Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Cycle News 1968 03 08

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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c. Publu..•••••• C. .rt.. s C lay toll Editorial stones , cartoons , ph otos, 811siDPliS _ _ cPr• • SMMn Cla.~'" e tc , are welromt'd and will be paid Cimda~ liter• • • Ga y e Tlloma_ ! r upon publication (p xC t'pl Prt'SS " . .... • • • • • • • • • • • CaIOA Silas releases and · Voice· letters.) Ad:\ lIn rtisi.. Iller•••• •• T _ C..... dr e-ssed, stamped env e l op e assures Pho,,!» E:cIiler. • • • • DftIni s Grppn.. retu n, Lab T " "'lIIid aa. •• •BiII P.. ltign>,. R.. c .,.ti oni sl. •• ••Louis e Marshall SillcJ p COP.'· pQ('(S 25C' SUIl&criptiaa: 0... y...... 2nd ctass Mill • •• •• • • ••• •••• •• $7 ,~ On .. Y.. ar Firsl Cla ss Mail• • $ H . . (Sub scri"rs plea.... allow ......:.. we.... s rur addrPss rbaR g... ) P ubli sh ed ' we ekly exce pt the tirst and last wee k of the cale nda r yea r by C&S Publi shln g co., P ost Offi ce Box 498 , L OI\ ~ Beach, California. Advertising ra te s a nd c i rculation Seco nd C lass pos ta ge paid a t Lon g i ruorrnattor- will be s en t upon request. Beach , Calif. FRANK, NOT CRANK I a m writing you In an attempt to bring our situation In the " Nor lh" to light. The Northern part of Call!or nia fee ls that you are letting us down. I am speaking specifically of the poor raci ng cover age being paid to our part of the Sta te . We understand the position of your magazine which covers mainly Southe rn events-- being that you a r e a Southern magazi ne. Ho w e v e r , we Northe rners wonder why you don' t li mit your s ubs criptions to the L .A. area. We als o wish you would s top sendi ng us reports on the Southern races . What we really want is equal race coverage. We were very. disappointed with your article on saunas, which was a tremendous s uccess. We were even honored by L.A. riders Conrad, Petty, Axthelm, and the rest. However they did not fare very well against the mighty Mark Brelsford , an 18-year-old high school kid . Also, in the past two weeks, you have falled to report on the Stockton events, which were successful also. TIle nature of this letter Is to be frank, In opinion, not crank. Therefore, I hope you will please helP us out, and make some sales for yourselves . We strongly hope that you will return 10 Sallnas February 25, 1968, and report on the racing events and list results . (Please no more directions on how to get to Salinas). Help put your magazine back to the calibe r It was before December of las t year. DALE IVAN Aptos , Calif. (·Will Northem Califomia correspondents and photographers pl ease app l)' to Cycle News, IIox 498, Long Beach, Cal ?" ) CHANGE IN STEWARD FOR TRAI L BIKES Due to business, Ken Peterson is no longer the steward for the desert trail bike division. Numbers will be Issued and points kept by Yale Camp, 14322 F os te r Road, La Mirada, Callt. 90638. Phone: (2 13) 941-4416. VOICE FROM TENNESSEE Could you try to report on Class C races in the south. I'm a Novice rider #441 and would like to see more of this. AL McALEXANDER Memphis, Tennessee (· Watch for a branch ed ition or C)'cle News i n yo ur area soon. Meantime, pros- pe cti ve correspo ndents are invited to send us co verage of Class C pro re ssional events rrom e \'eryw he re in the U.S. Ask for our Contributor Sheet lor terms o r pay men t, r equiremen ts . etc,") TH E DISTAFF SIDE You will, I am sure, reel upon r eading this lett er, that it Is a very biased view, due to the fact that I am the wife of the P resident of the American Cyc le Assoclanon. However , after reading the lastest Issue of Cycle News, which I do faithfully each week, I can no longer contain mys elf, and would like to make clea r to you my views on your so-called coverage of the sport of mot orcycling. Cer tainly, I do not fee l tha t you should " pl ug" any one organization, but when there Is s uch a co mplete lack ottair ne s s in your cove r ag e , as has been tndi cated mor e strongly than ever in the last s ix months or so, I, as well as many other " motor cycl e enthusiasts", hav e be come increasingl y aware of thi s facl . To gi ve you a few ins tan ces, of which I a m sure you are aware , the annual ACA Championship banquet was held on January 20th; there were 124 atten di ng the dinner and another rtfty at the presentation following . As of this date, the r e has been no coverage whatsoever In Cycle News , even though pictures were submitted and a member of Cyc le l'iews' staff and his