Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

by C&S Publisblng CO•• Post Office Box 498. Long Beach. Califo'nia. also publishe,s of State Cycle News for the Eastern states. Publisber••••• Charle C. Clayton Business Manager•• Sharoa Claytoa MaDaging Editor. Wayne F1emlngtou Produclion Manager••Dennls Greene Assistant Editor &< Lab Techn1clan • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Bill Pettigrew BooIlIleeper•••••• Sasaa Whitelaw Ctrculalion Dept. • Jenny McDoMld - -America's Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper"' Receptton1st. •••••• SIlIldra Pardy Published weekly except the first and last week of the calendar year VOICES OF THE WEST PIG LATIN PISTOl SPEED I would lI,IlPrectate It if you could shed some J1gbt 00 the subject of 'plston speed' for me. Wbat ts the formula used to arrlve at PoS. at lUlY given road speed? WIly Is tile tlpre d 2SOO f.p.m. anen WI8d, and flDal)y wIlat would tile PoS. of my 450 Booda (4 speed, stock gerar1Dg) be at 80 m.p.h? Would it be too mueb to operate tile eaglDe at this speed fot extended periodS d time? R THEIS Tbank you. Gle~, C&I: ED. NOTE: Wbat you WlUIt is tile n_ber of feet travelled Ilf lbe piston in a minute. So you take lbe stroke (1.8cm) and aaaltipIy it by two. Tbat"s one rev. Then divide tIIat figure by 31, tbe _ber of cenU-ters ill a foot. Tbat give YOU lbe n_ber of feet IIllveUed ba 0118 rev. Then ....liply dlat by 1000, lbe approximate rpm of your Hooda 450 at 80 mpb. You'U let about 3500 feet per minute. 11Ie 2500 feet per mtoute figure you _Uoned is an oat1l-date IoIH!nd I1mit f« sasta1lled rurroring. You're O.K. Many IDOdenI engines caa lID safely past that "rait, especially motorcycle en gines. Bacillg eagiDe bit 4080 feet per minute f« sbort periods. The early VW's got their lone engine life from bavtac a pUtoa speed of about 1_ feet per lUiJIute. PERFOIIIS FREE I'd Uke to say ttIanks to KeDDy Brown for putl:ing on bIs stunt show free during lIalf time at tile TT scrambles Sunday tile 15th at Perris. Be belped lx'iDg to tbe crowd and all pte rec:etpts WllIlt to tbe ClYde L1tch Beaefit fuDd. F LOYD LEWIS, Pres., LlglItwelgbts M.C. SUPPORTS DAHMS RecardiDr tile letter "Cootra Dahms" I wi&Il that our own state bad someooe 1Itth a slm1Jar 1!lW~ and UDderstaDdlDg d ~ and tbelr JIeIatloq to IIOC1et;y and covernment. After 35 years d riding I know that most d our difficulties stem from tile fti1EIy felt envy of cyellsts by others, for Y&rious reasons. 'Ibis also expJa1ns tile trrattooal vWflcattOll we eet and tile (orten Ingeniously) d1sgutsed barrassment. Until tile hearts of men tmprove we and other mtDorlUes may have to dePend on the Bill d Rtgbts whose object was-and is - liberty. C.R. BROPHY Clackamas, Ore. GETS AWARD OUr sincere coogratulatioos to Dan Martin 00 beiDg nomlJlated as Rider of tile Year by the California Rainbows. He well deServes it. Dan Is a credit to the sport d motorcycling. We are proud to have him work with us to our Motorcycle 8afety Instruction Program. HUNTINGTON BEACH CYCLE PARK MASHING A RUMOR I've beard recently that the present l00cc llm1t for tra1lbikes' to the desert Is golng to be raised to include 125's. I'm planning on retirlng the bike I'm riding but I want to stick to traUbike class. Sbould I buY a 125 or is tbts strictly an unfounded rumor • RON RAMSEY Tujunga, Calif. ED. OTE: Although most limi ts change _time. the 100cc limit looks from here like ooe of the least likely to do so. Stic k to it if you plan to ride in the tratlbike class. I have never written to a newspaper to my life but I th1Dk It is time to do so. We sell several copies of your paper every week and have aI_ys enjoyed it and look for~d to its arrival. I surely bope what appeared this _ k will never bappen agatn, it