Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

lIaeliDe Of YORr Dreaas In regard to tbe next "Win the Machine of your Dreams" contest, I wisb to know If anyone is eligible. I mean, like, suPpose I bappened to have won the macbine of my dreams, would you ship It by exPress or wbat? I really enjoy your paper, especially the "Weekends on Wbeels" column. I would like to see a "Service Department" column put in like the magazines have. CECIL WILSON Stig! er, Okla. ("Yes, any subscriber can win tbe macbine of his dreams In our annual contest. If be cannot com e to claim hi s prize, we would ship it to him. We are planning a Questions & Answers depalt:' ment to start soon. This would answer service questions and others.·) WIN A LITTLE ••• What About Us? Enclosed is a copy 0 f a letter which I have sent to Frank G. Bonelli, County Supervisor for Los Angeles County. Perhaps if motorcycle riders would write to their supervisors. mayhe some day we could have somewhere close to ride, and not have to travel 200 miles. Dear Sir; Every year the taxPayers in Los Angeles County has part of his taxes spent for recreational activities for golfers. boaters, water skiers and boaters have Puddin~ stone and Hansen Dam. Horse back riders have Griffith Park and Hansen Dam area. And the golfers have lots of resorts. But the motorcyclist has no where to go, unless he goes far out in to the desert. There are areas in Los Angeles County that could be used. such as undeveloped park land. Tbe south side of Puddingstone Dam could be given over to motorcycle use. There are no houses around the area and the noise from the motorcycles would not be any louder than the noise made by the boats. Regulations could be set up such as all bikes would require mufflers; the riders would be required to wear a helmet and be fully clothed. Courses could be laid out and all bikes would be required to travel in the sam e direction. An area for hill climbs could be made. To help in the cost of maintenance, a fee could be charged, such as a "bike fee". Tb ere are many motorcycle owners in Los Angeles County. And as a motorcycle owner and TAXPAYER, I feel that we are being discriminated against, BILL A. ZAREMBA Covina ("Good for you, Bill, For tbe Story 011 California's Only Motorcycle Park see tbis issue.") We have just seen a copy of your publication, and believe me It is the very finest ever - so keep uP the good work and reporting. especially the fine pictures. We might be able to get further subscriptions for you after getting our first issues. JOHNNY ESLER Grand Rapids, Mich. LOSE A LITTLE Please cancel the paper. Do not send anymore especially since it went uP to 25¢ it would not be worth Our while or yours. RAY LANE CYCLE Walnut Creek, Calif. Attention Professional Racers: Once again it's Our pleasure to have on hand a complete professional racing calendar for our Dist. 36 and Dist. 36A (from Bakersfield to the Oregon border.) If you are interested please send a stamped, self addressed envelope and we will be glad to send you a copy of the Calendar. Tbanks for your support, and good luck to you this year. (MISS) PATTIE PRESTIDGE 1297 Edgewood Way Sou th San Francisco California 94080 13 and RARIN'! in your December 22 Issue you state that young Jim Pomeroy (lJ-years-old) has made a good start in his motorcycle racing career on dirt tracks. I am also almost 13 and would like to race motorcycles. I was wondering if you gentlemen could help or tell me how I could make a start in racing. I know a lot about engines and I think I could race a motorcycle pretty good, rot wouldn't like to go about 250cc. FRANK MOORE Arcadia (" According to tbe best advice, Frank, you begin by practicing orr tbe highway until you develop tbe reOexes, muscles and skill it takes to do tbe job. Join a motorcycle club .mose members race like you want to. Tbeir help cal' save you a lot of wasted time and frustration.") Prospecti yeS Nuts Attention I have to take note of one of the letter in the last issue. Seems a gentleman from North Dakota has the idea of riding a sidecar the length of Baja California since, as he put it, "Apparently no one has bothered such nonsense before." We hate to deflate his aspirations to commit a "first", but perhaps you could point out in the paper that we of the Association would be happy to give him any information we could on hacking to B~a. Jerry Person and I made the trip all the way down and thence over to Mazatland in the trusty old orange outfit back in the summer of 1965. Proper preparation and patience and a lot of stamina is really enough to get you through. I'm afraid I don't understand or recommend this penchant for racing down there though. It can be a most enjoyable , and interesting trip if you take the time to enjoy it. It is rough as hell, though. I rode the entire distance, nearly 1000 miles, standing and working the hack in the same way I have to in the desert. Since Jerry and I have made this trip twice now, and have quite a slew of photos, we would be more than willing to get together with any prospective nuts who would like such useful info as where the people are especially friendly, where the gas is, and who has cold beer, etc. It Is one of the amazing things to me that even though the occasional sback that you run across now and then on the way down looks like it would constitute a slum in some of the worst parts of Arkansas or Kentucky, there Is usually a gas refrigerator full of good cerveza. No lights, fioors. windows, furniture, or any of that other stuff, but cold beer. And what a welcome thing that can be. GARY WEBER Sidehack Association 10126~ Mountal rAve. Tujunga, California Northwest is Cycle News Territory Too I learned of Cycle News through a friend of mine who is a TT rider. I was thrilled to learn of a pUblication offering primarily news of clUbs and competition. I