Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

:.:;;~ ' " It FIRST I. 6417 N, Long Beach Blvd. Long Beach, Calif. 90805 Or: Box 498, Long Beach, Calif. Phone: 423-11431 (Area Code 213) From L.A. Phones: 636-8844 VOICES OF THE WEST MAUREEN ADMIRER The enclosed shot taken at Cor r iganville this year proves that the Cycle News "Troops" are working. Maybe that's why you scoop the regular magazines, but that Maureen "L" has got,. the damndest style of taking pictures. One of these days so meone is going to pinch he: behind, I! I don't••• wonderful traditio n with the Grand Prix and I feel It would lo se a lot of tha t tradition by being relocated. It would be like riding Catalina in .. Beautiful Downtown Burbank." Hoever , the DIrt Diggers club has an exceptiona1ly good reputation and would draw riders to an event anywhere (even Anacapa Island). Even though the $7.00 entry fee is no "year-end special bargain, " I for one would be willing to pay an extra dollar directly to the club to help defray the cost ot s ponsoring the Grand Pr ix. I hope by pubUs hing this, Cyc le News wtll get the r eaction from other riders. Thank you again for alI the great times you have provided me by staging your outstanding events. JACK M. COLVILLE SParks, Nev. THANKS FOR TH E HELP I would Uke to thank Rescue 3 for the help I received when Injured during the r a ce put on by the Spoke Benders M.C. wAmerica's Only Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper' Pu blish er••• • •Ch ar l..s C . Cl,uton lIusiOt"ss Manal:e r• •Sharo n Cla~ton Circu lation Ml:r• ••Ga", Thom~son Edi tor•••• •• • • •• : • Caro l sims ,\ dverti s inl: ~h:r • • •• • • Tom C u lp Ph oto Editor• •••• Dm nis Gree ne Lab Technician •• •• 1Ii11 P e tti 1:1'.. ..' Bookkeepe r• • • • • Susa n \\l1l(('la.. Slaff ArUs t ••••• Charl es La Gre ca Publish ed week ly exce pt the fi rst and la st week of the cale nda r year b~' C&S Publi sh in g Co. • P os t Offi c e Box 498. Long Beach . Ca li fornia. Second Class postage paid at Long Bea ch . Ca li f. on Sunday, August 25. And a special thanks to District 37' s helicoptor for the efficient transportation to the hosp ial. Thank you alI. JOHN LANDRY #248M Lomita, Calif. I NEED MY FORK CROWN Perhaps you can help me with a problem . WllI the Hodaka rider who broke his tork cr own a t the Carlsbad MotoCr os s on 8-11- 68 please either send back the one he borrowed tr om me, or $11.oo? My bi ke looks sort of sad sittin g there without Its cr own. Sure wis h they had some racing up here in San Francisco Uke I saw at Encinitas and Carlsbad. In case he lost my address It's, ED HINDES 1700 El Camino Real Rue 2-24 So. San Franctsco, Cal. 94080 By Barbara Adams Olh ms The 'n,;s; ble Motorcycle Two boys sat on a motorcycle, stopped, of t the r oad. An a utom obile s peed s along the road, crashes into the bike. One of the boys Is dead, the other seriously in jured. The driver's excuse..... 1 didn' t see th em." I failed to see Maureen Lee's name listed on your staU ros te r in the weekly issue of Cycle News._ would be nice to list Contributing Reporters like other pubUcatioos . (E d. note: All I ~ of lhem?) Since I bave been exposed to cycle racing because of my son Jet! Robin I bave become an avid spectator and , reader of Cycle News and must give you ' credit for accurate, fast and honest reporting. Thank you for improving a good clean sport that both young and old can enjoy. SI ROWN Van Nuys, Cal. (" Anyone care for a p1Dch?") OPEN LETTER TO DIRT DIGGERS , I want to congratulate your club for tile very emdent way in whi ch you ran your scrambles last July. It was a tremendous accompUshment considering the number of entries you bad. Your club has established a reputation for running outstanding events, a fact proven by the turnout you always get. I bave r idden your Grand Prix every year since Its origin an d consider It the best and most enjoyable sportsman event in the country. I bave ridden In Arizona, California, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico , Loui s iana and Mexico , so my opln1on Is not the r es ult of a lack of experience . In 1966 and '67 I didn' t race at alI except your Grand Prix. The fun I bave always had and the tradi tion you have es tab Us hed brought me out of " r eti r ement" for your eve nt. This brings me to the poin t of my le tter - at last. I was talldng to one of your members (I think his name is Sam) a t the DIrt Diggers Nor th event the week after your scram bles . He said thai you might have to relocate your Grand Prix be cau se of financial pr oblems. I think that If at all pos sible you should keep It at CorrlganvUle (Hopetown). You have established a Two boys on a cycle are riding down the highway. The y are followed too closely by an automobile. The driver 'S wife keeps saying, "Watch out for thos e kids ." The cycUs ts s ignal tor a left turn and slow down. The au to mobile r uns over the m. Both are dead. The driver' s excuse •••"1 didn't see them." A boy and a girl on a motorcycle approach an Inters ection with a green l1gbt, A truck ts waiting to make a left turn. Just as the cycle enters the intersecti on the truck turns. The cycle runs under the truck. Both rider and passenger are dead. The driver's excuse._"1 didn't see them." Tbere is no argument that a motorcycle Is somewbat smaller than an automobUe, considerably smaller than a truck. But It Is larger than a bicycle, a pedestrian, or a rock in the road. One of the requirements for obtatn1ng a driver's license Is to be able to see. It has long been accepted that the driver behind ls lega1ly responsible