Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

....,. Y.'II -America's Only leekly Mot_cycle Newspaper" Publi·sber•• ••• Charles C. Clay ton ... It Ed itorial s tories , ca rto ons , phot os, Rusines s Manage r•• Sharon Claylon FIRST etc. are wel comed and wi ll be paid Circ ula tion M •• C.ayP Thomason gr• In for upon publicati on (e xce pt press F.ditor• • • •• •• • • • • • Carol Sims release s and · Voice· letters.) AdAdvertisinl: Ml:r• • • •• • Tom Culp dressed , stamped env el ope assures Photo Editor•• •• • Dennis Gr....n e return. Bookke~; • • JoAane Stephenson &471 M. Lag Beaell BI'd. Single rop~. pr tc e • •• • • •• • • 25 ( La b Technician• •••BiII Pe tligre" LOII& Beaell, Calif. 50805 Subscri ption: OOP ypar 2nd class Re ceptioni st. • • • •L ouise Marshall Or: BOI _ , LOIg Beacll, Calif. Mail $7.50 Published weekly except the first O OnP Ypar First Class ~Iail • • $H.O and last week of the calendar yea r Pboae: 42H4n (SUbscri bers please all ow three by C&S Publis hing Co.. Pos t Office wee ks for address chan.:e. ) (Area CMe 2l3l Box 498, Lona Bea ch, California . Advertising rates and circulation Second Class pos ta ge paid a t Long FI'IIlI LA. PlIoIes: ~.44 inrormauo» will be sent upon reques t. Beach . Calif. ... NEITHER RAIN NOR H .AIL... I applied for a subscription to your newspaper around the fir st of December 1967. It Is now Febr uary 10, 1968 and I have yet to receive your paper. We received the can celled check which you cashed the first of January. I do realize that you are probably very busy but as your office is only sixty miles from the town of Chats wor th I have decided that seomthlng is amiss. Perhaps the Indians are still rai ding the stagelines and stealing the mai l . But I' m sure it we call upon the cavalry for protection the ways of the Wild Wes t can be correc ted . Please advtse me as to it and when I shall receive your newspaper . EDDIE R. MITCHELL Chatswor th, Callt. (· You' re right abo ut the first stagecoach being waylaid by Indians , and the seeond was held up by a gun-totin ' group of masked bandits, but we've called in the cavalry at your suggestion, so the next Issu e should arr ive right on sch edu l e," ) WHAT CAN W DO? E I've put this le tter off too long. Every week when I read Cycle News (fr om cover to cover) I tell myself that I must tell you what a great job you are doing. I a m proud to be connect ed, even in a small way, with your publication. But what can we do to help sto p this miserable legislation here in W hington State as where we are already hamstrung? I, like the vast ma jor ity of riders, (I now have a BSA 650) sit and moan about our situation but no one has any ideas as to what can be done, it anything . Your Feb . 2, 1968 copy of Cycle News is nearly worn out, beaca use I have shown your editor ial to so many people. I have r ead it over the P .A. system at the Saturday night Woodinville races and I r ead it to three mee tings , but I have nothing to offer, except write to Magnusson, our congr es s man. VIC EBBUTT Seattle, Wash. ( · If Cali fornia motorcycle enthusiasts ca n ",n the hatUe against unfair leldslat ion, that will mean we have turned the tide of anti -motorcycle feeling in the U.S. The facts and figures we ar e accumulauna ",11 prove beyond a doubt that motor cycte s , "tlile APPARE:'ITLY dangerous, are no more, and in some cases LESS dan gemus, than other forms of travel. And thi s is so even thoul:h the states allow ed incompetent riders to operate motorcycles in traffi c "'th no more qualifica tions than car drivers license. It may ta ke a .mile to repeal the Hel met laws and other umec essarr restricti ons in some states, but this ",11 be done if Cali fornia's cructal helmet, hassle is decided In our tavor," ) NORTHWEST ACTIVITY I've noted with Interest, in your recent articles on Bert Brundage and Chub Kella m (and also occasionally in Roxy's column) references to District 37 as "the largest and most active District in America ". These gentlemen have mor e riders and more headaches per event, and rider' s purses probably average higher than anywhere in America. But Disirict 37 has a long way to go to match the s ize and activ it y of far-flung Dis trict 22 in the North. With over 60 AMA pr ofess ional events annually , the W .