Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

• -America's Oi ly Weekly .....cycle NewSll.,.... Publisher••• • • Charles C. Claylon Editorial s tories , cartoons . phot os, Business Manager•• Sbaron Clayton etc, are welcomed a nd will be paid Ci rculation Mgr••• Gayl' Thomason for upon publication (e xcept pres s Editor•••• •••••••• Carol Sims releas es and · Voice" lett ers .) Adt\ dvl'rUsi ng Mgr • •••• Tom Culp • dre ssed , stamped enve lope assu res Photo Edito~ •• •• V....nis GrPene ret ur n. Lab Technician•• ••BiII Pettigrew Singh- ropy pric 25¢ Rl'ceptlonis t. • •••Louis.. Marshall SUbscription: One yea r 2nd class Mail •••• ••••••••• ••• $7.50 . Publi shed weekly except th e firs t and last week 01 the cal endar year (SUbscribt'rs please allow Ibre e by C&S Pub lishin g Co•. Post Office w..eks lor addre ss change, ) Box 498, Long Beach. California. Advertising rat es and circulat ion Second Clas s pos ta ge paid a t Long in formation will be se nt upon reques t. Beach. Calif. '. REACTION FROM SACRAMENTO The following letters were received Cycle News readers Varwin Acres, Jon M art-vn and Tony Bugarin in respon s e to their protests a gainst compulsory use 0 1 helmets , and should prove good reading lor all. " Dear Mr. Acres: Thank you very much for your letter concerning Assembly Bill 289. As you pr obably know, a s imilar bill pertaining to ihe wearing of motor cycle hel mets was Introduced last year , but It failed to even pass out of committe e and I serious ly doubt that Ih1s year's bill becomes any mor e suc cessful. In iact, ihere Is s ome question of ihe constitutionality of such a law It It were passed. Therefore, I believe ihere Is little chance of Ih1s bil becoming law. If I can be of furiher service, please do not hesitate to let me know. Wlih best wishes, I am Sincerely yours, WINFIELD A. SHOEMAKER Assemblyman, 36ih O1st., Santa Barbara sacramento, Ca1It." by "Dear Mr. Martyn' : 'Ibank you for your letter expresslng your concern about AB289. Unfortunately 1 cannot agree on your judgement. Had you been present to hear ihe testi- mony given to ihe Assembly Transportation Committee in support of Ih1s blll last year, I think you would be of a d1tferent oplmon, Brietly stated, ihe testlmoney indicated that even ihe most eXJ?8rt and careful cyclist can through no fault of. his own encounter a mishap resulting In a tragic accident. Much as I wish to encourage a spirit of. individualism and to prevent unnecessary government regulation of private activity, the very high risk of grave Injury Involved In motorcycling more !han justifies Ih1s Iegtslatton, Unfortunately the only way to guard against Ih1s risk Is through ihe wearing of a protective helmet . While ihe wearing of ihe helmet and goggles may somewhat reduce the pleasure of motorcycling, I Ih1nkyou will agree It Is rather slight when weighed against ihe possible heartbreak and expense to ihe oved ones of a motor cycle accident victim. It Is quite possible that In many Instances ihe care of someone seriously Injur ed In an ac cident might be more !han his family could bare and ihen would fall upon ihe public . I hope that you will agr ee that ihese considerations establish ihe need for this corrective legislation. I will be gr ateful to hear fr om you furiher on Ih1s matter or any oiher 01 concer n to you in ihe futur e . Thank you for taking ihe time and trouble to communicate wiih me. Sincerely, PETE WILSON Assemblyman, 76th Dlst., San Diego sacramento, Calif." " Dear 'rdr. Martyn: Senator Jack Schrade has forwarded your recent letter to me for reply. ~e to ihe recent senate reapportionment I now have ihe honor and privilege of representing all of Nor iher n San O1ego County. As you probably know, leg islation concerning compulsory safety equlpmentfor motorcycle r iders was Introduced last session and, alter extensive hearings, was not passed due pr imar ily to lengihy testimony given by motorcycle clubs . I under stand ihe legislati on Is still being studied and ther e Is a possibUity that this meas ure will be r eintroduced this sess ion. I did not serve on the com mittee that heard the testimony last year and have not had the opportunity to hear the arguments. Please be as s ur ed that It this mat ter comes bef ore me for consideration, I will certainly take your vie ws Into a ccount. They will be