Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

"lmelier, Onll Weekly .werelt New ilpe'" ~ "" v; .=- 6411 N. LIng Beach Blvd. LIng Beach, Calif. 90805 Or: Box 498, Long Beach, Calif. Phone: 423-9431 (Area Code 213) From L.A, Phones: 63&-8844 ::l ~i ~ Pu .. i sh er••• • •Charl e s c . C lay lon an Busi,",ss M a ger••Sha ron Clay lon Cireu la tim MgT • •Gaye Thomasm • Edilor••••••.• • ••• Ca ru l Sims Adv e rtl sin g \110"••• •• • To m Culp Photo Edilor•. • •. IIl'fln is Grl'l' nl' Lab Technician• •• •Ilill P e tti lO"ew ll ookk ee per• • •• • Susan IIbik>law Rec ep tion is t. •• ••• • J udie Bailey P ubli s hed weekiy exce pt the fi rst and last week of the ca le nda r ye a r by C&S P ubli s hi ng Co.• P ost Offi c e Box 498. L on g Bea ch , Californ ia . Second Class pos ta ge paid a t Lon g Bea c h, Calif. Editorial s to ries , ca rtoo ns . photos . e tc . ar e we lcomed a nd will be paid for upo n publi cati on ( excep t pres s rel e as es and • Voice " le tte rs .) Addres s ed. s tamped enve lope ass ures re turn . stnale CO P)' pr k <,•• •••• ••• • 25¢ Subsc ription: One yea r 2nd c la s s ~Iall • • •••• • • •• • ••• • •• $7.50 Adve rti sin g rat es and ci rcula tio n informati on will be se nt upon reque s t. 8OOOoOoOOIOOOOOOC:X><)o()o(>OCIOO~OOOOC:X><)o()()cIOOIOOOOOOOOC:X><)o()o(>OCIOOOOOOOPC)o()o()()ClOOiOOOOOOOOC:X><)o VOICES OF THE WEST LANCER'S LETIER TO AMA w.T . Ber r y, J r., E1'e cuti ve DIrector American Motorcycle Association P.O . Box 231 Wor thi ngton, Ohio 43085 SUBJECT: Competition B ull e ti n # 10, May 29, 1968, by Jules Hor ky, AMA Director of Co mpe ti tion The Lancer's Moto r cycle Club Is very much upset abo ut the outlawing of compression rel eas es In Class C Com petition races . Our reasons are as foll ows: The majority of riders are against thi s rultng. You s ta te that " ther e bave been a few fie ld Ins tallati ons of._co mpression r eleases •••" This Is not correct. 90% of the 2- s troke riders bave been rac tng with compression r eleases . Flywheel brakes and caliper brakes are not In the same catego ry as compression r eleases . Brakes on r acing bikes are dangerous. Calling a compression r elease a "brake" Implies that It Is dangerous. BUT, a compr ession release Is not a brake, nor is it danger ous . Outlawing compr es sion r eleases is dangerous In short track r acing. When coming Into a turn, the 4-stroke bikes will slow down rapidly when the throttl e Is r el eased. The 2- s troke bikes will be unable to s low down, therefore, they will be In danger of either running Into the back of someone, or going out of control. The cons equences are obvious . This ruling is dlscriminatory against 2-stroke machtne s vlt Is discriminatory bec ause It incr ea s es danger to the 2stroke rider without any compensatory advantages to hi m . A.M. A. policy is not representative. A democratic gover ning body should not bave the power to make laws affecting the well-being of the gov erned wben: a) the consensus of the governed is not considered, and b) there appears to be Uttle recourse by the gover ned. With regard to recourse••• We are first wriling to you to strongly urge that there be a moritorium on your r uling and that r iders conti nue past pI1-ctices until october when the Competition C o ng r es s meets. BeCoreOctober, we would like to bave an A.M.A . r eport fully expla.ining the reasons for this ruling. This r eport should be made available to all members so that those opposing the ruling can form ulate an opinion an d conta ct their representative before the convention. We would appr ec iate bearing from you a s soon as possible . DA YID P . WILSON Lancer s Motor cycl e Cl ub Redwood City, CalIC. THREE PROBLEMS A coup le of our members went on a fi shing trip (on bi kes na turally) up in Sequoia Na tional P ark a cou ple of weeks ag o. During the ir s tay they talked to the Ranger the re (who is als o a bike rider) and he mentioned three specific problem s they were having in his are a: ( 1) People on bikes tearing througb campgrounds and disturbing other campers (uni ntenti onally I'm sure). (2) P eople on bikes r iding on trails othe r than those posted for bikes (hiking an d horseback r idi ng trails) . Last, but most Impor tan t: People us ing plastic con tainer s (the type that bleacb comes in) to carry extra gas for the ir s cooters Into remote areas, emptying them and then discarding the container with the top screwed on (dis - carding them Is bad enough!). This is like leaving a grenade lying around with the pin pulled out . At any rate, the fellows said the Ranger wasn't ma d, jus t concer ned. an d rightfully so. We all know bow bard it was to ge t bikes Into these areas to begin with an d it bebooves all of us to be extremely careful. No one wants to start a forest fire or Ir r itate people who are rela.x1ng. Anyway, though. It would be worth mentioning to you as you worked bardon this project as did many others and we cer tai nly don't want to see it all down the drain. In closing , I am baPPy to report that the g uys got their limit in trout, but I can't seem to find out where! ROD LAWRENCE Corres ponding Secretary Sunland Shamrock M.C. Sunland, CalIC. WHERE'D YOU GO, JOE