Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Yo" II Box 0\98. Long Beach. California. also publishers of State Cycle News for the Eastern states. Second Class Postage paid at Long Beach. Calif. Editorial stories. cartoons. photos. teo are welcome and will be paid for on the 15th of every month for material published the previous month (except press releases and ·Voice- letters.) Addressed. stamP" ed envelope assures return. Reprinting in whole or in part expressly forbidden except by permlssion of the Publishers. _ Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. A'••, . ~~i 10 Pulllisllerll Editor•• Chuck Claylon BwliJIess •• Sharon Clay loa Omce lllala&er••Gayleoe Thomasoa ProdIte~ IllaallCft•• Deaais Greeae P'a..... t. .Deaa CuaaiIlCb- eaae.. Il Clab DU•••RaY eadez Wbitda CIraIIa~ DePt. • JetiIlY McDDoald Lab Tecaiclaa. •••• .Lily Lalicb . . tIs. •••••••• Sandra Punb' ' u blished weekly except the first ~•••••• SDsaa Motor ~ IN eye e ewsp,. • ~ and last week of the calendar year by C&S Publishing Co•• Post Office H-D 74 n .-G V-7 VOICES OF THE WEST HERE WE GO, AGAIN EAGLE EYES I bave been a subscriber to your n e ~ for aver a year now lUId baYe been very pleased with it. It bas been a great source of informatiOil OIl dlffereot types d bikes lUId part CClIIlpaD1es. I bave retld your off-tbe-road test d the new American Eagle 405 lUId would l1ke llO Ia10w tf this macblne is beIng retalled now, by wbom, lUId the price. K. BRAUN TreDlxlD. MIss. COIIIIENT: aft forwarded ~ Ie&ter to IIcCOnIad 1.1emaU-e1. Box . . . . . 8IMa Ma. CaL 9%711. (714) 5*-!1H4. one, CM .... ~ iii t..cII wi _ bell' dealer iol ,u. ana. DEHESA SUGGESTIO Pm wrttinC to you about the TT sc:raJIIIlIes at DebeSa SpeecI-.;y. First Pd me to COIIlIIIeDt Oil the wa;y its orgliIl1JIed. 'Ibey get their races df llO a good start lUId you doD't bave to -at 10IIC ~ races. But III my cpinioD wboeN!' Is in cbarge ~ safety Is very lax becaae lIley )lit little kids 011 the inlleJd and the kids run back lUId forth whlle the race Is atW going oa.. I just bope Ibey doD't wait until a kid Is Id1Jed before tbey c:IiaDp tile rules. KAREN WHITT EI caJoD. CIilff. CLUBEVENTSAINOUNCEILEIT Recently I saw an article about the Radio BrC*lcast!ng Assocatioo SlI7inC they would announce club events. I dkIn't get to relId the article close so I was 'IIOIIder1ng tf you could seod more informatiOll OIl tills. • JOYCE KIRLL, Secretary Feather RiYel" M.C. 46 Arizona WlIy Marysville. cal.. 95901 COIIIIENT: If _body rrum Ute K..B.A. woaId COIIItlIct Joyce, she woold _ elate it. REALLY APPRECIATE IT 1bls letter Is llO eJ;lress IIlJ' appreciatiOll to the un/mowD rider wbo sactiflC'i!d his cbances llO tnlIlb7 because be stopped lUId waved the other bikes awa;y from the Cbecker wbo got df (l bad some beIp) 011 the wa;y llO the smoke bomb at the start of the Pr~tors run. Thlngs were alitile haZy for a whl1e. Tbanks again• • CHUCK NELSON (52%) Santa Monica. cal. Mr.CooIeT. In answer llO your column of January 28, 1969 J'OU state that I sent a letter d prolest to FIM. Prove It. You also state that _ _ sent a telegram to Greens facllOl'y lUId sIped MICUS name llO it. I sa)' to J'OU prove it. Run the telegram in the ~ . I will for the space. You seem to bave s crossed again. You are IIle one verbally spanked by the ACU. DOt me. I am SJII'e J'CJe relId Maureeo Lee's ColllllUl ID Cyde News. February 11th. I would lib llO tIianIt ber for telllng the tndI&.. '11JDb. ".C. Sorry fllI' the deIa.Y in answer~ you bat Cyde Me.- lost this answer lUId I bad llO tarn it ID again. Wbat baWeDed. C.N.? NICK NICHOLSON No. Hollywood, CIilff. ~ ate it? ..... ,... believe the t.CS IIIEI IT GEn GOOD TO YOU Enclosed ,... will find IIlJ' cbeck for a one J'!IBr 1R!bIlcrIPtl0ll to your great I'm tired ~ stopping at ftl'lons C7de sbops ea 1baraday. lUId finding oat tlllJrre aD .