mos t helpful to me In making my tlnal dec is ion. Yours truly, CLAIR W. BURGNER Thirty -Eighth Senator ial Dist, San O1ego County Chairman, Senate Social Welfare Co rnm, sacramento, Callt ." " Dear Mr . Bugarin: Thank you very much for your letter of February 29ih concerning legislation providing for ihe compulso ry us e of helmets by motorcycle riders. I have read many comments that ihe use of helmets and goggles act ually Is a safety haZar d, raiher !han a prevention. I assure you that I will give your ps otion on ihls matter my earnest const deration. Sincerely, DAYID A. ROBERTI Assemblyman, 48ih O1str lct, L.A. sacramento, Ca1It." " Dear Mr . Bugarin: TI1ank you for your letter of February 29, 1968 stating that you are opposed to AB-289/1968-Foran which would require you and oiher motorcycle users to wear a protective motorcycle helmet. I suppose I am as concerned about people 's healih and safety as anyone sIe but I tend to agree with you that It you do not wish to protect your ownhead you shouldn 't have to. 'Ibank you for giving me ihe benefit of your optnion, I do not know wheiher that bill will ever come before me for attention but It It does, I will remember your letter. Sincerely yours, GEORGE E. DANIELSON State Senator, Los Angeles County Chairman, Committee on Public UtJllties sacramento, Ca1It." (· Keep sending in diose cards and letters to your senators and Assemblymen, folks . They really 00 get our message across! - D DI G IRT GERS NORTH" The O1rt O1ggers M.C. would like to welcome and extend our congratulations to a new club that has been formed In ihe Or angeval e, Ca1It. area. The name of ihe new club Is " 01r t Digger s Nor ih." Although a new club, they already have some of ihe areas top riders In ihelr 30 plus membership. As you might s uspec t, we are broihers under our red and white striped r iding jerseys. Alihough each club IS an independent organization our philosophies are ihe same. Both xlubs will do ihelr best to prom ote ihe sport of motor cycl1ng. In ihe planning stages IS an event, put on by boih clubs, that will blow your mind. Lookfor this unusual and spectacular event to be held In ihe near future . If any of you Nor ihern Ca1It. riders get zapped by a guy wearing a red and white s tr iped r iding jersey, don't feel bad. At least you've been had by one of ihe best. DIRT DIGGERS M.C. san ta Monica, Ca1It. 190 CLUB CHALLENGED As a long standing race fan and follower of Ascot, I feel compelled to write about ihe "190 Club" as it's a popular stopping place for fans and racers . Condition s under present management have gotten to ihe point where ihe hoodlum element, which ihe motorcycle industry has been trying to live down, Is not only per mitted In but their action condoned. Ascot fans , why support a situation like Ih1s? Many other places exis t which do ca r e what s or t of clientele they have. SHARON ATTARD Los Angeles , Calif ; THE NEW IMAGE By Chu ck Clayton EAST SIDE, W EST SI DE, AL L AROUN D DAYTON A T he ai rplane se t s you dow n ge ntly at Day ton a Be ac h airport. It is a tro pical wint e r day , with potm etal skies and stiff bre e ze s bending the tall pal mtrees . You driv e past the famous Spee dway , he ading for Mote l Stri p alo ng the be ach • .A guide who has bee n to Day tona for the Handle bar De rby in the past , points o ut landmarks to you , o n 'your first trip . T here ' s the A rmory whe re the fre e trad e show is bei ng held , and th ere's - Stree t Rid er Stre e t- where all the bik e s with exotic li c ense plates line up at night: fri nged saddlebags from Mic higan, fai rings from P ennsylvani a , Har l ey s from Id aho and the Dis tri c t of Co lumbia , cho pper s and Ch ris tma s trees from Ne w J e rs ey . You get yo ur credenti al s in the office of Hou ston L a win g, publicity directo r for the Day to na Spe e d way, a nd with the s e magi c pa s s e s you c an wand er wherev er yo ur que s t for i nforma tio n and impress io ns may le ad yo u. F ir s t, to the pits , with c andid c ame ra coc ke d, to le arn what we c a n of the e quipme nt a nd th e mood prevailing. The Harley-Davids on cre w is proud but not smug with the fast time of 149.08 mph that th eir s id evalv e V-twln set e arli er. - T ha t motor doesn't know it 's a Ilathead," so meone in the Triumph pi ts remarked. - It thi nks it' s