Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

....,.•. ...- Y"H~_ _It FIRST • I. "TIlE valCE OF ClUFOIIIA' I'IIIIU8IIer .... AdYerUIdDc Mua&er ••••••••••• C......e.C. SIr'11& 1111111 list c~ Editorial stories. cartoon. photos, etc. are welcomed and will be paid for upon publication (except press releases and ·Voice- letters. Addressed, stamped envelope assures return. SiDde ropy price ••••••••• Z~ SubscripUoD: One year 2nd class 8IIlIDe1l8 M-cer•• SIIuoa ClaytonCin:ulaUoa Mer••• Gaye n..-_ Editor. • • • • • • • • • • • Carol SUDs Pboto Editor••••• DeoDis Greeae Edilorial Assistaat-Robert BnuIford &41111. LIq BelcIl Bly... AdvertisiDc Asst. • Lyma Lanc:aster UII BeacII. CIIIf. . Published weekly except the first Mail •••••••• '.•••••••• S7.50 Or: Btl_, lIIIC BeacIl, Calif.' and last we~k of the calendar year One Year First Class Mail•• S14.OO by C&S Publishing Co., Post Office PIIIIe: 4D-IU1 (SubscrIbers please allow lbree Box 498, Long Beach, California. (Area CIlIe DJ) weells for address chance.) second Class postage paid at Long Advertising rates and circulation Beach, Calif. F. . L.A. Pltlles: . . . . . information will be sent upon request. BY CHUCK CLAYTON IT'S TRUE THE OLD REDSKIN'S ON THE WARPATH AGAIN! We hear a lot of rumors at Cycle News and we though we'd learned bow to tell the real ones from the hoaxes, or merelywlsbtulth1nld.ng. One of tbe latter seemed to be 1Ddicated by the persistent phone calls we received asking, "IS it true that the 10dian is going to be manufactured again?" About once every decade someone revives that old lIxlrig1ne. We suspect it's sam Pierce's work. But this time we were wrong. The rumors are right! And sam Pierce has nothing to do with it. Floyd Clymer was mentioned as the man with the plan to bring back the 1odian. But we know Floyd as a wily businessman, not likely to be lured by purely sentimental attractions. Was Floyd crazy enough to think 10dian could make a comeback? We doubted it. Untill we received a telephone call last week and it was Floyd Clymer. "Here's a scooper," the smiling voice said. "I'm going to manufacture the Scout." "The 10dian Scout?" we lncredulously inquired. "We are still negotlatlng for the 10dian tradmark. Don't say anything about that." We promised that we wouldn't. But why the Scout? Floyd ticked ott the reasons and we had to admit that if be was crazy it had to be Ute a fox. The Scout engine was one of the best flathead V-twins of its day. Did I know that 90% of all American National Championships have been won by flathead V-twins? The engineering department personnel of 10dian are still available and rar1ng to go. And Floyd owns a German Motorcycle factory with modern metallurgical knowhow. "Imagine a motorcycle like this," Floyd said and began describIng the 1968 Scout: 750cc sideva1ve V-twln with buut-in provisions to stroke it to 88Occ. Bosch electric starter. Ceriani forks and swinging arm rear suspension. VDO instruments .Including clock, speedo and tacbometer. Fiberglass tank. with possibly an electrically ligbted medallion. All carefully cast In Elektron alloy and assembled by German craftsmen. Priced to sell at arotmd $1,500 per copy. Wowl Production is set for about 1,000 a year, enough to Inject some new competition Into AMA class C racing while the 750cc sidevalves are still eligible. The first of the German-American Scouts will be at the MDN Trade Show in Anaheim, Calif., November 5 & 6, so wat~ Cycle News for the first picture of it. Floyd is Invitlng all the surviVing ex-1odian dealers to be guests of honor at the _iling of what to bim and them must Indeed be a dream come true. INCREASE THE PRESSURE seeing as bow my name was taken somehwbat 10 vain, (Ihsolutely DO offense taken) I thougbt I had better clear up the meantnr of the last letter that I wrote to you, 1IlIich )'011 puhlisbed. I bad mentiooed that I thougbt It tile respooslbllit;y of tile AMA to do a little lobbying for us 10 reprds to the IIllII\Y "Helmet Laws" nOW'III etrectand toward tlloIIe peodIng. Mr. Ritcha seemed to think that I was being a bit un-real1stic to expect tbis as be feels that the primary function of the AMA ts to promote competition riding. This may be true boweyer if anyone will take the time to c:ouot the club Usttoes, that you publlsb from time to time, tbey will