Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

HOW TH EY VO TED O N M OTORCY CLE M ATTERS CYCLE PROFILEO'Leary Has Ridden Iron Ponies 34 Years By Bar bara Adam s Dahms ~~ By Ervin Hickman Jack O'Leary, Yamaha Motorcycle dealer In Austin, Texas, has a room full of troph ies earned over a 34-year span of riding molorcycles. His sign at 7935 Burnet Road says simply: Jack 0 ' Leary Moto rcycle Sales. 0 ' Leary has been in the motorcycle business for 22 years . His career with motorcycles began when he was 16 years old an d living In San Anlonlo, Texas. " I managed to save and scrape and bought an old Indian. Afte r working It over, I then traded it in an d kept tradi ng up until I managed a new machine, but I can assure you this was quite a problem for a schoolboy and look lots of doing," he reminisced. Most of the early day co mpetiti on was scrambling and TT racing an d O'Leary put ma ny a r ider 10 shame he hit Texas tracks ove r an s-year span. Every weekend fr o m April 10 Septembe r back In the 30' s there was wide excitement In r ac ing . 0' Leary won his first trophya s mall woode n plaq ue with a dul l gray miniatur e machine with a rider on ilwhen he was 18. " Despite 'hot-shoe artists' and many other tricks learned by weekend racers, the percentage of a cci dents In motorcyc le racing then , as now, is s mall," he said. 0' Leary dec lares that it takes mor e "guts" to drive ' on city streets than It does 10 race . Th ere are no a utomobile drivers on the track, he said. Ie For so me reason or other, " 0 ' Leary pointed out, " car drivers ex pect the motorcycle 10 ge t out of the way , no matter who has the right of way. I gue ss that ·· Is because the car is large r," he concluded. While the Austin dealer rides many miles each year, his son, now 16, is l earning from his dad all the fine points of the sport of mo lorcycling an d has parti cipated In many of the meets In Austin as well as Central Texas. Each ye ar, Mexico an d the U.S. participate in a joint l 5D-mlle en duranc e run on the firs t Sunday in May. Th is annual even t Is called Ci nco de Mayo an d is us ually held In the valley town of San Juan, Texas, but spills over into Mexico some years. The event draws motorcyclists from lon g distances . The crosscountry endurance run, with 100 10 250 co ntestants, is a popular event in this area. " We are particularly Imp r e s s ed by the number of people who like the cr os s country events. The Austin and Central Texas area Is pe r ha ps one of the mo st s ce nic an d picturesque sections 10 be foun d anywhere in the nation, and these events e n c om p a s s everything from mountains to lake areas, rocky areas, an d some desert strips," the Yamaha dealer po inted out. There is a ne w buying pattern In the Texas capital s ecti on, 0' Leary said. The mo lo r cy cle market has been over the years a teenager market and to a degree they still buy and hold the key 10 future saies for any dealer. " Our newest market has become the university student between the ages of 20 to 30. Here in Austin we have an enrollment of some 30,000 University of Texas students who find a motorcycle expedient to r ide to classes or for scenic spins out in the lake or mountain areas west of the city" , he said. as ". "We are not surprtsed with this new market, " 0 ' Leary pointed out , "but the demand is growing; ins tead of the purchase of 6D- 80 and l OOcc bikes, this crop of buyers go strong for the 25D350cc type ," he said. Amazing, als o, is the fact that s ome 70% of the sales made by Jack O' Leary Motorcycle Sales is cash . Some credit saies are financed, and they are welco med by this Te xas dealer. The r eason he a dvances for the cash sales is that the city is the capilol an d has many s tate agencies . Mos t of these s tate departments hav e credit unio ns, thus financing proves easy . Molorcycle minded folk just come In, get the price, an d s oon they are back with a check or cash an d