Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

You' ll ,1.,'.~• • ..... • • It co FI~ST <0 .... 0) • • • America's Only W eekly M otorcycle Newspaper" • Publish..r• •••• Charl..s C . Cillyton Rusm..ss M g..r•• Sharon Cloton aDll Ci rcula tion Mgr• • . Ga... Thoma ';"n Edito r•• •• •• ••• • • : Cam l Sims Adv..rli sing Mgr • •• • Tom Culp •• Edito rial sto ries , c a rtoons , ph otos, etc . ar e wel comed and will be paid for up on publica tio n (o xc e pt pn -ss re lea se s and ·Voic,," I.. u ers.) Addr essed, stamped enve lope assures return. Si nl:lt· ro p~· pri e r- • •• • • •• • • 25(" Subscri ption: One JPar 2nd class ~Iail •••••••••• •• • ••• S1.50 Photo Editor• • • • • Opnnis G r~np 6471 N. Lng Beacll Blvd. Lab T..cnmeran•••• 1Ii11 p .. Uigr.." Re c pplionis t. •• •.Lo uis.. Marshllli Long Beach, Calif. !OB05 Or: Box 4!B, LOIg Beach, Cal if. Pub lish e d we..kly exce pt th.. iirst and last w....k of th.. ca le nda r venr Phon e: 423-11411 by C&S Pub lish in g Co. . Pos t Offic.. (Area Code 213) Box 498, Lona Bea ch, California . Second Class postage paid a t Long FnlIII LA, Phones: 636-8844 Beach , Calif. (Subscribt'rs pleas.. allow for addre-ss chana... ) Ad vertis in g rate s a nd c i rcula tio n i nfor mati o n will be se nt upon req uest. member: BY DOING SO YOU WILL BE ACTING IN YOUR OWN GOOD INTERESTS. Let's keep the desert ON LIMITS for those that wish to enjoy it. DA VID A. BUCHMAN Los Angeles , Calif. HELMET HASSL E THE STARTING LINE This letter is a rebuttal to Roxy Rockwood's column of last week. Having known bim for a few years I can say he is one of the best track announcers we have bad In a lot of race seasons. But to knock a rider because he Is 40% of zero Is all wrong. This " 0" rider Is the backbone of our racing program . It makes no difference what color of number plate be carries. Yes, we have our top ten as we call them. But who wants to go and pay good money to see ten riders in each class race each other without the " 0 " rider giving a top dog a go! for his money? This Is what our crowds pay for . The "0" rider is the backbone of our sport. if all sports took this kind of outlook we would have only winners and this Is Impossible. Someone has to finish 2nd, 3rd, etc. The " 0" r ider voted on the Ascot situation the way he did because of the fact that he Is proud to be one of the group, and he knows he's a winner. Let's not knock anyone who is out to give us the best he can. This Is all part of the show. Our top tuner s like to clear a little money In order to provide better equipment for a good show . The "0" r ider is out to make all ten fingers aunt, .an d not have any left; He knows that someday the hotshoe will hang it up and he will get a crack at the go-fast equipment. To make the fingers on one hand count you have to spend a lot of money or convtoce someone you have a top r ider who can win and get them to roll out a machine that will do the job. We have the talent for this but we need more money so the tuner can fi eld this equipment. It Is very evident tha t we have all tha t Is needed to put on a darn good s how. Some one bad to co nvto ce ABC's " Wide World of Sports" of thi s fact, otherwise why would they fool around with 40% of " 0" . This is BIG money we are talking about. So let everyone make his own stand and not divide our Interests. ROBERT BAILEY, SR. Torrance, Calif. CLEAt~ IT UP There Is a bad si tuation that I wish to call to your attention: J us t about every motorcycle, dune buggy, desert, etc. enthus iast is fa miliar with the beautiful Red Rock Canyon area of Kern County. However, I feel that the de ser t Is a natural rescource that can be gros s ly damaged. I feel that this damage is going on in Red Rock Canyon, if not elsewhere. Just merely take a look at the ground around the Ricardo Site in Red Rock Canyon. What do you see in these beautiful natural campsites?-beer cans, paper, and other trash left to be preserved in the dry desert air. It's a bad scene. I am not puttlng the blame on us (motorcyclists) per se, but on all the people that use the area. One day some legislator or other "important" person will see the mess. Then it may be the end of the use of Red Rock Canyon as we know It today. I feel a District 37 club(s) could remedy this situation: Have a race or enduro with proceeds used to clean up the area, provide trash cans to be picked up and emptied bY the county, and always verbally lash any member that demonstrates his or her masculinity/ femini ty by powerfully crusb1ng and throwing an empty .020 aluminum beer can down In the sand! And if any club(s) or Its members feels that this activity of cleaning up the desert to be " beneath them," just re- This correspondence Is In regard to the A.M.A.'s official competition ruies concerning approved helmets for professional motorcycle racing. On page 51 of our "Manual of instruction and Rles of Competition" under competition apparel, It states "The following competition rider apparel mustbewornatevents were speed is the determining factor: Helmets: A group #1 A.M.A. safety helmet." Prior to the 200 mile National Championship at Olytona I heard a rumor that the A.M.A. had waived this rule for the foreign entries. I discarded this rumor as rdiculous gossip . After viewing some pictures and the Daytona report, I feel that at least one foreign entrant was wearing a helmet not In this approved gr oup. My concern comes not from the fact that they wish to wear their silly soup bowls or that the A.M.A. is trying to help them feel at home, but completely from the insurance point of view. As you know, there has been considerable talk that the national A.M.A. insurance Isnot as healthy as It should be. It does not take a gr eat deal of Imagination to hypothesize a situation where the A.M.A. waives this helmet rule for a foreign rider, he wears a substandard helmet, ge ts injured as a result of the use of the substandard helmet and becomes a heavy burden on our insurance poli cy , in turn causing a higher premium for the American competition rider, all because the