Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Y"II~ 11w.,• • • ~ ... 11 -ntE YOICE OF CALIFORNIA' serving all the West Publisher and Advertising Manager ••••••••••• Charles C. Clayton Editorial stories, cartoon, photos, Business Manager•• Sharon Clayton etc. are welcomed and will be paid F1~ST • • • • Circ.ulation Mgr••• Gaye Thomason for upon publication (except press Editor•••••••••••• Carol Sims releases and ·Voice" letters. AdPhoto Editor••••• Dennis Greene dressed, stamped envelope assures ,Editorial Assistant.Robert Bradford return. &411 N. LNg Beaell BI,'" Advertising Ass!. • Lynn Lancaster Single copy price ••••••••• 25¢ LOlli Beacll, Calif. !10815 SUbscription: One year 2nd class Published weekly except the first Mail •••••••••••••••• $7.50 Or: Box U8, LOIg Beacll, Calif. and last week of the calendar year One Year First Class Mail•• $14.00 by C&S Publishing Co., Post Office P....e:42HU1 (SUbscribers please allow three Box 498, Long Beach, California. weeks for address change.) (Area Code 2UJ Second Class postage paid at Long Advertising rates and circulation Beach, Calif. FI'OIII L.A. Phoees: &3&-8144 information will be sent upon request. FEARLESS FLAGMEN I am an avid racing fan, who hasn't missed a ,Frida,y night at ,Ascot in three years. I alwa,ys stand at the north turn because I can watch the riders coming in and going out of the turn. I notice in your paper you criticize poor flagging at other races. Why is it nothing is ever said about the unsung heroes at Ascot who save more lives and prevent more injuries than anyone? ' I'm talking about the guy in the yellow jacket who fearlessly gets riders and machines off the track, or protects an iniured rider by putting his bike between him and the oncoming riders. I've seen the flagger put his own life in danger many times to protect a rider or clear the track. Do these guys get paid for this? I have heard it is purely voluntary. If so, I would like to know what prompts them. I say, let's hear it for the flaggers. JOHN MANLEY Gardena ("Hooray for tile naggers - they get paid but they earn it.") DO SMALL BIKES OUTWEIGH BIG ONES! I dislike writing complaint letters, but feel I must speak out regarding big bikes vs. small bikes. Recently I have noticed that some of the promoting clubs aren't giving an even shake to both divisions. It seems the big bikes get twice as many laps (in some cases on a bigger course, BUT shouldn't the small bikes get the same amount of laps? After all $2.00 is $2.00 no matter how you look at it. Small bikes take a beating in the first place by using the short course, then to get only half the laps, come on now. Somehow r get the feeling that all is not well within this very fine sport. Could it use a little serious thinking? Lets look at our proceeds from each race. How many big bore entries? How many lightweights? How many dollars do we bring in from each division? Do we find that the small bikes outweigh the big bikes somewhat? Moneywise, can anyone honestly feel that the small bikes are not entitled to the same amount of track time? I think not. IF • LIGHTWEIGHTS ARE GOING TO RIDE HALF ,A RACE LET THEM PAY HALF PRICE. There are some very good clubs around that can r un off a good event, being fair to ALL concerned. These clubs know how well they have done by the compliments and support they receive from both heavyweight riders and lightweight riders alike. These clubs promote goodwill and good sportsmanship. Then there are other clubs. Do they want us to hate each other? There is room for all of us, if we work together for the sport. Regarding this new rule on levers with bigger ball ends, and rubber covered pedals, I think a li ttle more thought should go into this. It is a good rule as far as it goes, but how about leathers? They are one of the best safety features I can think o~ and yet no one seems to care whether they are worn or not. CLAUDE V. LONG Artesia, Calif. AN ODE TO THE BSA OWNER With golden tank and bars of chrome The BSA is a favorite from the Gulf to Nome. But why do their owners cringe in fear, At the sight Of a Triumph comi ng up from the rear? It's because they know it's futile to try To stop that Triumph from roaring by. Now the boys are painting' em green The object of this is easily seen. It's to pull off the trail and hide in the grass, And watch with envy as the Triumphs pass! ,AL MARSIK Desert Rider #797 (Triumph 650) Chatsworth LEGISLATIVE NOTEBOOKS By Barbara Dahms Uniformity 0 r I ndi vi duali ty? "People Planners" are always among us, taking polls to find out what we think we want and raising campaigns to sell us on what they think we want, with results ranging from ludicrous to disastrous. When your favorite TV show is cancelled or aproduct you have relied on is replaced by a "new improved" model you can tell they've been at work. When you find something you've done for years is suddenly illegal you know they're in control. Of course, there are people around who really know what they're talking about because they have been involved in a situation; but you will never find them among the "experts." ,An absolute requirement for people planners is that the group who studies something must never include anyone who knows anything at all about the subject being studied. After all the uproar about communism, fascism and government by force, it is ironic that we are living in a planned society and we don't even recognize the planners. They came to us, not waving banners and making revolutions, but in a very American way, waving charts and graphs and making reports. They came from Madison ,Avenue and IBM and they have only to ask a few questions from random samples and feed the results to a computer and the future is perfectly arranged. (Well, almost!) It is not so much the existence of the people planners as the seriousness with which they regard their craft and the faith with which everyone else seems to regard them that is alarming. Along with all the other things' they sell us is the idea that they are indispensable to modern life. BY CHUCK CLAYTON AN OPEN LETTER TO THE A.M.A. Gentlemen. Letme ask your indulgence of the unorthodox manner in which these comments are presented.lfthere were time enough to communicate through private channels, this message would be less urgent. As it is, I think that by letting the people read these words you may benefit/rom their opinions on the matter. Also, 'the AMA has 'shown itself to be alert to public opinion lately, a's evidenced by its "hands-off- ,policy toward local rules and the recent decision to let members elect the new Competition Congress. You are making good progress toward national self-government for the AMA member. 