was surelY overlooked by your proof reader. Your peper Is read in many bomes by young and old alike and what appeared 011 page 41 and 47 Dec. 26 was uncalled for, even tIlough it was a quote from a REAL PIG. Tbanks aga1n for a good paper until this time. FLOYD PAYNE Pres. East Side Mlc Co. Portland, ore. I was reading the article about tile Hell's Angels and found some four letter words in tbts article that weren't at all Decessary! I have been around motorcycles slnce 1950, and I haven't ever read such trasb. Sure used to th1Dk a lot of your paper. I have two teenage boys who ride and read tbts paper also. It sounds Uke to me your articles support the Hell's Angels. I sure boPe you don't have to write this junk to suPPOri your paper. Other tban tbts Dahms Interviews Barger, it's a good paper. NORMAN JENSEN Santa YDez, Calif. second Class Postage paid at Long Beach. Calif. Editorial stories. cartoons, photos. etc. are welcomed and will be paid for uPon pUblication (except press releases and ·Voice" letters.) Addressed. stamped envelope assures return. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon reQuest. NATIONAL ADVERTISlIG DIRECTOR, , , , • n-as R. CIII, Cycle News (wesu, P.O, Bol 498, Long Buell, calif. 9 _ Tel. (213) 423-t431. SiDCIe eopy price•••••••••• ~ Sabsc:ripUoa: ODe year 2nd class EASTERJI ADVEmSl.& IIAIIAGEI •••••••••••••••• F,nk 11. . . . . State C)'d. __ s (East) P.O. lIox 13,lWllerst,OItIo 44001 mail • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• $1.50 T.I. (21&) 914-2433 Dear Mr. Clayton: I very stroDgly object to your usiDg that 4-letter work 011 page 41 of your Cycle News, dated Dec. 26th. I've met both you and your wife, and I think you're both good avid fine people, so I f1Dd it very bard to understand bow the "FiDal Authority.. of Cycle News would stoop to gutter language. I'm just a siDgle road rider. I read and enjoy your paper _.usually. Let's try to keep it decent and clean. I bope your publ1catiaIB wU1 DOt eater to "outlaw" meutal1ties iD 1969. WbJ didD't you justleave a blank tIlere? We could have used our Imagination. With bopes for your moral rebab11ttatioo iD 19\i9 I rema.t.n, JOHN HEDIN Los Angeles COMMENT: _.ADd tbauk you for letting us IlIIow your views. In orfertng the Barger quote verbatim we did not mean to imply lbat this is bow people sbould talk. but ueiLber sbould we bide the fact I.bat some p_Ie do speak I.bat way. If anyone _s offended at Cycle ews ror priutiDg it lbe way it is. we bumbly beg their UDderstandlng and forgiveness. I have been a subscriber toyourpaper for over two years. I enjoy it, and so does my wife and family. We participate to your coutests and puzzles. I won ooe of your .. Fin1sb tile funnies." iD your last issue d the year, to the article IJrlhms Interviews Bareer, tile word F - - - - Is used. A word you will find on restroom THE NEW IMAGE By Chuck Clayton Speedier Delivery of Cycle News Did you notice that you got tbis issue of Cycle News a coUVle of days earlier? That's right. we are now printing and mailing your newspaper two days sooner, so that every reader can have the latest issue before the weekend. Ascot Benefit If you drive along the Los .Angeles Harbor or san Diego .Freeways, where they cross, and you look real carefully, you can see Ascot Park. You can also cause an accident, because the place isn't easy to find. Unless you know exactly what streets to take, you could circle it for days and never get there. New Years Day I had the rare experience of helping create a race at Ascot. Now, as everyone who knows knows, Ascot is the ultimate western showcase of motorcycle racing. It is the Astrodome, the Palace, the Fillmore and Carnegie Hall all rolled into one. Ascot's owners started to erecta sign, so the four or five