Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

~ • VOICE of CALIFORNIA First Things First • • .. I have been an avid motorcy cl e ri de r for 12 ye a rs . Durin g thi s time I hav e owne d Harl ey-David s on, T riumph, AJS, Ari el a nd Honda produ ct s . I hav e been mainlY a street rider with very little " di rt" expe rie nce . It ha s al ways been my dream to ente r th e "Hare an d Hound" typ e eve nts . No w that I am ready to pu rchas e a new motocro ss type cycle , I am ai a loss a s to wher e to begin. I have rea d seve ra l books and articles on the s ubjec t, but t hey a re vag ue and do not an s wer specific qu es tions. I am s ure I am not the o nly ri der in thi s situa tio n. I am hopi ng yo u can an sw er a few of my questions. Fi rst of all , whe re do I apply for a Dis t rict 37 num ber plate for des ert light weig ht class? What mus t a family pit crew hav e on ha nd s i nce I will not be s po nso red or afllliat ed with any cl ub? Mus t I belong to t he AMA i n order to ente r th e e vent s? Ca n yo u recommend any literature I can read o r peopl e I can tal k to o n thi s matt er? Keep up th e grea t news paper. As long a s yo u keep printi ng , I'll keep buyin g. KAY C. KLE IBER 1s t Lt, Arm or L os Ang el es • • • • • ED. NOTE: Firs t, join the AMA by sending $2.00 to 5030 N. Hi gh s t. , Columbus, Ohio. T hen co ntact Charle s Kurt z III, 1760 5 Hora ce S t, ; Granada Hills. phon e 363-98 17, for a lightweight des er t number, a nd oth er pertinent info rmation regardi ng des ert co mpetiti on. Good luck ! Hooray For No-Pcint Races I ju s t recei ved my co py of Cyc le News and read the article a bout tb e T .T . Scrambles that I promoted on June fift b at : El s inore . In thi s :,-ou stated that "Thi s sort of thin g happ e ns nea rly e ve ry ope n Sunday , Somewh ere , Someon e is pro moting a nopoint rac e. " The res t of th e arti cle was ve ry good and I than k yo u for le tt in g it be ther e. I don ' t know how yo u mea nt tha t stateme nt , t here a re two ways it ca n be taken. 1. T ha t it is good to hav e th e no poi nt runs where eve ryone has fun, or 2. Tha t the re s hould n' t be a ny no poi nt runs and tha t you a re against them. I am the ne w owne r of the tra ck a nd property at Elsinore a nd would nat urally like to get off on the ri ght foot wit h e ve ry one co nc erning mot orcycling. Tne rea s on for the last t wo ope n Sunday ' no-poi nt runs was for some of the rid ers t hat like the tra ck a nd wa nt to rac e there . Sure I know tha t s ome riders don' t li ke th e t rack and from what I can fin d out, the manageme nt before ha d some mis unders ta ndi ng with som e c lubs and rid e rs . I purchas ed this property a nd track with the th ought t hat it was , and cou l d be a great place for motorcy cling. If there a re some things that a re not liked by some , maybe the re a re ot hers that do. T here are s ome that think tha t thes e ope n Sunday no poin t runs a re just to put money in t he promote r's poc ke t, but this i s n' t so . At the J une fif th run th er e were 6 1 rid ers an d 168 s pecta tors at $1. 00 each whic h is only $229.00 . If any one think s thi s will pay for ins ura nce , a mbulance , flagm en, troph ie s and track maintenan ce they a re nut s : Th is does n' t incl ude the cos t of the prope rty a nd equipm ent. I am not c rying about the money tha t I ha ve s pe nt a nd the money it costs to ha ve the se e vents because I pla n to ha ve more in t he fut ure , in fac t we are now installi ng li ghts at the tra ck a nd plan to run eve ry sat urday ni ght. Sure I want the clu bs to use my t rack for poi nt runs because tha t is the only way I ca n get my in vestmen t back a nd I did have t hat i n mind. For additional 5% dl~~~~~lb2:~ •50 f ils 50 .. F or the ones that j us t wan t to ride for the fun of motorcy clin g, I a nd the City of Elsinore welc ome all riders, their fa mi lies , and fan s to come out a nd have a ball. I don' t know, maybe you didn ' t mea n t he stateme nt th e way I read it and I ha ve just unl oaded onyo u whe n I shouldn't hav e , if so please disre gard and - t hrow this lette r in th e waste basket. TOM PASCHAL Duarte E D: Thank you, Mr. Paschal, for takin g t he time to let us know abo ut this mis understanding. T he art icle in ques tion was