find ooe-hundred-stxteen listed. Of these, forty-nine have something to do with or are totally involved In RRC activities. MInd you, those forty-nine are only the ones that I Ialow of or have indicated that their prime function is road riding, there may be more. This appears to be a good percentage of the total figure so I can't go aloag with the idea 01 road riders being a small tractlon of tile entire amount of people Involved. If anyone thinks that the number of road riders Is small, let them be In Death Valley on October 28th and see over seven-thoosand bikes and more tban ten-thousaDd people. There may be some competition riders there but they rode In on the blaek-top. As for writt.ne to the manufacturers IUId MC deIIlers to belp us, it is ridiculoas. Most of them could care less about be1met Jaws. The auto manufacturers may thump tile barrel for safety and put aU kind8 of SlIIet;y goodles OIl their cars, for the protectioD of the public, but broGler, you PIJ' tor them. The motoz'cyeJe c1ealers may be forced to throw in a belmet with the purcbase of a bI.ke but It you tIIinlI: )'011 wiD get it for tree )'011 are mistaken. Your cost will be bidden in there somewhere. r m not down on the dealers at all. It just tso't a sound business practice to give your merchandise away. Dealers are going to sell bikes regardless of wbat the Jaws declare mandatory. As tar as competition goes, a person would be crazy to ride a desert, TT, or any other similar event without a helmet. I wear one on the road for many reasons the safety factor being only one. There are times wtIen I don't want to wear it and I don't and there ts where the individual responsibility factor enters. I don't teel that I oeed the government to bold my hand. The point that I was trying to make ts, that the AMA is at the present, a large, weIl organIZed g1'OllP that can enter the picture In our behalf witbout goinc througb all of the prel1mlll8ry motions needed to achieve rec:ognitloo. 1bey aireadY have it. n is like ukinC 1Ihom you would rather have defend )'011 in a lawsuit. An attorney who has beeo In practice tor many years or som_ wbo basanotber year of Jaw sc1Ioo1 to tlnish. True, after reading Bob Fee's article on page 27 of the october 5 issue of Cycle News, I have some misgivings as to bow weIl my attoney is bandl1ng my case but the other side 01 the questioD can best be answered by an old CJIolation. Contucious say: "Man who act as own attorney have damD fool for cllent." Let's put the pressure on our sanctioning body to get tbings done In our behalf. R.J. HAECKEL Tustin, callf. (-For wbat the AMA is dDiac to n<t the lIelmet laws, !lee arUcle m tbl.s issue.-) 10UNDEO I SPIRIT It was a pretty tbinC. Freshly polished Dickel trame, a couple of newly chromed pegs and levers, _ week old paint "OFICIAL BRITlSB RACING GREEN 198249", a real proad stMd. Tbeold roIId to Ell '" is still the only way to fly. It was a good looting track. rYe _ better, I mow we've all seen worse. Rolled the steed oa 01 the truck. Strapped OIl the helmet, sUped ... the gloves, hoI I owed a JeaCblrr jIcbt IUId wailed oat of the pits. 11le tlr8t lew tonIs _re a bit narrow, but It :ro-'re lD the 1eIId you don't have to worrylllallt tbIIIp like that. Up the first bill, . . . the first bill, a left hand sweeper and back up again. Across the top, through the powder stuff, wall over the jump, shut down and slid down the hill. Now at the ott-camber bit it In 2nd, run down Into the bollow In 3rd, start up the bill in 4th, hungry for a good jump In front of the pits. "UNBELIEVEABLEI CANNOT, CANNOT BELIEVE IT! First the undercarriage, then the grille, then, the EXPLOSION. It was like one of those movies that keeps showing all of the bad parts In tlasbbacks. I think a lot of guys stay off the street because there are toomany nuts out there. When you pay your entr)" fees you figure you're riding with comparative equals, at the very least, ALL 10 the same direction. A '57 Chevrolet! Driven by the president of the Ensenada M.C. ON the course! During practice! 