-Or e . area leads the ash nation in activity . Weekly TT events at Tacoma and Portland, plus bi- weekly races at Castle Rock, always place Nor thwest r ac er s at the top of the national TT point standings. Add a weekly shorttrack at Belli ngham, Wash., National Championships at Portland and Castle Rock, several Sunday afte rnoo n events, a very short season (May through Aug.) and you have as much racing as r iders or Refe rees can handle . 1968 looks even more exciting for the Pac ific NorthwesL New TT tracks in Spokane and Richland, in dry Eastern Washington will extend our season from March to October. Also Bellingham will s witch to TT r aces for 1968. My congr atulations to Bert and Chub on their new appointments I DAVE WELSH AMA District Referee Dis trict 22 Tacoma ; W ash. (· Hats off to the ever-increasing activity in the Northwest - it's most encoura ging to hea r of such progres s. And we bope for e ven more cove rage of the se events for ' 68.· ) CESERT DAISYS M.C. GROWS The Des er t OIisys have a new mem ber , Mary Ann Eyres. She rides a Honda 90, Number 133. On the San Gabriel M.C. Barstow to Las Vegas r un, Mary Ann was up with the best riders, then she did a " funny" and broke her leg. She is fine now. Mary Ann's three boys r ide Honda also, and her husband is in the Sandblaster s M.C. The other OIisys are Terry Bry ce, No; 44; Jan nitson, No. 17; Sandy Ter min, No. 89 and Rosemarie Martino, No. 16. We are hoping to get more OIis ys by the end of the season; we would like to be on the competition calendar next s easo n. We have the Desert OIi s ys nower power , and hope to keep it that way. ROSEMARIE MARTINO 13461 Or o Grand e Sylmar, Calif. KUDOS FOR PASCHAL I've just finished r eading a fine article on the 1st Annual Elsinore Grand Prix and feel someone very important was left out. Every one mentioned the monumental task it must have been to lay the gro und work for such an event and would like your reader s to know that the man re sponsible was T.H. Paschal , owner of the Els inore Raceway. He put many long hours into talklng to property owners and city officials . The race was such a success and so well run by the Gr ipsters that Mr . Paschal received a standing ova tion at the city councll meeting this week. The above is fact , the following is an opinion. I believe we will have a 2nd Annual Gran d Prix thanks to Mr . Paschal and the Gr ipsters. JEA N COYE Glendor a , Calif. CROWDED 'OPEN " SUNDA Y Every month la tely ther e have been thr ee or four r ough scrambles or motocr oss events s chedule d on the fir s t Sunday of the month. The rest of the weeks guys' Ilke me who want to r ide moto-cross or rough scrambles are out of luck. We can only go to one place and ride one event on open Sunday. Would some club please schedule a rough s crambles or moto-cross on the second or third Sunday? There are enough rid ers who aren't out for points to make a good tur nout. GARY BAILEY Carson , Callt. DI RT DIGGERS DIG GmpSTERS We would like to take advantage of your column, to offer our individual and collective congr atulations to the Gripsters M.C., for a job well done. Their Grand Prix was an exce llen t example of how the pu b II c image of motorcycling can be br ightened. For a club of average size to organi ze, coordinate, and procucean event of this scope and magnitude, we feel it a trt- bute to their hard working membership. For riders that ride events without belonging to an organized club, pause for a minute and think of wtlere you would ride next weekend, it clubs such as the Gripsters wer e not in existence . Gripsters •.if you get comp1alnts, be cheered by the fact that hundreds en- joyed your event, but are not as loud with their praise. Our cl ub wishes you every success with futur e r elatio ns with the town