written by George B. Maness and the quoted s tatement s bould in no way be take n to mean disapproval of th e open Sunday no-point races . What was mean t Is tha t even when t he re are no poi nt ra ces goi ng , a ri der ca n still ha ve fun pl ay in g or learni ng to race . Would Haybales Help? I am a ppal led at th e matt er of fa ct a ttitude a bout our riders bein g kill ed e very year at As c ot. It is the fastest , best tra ck i n th e u .s . and becaus e of t he s peeds that a re bein g rea c hed I believe that s ome of thes e could be av ert ed. I hav e bee n atte ndi ng As cot s ince it s fir s t motorcyc le rac e. I can e ve n saY I ha ve ridd en it for 4 y ea rs , both TT a nd ¥.z mile. I believ e our eq uipment i s the best in th e bus in ess , and I hav e given this proble m a lo f of thou ght. I beli e ve that if the wal l was cove red with hay ba le s at le as t may be 45 0 off the center of bot h nort h an d so uth tur ns . I hav e bee n to i ndoor ra ces and even our TT' s and noti ced how effec t ive t hey a re t here. E ve ry form of raci ng, almost , us e s the hay bales and th ey are very good for abs orbing the s hock O impact r of me n an d machin e s te aring i nto t he wall of hay. I know th e hay bale s wouldn' t be needed all the way to the strai ght-a-way and t hey would be ext r a work and an ' o utlay of mon ey , but if it would s ave a few boys or fathers and mac hi nes. it would be wo rth it. T hes e wal l s as they exi st are as s olid a s conc rete , th ey a re cu rtai ns for a bike and rid ers . If t hese ba le s were put 2 high a gains t the wall, I know the rid er s will s till keep comi ng eve n if nothing is do ne , but these deaths a re hu rting our sport. I s pe nd much time at work an d othe r pl a ces te l li ng pe opl e of o ur sp ort and how s a fe it is and the n they he ar of the s e de aths a nd ar e s ic ke ned of the spor t. I hear we went to the ba ll end co nt rols after J immy P hillip s wa s ki lled, a nd foldin g pi gs afte r George E vere tt, now may be Bud W augh' s deat h won' t be i n vain if, an attempt to prote ct the rid ers from that solid crash wall whe re it ne ed s it. I rea l iz e the hay would have to be lifted up on the wall for the ca rs to rac e but that would be small wo rk if it s uc ce ed ed. I am hopin g the pap er will publish thi s , maybe other ideas will come fort h. T ha nki ng you for heari ng my co mplaints. I have been ri din g since 19 38 s a I lov e the sp ort. Yours very truly , B.T . Compton E D. NOT E : Ho w do the ri ders at Ascot fee l a bout this ? Assis tance As ked Recent ly one of our members and a Di s t rict 36 Competi ti on rider , Bryce Cr abtree , met one of man's worst enemies - cancer . Ca nc er of the bone , fo rce d doc tors to amputate one of Bryc e' s le gs to stop the sp read of thi s disease DO YOU WANT TO WIN ---_..... OR DON7 YOU? Stop talking about going fast and do it with the 9lcc SUZUki H.P. Kit from B & W Enterprise. $28.50 Exchange/or $34.50 including installation. (Includ ing rebore ely., B & WEnterprises Inc. new hl-demenlsten, rings , •• ' wrls tpln and rac ing port li ming.) 128 South PaCifiC Ave• 80, & 120cc Suzuki. San Pedro, 832-5345 T~~~·1tknula C-Z (t. Husqvarna M"~}·hl· :';'7l.I!. In telephone 359.4541 Young Ones I am encl osing thes e pictures of Gary Be van s my 10 year old boy. On Saturday July 2. 1966 at th e ACA meet a t Willow Springs Gary won the 100cc class on a Yamah a 100 t win. In fac t he wa s the only one th at finis he d the 100c c class or unde r. It was so rough the ride rs e ithe r fell off or broke down. Th e arnaz ing thing is Ga ry is only 10 ye ars old. T he re were four diffe rent bran ds of cycles ente re d in the 100cc class . I thought it wa s an amazing fea t for a 10 year old . Gary rode hi s first race at 8 year ol d at Acton, Calif. on a 80cc Yamaha an d has bee n raci ng e ve r s ince . His 12 ye a r ol d brother ha s bee n ra c ing since he was 10 years old. Don Bevans Palmda l e Open Lette r to AM Office rs and A Representatives W woul d li ke to determi ne our s tatus e as of t his dat e . T he AMA has re voked ou r cha rte r, and co ns eque ntl y our June 26th sanction , due t o a letter of critici s m we submitted to Columbus , Ohi o. T hat le tter wa s not th en , nor is it now to be interpreted