Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125557
ACE OF CLUBS RECEIVE TOP TEN AMA HONORS ":I g S ~ o '" 5 '" c:l ~ '" Each year the American Motorcycle . Association selects ten top clubs fr om the hundr eds thr oughout the country . Scrapbooks of the various clubs ' activitie s are submitted to the AMA and judged on variety of events, safety activities, variety of news r eleases , char ity events sponsor ed or co-sponsored, and the general character of the cl ub and its members . This year the Ace of Clubs M.C. of El Monte, Calif. was chosen as one of the elite " Top Ten, " and member Bob Suprenard traveled to Daytona Beach , Flor ida to receive a special placque given in recognition of the group ' s efforts . The Ace of Clubs have been a familiar s ight at numerous events all over Call fornia, highlighting parades , professional events, charity runs and other suc h meets with their breath- taki ng precision Drlll Tea m mane uvers - all gr a tis performances . Each of the 25 Ace of Clubs members ride Hi-Fi blue Har ley-Olvidson fulldress 74' s complete with saddlebags, numerous taillights , radio boxes, antennas, and buddy seats for gir l mem ber s • . Their uniforms and helm ets are brown and beige; they wear highly-polished black para trooper boots with white shoela ces . The Drill Team itself is usuall y comprised of eight members and a Drlll c aptain, but as many as 13 have taken part in their pr ecision r outines , which they practice ever y Monday night for an hour and a half. On rainy nights they have " blac kboard drill." Highlights of their tri ck-riding pe rformances , origlnall y drawn up by the late Darr el Pecor in 1956, include " T hre adin g The Needle," si ng l e and double Figur e Eights, abreast form ations, "V" for ma tions , interlocking cir cles , and the grand finale " Suicide Split." The ski ll required to accomplish s uch feats is doubly evident when considering that the machines weigh between 850 and 900 pounds . The secret is "enthusiasm and practice," states Suprenar d. All bikes mus t have good tires and be in top mechanical condition s ince they perform on gr as s, pavement, asphalt, dir t and even banked wood tracks . New r iders start in the rear of the formation and move forward through seniority. Cur r ent officers of the Ace of Clubs include Drill Captai n Johnny George, who is al so Road Captain on tours and poker runs, Presiden t Vern Selby, Vice P resident Bob Me y e r s , Treasurer Mary Stride, Secretary Barbara Arant (wife of former Road Captain Dann y Arant), and triple -threat Eddie A If 0 r d who s erves as RRC r epresentative, Chart Stewar d and Refer ee. A ce of Clubs dri ll t eam member Bob Suprenard di spl ays the award presente d to the group as one of the Top T en AMA clubs In the U.S. fo r 1967. After participating in at least a dozen runs and other events In 1967 (Santa Fe Springs parade, Montclair city parade, twice a t Ascot, McFarland Boys Home Run, City of Hope Tour, Indio Tour , Ensenada Run, Elsinore Run and others), the Ace of Clubs look for ward to an even more acti ve and satis fying season In 1968, and are certalnly most deserving of their Top Ten AMA award. CALIFORNIA'S DOING IT AGAIN- NO APPAREL '" REQUIREMENTS! 00 <0 By Barbara Ada ms Dahm s On Wednesday, Apr il 19, man datory helmet and eye protec tion requirements were amended out of AB 289 by the As s embly Ways and Means Comm ittee. This move, couple d with the defea t of the footwear bill and the r emoval of helmet provisions from SB 111, leaves only minor negoti ations before a ma jor victory for Califor nia cyclists. AB 289, held over fro m two weeks earlier, was a doomed bill when It went into the hearing. At the prior session a demonstration by the UME of the Items they wer e legis la ting (cour tesy of Bell Helme ts ) and a pr esentation of our objections to mandatory use by the Hell 's Angels had the committ ee ready for a " no" vote . Still, Chai r man Cr own, bendIng bac kwards to give the author , Ass em bly man F or a n the bes t pos s ible chance, held the blll for two weeks. Knowing he no longer had the votes for pas sage, Foran walted till the last min ute befor e bringing up his bill. The UME, r epres ented by Bar bara Dahms; the Hell' s Angels, r epres ented by Sonny Barger. president; and "Zorro" Mitten, treasurer, Oakland; Bob Roberts, president, S.F.; and Tommy Henderson, treasurer , Olly City; were on hand in case of some unexpec ted maneuver . Several Sa cram ento cyclists, whose names we would li ke to have, also were present to tes tilY If needed. Chairman Crown began by stating he was not r eopening testimony which had been given extensively at the previous hearing. However, he allowed Foran one r ebuttal witness , Dr. Snively (again) who tes tified that it wouldn't be so bad !! cyclists s imply kllled themselves but unfortunately they sometimes didn't die and becam e a burden on everyone else, thus making the la w neces sary. We had previo usly confer red with Assemblyman Leon Ralph of L.A., and asked him to rescue the licensing portion of the bill. Assemblyman Foran had " r eluctan tly" agreed to such an arrangement. After a bit of discussion among committee members, Assemblyman John Burton of San Francisco m 0 v e d an amendment to remove helmet r equirements , which passed. Chairm an Cr own s tarted to call for a vote on the bill and a cry was raised over eye protection. Assemblyman Ralph put in that amen dment which took Foran completely by s urprise. He protested that this part was necessary to obtain feder al money . A general uproar foll owed as each s ide tried to get the floor . Barger won by simply going to the lec ter n and repeating previous tes ti mony that, " The CHP report had s tated eyeprotection could be more dangerous in an ac cident ," even as Crown was insis ting, " We' r e not going into that again, we covered it thoroughly last time." The CHP had the last word when Inspector Ja cobs, called to comment, ver Uled Barger 's statement and added " We have no position on mandatory apparel." AB 289 was s ent to the Assembly, a pure licensing bill. HODAKA (805)942-9624 t Isj·OVERjit t MIKE PATRICK NORTON 8 ~: KEN KNUDSEN TRIUMPH t.: , JON THOMAS TRIUMPH U Don & Ray's Motor cycle Shop 1223 W.A ve. I, Lancaster, Calif. t t t t 2"" STEVE STAATS 8lILTACO d :.. IN LANCASTER IT'S ~ t ~ t.:l :i!: t.:l IMPORTED BY BERLINER MOTOR CORP. Railroad SI. & Planl Rd. Haslnuck Hghls., N.J. WESTERN PA RTS HQ. ZDSliolors 521 W indsor Rd. Gleolla Ie, Ca ur, t t t t t t t t t t t