to avoid tile automobile in front whatever maneuver it makes. Wby doesn't this apply to a motorcycle in front? The 011coming tramc always has the right of way over a left turning vehicle. Wby should the "invts1b1l1ty" ofamotnrcycle lessen this responsibility in any way? Specl!1c legal advantages bave been given pedestrIans in California and it bas become the responsib1llty of the a uto driver and the motorcycle rider to see (})\CIO(' DELIVERY SERVICE them an d avoid them . Perhaps itis going to be necessary to give spectf1c advan- tages by law , to the cyclrst, And if It Is necessary It must be done . Putting hel mets on the rider' s head as has be en done throughout much of the nation is not maldng the r ider more visible an d It Is not preventing these accidents . Perhaps the problem will be Improved by training the a utomobile dr iver . Dri ver training progra ms which put emp hasis on the spectf1cs ot motor cyc le operation will make the a utolst more aware of the eyclfs t, But there are hundreds of thousands of au to driver s on the highways who were not trained by a dr iver training program. What abo ut them? How do we becom e vi si ble to them ? Motorcycle people can do their part by be ing as obvious as possible. Using lights In the dlIytlme attracts attention ("Hey, your l1gbt' s on' '') and ls thus a safety feature. A speclaIconfigurationof lights that Is unmistakably a motorcycle should be designed by the industry. Attention-getting clothes and cycles and even the often-ObJected-to noise can be a safety factor. How many times does one hear before even seeing a cycle? In the garbage of l1gbts and shapes that affront the eyes of the motorist on a busy city street the motorcycUst needs alI the help he can get. But ultimately the seeing or not seeing Is in the mind and not the eyes. The truck ls doubly vts1ble to the car because the mind says, " U thai hits you. It' s alI over." The motorcycle w1lI never bave this kind of advantage. It ls going to take the legislature, the very safetyconscious l e g i s l a t u r e, to make the motorcycle visible by enacting the kind of law that makes It the RESPONSIWLITY of the driver to SEE THE MOTORCYCLE...to make the mind or thedrlver see the cycl1st. " Invi sib1llty" Is really no excuse. E dit or ia l ston es, ca rtoons , pho tos , e tc . a re welcomed and wi 11 be paid for upon publica tion ( exce pt Prl'SS rel eases and " V(l ic ~ " letlp,s.) Addr ess ed . stamped envelope assu res return, Sind e COP)' pr ic 2:;c S u~sc ri p ( io n: One vea r zn d class Mal ••••••••• ••••••••• ~7 .:; 0 Adver ti s in g rat es and ci rcula tion informati on will be se nt upon reques t. Salinas Nat'l This Sunday A first-time AMA National Championship race on the West Coastis scheduled tor this Sunday , Sept. 8 at the SalInas, Calif. Fairgrounds haIr-mlle track . Eleven miles in length, the ve nt wtll put alI leading contenders on equal terms, since no actively competing riders have even seen - much les s raced on - the fairgrounds dirt oval. Race manager Bob Day announces tha t 17,00 0 seats will be available for ' the Championship event, which s hould be a thriller, espec1a1ly with the National point battle so tig ht . Pre-race favorite Is Bart Markel, who w1lI be looking to grab the point lead and come another step closer to the alI- time career record of 27 Natio nal wins set by Joe Leonard. Markel now has 24 victories under his belt, five of which he has taken this year - four on the haIrmUe, and one TT . Pi t gates open at 8 a.m., race time is scheduled for 2:30 p.m, S ACRAMENTO 25-MllE NATIONAL FACTS WHA T ; 25-Mile National Championship AMA Motorcycle r ace, the longest and richest moto r cycle flattrack race i n the United States. WHEN: Sunday af ter noon, September 15, 2;30 p .m, WHERE: Old Califor nia State Fairgrounds, sacramento , California. WH S RACING: A fie ld of more than O' one -hundred r iders from alI parts of the United States Including former AMA Grand National Cbampions, Bart Markel, Roger Retman, DIck Mann, and defending champ Gary NIxon, plus former sacramento winners Mer t Laww1l1 and Fred NIX. SANCTION: This race Is santloned by the American Motorcycle Assn., and w1lI count toward the 1968 AMA Grand National Championship. COURSE: The track Is a one-mlledtrt track. LENGTH OF RACE: 25-mlles, the longest flattrack race In the nation. STARTING FIELD: Tbe field w1lI be Umited to twenty starters, qual1fy1ng by their ftn1sb1ng position In beat races prior to title event, PURSE: This year's purse is $10,000, making this the.richest oval track motorcycle race in the nation. BIKES: Tbe race Is open to standard catalogued production motorcycles, and at least 200 of the same model with identical engines and transmlsslon must be ava11ab1e for sale within the United States. Side-valve engines are l1m1ted to a maximum piston displacement of 45.70 cubic inches , while overhead valve engines are restricted to a maximum of 30.50 cubic inches. SPE EI:S: The 5aeramento track with i ts long straightaways Is one of the fastest in the nation. Straightaway speeds of over 125 mUes per hour are common. The one lap track r ecord Is 40.43 seconds , for an average speed of 89.05 mph . TICKE TS: Admis sion tic ke t s are priced at $5.00 for general admission, on sale race day only , $6.00 for reserved cover grandstand seats, and $7 .00 for box seats. They are on s al e a t the Civic Theater Box Office, 1419 " H" Stree t, Sacramento, c anr, Also at many motor cyc le s hops in Nor the rn California, or fr om Agajanian Enterprises, P .O. Box 98, Gardena , Cal. (2 13) DA. 3- 5055.

• Cover