. W hav e to be more conscious of our appe ar ance , th e noi s e we mak e, and even the emiss io n of exhaus t fumes than anyone dri vin g a c ar , t ruck or bus. Li ke bad breath, so me of our most irritatin g offenses ar e uncons cious ones. The noise we make , for in stan c e. NOISY NOT NICE One motorcycle by itself may not be objectionably loud. but three or four ac celleratin g in un ison adds up to a deafening roar, enough to set the police switchboards alight with complaints and register that many more votes against us. Be conscious of the peace and quiet of neighborhoods you ride in . Arrtve and depart s ingly at all times and nev er , never ride without a murner on tbe street. Okay? Okay. I have never seen a solo rider who didn 't extend the cour tesy of the road to oth er traffic. One ha s to , being outweigh ed and outnumbere d by the cars . But groups of rid er s, s tretched out thr ee and four abr east and c arrying on conversation at a s nai l's pac e while traffi c backs up behind them hav e eve n ca used me to b e c om e infuriated, and I lov e motor cy cl es . I think the best so lutio n (an d her e I draw the wrath of e ve ry organi zed road ridin g club in California) is simply not to rid e in groups of more than four bik e s to a clu mp. DON 'T GANG UP When othe r p e 0 pIe see a gang of mot orcycl es, they naturally assume it's a motor cycl e gang. Nobody has told them that law-abiding motor cycl e clu bs exist. Much less ha ve the y heard abo ut the good deeds that AMA chartered cl ubs perform. LET 'S HEAR I T I would like to see 20¢ out of every dollar donated Qy motorcycle groups to cbarity this year spent to bire a professional publicity agency to teU the world what real motorcycle enthusiasts are doing. I'm tired of the Hell's Angels stealing all the headlines. Th e fa ct is , pe r capita , motorcyc le clubs contri bute more time and money to chariti es than any organized group exce pt some P asadena millionaire s . Th ey are so charitabl e, in fa ct, that the entire proc eeds of many of th eir finest runs are turn ed ove r to the Red Cros s, Mar ch of Dimes , City of Hope, needy ind i viduals, etc . without even as much as 10')0 .Mlckey lIouse riders arrive at Flynn Springs MICKEY MOUSE PARADE bein g s et aside to hir e a public relations firm to send pre s s rel eas es to newspaper s an d TV so th ey c an tell of th e contributions made by motorcyclists . Yet as much as 50% of the money th ey donate goes to the March of Dime s, the Red Cros s, etc. You' ve heard of t he m, I trus t? CYCLE CITIZENSHIP Th e final s uggestion Cyc le News has to offe r for those who want to see progress in motorcy cling is protest injustice through conventional cbannels. If anyone recei ves a traffic ticke t he feels is unjust, plead not guilty and ask for a jury trial . Write to you r legislative repre s en tative and tell him what yo u want him to do for motorcycling. Ask yo ur mayor or city councilman to block attempts at posting t rails against cyclists. Ask candidates for public office what their stand is toward the fut ure of motorcycling and ge t the m on re cord. With a responsible riding public exerc ising citizenship in pursuit of the American ideals of fair play and understanding , we can make California a mucb better place to ride motorcycles in. NEXT WEEK: Th e Sport of Compet iti on. Or, What Happens When You Trade Your Headlight for a Number Plate ? By Jack Byrd Th e weather was dark and dreary. No this seems to be regular s un at all week- end weather, and most of the road ridi ng clubs have co me to expect it, so it was no surprise when rid ers s howed up i n foul weather gear for the Pacific Coasters Club's Mick ey Mous e Run. Th e rid e s tarted at Santa Ana HarleyDavidson and too k us t h roug h San Cl emente, Oceans id e, Escon dido and fw ished in Flynn Springs , near El Cl\i on. Old man Sun pl ayed hookey until the late afternoon, and the n as th e rid ers wer e departin g for home - dec ided to shine a bit. The theme of the Run being Mickey Mouse, all who entered were wondering what to expect and everyone was surprised to rec eive a M.M. balloon as a so u ve n i r of the nm: Some of the tro p1\y winners were presented with M.M. hats, also. Twenty-five tropbies were awarded to entrants. Ken Osmond with his powder blue '65 Electra-glide took the first place trop by in the best dressed custom class over lllOOcc ' s . Best dressed custom under I OOOcc's was awarded to Tommy ThompsoD for his 305cc Honda . Th e club provided musi c for dancing, and a fe w ente rprisin g couples Championship performance, right out of the box! Choose a super-fast, boss-handliag TT Special like the one that powered Bob Fen (pictured) tl victory in the Open Expert class of the National ChQionship Hare and Hound last SUnday, Or ride any of the models that proudly wear the TRIUMPH brand, from 200cc to 650cc. - BE SURE TO WATCH EDDIE MULDER TRY FOR THE 4th STRAIGHT INDOOR SPEEDWAY WIN ON THE TRIUMPH 200 THIS SATURDAY NIGHT IN LON G BEACH! Western Distributor JOHN S MO RS 265 ON TO We st Co lorado St ree t , Pasadena , Cali fo rni a

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