million people who drive past it every day on the freeways would know that a dirt track was there. The sign posts were put up, but that'·s as far as they went. -It's a good thing I didn't spend the money for that sign: reckons one of the owners, • because sofew people came to the races this year ,I couldn't have paid for it." I will let that statement suffice to explain most of the reasons for the diminishing crowds at Ascot races. Most people think that J.C. Agajanian owns Ascot, but he does not. The track is owned by two partners, SChooler and Zuckerman, who lease the premises from yet another man who actually owns the real estate. Agajanian merely has the exclusive motorcycle promotion rights for the track. Aggie Volunteers When Aggie heard that the friends of Clyde Litch were looking for a track to hold a benefit for the injured racer (see story this issue), he said: ·Why don't you use Ascot? It's all right with me.The track owners, since it was a benefit, agreed to forego their usual 15% rent as long as we paid for the track preparation. The concessions and parking would remai n theirs. . I was interested. not only because it was a chance to do Some Good. but also because of the chance to play with the Ascot stage. Now that it·s over, I'm glad to say that Clyde will have considerablY less money worries when he come's home from the hospital. .And I've golten over any urge I may have ever had to he a race promoter. The problem. you see, was publicity. That was my job. How, in three weeks time. with zero budget. do you entice, attract. lure or otherwise move people. who maybe never even heard of Ascot or know what it means. to come pay $2.50, plus parking, and see the show? That's when it struck me that there are maybe 12 million .Americans within easy driving distance of Ascot who don't know what is there. And they don't know that they don't know. They know more about the moon than they know about Ascot Park. At least they know it's there. Well, we publicized the race all we could. (Aggie's staff helped a lot) and 1234 people came, which is about as many as you ever see at a non-national (or non-international) race in California these days. Perhaps the next benefit should be an Ascot Benefit, to get that sign up before it's too late. walls and cheap pockelbooks. I did DOt e.xpeet to seek iD Cycle News. Motorcycling is becomiDg more of a famiJJ sport, but Cycle News is DOt a tamtI7 paper, at least DOt lUlY more. Maybe you are leaning toward free speech, U so I wtsb to cancel my subseripttoo to Cycle News. Wbea I baft to hide Cycle News to keep my boys from reading it I feel it bas no place iD my borne. EDDIE HARVEY DowIIe7, CaJif. COMMENT: C)'cle News bas always leaned toward freedom of speecb, EddIe. If 9lImetimes we leau toa flu, well, l1Iat batrP4!ns in motorc:ycle r1d1ng too. SOIIEBODY NOTICED! C7cle News is DOt atratd of eootroversy, as tile Barcer interview prons. I Uved in Qakland 1955 to 1963. Ralph Barger to tIlese years rode Utile iD lIo1m and seldom left town by bike. He disliked cold and rain and ~ my Id8a d a classlcal falr weather rider. I tbought him a nne organizer and bus1Dessman, but as a motorcye1tst••• maybe. I disliked his versl00 of flI1r PIlQ', three or more of his croup '-tine up CIDe and the strict conformity be requires to b1s rules. A Hells Angel who is DOt a cooformlst is iD trouble ill RalPb's croUV. Cycle News is to be c:ongratulatsd for cover1Dg all parts Of tile sport - good, a.d and controver.sia.l. W.E. ftD DRlELEN Sparks, Nevada UNFAIR TO RETARDED Wes Cooley wrote, iD b1s Oct. 31st column: "It (motorcycling) Is no lqer looked upon as a sport for tile meuta1]y retarded or tile UDC1eaII, but as a wbolesome exercise that lets

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