Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

rtr[r--"(fj"--uf(("Z ~.-.-1L :FttltlJJJ.-d Mel Lacber continues to be the oneman Harley gang against the BSA squad but things look brigbter for •68 according to reports. Week after week it bas been Lacher against the field and most of the time be bas come IlP with the fastest beat race lIDd bas led the main events on some lap or another just about every time out. H-D says they will give Mel some teammates for next season &ndtheybave two riders in mind wbo could give MUwaukee the best squad ever on the west coast come next season. Tbe Triumpb boys ~ earlY in the season to be readY to cbal1enge the BSA bold on Ascot but injuries andotber llttle incidents bave wiped them out completelY. Lacber's one-mllD effort keeps tblngs spiced IlP but the odds are overwbeImlng, to say the least. Mel still bas more than lID outside shot at the point title and it will be' close with only three races remaining to be run. H-D also bas blgb hopes for its new 125cc model for the comillg indoor seaSOl! at san Jose and Long BelIcb. 'fbree of these new jobs are now being built IlP in tbls area for lID all-out assault against the Honda 90's in the smaller class UDder the root tbls winter. On the injury side of the racer Us!, a- Romero and Jimmy Odom are both out of the cast. Romero is still lonking for a ride in the cars, next year but w1l1 fUl TIME • W 'fGAS But, boDey, I W8Dt to do it myself. Tbis was the theme song as the Silver Queens M.C. of Las Vegas, Nevada presented their 1st Annual "FtID For All." Kicking off the weekend's festivities was a dance, an old-fasbloned barbecue and bayrides at the Islander, south 01 the strip. Preeed1ng the event the girls bad sold "win a bike" tickets with the proceeds going to belp their very worthy benefits. Last year they gave food and clothing to some needy IDdIan families. The wiDner 01 the raffle bad his cfIolee of a 50cc Yamaha, BFiclgestone, HODda, H- D or Garell1 Rex. Tbe bappy recipient of ber new Garelli was Mrs. sue Ross, the wife of a Silver City member. BFig1Jt and earlY Sunday moro1ng both street and dirt riders blasted off on tbe1r respective 1"UIJS. Poker riders tor the street toured 150 roUes for tbe1r cards, wI111e the dirt riders hJJDted tbroogh 45 miles of desert 1m- tbe1rs. Followiog the Poker Runs, wIlieh ended at Vegas Valley race track, the girls continued tbelr excelleDt planning with a tun afteFDOOll of scrambles. A large field of riders and spectators were treated to a real good show from all classes. Little Jobn S1lIgle, rld1ng a 50cc Yamaha in the lOOcc class, sboDe brightlY, but after three beats bad to settle for secODd behind Mlke North 00 Tom's Cycle center's BF1dgestone. In the blg 1lQe go Chad Hatcher, USJ8llY aboard a BuItaco, swung' out on a new Triumph to prove that, little or big, be caD do the job. (Results on page 16) also race cycles 00 a part-time basis. Odom may be back for the last IT and the final two balf-mtle races at Ascot this year. Bob Ba1ley is facillg an operation 00 his dislocated shoulder and Pat Gosch is at bls winter bome in Omalla bealing those two broken arms from the lllfated 8edalla, Mo. f1asco. Chris Draayer is well on the road to recovery in salt Lake City and Mert Lawwlll is up I:n Boise, Idaho visiting and bealing the shoulder injury from the Carlsbad road races. Former cycle cbamp Joe Leooard bad a near-miss at the jacll;pot IlP at the Hanford car races last SUnday. He bad a big lead with only four laps to go wileD be spun out. The tobl1 purse came to just under $60,000 and the winner received about 25% of that amOWlt. A good rumor bas it that an Oklahoma oil ml1llona1re wIlo bas built and sp0nsored many cars on the cbamp1onsh1p trail is looking for a good cycle racer to be his next drtver . Are there any takers?'