Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

~ L l Some n>ore rlIclDg po1Wcs reared.1ts last _ _ aDd oar!)' Il1ti,euted tile best tbiDg to happen to I2dIIC in a long time. Last year Gary N1xaD was Dot CDIS1dered good enoucII to ride In tile senior Grand PriX 01. Japan lIDd was regulated to tile JaDlor everrt aboard a last-minute ride. Everybody knows wbat GarY did -he set a new track record and won going away. Last _ _ be climbed aboard a p1aDe for Japan as a full-tJedted member at tile Yamua Grand Prlx teIun to ride the SllIIior races in tile Z50 and 125 clas8M. Before he was everrt to Hawm.l the trouble started as the s-Per organlr.llHoo In the USA IaIlnm as MICUS stuBd that !be}' were Dot golDg to appian his eotry. 'Mlea lids petty problem was t1nally overcome, MICUS baDed around and stIded that GarY \fOIIld C(IIIIpelle bat could not _ _ Ids Bell star model helmet. NIxon, coatacted bj ~ in Halfa1l aDd told at tile Protilem, stated, UNo Bell, DO ride..." MICUS ameli's told Yamua that tile Bell was not approved OYer there (?). 'Ibts Hemed ratIler odd as DWIY pictures hlne ~ 01. some 01. theAmericaJIs wbo hlne beea road racing wttb tile FIM tile put few years, wearing American belmets. Once IP1D lids latest problem WIIS cleared llIl. We ....... DOW if GUy is wearing approlO8ll leatbers IIDd UDder_ _ for his debut 10 World dWmptOllsbip raciDg? Better cbec:It IIIat haircut, also as It IIIlIIMnld tar too sbQrt the last lime _ saw him In actioD. NlxOII wbo 1fOII or led lmlry road race ~ START'E YOU GDEPT. Keith Nicholson, 5-yelU-Old son of Greeves Distributor - Nick Nichol.son, bas been practicing the art of motorcycle r:ic\ing since be was 4~. Encouraged by his dad, an old Trials pro, Kel:tb here practices weaving his way through a series of go-kart tires (one Is hidden by rear wlEel of his -specialchopped job). Nic.k recalls that at 3~, Keith would wCI'k the throttle wbile riding with his dad up and do"Wn small ban.ks at El Mirage Dry Lake. During tIE week Keith practices the piano his bi.ke on SundalS. SuperScoop! FRANKFURT, WEST GERMANY- Los Angeles motorbooll:publ1sber, Floyd Clymer, former motorcycle dealer and distributor, bas purcbased tile f1rm of Friedel Munch, builder of Mammoth 4- cyUnder custom-built motorcycles. Munch, with factories at Nieder- Florstadt and <>ssenhelm, near FranIcfurt, was a former racing rider, factory foreman and racing director for the Horex Company. He designed and builds tile 135 mph, l000cc, four-cylinder Mammoth, the world's highest priced motorcycle. Munch remains in the Clymer factory as Chief Engineer and Designer. Joachim Marquart, general ma.nager, also retains his position. Rober Price, a Callfornian TOUGH TUSSLES AT CLYIERBUYSGFRM·.FACTORY ...PUIS TO PROIIICE 15Icc YT1II FOR U.s. MARKET now residing in Germany ,lIDd University of Georgia Technical EDgineerlng graduate, bas been retained by Clymer as technical consultant. Clymer states that addi tlonal employees' machInery and space !lave been added at Ossenebeim to increase Mammoth production. Three hundred units of hand-made custom job will be produced for sale in the United States in 1968. About 100 more will be sold overseas. Clymer states that a new 45 cu. inc. (75OCc) V-twin is now being constructed in Germany for sale in the Uniteq states, with first deliveries scheduled for early spring of 1968. Sales offices will be at the Clymer building, 222 No. Virgil St., Los Angeles, Callf. 90004. TROJA By Maureen Lee Prospects of rain Jeept the crowd away Thursday, sept. 28 but it didn't keep tile riders away (except the Powder PUff class) and tile guys who rode found the track to be in great shape after all tile moisture on it the night before! The two gals who did show were Kelly StobIe (Hodaka) and Daria James (Honda) and although tllere were just tile· two of them, they were allowed to ride anyway, with Kelly taking the win. Joe Bledenbach (Bultaco) won tile 100 .rwqor Main in tile TT events wltb yOWlg Dale Hopkins (Hodaka) ridiog his usual smooth race to second place. The sentor Main was a battle as usual with GarY BI1ley (Hodaka) leading it lIDd Tom warren (Bultaco) really bard after him. Jim Arledge and Stan