of Eisinore, and we will r eturn en mass e to your future Gran d Pr ix regardles s of time, or locale . Thank you. DIRT DIGGERS M.C. Santa Monica, Callt. THE NEW IMAGE By Chuck Cla yton An Open Letter To a Legislator Dear 5e nator- - - - - - You asked for my opinion on the moto rcycl e · s af e ty· legislation whic h is now pending in congress . I beli ev e that this legislation deserves our de ep e s t and fullest co nsideration so I shall try to answ er as comp le te ly as I can. I think that motorcycle op erators dese rve and ne ed the same consid eratio n in te s t in g and li c ensing by the state as automobile , bus or truck drivers recei ve . I think it is negligent of the s tate to allow its citize ns to op erate two-wh eeled motorized vehi cles on its highways wi thout being ch e ck ed out am li censed for thos e ve hi cles s peci fic a lly. California wil l have to stop le tt in g a nyon e o pe rate a mo tor cycle o n the s tr en gth of having passed only a car driver's tes t. It i s a fa c t that 71'7< of all mo tor cycle acc idents ha ppe n to i nco mpe te nt pe ople ridi ng borrowe d or ren te d ma chines. This is the re al probl em with which the stat e s hould be conce rne d: ke eping people off o f moto rcyc les who have no know ledge of how to ope r ate the m. By the same re a soni ng, I th ink that a pe rso n s ho uld be allowed to take out a leamer 's pe rmi t to learn to o pe rate a motorcyc le und er competent i nstruction as e arly in life as pos s ible . M s t lS\-2-ye ar-ol ds could benefit from o motorcycle riding instruction , T he instructor shouid be any adult with an unblemished moto rcycle operator's li cens e. Durin g the l earni ng pe rio d carry ing passe nge r s (ot he r tha n the ins tructo r) s ho uld be prohibi ted. Yo u mi gh t b e urge d to requir e the hold er of a l e arner' s permit to wear a n approved 's a fe ty helmet until he obtai ns a ful l-fle dged op e ra tor 's licens e , or mer ely de duc t point s from hi s ex a mi na tio n if he failed to wear a helme t dudng the ri din g te st. I fe el . howe ver, tha t it would be unwis e to enaet -a nyregulation whi ch might te nd to c a use co nnot a tions of · roo ki e - or - ri s ky · in co nnec tion wit h vo luntary he lmet we ari ng. You as ked me specifi c ally why I am o pposed to bills ma ki ng helm et we ari ng mandatory for mo to rcyc le opera tors and p as s en ge rs . Firs t le t me state that I am an a vid proponent of s a fe ty helm e t prot ec tion . I be lieve in insur a nce . and a goo d he lme t is che ap insurance . T hey ar e al so great for the motorcycle movement's image . when voluntarily worn. A nd on cold days they keep your e ar s warm. So I ad vocate helmets. They ar e a Good Thing. E very. body should hav e one . What I obj ec t to i s the attitud e, implicit i n the wording of the bills , that motor cycle and mot orbike op e rators ar e i n such great danger for th e ir li ves , mor e so than any ot he r highway us e r. that the y must be drastically p rote cted by a law forci ng the m to do som e thing whi ch no o the r gro up of hi gh way us ers woul d to lerate if yo u s uggested it to t he m. Mo tor cycle s ar e only 2.8 pe rcent of the California 've hi c le pop ula tion s o perhap s our voice is we ak . But co ns ide r the pr e c edent you will be s e tting if citize ns may be re quir ed to we ar equi pment desi gne d fo r their own prot ectio n while trave li ng in ( or on) moto r ve hicle s . The n, tell me you 'll author a bill demandin g the same prote c tion for c ar drivers an d passen gers , truck drive rs . b us driver s a nd yes , eve n bus pas s engers ! Imagi ne the indi gnation that would stir up! T he fact i s , we ar en ' t s ure tha t motorcy c le ridi ng .is as dan gerous as it was once tho ught to be . The sudden infl ux of unli c e ns e d rid ers totte ri ng down the street on thei r fir s t mot orbike s has subsided. s o e ve n de pri ved of special li c ensi n g the riders who have

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