Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

y Chuck Clayton WHAT KIND OF A NUT READS CYCLE NEWS? · 'IJ,,§ ~.I~A HIJ,,"I It. II. Mdt-, 1966 SS,q IM.. etJ. INI.4, ifOM' Iuw. /-,. «'OiIw; ". 0-. ;". doc4 -J ~ iG .wJt, iMcJ«Ji.., u.. ja&"Io,•• _ ~ VICTOR II. u.. etI'''Ju,! fl,w-in,·t ~ ;". • ~- ~ rBONDBlJBO£T IIPITI"IIU MIC D ~ ~ -J ...fIice at u. ~tlt«w'4, ht;d/- LOIS Beach Honda • • • • • 4S28 L 439.0943 : I •••••••••••••••••••••.••...•..........•.•••••••.•..•.•••• 5105 A.... 6A 3-1433 "".iII We RIDE What We SELL ""6.4 SAVE BIG MONEY NEW 1966 HONDA'S Two BIg Locations ~326-3810 2073 w. Pacific Coast Hwy. 583-3409 5101 Atlantic Bl~d. NATIONAL MOTOR SUPPLY CO DISTRIBUTOR FOR ~ IRV SEAVER ( 714 ) 542-869] 2402 N.MAIN, SANTA ANA ~- As one thousand of our subscrihers already know, Cycle News last month mailed out a sample questionnaire to learn something about our readers. Over six hundred copies have been received so far, and the information they give us is just short of astonishing! We had already suspected that those who "read all abont it in Cycle News' were wellinformed, intelligent and among the upper echelon of American sporting enthusiasts ... oot we had no inkling that they would measure up quite so high! After tallying UP the responses, we found our readers to be plant managers and skilled operators, electronics engineers, principals and professors, supervisors and students ... people from many walks of life. Everyone told us a little ahout themsel ves on our un-signed questionnaire. Through the answers received, we have averaged-out a statistical "portrait' of the average reader of Cycle News. (However, we find very little about our reader that could be considered "average' by any means!) The composite picture of a typical Cycle News subscriber makes him twenty-seven and a half years old. He is in a skilled profession earning about $13,400 a year and owns 2.4 motorcycles (in the immediate family). They list boating, skindiving and bunting as tbeir other major interests in addition to cycling. Our readers' favorite ·Indoor sports' shows that they are well-adjusted .•. and most of them bave a keen sense of humor! The average Cycle News reader has been riding motorcycles (a surprising) eight years••• starting before tbe "Honda Revolution' , and bas lived in the same location for approximately twenty years, which means our reader is among the more stable of our nomadic American population. For the most part, they ride imported bikes, and "migbt consider" the purchase of a new motorcycle within the next year. Our average reader is not now a member of a M/C club or organization, although tbe responses were just about half-and-half between past and present members and independents. The favorite activity turns out to be off-tbe-road riding, with a preference for scrambles and cow-trailing (again, an almost evenly divided vote between road and dirt riders plus touring, and all-out dirt riders). Almost every one plans to attend a motorcycle race in the near future and as for heing a race participant the answer was "maybe". At the end of each questionnaire, we asked for suggestions for improvements. Nine out of ten suhscribers listed "better mail service' as their only gripe. We confronted our local Postmaster with this evidence and they have promised to speed up their end of things. If you, as a su bscriber, do not find tbat your service improves within the next few weeks, please notify your local Post Office. If tbat doesn't work, BA please write Cycle News. In remote areas, it may be necessary to pay an additional $5.00 for a First Class mail subscription to be sure of getting your paper by Saturday. • BOY, DID THEY GET 1 WRONG NUMBER! Last week employees of Pacific Telephone Company in Los Angeles were handed a vicious, cheaply printed brochure titled "MURDER CYCLES.ls the Ride Worth the Price?" No name appears on the pamphlet, but reference to ·employees" indicates the hrochure was issued under the aegis of the company. Mr. Gordon L. Hough, Vice President and General Manager of Pacif'ic Telepbone, stated Monday that he has no knowledge of tbe pamphlet and had not yet seen it. APparently it was issued witbout his approval hy some overzealous anti-motorcycle fanatic in the lower ranks. Whether the thing was printed with phone company funds is also not known. Tbe two inside pages, headlined ·The Murdercycle Trail' purports to depict graphically the route to "inevitable mayhem" starting at "Murdercycle Manor (motorcycles for sale),' leading to "Tragedy gap", "Body & Bones Hospital," and finally to "Cycle Cemetary.