Rogers arrived 011 tile sceDe and it was a good ODe for a wbile, with Rogers having to pull iDto the infield on tile yellow lap. It was ODe 01. the best 100 Mains we've 8ftI' seen! Tbe 250 class bad stan Rogers jump into tile le8d, then bombstraigbtovertlle jump and bead right for tile wall all locked uP! Lucky for him be was able to get out of the way before tile troops made the left-hander and started down his way again! Gary Balley (Greeves) got a good lead, leaving Rick James (Bultaco) and Tom Warren (Bultaco) to figbiit out for tile second and third, with James doing a great job in holdlng off Tom warren who wanted that second place! After intermission, out came the fiattrackers. Paul Wilde on a specially prepared YA1llaha shot tracker won the 100 Main with Joe Bledenbacb taking second. The real scrap was between David Quiroz (GUera) and Bill Potts (Honda) for the third and fourth p~es. Trojan Speedway favorite Lee stwnpenbaus (Bultaco) took the 250 Main after stan Rogers bad taken the lead. But once Lee got in front, it was adios! Tbe new program 01. having both T'I' and sbort track events will coatinue 011 'I'hanJday nigbts with racing Start:tnc at 7:30. And next time It rains, doD't think it'D be wasbed out, because tbere bas been con 51 d e r abl e mainteDance dllae there DOW to prevent floods such as last year's except UDder extreme condWonsl (Results OIl page 16) WE OFFER TOUR o' EUROPE AIR FARE. HOTELS, MEALS FOR FREE AID SIGHTSEEING ~~.-., __ NOlITON A J S. The 1., will .. In Iby-J-.l9A. With the purchase of , •• Start ""nc J - YaQtI. aow. a new motorcycle· MATCHLESS, EalllJ'IIleTullp Fes1h,alla Holl..cl Mel llIe worIdof_s Isle at .... •r TRIUMPH TT all for FREE! FOR DETAIU CALL OR WRITE VAlf-DER-KOLK & SOlIS 11ft SO. IIRAIID IILVD. GLEJlDALE, CAUF PH: (213) 24+5001I • LEGISLAliVE ~ Q, in tile AKA over bere this year, wtll teIun with Phil Read and ride fourcyclinder 25C's and 125' s in tile lIgbt.weight events. Re8d, at course, is Ibe teIun leader for Yamaba aDd if the everrt bolds true to forin N1xOII wtll baYe orders not to try and ~ Read bat to follow him. It would be worth a p1aDe ticket to Japan to be arOllDd wilen tlley tell GarY to go out aDd play second fiddle. 11 just tsn't doDe that 1flIY over here and GarY bas never gone to my race planning OIl 0IIIIIing sec:OIId if be bas cbanee for f1rst. 'Ibis is really lIIe firsi time a boaa fide CbampionsIIip American racerbas bad a cbance to ride GrllDd Prlz equipment. Anyway. he WIIS stJPIlOAd to Ibe last time _ r.eeeived a report. Tbe USA, in spite 01. few CClIIfIic:tlng reports at various times, could maIre 00 better cboiee tban GarY to be Ibe first to get a CI3Ck at major road racing at the Grand Prix. He's proved himee1f like no other rider and foreign publicity does Dot scare him one bit. He bas his own press c.llppings. NIxOII will be in action SUDday, Oct. 15th, and this coiumn will try lIDd have tile lowdown in tile next issue. The column also giVAlS a vote to IIICUS to .. "- <0 0> a; .8 Q '" 0 • CI) ~ ~ ~ ~ oJ 0 >. u cbaDge the name to MICKEY - If GUy does anything at all overthere tbs weekend wary race pr.omoter In.tbe country will capitalize OIl it nextseuon. Why not? We need a sbot in tile arm towards professionalism at every turn. Remember, old dirt tracker A.I. Foyt WIIS a co-winner at the 24-hour LeJIaDs car race lids summer - - in his little old American helmet• OlEBOOKS By Barbara Adams Dahms It Is sometimes said that fifty sets of laws in the United States are too many and that standardization would be to the benefit of everyone. Yoa are able to drive from L.A. to N.Y. on what lightly be called a good,four-lane highway (if you're not too critical) and offhand. it would seem to be easier if all the states you crossed had the same laws. Recent travels about the United S~ates have convinced me that such· standardization will never come to pass, Without complete Federal control, and that we're a whole lot more benefitted without it. Since, traditionally, it has been unconstitutional for the Federal Government to make laws dealing with the internal affairs of the states, the Federal Government developed the fonnula of model laws to be passed