? No word on SWede savage as be was not listed ca the recent list of fin1sbers at the NASCAR late model race in No. Carollna. It was a ~m1Je event. IT riders and fans may be able to look forward to anotber once a moatb race meet next year at a new track. Plans are now in the mill for tbls one to give the area riders two a mootb from June through October. LEGISLATIVE NOTEBOOK In the IlProar over safety legislat10n one fact emerges.JoudllDde1ear••••there is a connection between safety and legis.lallon. I am not referring to the usual one••••that legislallon produces safety but rather that a real or lIPparent lack of safety produces legislation. It is fair to say that most of the people s\lPPOrt1Dg the recent belmet bllls, for example, were s1neerelY interested in promoting safety • We bave previouslY questioned their 0bligation to force ,safety on others and, there is 110 doubt that most of them were poorlY informed. BegiDDer's Luck: (?) still, they bad something going tor them ••••a reasonably Impressive number of serious motorcycle, injuries. TIley cited repeatedly the youth of the victims, and statistics" incomplete tbougIl they be, indicate most accldeDts occur in the first year of riding. Tbey also 1nd1cate that a good percentage of accidents happen on machines not belonging to the llder. If safety is the goal (and cyclists will certainly agree with legislators that it is a desirable goal) the next step is to studY what contributes to safety. Wb11e slapping a belmet on all riders may turn some fatal accidents DOD-fatal it woo.'t prevent, accidents in the first place. crashtJars aDd eye protection devices ID-:Y even contribute to frequency and severity of iDjurles. ObviouslY, as any of the backers 01 helmet legtslation could tell you, the best way to eliminate accident injuries is to eliminate the accident. It would seem that accident redDction should start from three things: competent riders, rel1ab1e equipment, and reduction of external hazards. SOUDds simple but It covers • lot of territory. EVeFY rider bas to 1earD to ride. Where, how and from whom? F1Ja1lY we bave made lID effort to teach youog people to drive c3rs. Alter about lUty years we bave conceded that the auto is a pari of our scene and added driver training to the c' u r r • c u h m 01 mOlOt schools. If bancl1ed properlY tbls should imprCilYe the quality of driving. Who teaches the cycll5t? Not the scboo1s. That may take a.ootber My years. TIle dealer? Some dealers bave a genuine provision lor customer traln1ng. TIley are an exceedinglY small minority. TIle others brief you on the location of the cootrols and lend you tbe1r alley. Tbe manufacturers? The police? Small pilot studies bave been tried.. Then who teacbes the cyclist to ride? Friends. Someone who alreadY rides. It is often asuff1e1ent basic traln1ng just as It was for automobile driving for so long. But sometimes it is not. Depends a lot 00 the friends as well as the agillty of thtl J' learner. I ~..,- Respect For TIle Machine Learn1Dg is more than controE bandUng. It is recogni tion ail€! preparation fmthe tmexpeded bazard, it is driving lor everyone on the road as well as yourseU, It is reallY knowing the rules of the road. But most of all It is respecting the macbine. This bas notblng to do with keeping It clean. It bas a lot to do with knowing its capab111ties and your OWD lIDd operating within these capab111ties. You're not alwaYs UkelY to learn this at the corner rental agency where you acquire 3D nnfllmillar bike to ride off into the tramc. A fair number of cyclists 1earD to ride at the corner rental agency just the same. It's protlabb' the second most usoal teacher_ How lIboot the equipment? standBrlzation of any sort just doesn't exist. Tbls s probablY a good tblng sioce people aren't staDdard1zed either but il iso't as easy to switcb from one cycle to 8IIOtber as one car to another. Equipment reUabWty. latelY the subject of legislation aDd call backs aDd upgrading to the auto ladUstry, bas never been really lnvest1gated in the cycle field. Road tests are made and performance ratings g1veD for a sample of each model. BeYood that there is notb1ng. Word passes from person to person that this mac:b1ne boIds.lCl or that ODe bas problems, but the lDlln1t1ated enthusiast wbo appr08c:bes the market to buy a first cycle bas DO standard and DO guide11npueeptefleerlul adYertisements lIboot Dice people. girl watch1ng and racing trOlllties.. No one will ever tnow how IIJaD

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