as our resi gna ti on form the AMA . At a rec ent Competiti on Comm. meeting, Th e AMA National representativ e for this area, advised us that Co lumbus , Ohi o, was up s et due to our dual sane- ti on for the P e rri s e vent. He stated t his wa s not permitted by AMA regulati ons . Aft er much reading and s t udy. WP still c annot find this rule , however , we tentatively accept his statement , although we feel othe r member cl ubs of Dist. 37 sh ould be informed of th es e obscure rules, in orde r to preve nt thei r bein g pen al ized. W were also ad vis ed Our charte r e woul d be renewed afte r J une 26, upon reapplication to Columb us . In t he event we d roppe d an y oth er afriliation prior to that da te, our charte r and sanction woul d have been rei nsta ted immediat ely . Due t o prior obli gations , we co ul d not accept thi s "pardon " by rac e time. . It is our und erstanding that s e veral ot her local cl ubs hav e since sent sim ila r l ett ers or crit ic i sm to the AMA , and we wonder if th ey too, hav e been expelled? To again cla rify o ur complai nt , we feel pro riders should be allowed to compe te in sporting e vents , if they s o e desir e. W propose an "E xpert Pr ofessi o nal Cla s s " wher e required , a nd do not feel this problem sh ould wait a year for re-evaluati on by the AM A. Furthermore , ri ders s hould be permitted to rid e when, where, an d whatever e vents they desi re, witho ut fea r of repris a ls. P olit ics mea n little to us, ridi ng a nd competing i n motorcyc le activities me an much. If the AMA in Col umbus , Ohio ca nnot hel p us in thi s area , t hen we s ubmit Dist . 37 Sports Comm. s hould be our sale gove rning body , a nd we pled ge Our full s uppor t to them. In the meantime , should they be des i red , we hav e comple ted forms fo r our Ben efit IT, but will not s ubmit them, if in so doi ng, we will jeopardiz e o ur entries , or s ubject them to AMA s uspension, in t he ev ent any of the 200 plus pa rticipants happened to be AMA members . We will hold a Grand P ri x Scrambl es i n November and would lik e to hav e the Dis tric t participation and approval settle by that da te. Res pe ctf ully, DIRTDI GGERS M.C. , Inc . Santa Monic a L a s t week , when t his c ol umn firs t appeared , someo ne a s ke d me " wha t a re C .C. ?" Well , truth s ee kers , C.C. stands for C ra sh C o rri ga n. Cubic C entime t e rs a nd C huc:k Clayton in t hat or de r. Nobody ha s he ard of Cra s h C o rr iga n s i nce he sold his scrambl es track to Bo b Ho pe , and c ubic centi me t e rs can 't wr ite col umns. So C huc k Clayton , your offi cial Editor , is pro ba bly responsible fo r conne cting these words. Truth · is Beauty, Beauty Truth Cy cle News ha s a n increa s ing responsibil ity to rep ort the rapidl y de velopin g cycle scene a s conscienti ous ly a s possible . Th e live s an d fort une s of a great number of bea uti ful people (as well as so me not so p re t ty) are dep endent on the accurate communication of to day 's cycl e ne ws . Not to mention the responsibli ty for ca us ing a ll those (Conti nued on p a g e ~) ACES july.JO~~31 ~ A PARK SIADIUM IR PACOIMA P ACTICE 12 RA CE 2:00 MOTORS 2422 E. H UNTIN GTON DRIVE DUARTE. CAI.I FO HNIA a nd save hi s li fe. It i s pre tty tough for a young c hap to keep s pirit s hi gh in the fa ce of thi s a nd a wife expecti ng their first chil d. Howe ver , Bry ce ha s great st amina and alrea dy tal ks of get ti ng onto a track a gain; we ha ve helped ra is e his hopes wit h a $500 contri bution toward s a heap of medica l expenses an d we ' re hopi ng that within o ur great fraternity ther e may be others who will help thi s high sp i rited cyclist and his fam il y s ee a much brig hte r future than is now a round t he co rne r. Should yo u see fit t o make any donati on to this most worthy caus e , we ask that you forwa rd same to our c lub ad dress in the n arn e of th e Bry ce Crabtre e Fu nd. MARVIN HE ATIl , P re s i dent Salinas Ramb lers Motorcyc le Cl ub 324 N. Main s t. salinas , Calif. WHTEMA Complete Serv ice. Parts . • -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - ------ 2407 SOUTH BROADWAY SAN TA ANA. CALIf . A.FA. 10 5 0 0 SAN FERNANDO RD. SAIKTIONED - JU ST NORTH Of OSe>ORN E RD. ...

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