say, " r oll her out, I' m ready 10 r ide ." Simple as that. The tree-shaded area around Jack 0' Leary's firm is a complete one-slop ser vic e for mo torcyclists in Central Texas . Bec ause he has been in bus iness 22 years, (12 a t the present locati on), an d b e c au s e he is dependable, he prospe r s . Th e fi r m utilizes consistent radio a dvertising as well as ne ws pa per Inches . Additionally, the telephone yellow pages in all the cities in Central Texas carry the Jac k 0' Leary ad . But pe rhaps the outstanding thing a bou t this r emarkable dealer is his a ctive partic ipation In events and the man y trophies In his office and home proving his prowess on the "iron ponie s ." Nearly an y day you' ll find 15-20 mo torcycles in the workshop of 0' Leary' s dealership - some of whic h are from almost 150 miles away. These fellows want in talk shop an d they've found a man who not only can talk the language fr om practical experience but likes to talk It. It' s in his bl ood. Mrs. O'Leary is a motorcycle fan, also. Says she's not afraid to ride with Jack anywhere and loves the sport tremendously. " We've been chasing the s e iron ponies a long, long ti me," she says, " an d that's the only way we're haPpy." O'Leary's sage advice to any new dealer sums up about like this: " Takes lots of hard work, then more hard work, a deep Invenlory in parts and stric t a dherenc e to fac tory service recommendations. Being lazy an d hoping for the best just won't ge t the job done." ROAD TOUR \\\ t1 x% \\%'S. c MOTOCROSS \\%1\ 1;nrallers Slaug"'er Americansl {lIIl' P.I.G.P. NOV. 24 tho Rea der s have as ked us to r ecap the position s of the members of the California legislature on molorcycl e legi slation. John F . For an , twice Introduc ed man dalory helmet legislation, fought very hard for Its passage. He Is from Assembly Dis trict 23 In the San F rancisco area. Members of the As s embly Trans portati on co mmitt ee who favored the bil l were: James A. Hayes , A. D. 39 Long Bea ch; L. E . Townsend, AD 67, T orrance; Wadle P . Dedde h, AD 77, Chula Vis ta an d Cr aig Biddl e , 74, Rive r s ide, who was s ort of in-between. L.E . Towns en d Introduced the footwear bill which fai l ed. Those who oppos ed the helme t provision were David Negr i, AD 41 Gr anada Hill s ; Walter Kar ablan , AD 45; Monterey Park; P e ter Sehabar um, AD 49, Covina . Dave Negr i has been mos t helpful to our cause. Me mber s of the As sembly Ways a nd Mean s Comm itt ee w ho opposed the helmet provision were John Burton, ( who put in the amendment to r e move hel mets) AD 20, San F r an cisco; Carl Br it schgt , AD 26, Redwood Ci ty; Ste wart Hinckley, AD 73 (who pu t In the a me ndment 10 r e move eye protection requi remen ts) Red lands ; Leon Ralph , AD 55, Los Angeles and Don Mulford, AD 16 Piedmont . Senalo rs who opposed helmet provisions in Senate Tr an s portati on were Lou Cusanovtch, SD 23, Van Nuys; F red Marler SO 2, Red ding; Alan Short, SO 6, Stoc kton; Lawrence Walsh, SO 30, Huntington Park, (who put in the am endm en t 10 re move helmets); Joseph Kennick, SO 33, Long Beach; Alf r ed Alqulst, SD 13, San Jo s e ; Milton Marks, SO 9, San Francisco, an d, ultima te ly , Ran dolph Collier, who had s trongl y fa vored helmets the pr evi ous year, SD I , Yr e ka . Sen . Cusanovich was one of the original oppon ents of helmet le gislation, standing almost alone when the 1967 bill went all the way to the Senate F inan ce committee whe re it was stopped by: George Mil le r , SO 7, Martinez; Howard Way SD 15, Exeter; Walter Stiern, 18, Bakersfield , and Stephen Teale , . SO 3, Calaver a s County . Senator Lagomarsino, SD 24, Ojal, favored helmets, as did Sen . Donald Gr unsky, SO 17, Watsonville and Tom Carrell, SD 22, San Fernando. Ralph C. Dills, SO 32, Long Beach, who au tho red the Senate bill, continued to favo r hel mets but was ag reeable to the a mendme nt r emoving the m. Othe r legislators who oppose helmet and