an ove rhe a d caml " H-D wasn't taking an y chances on losing this year, aft er two straight d efeats at th e hands of th e Baltimore Triumph crew. Racing c hief DickO'Bri en had sp ent more time, it was rumor ed, in California tha n in Milwauke e last ye ar, redesigning the familiar KR en gine with th e help of C.R. Axtell's flowme ter and dyno equipme nt . The latest KR's sidevalves ar e said to i nc li ne more sharply toward ihe cylinder bore, to reduce ihe angle of th e path ihe gases have to follow. • Sideval ves vs. Overheads vs. Two"Strokes Triumph, the defending champions, were resting on their, laurels, but non e too happy about it, seeing's how H-D's seven sponsored riders had that new invincible look in their eyes. Triumph's Day tona- wi s e development engineer (B ritis h meaning: racing director) Dougl as Hell' (pronounced - h e e l- ) put his faith and the fate of a good many motorcycle sal es in what had always proved to be a good thing, the overhead valve , vertical twin, a design so e fficient that it of te n beats the side valve s with 2/3 of the ir power potential, Sidevalve engine s (does anyone not know ?) are allow ed to use 45 cubic inch dimensions while overhead valve e ngi ne s may only go 30 .50 inches on th e bore a nd stroke . The two- cycl e e ngi ne , for lack of a bett er cate gory . Ls lump ed i n with th e ove rhe ads in the racin g c lasse s . • Size No Advanta ge Thus in the Suzuki stables , we foun d the ir per emp torily-appointed ra c in g c oa c h F red Moxley doing the best he coul d wit h full thir ty and a half i nc hes of Suzuki 500/five engi ne s ••• only in this cases th ey had to be 500 /four s, s i nce rul e s limit all bi ke s to 4-sp eed gearbox es, and s o M le y had to le a ve ox a pre ci ou s co g out of the stoc k Su zuki tra ns mi s s ion. Racin g s pee d s had unco ve re d some structural s ho rtcomings in the detail s of the bik e s that Moxle y woul d be hard presse d to co rrect i n time for the bi g 200-mile c hampio nship o n Sunday. F arthe r al ong the row of white garages we espy the hou s e of Ya ma ha, where i nvi ncibility fai rly re eks. Ya ma ha's team of raci n g expe rts rid e rs an d managers alike get a lot of c re dit for Ya maha' s ros y profit picture . A bout t hre e do zen of thei r qui et , e nt husiastic s ales exec utives were the re to c hee r them on to another victory in the 250 road ra c e . And , hop e fully , a good showing i n the bi g bi ke c hampionship . Alr e ady their 350cc two-cyc le bi kes held 2nd and 3rd fas t t ime , as if to demonstrate a ga in for all to s e e , that in ra ci ng, s ize has no ad va ntage . .Ameri c an moto rcycle ra cin g i s the sto ry of David a nd Goli ath, re-e nac te d eve ry ge ne ra tion . T he gi ant fal ls and be comes the under dog. T he und er do g fell s the giant , gro ws to bec ome a gi ant hims elf and the cycle re pe ats . Dayt ona'S New Look The ne w look a t Dayton a this ye ar is fac to ry te a m rid er s in bri ght le athe r uniforms a nd id entical looking bik e s . Ev en the Yamah a roo ting s e ctio n s po rts id en tic al bl aze r j ac kets, with conte mpo rar y announ c er sty ling. Uniformiti s e xte nds as we ll to the mon thly ma gazi ne s taffs in attend ance : CYCLE i n re s ple nde nt blu e s at i n jacke ts and CYCLE WORLD in re d wi ndbre ake rs and P an ama ha ts. .All this fashi onable p luma ge wa s view e d askan ce by so me of the pri vat e racers , who figu red t he - littl e guy· di dn 't stan d a cha nce a ga inst the factory mon ey. If the new lo ok was calculated to psyche o ut the o ppositio n, it wasn' t e ntirely success ful , as re s ults later s howe d. Priva te e ntries are pr ote c ted by the .AMA' s cl ai mi ng rule . which s tates that any par ti cip an t can claim the wi nne r's mot orcy c le for $1500 in the c ase of a li ghtw ei ght , or $2 .0 00 for the winner of the 20o-mller . The fact th at no o ne has i nvok ed this ru le i n man y y ears i ndic ates t hat rumor s of " s pe c i al $25. 00 0 fac to ry e ntrie s " ar e j ust ma de up but no t be li ev ed . Ce rt ai nly t he outcome of the l aO-mile rac e for Am ateu rs on Frid ay shou ld have s et one 's mind to re s t re gar di ng private build er abilitie s und er the C lass (Conti nued on page 6) c •

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