in turn (and, hopefully, intact) by each state. This is supposed to shape up all the disorganization into a neat package of uniformity. Does it? Let's look at the life and times of the Highway safety Program Standard 4.'1.3 otherwise known as the section on motorcycle safety. Faced with the possible 1055 of some Interstate Highway money. most of the states have passed some sort of legislation resembling HSPS 4.4.3. Has the result been neatness and organization? It has not. It has been compound confusion. What was heretofore a matter of individual decision is now a matter of legal control with no standards. precedents. or even real intere'st on the part of the agenc.ies uPon which this new responsibility was suddenly heaped. Furthermore, given an explicit. if not too practical. model to follow the states' legislatures have come up with as many versions as there ar~ states. In many cases the versions show an incredible lack of knowledge of the subject and frequently a lack of concern with any aspect of the program except qualification for Interstate money. . Ta.king five states and one city as an example, the results are something like this: A moderately large midwestern city passed its own helmet law. The Aldermen were qnoted as saying, ·We were sitting around witb nothing much to do and we passed a helmet law.- Of course there were no hearings and no advisors and the resulting standards lire ·any helmet", not a cap or hat. but any ~elmet. A plastic helmet or a football helmet is o.L •••••.as long as lt looks like a helmet. The state in which this city is situated passed a helmet law. ~o. standards are set by the safety Commissioner. in practice. the standard 15 • any helmet-. other parts of the model law were not included. An adjoining state wrote its helme.t law for full helmets and goggles._ Snell st&ndard._oo glasses or sunglasses. This state also omitted c:rashbars shoes, etc. An adjoining sta.te on the other side. however, added a few crea~ ti1;'e touche:s• .In additio~ to Snell standard helmets for rider and passenger, thlS state mcluded reqUlrements of working front and rear brakes two rear view mirrors, a fender on each Wheel (the law reads ·as provided by the manufacture", lmt in practice it may be a very small fender), speedometer, and a handlebar limitation of 12 inches ahove the point of attachment (which actually allows most high bars although the legislature probably was not aware of the fact). 'In addition there are requirements that riders under 16 years of age may not ride a machine of over 5 hp. and not over 35 mph. and not between the hours of 9 p.m. and 4:3 0 a.m. This state requires windshield, facesbield or goggles and issues tickets for merp. glasses or sunglasses. Another state wrote its law for helmets approved by United States of i\merica Standards .Institute, crashbars, windshield or goggles. This state will, in practice, accept glasses or sunglasses, but they are required for paSSengers as well. Another state requires only helmets for riders under eighteen years of age. You might even.say that instead of shaping up disorganization into a neat package of liDiformity, common sense safety was shaped into a neat package of disorganization. solidified into statute and left to the discretion of law enforcement agencies to apply•••• in practice". For some time we have been increasingly fond of neatness as a national ideal. Perhaps the complexity of our time encourages this. As our society becomes more diverse our efforts to insure confonnity become lllOre frantic. To -make a low against- the things we do not approve of is becoming America's favon.te expedient. Now that we have also decided that group intelligence is to be trusted over individual intelligence we may well find ourselves in a situation where the individual is allowed to make no decisions and all phases of hnman ac.tivity are regulated by law• The result of all this could become a sort of computerized nursery school for all of us, where the human being. deprived of the opportunity to make decisions, loses all ability or interest in doing so. Kind of a way~ut idea-••I hope! • •

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