Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

United Motorcycle Enthusiasts Report Another year is swirling down the drain and It has been a pretty sign1f1cant year motorcycle-wise. In legislation alone the motorcycle has taken an unusual and dis proportionate share of the spoWght. Almost every state has passed some sort at motorcycl e legislation 10 the last two years. (Most state legislatures meet only once every two years.) Cal1!ornIa alone, among the major states, refused to pass mandatory helmet requirements . Safety and The Law The UME was on the scene throughout the ses s ion as It Intends to be throughout the sessions to come, to work with the legislature and inform them of our needs and the good reasons supporti ng our needs. This year we helPed them see that helmets and eye cover were an individual choice. Next year we plan to work for legislation to protect the cycllst from the rest of the world, as in the case of the unmarked neckbreakers which have already taken too many llves. The UME has also actively participated with other groups 10 the encouragement of r ider traln1ng classes and the 1oclusion of motorcycle awareness in automobUe driver tra1nlng programs. We, too, belleve that the best ways to Increase motorcycle safety and reduce restrictive legislation are better-traIned riders, cycle conscious auto drivers and 10creased safety consciousness among all road users. citing on the track and good reading in the r es ults . But cooperation is what makes it 10 sacramento. We need the cooperation of every motorcycle r ider 10 the state. As long as we continue to cooperate Cal1!or nIa will continu e to be that dillerent state 10 which motorc ycle riders have freedom. Editorial By Chuck Clay Ion It's Cycle News vacation time again, motorcycle fans, and so with this we say -heigh ho!1 for two weeks, We hope that this record 48-page holiday i ssue tides you over until January 18, 1969 when your next schedul ed edition of Cycle News arrives, And now, it' s time to look over what was, is, and perhaps will be. You may note some inte resting trends I that are highlighted by the contents of this issue . Already It looks like 1969 Is destined to be a year of great progress and growth for the motorcycle movement. For example , the minibike has arri ved in the nick of time to save the lightweight market from obll vton, PR EDICTION: Minibik e enthusiasts \\ill soon be facln g the same problems 0 f safety and publi c rela tions that the motorcycle has. RESOLUTION: I reso lve to use the rnatorcrcle experience to head off some of the easily-foreseen pitfalls of the minibike movement, by tryine to ally the minibike manufacturers and Importers with the. seasoned hea ds of motorcyclin g in the MS&ATA national trade association. Speedway and moto-cross have imported a brand of professio nalism that gives American racers a new high standard to aim for. At the same time the vis its of Ivan M ger. Barry Bri ggs. Joel au Robert . AdaIr Weil. Torle if Hansen. Christer Hammargren, Marcel Wiertz and their buddies to these shores have proved that International stars attract spectators to new kinds of motorcycle racing. P REDICTION: Profes si onal racine will leap out of lIle Class C bag in 1969 as Class A speedway and M oto-cross circuits are esta blished andAmerlcan stars gain a reputation with the general pubIlc , AMA profes s ional racing will ta ke the lead with higher purs e s and Improved promotion. RESOLUTION: To encourage bona fide a ttempts to s tage real profe ssional races of any type around the country. Le gis la tion against motorcyc les abated in 1968. mainly because motorcycle enthusiasts found out. and then told their legislators the true facts about motorcycle riding. PREDICTION In 1969 there wlll be new. more subtle attemp ts to discredit the motorcycle and tak e awllY riders' d ehts. RESOLUTION : To defend motorcyclin g's rights to equal treatment under lIle law and fight against restrictions that are already enacted. In 1968 the American Motorcycle As sociation took a giant s te p toward democracy with the creation of the elected Competi tion Congress. But it still left the Adminis tration of Congress-enacted rules to one man. the E xecu tive Director. He has a bused his power by punishing some members of the Competiti on Congress who seek to a dvance motorcyclin g outside of the AMA. PREDICTION: 1969 wlll see a further hardening of the A.