10 the WRONG direction! UNBELIEVABLE CANNOT, CANNOT BELIEVE IT. I guess rll have to believe it. The awakening is a '67 Rickman Metisse In the abstract form of a pretzel. I thank everyone who helped saturday morning. I wish I could thank every one by name. Folks carried me, fussed over me, furnished their medical kits, gave me a change of clothes, and a whole lot of moral support. Fraternity, now that's believeable. Ensenada, exit stage North. S. T. TOmas (By bis wife Mary because bis hand is in a cast, bis bobby is in a heap, and bis spirit is at the bottom of that jump). ("All or the ~da LC., especially Pbillpe, the ddver or tbe car wbicb was cleariDc lIle course( I), are smcerely asbamed of themselves aDd uIled me to otter their _lodes. c...tact Oscar Gomez, cbier spcmsor of lIle race, aDd lIle EnseDada M.C. lbey would Ute to PlY to repair yo... blll.e and pl'Olllise tlIat if tbey dedde to bold the races oelEt year, precaDUODS will be lakeD to preYl!llt aoy1lliDc Ulle tbat 1m. b.... peamC acam.!') PlZAZZY POOCH I am a very satisfied reader of Cycle News and think you do a very good job of publishing it. In this letter I include a picture of my dog on my new 180 Yamaha to •show that EVERYONE enjoys motorcycles. Just thought it might add pizazz to your paper. Thank you. RONNIE BIGGS Lebanon, Kansas 10ULD YOU BELIEVE? •.•That we made a mistake In our recent Tulare half-mile report? Lloyd Houchins wasn't the only Amateur to make the MaJ.n Carl Patrick made it, too, finishing 9th. •••••••••••••••••• ••••That 1odianapolis may host a one-mile flattrack National Championship as well as Floyd Clymer's nD-Mile Road Race National in 1968? •••••••••••••••••••••• ••••That a wild, new motorcycle will make its reappearance at the MDN Trade Show In Anaheim, California, Nov. 5 & 6? * •••••••••••••••••• - •• ....That attendance at the latest Ascot TT was way up over last year? Could it be that the sidehacks' debut made the difference, hmmmm? •••••••••••••••••••••• . ... That Cycle News publishes twice as much news, ads and pictures as the fattest motorcycle magazine does In a month! •••••••••••••••••••••• ...• That AI Vanderpool "letitallhangoUt'1 at the Checkers run? •••••••••••••••••••••• JOHN R. SUFFERS BROKEN HIP John Rice, the great Jolin R. current Dlst. 37 scrambles point leader, sustained a brobn hip and Internal Injuries in a practice plllq) at the ElslDore, Calif. otst. 37 points race last saturda1 nigbt. John is recovering at Elsinore GeDera1 Hospital, 1IlIich will behisbome for the next three months, dOctors SlI,y. Frieods and faDs are urged to write to Jobn there to let him know we misshim. A TESTS HI ETLA WS IN MICH. The American Motorcycle Association announced October 4th that it will ask the Michigan State Court 01 Appeals to determine the constitutionality of a state Jaw requiring motorcyclists to wear safety helmet. The legislation making helmets compulsory was enacted by Michigan's lawmakers last March. The action today by the A.M.A. followed contradictory rulings in two circuit courts. The circuit court of Wl!J"De County, Michigan, voided the state helmet Jaw on september 15, holding it unconstitutional after William Duncan of Detroit filed an appeal against his condction by a municipal judge for riding without a helmet. At tile same time, however, the Ingham County court upheld the same sratute in the case of the American Motorcycle Assoclation versus Frederick E. Davids, director of the Department of State Police. William T. BerlY, Jr., executive director of the ,American Motorcycle Assoclation, said that tile A.M.A.·s olijection to tbe la w is based on the belief that the individtal has a coDStit~onal right to wear or not wear protective equipment. -We haye and still will continue to promote motorcycle safety.- Berry declared. -But we !mow lllat there is 110 law forcing automobile ddvers to fasten their seat belts IIDd we feel that the motorcyClist should be liven the same opportllll1ty to ~t vollJlltadly,- he stated. Berry also pointed out ttlat Fla. J. Kelly, Michigan attorney general, has already &IIIIOlBIced tJat the sate recognizes the close constitutional question involved in tbis t;Jpe of stahlte. several otber statesbave caaesJJeDding which are similarto the Michigan 0Di!S &lid at least tlwee ~ York State have ruled the law UDconstitutiOla1" tile latest in Bldfalo. New York. Ttre .American Mo1on:ycle Association Is involved. either direcUy or tIiIougll assistance. in tbree New Yort cases, one in New Hampshire and the two Michigan tests.

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