1 hope that in forming the Congress. members will elect only representatives who have shown a love of riding motorcycles, for that is what the AMA should be about. Road Riders Need Status I suggest that one 0[; the first orders of business at the next and last Competition Committee meeting in October should be the status of road riding clubsin the AMA organization. Road rider clubs and committees, like the RRC in Southern California should be given more help and guidance than they have received. They should be invited to participate in an AMA-endorsed program for the training of new motorcycle riders. The new BSA-Explorer Scouts-AAA pilot program offers exactly what motorcycling needs to attack the accident problem. Road riding clubs are perfectly 'set up to plug into this program. By 1970 there could be 6 million competent, well-taught motorcycle riders in the United States and a colfsiderable reduction in that statistic that tells us over 70% of accidents happen to bike borrowers. Drag Racing Deserves a Break Also, the AMA should con'sieler revising its drag racing rule's and, if necessary, forming a drag racing subsidiary to sanction drags under a uniform set of rules throughout the nation. Motorcycle drag racing is languishing at a time when strip owners are looking for just such a show as motorcycles put on. All that"s holding it back is indifferent sanctioning bodies and a conPublic Relations for the AMA fusion of rules. , Public and prf:ss relations have improved slightly, but more progress is need('!d. The AMA snould have its own P.R. budget instead of having to rely on the whims of the trade association. Money for this could be raised by AMA benefit events thruughout the country. Thousands are donated annually by clubs to other worthy causes, why not funnel our charity where it will do us the most good? Improve The Racers' Lot The plight of the professional racer needs to be improved. Promoters should pay the ilfsurance fees instead of taking it out of the racers' purse. Purses should be larger and promoters should be required to do adequate promotion to assure a good crowd at professional events, Perhaps each National Champion'ship race promoter should have to pay a sum for the purpose of sending immediate results of his champion'ship to all the major wire sezvices. The information should include the time and place of the next champiolfship in the 'series. These ,are the major items that need to be tackled immediately, whether by the outgoing Competition Committee or the incoming National Congre'ss. Experience has shown that dictatorships. however benevolent, cannot work on a large scale in American motorcycling. The AMA has succeeded in retaining the loyalty of its members despite the fact that it was a dictatorship. Maybe now thaUt's becoming democratic, we can Il/ake up last time and really have an Association of the people, by the rider and for the enthusiast. Sincerely, Charles C. Clayton #150,630 The People Planners Take On The (UGH) Motorcycle We who are interested in motorcycles have had the opportunity to observe them at work in the birth and growth of the" sportcycle." The people planners decided that the motorcycle and motorcycle-rider had a bad "image- and set about to reach the "mass market- with a new one. They tabulated ,American preferences and came up with the sportcycle, always pictured with a polished young man In spotless sportswear or a beautiful girl in as little as possible, lately toppe d with a helrne t. This is (in their own wo rds) the "new image cyclist.sales soared, proving to the satisfaction of the people planners that they had computed correctly. The next step follows logically. Remove the old image cyclists from the scene and require everyone to conform to the new image. Uniformity improves the landscape. Call it safety, protect the cyclist from himself, require helmets, goggles, boots and crashbars and limit the variation in, appearance of motorcycles (oops! sportcycles) by regulating handlebar heIght. There's no limit. Identical clothing may improve it further. The people planners will have no difficulty deciding what color is the safest to wear while riding. . There was just one small problem. Uniformity and individuality don't mlX•. One thlDg motorcyclists have in common is their individuality. In Califorma, at least, the people planners met their most feared adversaries•.• people who know what they're talking about. They met them on a most crucial battleground, the legislature; and for a while the new image will have to remain a matter of choice. Meanwhile, it is just possible that sales soared because these cycles filled a genuine need for a lighter, cheaper fun machine. Maybe "motorcycle" IS not really a duty word. Maybe what the people planners need is to include some expert riders in their study group, as the Nort-on- Air Force Safety semlllar recently did. The testImony of these men who actually ride motorcycles added more understanding to the subject then any of the remote studies presented. But of course that was only their opinion, and computers don't have opinions.

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