similar r equlr e ments are Senators Geor ge Danielson, SO 27, Los Ange les, John Schmitz, SO 34, Tu s ti n an dAss emblyman F loyd Wak efield, AD 52, South Gate. Voting on the footwear bill of Assem- $1 ,750 Purse O range County International Raceway Entries Close Nov. nth See Ca lendar of Events this issu e. blyman Townsend, AB 366 was as fol lows: Fa voring footwear: Robe r t Badham, 71, Ne wpor t Beach ; Ri chard Barnes, 78, San Diego; Carl os Bee, 13, Hayward; Craig Biddl e, 74, Rive r s ide; Robe rt Burke , 70, Huntington Beach; Eugene Chapple , 6, Cool; Charles Conrad, 56, Los Angeles ; Earle Cr andall, 25 , San Jose; Mike Culle n, 44 , Long Beach; Pauline Davis, 1, P or tola; James Dent, J.O, Concord; Edward Elliott, 40, Los Angeles; Jack Fenton, 51, Montebello; John Foran, 23, San F ranc isco; Joe Gonsalves , 66, La Mir ada; Ray Johns on, 4, Chico ; Ken McDonald, 37, 0 jal; George Milias, 22, Gilroy; Don Mulfo rd, 16, P ied mont; F r an k Murphy, 31, Santa Cr uz; Carley Porte r , 38, Comp ton; John Quimby, 72, Rialto; David Roberti, 48 , Los Angel es; L.E. Townsend, 67, Torrance; Victor Veysey, 75, Br a wley; F loyd Wake fie ld, 52, South Gate an d Edqin Z' ber g, 9, Sac r amento. Oppos ing F 0 0 t we a r r equir ements: F rank Bel ottl, 2 , Eureka; John Br iggs , 35, Fuller lon; Ca r l Britschgi, 26, Re dwood Ci ty , William Campbell, 50, Haci enda Heights, Kenneth Cory, 69 Wes tminster; J ohn Dunlap, 5, Nor th Napa; Bill Gr eene , 53, Los Angeles; Ste wart Hinc kley, 73, Redlands; William Ketc hum, 29, Paso Robles; J ohn Knox, 11, Richmond; Fr ank Lanterman, 47, La Canada; John Miller , 17, Berkel ey; Er nes t Mobley, 33, Sanger; Pa ul P r iolo, 60, Pacific Palisades; Leo n Ralph, 55, ' Los Angel es; Ne wlon Russ ell, 62, Tujunga ; P e te r Schabarum, 49 , Covina; John Vas concellos, 24, San Jos e ; George Zen ovtc h, 32, F r esno. Th e bill required 42 vot es 10 pass and therefore failed . All others wer e not pr es ent for the vote. Some seeming in consistencies betwe en opin ions In Ma r ch on the footwear bill and opin io ns In Apr il ab out the hel me t provisions are explained by the fa ct tha t a number oI legislator s who prev i ously favored helmets altered their views in the cours e of the hearings after heari ng the facts an d meeti ng the helmets. In ge ne r al, thos e who oppos e thi s kln d of bill with out persuas ion are thos e who oppose mo r e laws. Thos e who be li eve gove r nment should help Its citizens ha ve 10 be shown that a specific piec e of legislati on w1ll not help , before they will oppose it. Otherwise, the opinion on the bill was spll t a cross party lines an d followed no pattern. Gover nor Ronald Reagan fa vor ed the helmet legislati on and Inc luded it In his "program" which gave ita sort of prlority status and also li mited the opposition of s ome of the Republican leader s In the legislature who privately oppos ed the whole idea. INTER - AMERICAN MOJO-CROSS SERIES IN THE WEST NOV. 10th - DALLAS, TEXAS NOV . 17th - WESTLAKE VILLAGE , LOS ANGELES NOV. 24th - DE LAVEGA PARK , SANTA CRUZ DEC. 1st - CARLSBAD RACEWAY, CARLSBAD DEC. Bth - SADDLE BACK PARK , IRVINE INFORMATION DEC. 15th - GUADALAJARA , MEXICO and ENTRIES • IOLE ENSENADAI 0 0" Calif ornia Voters: Here's Who is With Us and Who Isn't. INTERNATIONAL MO TO·CROSS 4790 Palm Ave., La Mesa, Cal if. 92 103- Tel. (7 14) 460·4289 ••••••••••••••••••••• * .~~ MOTO-CROSS bYic ic ic t.::..~·~ NOVEMBER 3rd N.~ tic * ...... ....- ~'~.A.~ v~ fc, 'l."" ~ Presented Carlsbad Racewa y C C .M. , •• Trophi es for Ju niors Mail entry $5. 00 Post entry $10.00 * *" ...... ......- Entries cl ose Oct, 281h Get Ready for the Internat i onal Mota-Cro ss on Dec . 1st Race wi II be on th e same Course All Lie. Accepted Make entries payable to C.M- C., BOI 124, Reseda, Calif. 91325 For Info. call (213) 886·3116 ic ic ic ********************* ~ C.:J :c: C.:J ...:J ~ U

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