THEROUX? The Nevada TralIbIazers M.C. of Re no, Nevada bave a fo urth place irophy that we've been tripping ever since our Hare and Hound April '1. Would the rider who won thi s trophy please send us your address? Your name is Joe T b er oux , you rode a 360cc Greeves, your num ber ls '18, and you live so me where in Van Nuys _. we think ( ?). You falled to gi ve us a street address on your e ntry blank. We 'd apprecla.te it if Joe, or anyone who knows his a ddress , would please forward it to us . NEVADA TRAILBLAZERS M.C. P .O . Box 60'15 Reno, Nevada 89503 P .S. DIr t DIgger s North M.C., wbatbappe ned to the Ren o to Vegas run? We're still inte rested. THE GOOSE IS DYING The motorcycle racer s and the loyal motorcycle fans bav e made Ascot wbat it is today. After all these years the r iders are finally getting paid good money and they well deserve it. The only s ur e winner eve ry F riday night is J .C. Agajanian. He is nowkilUng the goos e that lald the golden egg - the loyal race fans. J .C. is not taking it into account that most of the race fans do not live in Gardena. $3.50 for the ticket, 75 cents to park, and gas gettlng there and back home is over $5.00 every Friday night. When As cot first opened I only missed about four races a season. This year 1 bave only been there one time and 1 don 't think I will be going back as long as the price is so higb. Many of my fr ien ds bave s topped going to Ascot. Others are only going once or twice a month. My firs t introduction to motorcycle racing was in 1946 at the Santa Monica ballpark. They raced JAPs . Since then I bave been to Carrell Speedway, Culve r Ci ty track, Wes te rn Ave . track in Gardena and Ascot . I was ve ry for tunate to race the firs t Yamaha motorcycle in the United States at Ascot in 1958. The AFM was r acing there the n. I bave four motorcycl e s now and after 22 years of r i ding and bei ng a spectator at motorcycle races, J.C .Agajanian bas stopped me as a spectator. It us ed to be a family s port but it is ge tting too expensive to take the family every Friday night anymore. TONY ALVAREZ Santa Monica, CalIC. (" Unfor tuna te ly , tbe riders are al so teeling t b e bnm t 01 ll"opping Ascot attendan ce. As of tbis coming Friday night, tbe purse is being lowe red lrom $2100 10 $1800 per week. ") SPEED ... ~~ "ZIPDHIE ---- --~~ POET'S CORNER ODE OF A PARENT By B. Redma yn e Your boy began to race the sand, When he was young and still in hand, This pleased you much and made you proud, You never thought it would rai se a cl oud. He did quite well hi s first year out, And then the youngest began to pout, The day would come, it seemed quite cl ear, That this one too would be ri ght here. Cross in g the boonies and climbing the ni lls, Ridin g the sle d and runnin g up bill s, Waxi ng equi pment and tighteni ng bolts, Jumping road crossin gs and taki ng the jolts, It seemed hard to believe the day of the race, That the younges t of all could quite take the pace, The starting line grew - two hundred and two, And then 0 [[ they took, ri ght i nt o the bl ue. T he desert flo or trembl ed and turned i nt o dust, A s wheels and engines spun with a thrust. And out i nto greyness they fl ew on their mount s. Ail seeking the l eaders on whi ch they could pounce. The minutes dragged by - li ke hours they seemed. Your watch must have stopped - it was wor se than you dreamed. Th e sled had you worri ed :" was every thing ri ght ? W the geari ng perfect i on? - was everythi ng tight? as You Th e The The knew it would handle. woul d hol d up the pace, pl ug would n't fo uI - it would finish the race. rider alo ne .must be up to th~ test. rider you knew was a novice at best. A scooter appeared - it was going like fire, It rounded a curve and came on like a flyer. Number one man cleared the finish line, Then two and three - then eight and nine . It' s aWfully late - oh not , not so! Fifty miles i s a ways to go. That hill was ste ep - that curve was blind. You hope the lime was there to find. At last, a dot begins to glow, And then your heart begins to grow. Your girl child is the ri der you knew, Ri di ng her first race. and fi ni shi ng too. THE WINNER OF THE HARE & HOUND By the Bushman #1I 9 x and tbe Edito rs W were hitting the tr ail and really wailing e On thi s lonesome hare and hound. Greeveses runnin g, BSA ·s hummin g all over the dusty ground. Desert dai si es bl oomin g. Buzzards grooving out i n the noon day sun. You would not be fooli ng just to be cooling on thi s mad desert run! , When all of a sudden out popped a cousin of the desert jackalopes! And when he buzzed past us we knew (if you asked us) that that was , the end of our hopes. You can bet a dollar on your father' s collar if we could we would do in this shoe. We would understand better if Mr. Roberts would l et us pick up a point or two. You can rest assured from the lakes of Lucern e to the walls of Red Rock pass The scooters will all be hot on the trail of whatever glory and brass. We will keep on ri ding til our muscles are dying with a wheelie at every mound, This sto ut breed will push through the sand and the mush to the end of the hare and hound.

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