\IA policy until antl trust action Is threa tened by the .S. eove mment. Then the Eichmann plea. 01 was only doing my job" will echo from Columbus. Ohio. RESOLUTIO. ': Not to say I told you so . Cycle News grew to over one mllllon circulation 10 1968 (tha t's annually) thanks to lots of people . We added an eastern edition. Sta te Cycl e News out of Amhers t. Ohio which Is doing the s ame job for the eastern s tates that this newspape r does for the west. W have grown e to this is s ue's sta ggerin g 48 page si ze . the equi valen t of a 96 page magazine , comple te with 4-color pictures. and all produced and mailed within a week! How do we do it. you may well ask? We ' ll think about that question while we' re on vacation. PR EDICTION: Cycle News will not be publi shed for the next two weeks. Meanwhil e, Its staff wlll be merely rldin e bike s to their heart' s content. RESOLUTION : Cycle News will be back with its first Is sue of the new yea r and all s ubsc ri bers will eet thelr copies by Frfd ay, Plu s , there'll be more 4-eolor pic lures In 1969. Public Land For Us Another cruc1al issue which is 10 the nUing is the assignment of rights to public land. National Forests, National and State Parks, Local Parks and Undeslgnated Publlc Land are having 10creased demands placed upon them by various segments of the population. Motorcy cllts want only our faIr share but it is going to require a great deal of work If we are to obtaIn It. There will be 10 addi tion , the usual watchdogglng of proposed legislation to see what they have 10 mtnd to do to us. There may still be more helmet bills proposed. You never have a bill counted out until the session is over and each new session brings the whole battle to yearly sessions we llfe again. With have approximately six months a year to take care of one set of problems and six months to prepare for the next. Unity and Cooperation . • But the most important accomplfshment of the last two years was the cooperation between groups that produced the victory. Motorcycling has learned the important lesson that we make it better together than apart. We have gone the hardest mUe toward achievement. The helmet battle found the manufacturers and dealers, represented by the Cal1!or nIa Motorc ycle safety Council, the outlaws, represented by the Hell's Angels, and the rest at us represented by the UME actively working together to save us an. It was this unanimity as mucb as our evidence which convinced the Legislature that we knew what was right for us. Even individual riders took the time and effort to come to sacramento and reinforce our case before the Committee. This was democracy in action 10 its f10est sense. And they heard us. Youcan belleve they heard .us. They know weare here and they know we are a cohesive group that gets together for mutual benefit. And they will knowthat whatever they try to do in the future we are going to be there to tell it llke it is. Competition is a floe thing . It is ex- Make this Christmas something special. With that 'something spec·al'motorcycle'. Bodaka '100' five-speed. Perfect idea. The Hodaka ' 100 ' five-speed trailbike. You've never seen anything look more at home under a tree. Fact is, the Hodaka is at home most anywhere. On the road. Off the road. Putt-putting for pleasure or tearing full -tilt for that check ered flag. And we wouldn't put you on. The Hodaka, since it was first designed, has gone places. Because it was designed to go places. Fast. Efficiently. Reliably. By 1967 , the Hodaka was the National Tr ailbike Champion. And again, in 1968. Some events have been so overpowered by Hodakas that even we begin to blush. (In a par ticular California scrambles event, 54 of the 74 finishers were riding Hodakas) . . Even the 1968 l00cc Daytona Roadrace Classic was won on a Hodaka . Not bad for a trailhike. ~ There 's a good reason for all this success. A simple one. Because Hodaka is simplicity itself . And we intend to keep it that way. Hodaka comes in one model. One size. One color; We concentrate on it. We test and retest. The Hodaka has been improved 131 different ways since it was fir st designed, yet looks basically the same. And most of these improvements can be bolted on earlier units. Just one rea son why Hodaka has one of the highest resale values in the industry. And parts and accessories are readily available. There are many other rea sons for owning a Hodaka . But you' ll have to rid e one to find them out. So why wait? Put a Hodaka und er your tree this Christmas. It'll give you pl ea su r e for years to come. . .. (And if there's already a Hodaka or two in the family' Check your dealer's shelves for that per. fect accessory gift item). i PABATCO Bo.327 Athe na . Or• . 97813 i Send , i poHodak. ond ttand lin, .klo' . : ·· doe- SIo"," boo i : : ! . 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