wife were there as guests. Meanwhile, you have bad sufficient space to run extensive artIcles as well as pictures covering two banquets held since that tIme by other organizatIons . On February 4th a Moto- Cross was hel d at Castaic Park; a most successful event which drew over 80 riders an d a very good spectator crwod, A bare onehalf page of pictures was the only me nUon ma de of this event. However, a MotoCr os s event scheduled for that s a me date by another organlza Uon which drew approxi ma te ly 25 r iders, was gi ven a large s pread inc luding pictu r es an d an article . On F ebr uary 11th theACA Opener r oad race was held at Will ow Springs Raceway. Again, Cyc le News was conspicuous ly absent. Pictures, as well as results and an article were submitted. However , again, there did not seem to be room In your ne ws pape r . This event attracted 141 road racers, Including such participants as Jody Nicholas, RalPh White , Bill Manley and Rod Gould, not to mention the many excellent ACA road racers . You managed to find space, however, for an article regarding an upcoming race at Carlsbad featuring many of these very same riders. As I have said, many people not directly connected with the ACA are becoming very a ware of the above situation, and, of cour s e, wonder what the problem Is ; so do I. Perhaps It Is because I am more closely Involved In It now than ever be fore and know the tremendous amount of time and energy many of the ACA people put forth for the benefit of the motorcycli ng sport that I have become so Incensed over this situation . I would certainly app recia te your views as to what it takes to obtain fairly equal coverage In your newspaper'. I do not really believe It Is commensurate with the amount of adVertisement done, s ince some of the other associations which are cover ed qui te regularly In your newspaper are not large adVertisers. MRS. WEST ER S. COOLEY Placentia, canr, ( " All the news that fits, we print. " ) IT'S BURKMAN - NOT BURTON I would like to make a correction 01 the March I , 1968 Cycle News . On page 9, where the res ults of the Feb. 18 races at Elsinore are listed, the 500 Novice class 1s t winner reads Dennis Burtonthat should be Dennis BURKMAN. He Is my son, so I feel compelled to make the cor r ec ti on. Also on page 16 In the column under 500 Novic e Mal n. Would you cor r ec t this in a future Issue? Thank you very much. MRS. DALE M. BURKMAN san Clemente, Callf. C·Il 's do ne, Mrs. Burkman. A nd ou r apo lodes to your rapid so n, ") Send your questions 10 The Answer M Care of Cycle News, Ba 498, an, Long Beach, Cal if. Sorry, volume of m does nol all ow us 10 send indiail vidual replies. FOREIGN RIDERS OKAY AT DAYTO NA, BUT CLEAR WI TH M ICUS FIRST Wes Cooley, pres ident of the F .I.M. coordinating body in the U.S ., (l\llCUS) announces that four Inte r national r ider s have been gra nted pe rmi s s ion to race In the 200 mile Al\lA cha mp ionship at CQytona in March. Interna tio nal riders who have not got MICUS per mission ye t may s ti ll do so by co nta cting Cooley at (714) 528-4290 evenings or risk forfeiti ng their international co mpeti tion license . SAFEn GYMKHANA IN POMONA '!'IllS SATURDAY The P_na FalrpCIlnds will be resound111& III .... .-4s of llappy motolCycUsts clllapelial 10 a Saf.ty GYltkhau fOl cash prizes aDd tHlpldes, Saturday, ilardi 2, as a resu lt of III. pco.... I.. attl tude of ... spoasors. TN prol ranl Is belne spoasored by the Pomona Safety Couacl ~ the Automobll. Club of Soutbern California, California 1I0to.. PoAlOU Polic. cycl. Safety COUHcll, Department, and ... Pomona Jun ior W oman's Club. Th. ... nt Is Int_d.d both as a fun day and as a demonstration 01 the n••d ror de· veloplog the nec.ssary skil ls when riding motCl'cycle s. The cont.stant s ma y sil" up by .. ",Iring an ..t ry bl.k from any motor' cycl. dealer In the San Gabrl. 