was disappointed however to see nothing on events that have taken place in the Northwest, Our summer competition is of the highest quality. There are names and numbers like #69 Sonny Burres. #67 Glen Adams, #80 Emil Ahola and #62 Dick Taylor. These are just four national numbers we have pleasing the fans UP here and it has been more than once that these men have had to dodge the rooster tails of men like #37w Francis Franklin. #6q T.L. Hogland and #40q Gary Jean. During winter the TT competition ceases pretty much because of the large amount of rain. Rain, however, makes for some pretty "hairy" hare scrambles, enduros and hare & hounds and the clu bs up here put on some of the best. There is a lot of enthusiasm for motorcycling up here but along with it there is a lot of apathy as far as letting the public know about it and publications like yours know about it. I think the apathy has reached its limit and I would like to do something about it. I do not attend all of the events that take plac e here but I do get to as many as possible. I am no journalist but if your paper is interested I will try to gather what info I can on events that I can attend and relay it to you. GIL ARTMAYER Portland. Ore. (" By all means please do, Gil. Start by sending us infonnation on all upcoming events for oor Calendar dept. There's plenty of space in Cycle News for everytbinC that happens in the west. And if we need more space, we'JJ add pages.") I Ride file Freewflys -And SfflY AliveBy Chock Clayton You want to really make time in Los Angeles, or any city for that matter? Then come with me on a trip around the town via freeways, mostly, as you can only dig it from a bike. Yes we'll ride a big-engined motorcycle on our trip becanse we'll need every bit of that borsepower and instant response to make a lark of it. As we turn onto the Long Beacb Freeway see bow the traffic speeds? We must dial it on in tbird gear full to come out abead of green Nasb Ramblers in tbe slow lane. Brrrrrrrrrrl Finally in bigb gear at 70mpb we station ourselves in the fastest lane. in tbe left wbeeltrack of the car abead, ever wary of erratic drivers in the fast lane coming head-on. Tbose boles in the divider fence bear eloquent testimony to the proximity of danger every foot of the way. As we go faster we lessen the danger-time and concentrate our senses on the patb ahead. Tbe faster we go, the farther ahead we better look. Our reactions, observe, are smootb and instantaneous. Tbe flicker of red lights ahead comes not as a surprise because we bad seen the exbaust pipes start smoking a second before, indicating the cars were slowing down. Instead, of stopping with tbem, we select anotber gear, anotber lane, another orbit and continue our career unimpeded. Tbere are signs along tbe freeway verge that spell out the toll it takes on macbinery that travels it. Headligbt rims and bumper guards, bubcaps, glass and bere and there a toolbox cover from a Honda Dream glisten like moulted bettIe parts in the sun. '''e, Sa, RACING'S SAfER When you ask a motorcycle expert how to ride safely in traffic, be'll always tell you to "drive defensively." This is good advice if you are galning early experience with your machine. You have to move slowly and spread your attention over a 360 degree "circle of safety· around you. The "Arc of DangerAs speeds go up, bowever, you'll need to focus more of your attention of the "arc of danger· directly abead. The motorcycle rider at speed. exists in all four of the Einsteinian dimensions at once. The fourth dimension, velocity, is a product of motion and time. In much the same way that two parallel lines converge in space, parallel traffic may intersect the path of a high speed motorcycle unexpectedly. Even the quick reactions possible witb a motorcycle's controls cannot cope in time witb unexpected obstacles in the fast rider's path, If you think your reactions are quick, try this experiment: Have someone hold a dollar bill halfway between your open finger and thumb. As soon as he releases the bill, try and grab it before it falls. You can't do it. Reactions just aren't fast enougb. Tberefore, to be safe at speeds in tbe 50-80 mpb range you bave to focus more of your attention on the path abead, and learn to anticipate cbanges in the traffic pattern and alter your path before objects intersect. Twenty minutes we sweep over tbe most beautiful part of the freewa} system, tbe San Diego/Santa Monica interChange, to wbere tbe lanes become fewer and the cars and bike buncb up, each figbting wbeel-to-fender for tbe forward spot. An adept rider on a powerful. agile mount can" berd" automobile traffic into a sell-containing pattern much in the same way that a sheepdog molds bis cbarges into a berd. I remember once 1 was challenged by a red Impala, whose magnesium wheels told me be was a racer at heart, just as I needed to make a bold diagonal sweep into his lane. There was nothing for it but to speed the creature up and cross over behind him. To accomplish this. 1 feinted with the tbrottle to make him think 1 was going to pass. He accelerated in a great whoosb of exhuast and 1 backed oll at the same instant. This brougbt him nosediving short of the rear of a green Nash Rambler station wagon in the next instant. but 1 was by then safely distant on the ollramp heading for Coast Highway. From Long Beach to Santa Monica. we steer then for Topanga Canyon. the northern outpost of the city. Topanga Canyon Road is an exciting stretcb of peg-to-peg curvery with a moving obstacle on every turn. We welcome the unimpeded speed of the Ventura Freeway headed back to L.A. via Hollywood 3nd tbe Sunset Strip. lSO+MPH' 3Malc RACERace BEST 2 OUT Of • fIRST 2'. MURRY &COOK YS PERRY &SCOTTY IRWINDALE RACEWAY SUNDAY JAN. 29 " fOR fUll THEil INfO. CAU 969-1214

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