· On the back page is a grisly list of injuries purportedly suffered by un-named "employees,' and it ends with a misleading set of statistics implying that motorcycles are"270times as dangerous as automobiles." Quotations from the recent erronious Time Magazine piece (see Vol. III #31 Cycle News) are included to poison the well of safety education by stating tbat • the motorcycle safety situatinn is just about hopeless" and "the 'motorbike... is it worth tbe inevitable may bem, death and economic loss?" Mr. Hough said that his company is very much concerned with safety for its employees. If this concern is sincere, we trust that Mr. Hough will find out who is responsible for issuing sucb a disreputahle, naive piece of trasb and put a stop to it. To imply that the motorcycle is inherently a weapon of selfdestruction is the sickest approach we have encountered toward solving a problem that is of greatest concern to all of us. There are several things tbat employers can do to belp make cycle riding safer for their people. Botb Honda and tbe AMA offer good films on safety. Tbese can be gotten free. Suzuki bas a fine hooklet on safety that should bave been passed out to employees instead of "hate literature." And very soon we hope to announce a live-and-film show and demonstration on motorcycle safety, hosted by a leading AMA racer, whicb will tour high schools, colleges and large companies. (Note-After speaking with Mr. Hough we received a call from a Mr.Randolphof Pacific Telephone. He apologized for the negative approach of the offensive pampbJet lIDd promised to issue another. prevared with the help of Cycle News, to slrille a IIIOre responsible blow against accidents on 2-wbeelers,) S 24 BRANDS .. -Ii. -" zo 611 Largest stock on West Coast 0ealer 1 nqulnes InVIted QUALITY MOTORCYCLE ACCESSORIES ALSO IN STOCK DC • -1 SZN L8 8119'66 135. ALL ARrAS ZONE V, CIRCUIT ,. na: rOLLOVIIC R£LtASE vAS IIIIE AT HtAIIQUARTI:RS TO ALI. IlEVS IWlIA QUOTE , ~ 81191'6 CliP ZONE v 1120 LOS ."NCUES FOR NEWS RELEASE PHONE: 213 633-5178 15710 Garfield Avenue, Paramount, California 90723 AUCUST 19,1966. CALIFORNIA HICHWAY PATROL COMI1ISSICrJER BR'.DfORD M. ~RlnENDEN TODAY TOLb MOTORCYCLE DEALERS, DIS1RI8UTOR$ AND MANUFACTURERS THAT 2Ai DIFFERENT MOTORCYCLE f10DELS ARE TO BE BI.NNED fROM SALE IN CALIFORNIA UNTIL THEY ARE EQUIPPED ACCORDINC TO STANDARDS SET 8Y THE CALIFORNIA VEHICLE CODE. THE AFFECTED "ACHINES ARE MANUFACTURE» ABROAD BUT DISTRIBUTED IN THE UNITED STATES. THE BAN IS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. ACCORDfNC TO CRITTENDEN, ALL A.RE [QUIPPED WITH S:~B-STAND"RD llCHTING EQUIPMENT. THE CALIFORNIA VEHICLE CODE F,OvtDES THAT LIGHTING USED ON MOTORCYCLES IN CALIFORNIA MUST B~ APPRovED BY THE CALIFOR~IA KICKYAY PATROL, AND ONLY AFTER EXTENSIVE TESTING SHOWS TH£ EXIUIPl'lENT TO BE: IN COMl'L1AIIICt. ..:nt1 ... "'""to STANDl\ftu;). lIlt. MANUFACTORERS ARE ASKED EITHER TO SUBMIT SAMPLES OF THEIR LIGHTING [QUIPMENT FOR TESTING, OR TO [QUIP THEIR MACHINES WITH APPROVED LAHPS. -ACTION IS BETNG rAKf.N BECAUSE or iHE APPARENT UNWILLINGNESS or THESE MANUFACTURES TO BRINe THEtR PRODUCT uP TO PRESENT CALIFORNIA STANDARDS - CRITTENDEN EXPLAINED, -DESPITE REPtATED NOTIFICATION AND EXPL.".ATION FROM THE CAl.ITORNIA HICHWAY PATROL.CRITTENDEN SAID REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PATROL WILL CALL UPON DEALERS ALL OVER CALIfORNIA , AND INDICATE THE "ODtts TO BE WITHHELD F1t0'l SAL-:::. - fAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS NOTIF:CATION, [ITHER BY WITHDRAWI", uP TO PRESCRIBED CALIFORNIA STAN.DAR.DS, W~LL BE REASON FOR ACnON "'AINST THE DEALERS UNDER PROVISIONS or THE CAlIFORNIA VEHICLE CODE,· CRITTENDEN COIn1JD[D . THE AFFECTED !'lOOn.S INCLUDE, ALLUI ':'£, ATL~, B.tNIJ,.LJ, lRIL.ACO. CAPRI, CAPll0-0, :DUC.uI, ~, KE1.tIIX£1., UA.l.~J.EI., .IIJiA. LMsRETT,J:, "Oan.EUI, "GI%ESA, JlOPU. --OSSA, lAI.lIJ.&. I&lUL BALlICO"&... Dr! MACHINE FRO:"1 SALE OR BY BRINCIfl:C ITS LICHTINC [QUIPM£NT Rtvt!isi-OE. StARS, VESPA, o m AIlD ClIP IlDQTWS ZUllOAPI', • I IlCCDIlBI FOR IfDIS HUASE AUQJST It, lHe UIllUlOTl: ClIP ZOE • IUllUOIIIII _ IIAI: (Continued on page 21)

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