1 Vall.y area, or from the Auto Club oHlce In Covina. There I s no f_ , however, t o enter, each contestant's madllne will go tlvough a safety Inspection and the rider must hay. a helmet and proper clotlllni for riding a machine. Eac:b pa,t1clpant will be given one hunchd polnts at the beginning and til. points will be deduct.d Ill' each safeI)' violation while rldlne a prescribed course. Arst prize will be a $50 bond and a trophy; se eond prize, a $25 bond and a trophy; and third prize will be a trophy. There will b. facllltl.s 101 purchasin g lood and r",. sll. .nts aDd f... Itovles will be shown In .... othe r bulldi. g eIw lnl the Saf.ty Gymkhau . The .vent wi ll be held at the Los Angeles County Falrlrocands and will begin at 9 o'clock 011 lIarch 2. This promls.s to be AI eleltlnl day for one a d all. It Is particularly Int.res ling frolt dI. staltdpolnt of ... motorcycl. safety sltualloft, It certainly points up an ".portaet fact cone.rnI0 1 the tr_lIdous p owth In the molarcycl. IIIC1't l. r.c.nt y.ars. A per... should certa inly lur. to rid. before ".y ride. THE SQUEEZE IS ON I bave j ust written to two As sembly men and one Senator as per Vol. V, No. 7 of Cycle News . I a m de ve loping a protest attit ude! It appears as If Call!or nia is trying to legislate cycles out of existence. "'Me under the guise of safety, they design laws de stined to reduce the number of riders on the road, they then legislate to reduce areas of off-the- r oad r idi ng. The squeeze Is onl As an ex -street rider, I hav e forsaken the highways for the open dirt. I feel the wail s closing In already (paranoraz), Something should be done now!!! In my youth I once said I would ride If it had to be a Vespa 50 with trainer wheels. But I hope not . D.G . EMERIC K Stanton , Calif. (" Tha n" yo u lor doin~ your pari. The only ,.ay tha t tre edom can be lost is lor good men to do nothin~." j M ( ASSOCIAT ION ELEOS BAGNALL AS PRESIDENT fOR 1968 By Barbara Adams Dahms AB 289, this year's " bel met bill," will meet Its first test March 19 when It will be heard before the Assembly Transportation Committee. Inasmuch as the author of the bill, John Francis Foran (D) San Francisco, Is also Chairman of the Commit tee, 289 will probably be passed out to the floor of the Assembly. It Is howeve r a good Idea to wr ite to members of thi s committee If you ob ject to passage of the bill. Not all co mmittee members favor it and le tters fr om the public, particularly from rider s, will affect Its chances . It Is indeed unfortunate that this bill has lumped together licensing provisions for motorcycle riders and helmet and eye protection requirements. Mos t of us favor some sort of licensing. The combination of both Issues may well caus e the bill not to pass again this year. It is possible that later a mendm ents may remove the apparel portion but Author F oran has thus far been ada ment abo ut r etaining It. To say the least, a s It goes to commi ttee, the bill will put your head In a helmet if It makes the whole course. Members of the Assembly Transportation an d Commerce Comm itt ee are as follows: Chairman: John F. For an ( D) F rank P , Bel otti, Eureka (R) Wadie P , Deddeh , Chula Vista (D) Walt er J . Karabian, Monterey Park (D) CQvid Neglr . San Fer nan do (D) L.E. Townsend, To r r a nce (D) Vice Chairman: Jam e s A. Hayes, Long Beach (R) Cr aig W. Biddle, Riverside (R) Joe A. Gonzalves , Nor walk (D) Fr ank Lanterman. Pasadena (R) Pe ter F . Schabarum , Covi na (R) Pe te Wilson, san Diego (R) All members ma y be a ddres s ed State Capit ol , sacramento 95814. Anaheim , Call!ornla. February 14, 1968. The American MotorcycleAssoclaUon, which sanctions motorcycle competition in the Unlted itates, today selected William M. Bagnall of Sierr a Madre, Call!ornla as Its president for 1968 . The group me t her e for Its ann ual meeting. Mr . Bagnall, an editor an d pubUs he r of Motorcyclist magazine Is a motorcyc li s t of mo r e than 20 years standing and has been active In publicizing the sport through two monthly magazines . He Is a lifetime member of the AMA. The 4 1-year-Old Bagnall is an army combat ve te ran of World War n. Serving with P resident Bagnall on the new AMA s late are Frank Heacox of Long Beach, Call!ornta, Vice-President; Earl Miller of Bal ti more, Maryland, Treasur er; and Michael Bondy of New York, Secretary. Executive Committee members will be the officers plus Walte r CQvids on of Milwaukee, Wiscons in, John Aa r vold of Wheaton, Illinois and William E. Kennedy of Milwaukee. MS&ATA Reelects Kennedy The motorcycle Industry's trade group the Motorcycle, Scooter and Allied Trades Association - also staged Its annual conclave an d re-elected Wilitam E . Kennedy of l\lilwaukeeasltspresldent to serve a fourth term. Othe r elected offic ials of the l\IS&A TA includes Vice- P resident Tom J ohns on of Flint, Michigan; Secretary E.W . (Pe te) Colman of Duarte, Califo r nia and Treasurer Walter Davidson of Milwaukee, Voted to the Executive Comm itt ee , alo ng with the officers , were Earl Miller of Baltimore, Robe rt Remens pe rge r of San Francisco, James Jingu of Los Angeles an d Walt er Ande rson of Mil wa ukee .

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