A.M.A. allowed him to us e the Illegal helmet, This may sound like a mute point, but, I am probably In a better position to make this evaluation than anyone In the U.S.A. besides Dr. George G. Snively of the Snell Foundation, due to the many months of helmet testing I sepnt researching and developi ng for the largest helm et mannfacturer, Bell Toptex, To confirm this please contact Mr . Fr ank Heacox who Is a trustee on your executive committee of the A.M.A . ALBER T GUNTER Alhambra , Calif . WHAT MAGAZINE?! Thank you l or your letter of March 29, 1968. Let me be brief and to the point. I voted against Assembly Bill 289 In com mlttee because I am opposed to cornpulsory hel mets . I will vote against the bill on the floo r of the Assembly for the same r eason . Unfor tunately , Mr , Fo r an had enough vote s on the com mittee to ge t his bill out . The recent a cti on by the Senate Transportation and C o m mer c e Commi ttee leads me to believe that AB 289 will be amended wben It gets there to remove the helmet portion. You would have been very proud of the motorcyclists and representatives of motorcycl e magazines who came forth to testify against the helmet provision. They convinced me. Thank you and best wishes. Sinc erely, WALTER KARABIAN Assemblyman (Alhambra, East L.A., Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, Temple City, California) (" T his letter was received by reader David Brown of Alhambra. Actually the only 'magazine' repre sented was Cycle News, and we are relllly a local newspaper. But thank s to Mr. Karablan for the good words.") PREVENT (RIME I Help United Motorcycle Enthusiasts of California FIGHT UN FAIR LEGISLATION, .M.E. Box 498,Long Beach, Calif. thr.... w.... ks By Barbara Adams Dahms DON'T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT ... It may be the beautiful park crowned by the gol den dome or it may be the door that's always open; but t h e r e is something special abo u t the California Legislature. This was never more obvious than the Wednesday afternoon when the usually sedate Assembly Ways and Means Committee was turned Into bedlam as representatives of the Hell's Angels and United Motorcycle Enthusiasts presented the cyclists' case against mandatory helmets . The committee members a dmitted afterwards that they had planned a quick "yes" to get the bill out to the Assembly; but It didn't happen quite that way. Caught off-guard, committeemen snickered and joked as Sonny Barger and Animal Hlbbets rose to te.stlfy. With con siderable dignity Sonny Introduced himself as a professional motorcycle r ider and explained clearly the problems which make helmet wearing a matter of personal choice . An absolute hush fell over the room as his testimony was accorded attention rarely given an yone Ina committee hearIng. He argued agalnst mandatory eye protection as well , quoting fr om the California Highway Patrol Report that eye pr otec tion devices may be somewhat more dangerous In an a ccident. Assemblyman Carl Brltschgl from Redwood City, a twelve-year veteran of the Legislature, who formerly played football, tried on a Bell Magnum. Then he mad e the national newswire by slipping on a Bell Star and becoming stuck Inside. While Assemblyman Mulford of Oakland a ttempted to push the helmet ba ckward off his head and Assemblyman Britschgi tried to push it forward, camera s turned, newsman interviewed, and committeemen s houte d, "What did you say ?" with ears encased In helmets . " That's gonna kill It r ight there, " Animal commented to newsmen, "Them guys putting on helmets." Author Foran and Dr. Snively ( who races s por ts cars and appe ars regularly to insist that motorcyclists have their lives forcibly saved by mandatory gea r) Insisted to the committee that these were raci ng helm ets and would not be standard if the bill were passed. We attempted to answer this statement, outrageous, at least in the case of the Bell Magnum , but were not heard. Inspector Jacobs promised tha t the CHP (who will be responsible for s etting the standards) would accept nothing that would make riding mor e diffi cult (though one wonders how the CHP is going to remove these s truc tural problems if the manufacturers do not find a way). And Chairman Crown held the bill over for two more weeks. Unjammed from the "Star," Assem blym an Brltschigi won our nomination for " Good sport of the Year" as he langhed at his experience and talked seriously of his feeling about helmets. "I can see no advantage that a helmet s hould be made mandatory for motorcycli s ts," he said. "I had planned to vote out the bill because I didn't know there were any problems. But 3.fter hearing Barger's testimony and trying the helmet, I couldn' t vote for mandatory use . "I certainly appr ecia te that the Hell's Angels and Uuited Motorcycle Enthusiasts came to enlighten the committee as to the problems that would be enhanced if we adopted a bill or this nature ... wb1ch would, in my opinion, create more hazards than safety for the cyclists." We've sald it belore and we're saying It again. Our representatives In the legislature want to do a good job but they "" ~ "" :: t '" .:J ~ if. - Assembl yman Don Mulfor d (right) aUe..,ts to unj am fell ow Ass embly man Carl A. Brl tsch gl from the confi nes of a fUll - coverage helmet. Several members of the comm ittee told us afterward they had planned to vote for the bill before the hearing. One member put It r ight on the lin e, " Sonny Barger got you your bill . Foran had the votes until Barger testified. Then he didn 't have them anymore." Try One and See Aft er Barger's testimony, UME representatives offered helmets (live and In fuil col or ) for per s onal Inves tiga tion by the commi tt ee . Assemblyman Leon Ralph of Los Angeles requested time from the Chairman to try the helmets. Various members put on helmets and Immediately shouted, "I can't hear you ." have to depend upon us to tell them what we want. That's gove r nment of the people and It wor ks when the people do their part.

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