-s oat d Cycle News. Be- ~. Sides IIlJ' frteDllil are start1ng to be1le'Ie a.t I'm a st1n t!IIIt for borrowing their ~ . 'l1le ~ er old day I subscrtbe llO a you can believe It must be good. Keep up the fine wort. .TERRY SAUER Sunland, Calif. P.S. Tell the clods at the cycle sboPs llO order more so they won't run out. maea zine, ASCOT STARTS APRIL 4 1be 1969 Soutbern Call1orn1a weeI<1Y molorcyc)e racing season will open Friday o1gbt., April 4, at Ascot Park in Gardena., Cal11. promoter J.C.Agajanian reports. Frtda;y ntcbt cycle racing bas been a traditiOil for more than 25 years. of wIlich the last decade bas seen the 183rd and Vermont Avenue course as home base. ~lement1ng the Friday evening fiat track action will be TT steeplechase races the first SlltnrdaY of each month. I know tbat newspapers need COiltrowriting an article it must be factual, complete lUId accurate. Who wrote the article lUId 'IIIIS be at the tests? Who rode the motorcycles? Wbat coadition were the motorqcles in at the COmpletiOil of each lest? Were any d the mollOrcycles ridellble at the eud of the tests? Were the results of the tests to be made public? Did the Mota Guzzi really beat the Harley time at the rOlld race (time trW)? Coold the rider of the Moto GuzzipassthepbYsical for any police department? I WJderstlUld trom actual witoesses that be was a little scrawny. Since you are shooting down nameplates wby doD't you ask LAPD about their drivesbaft e>qlerienee? They did a test on the streets of Los Angeles with a BMW. Better yet call EarIFlanders lUId ask hlm about police service. Also find oat wbY they ordered 10 units Instead of the usual one. Find out ho many YOlunteers LAPD bas for the Mota Guzzi. BRUCE CHUBBUCK PasadeDa. Cal11. Yel"S}' to survive but wben ~~no-~~~ '--~ 4U"' •.•• •.• / ., • • • '0 NATIONAL ADVERTISING DIRECTOR. , ••• Thtmas R. Culp Cycle News (Wesll, P.O. BOI 498, Long Beach, Calif. 90800 Tel. 1213} 42H1431. EASTERII ADVERTISlIIG Sbte C,c1. II••, (Eull P.O. Box 13, AalIler,t, Ohio 44001 TIl. (2\6> '14-2433 ~L4 COOLEY'S COLUM. (continued) Remember we reported in our March 11 issue tills year. that the Los Angeles Pollce Department purchaSed ten MotaGuzzi V-70s d 750cc displacement llO use as patrol motorcycles? Well. the Southern Call1orn1a Harley-Davidson dealers were pleased lUId flattered that the MotoGuzzi press release chose the highquality Harley 74 as a stlUldard d comparison. but they suggested to us that there was more d a story than we told. Naturally we'd checked the facts before pllbUsblng them. but we caolacted the L.A.P.D. lUId spoke with several olficers in cbarge of testing lUId purchas1ng. 'l1ley were able to elaborate on some d the facts that may bave been m!s'Mdlng out d cooten, lUId whlch-the Harley-DaYidSOD rooters wouldprobably like to bave spelled out. True. the LAPD tested ftl'lnus makes for s1I months. but the Moto-GuzZi was DOt tested for a fIII1 s1I months. as may bave beeD inferred. Actua1l.Y. the V-7 was tested for about 30 days. 'l1le TriUJllPb Jacbd an electric starter. lUId so was DOt Cqlerieoced "starter trouble" (a rod went through the side lUId knocked the starter df. was bow one witDess described it). In performance tests. the Moto-Guzzi matcbed the Harley 74, but DOt witbout special ooocessions granted by botb the B-D lUId the Hooda reps. A nJve bad to be nlP1aCed after the 10- mile sustained test. whlch the Guzzi nevertheless passed. The B-D'IIIISrtdden through the l/4-mlle A~erat1ODtestatRiftl" side Racewa;y by afull-grownpolieeman, whlle the GuzzI was tested at Uons drag striP the nJve nlP1aCed lUId a llgbtweicbt test rider from theGuzzUactoryaboard. The ten V-70s purcbased were fer the purpose d I"UIIDing a cost analysis on them In actual service. SlI7S the LAPD. Protl8blY rookie olficers will be assigned llO the Moto-Guzzis. The Harley 74 is a 10IJg wa;y trom beIng obsolete as far as the LAPD is concerned. yet the Harley-DavidsoD enthusiasts in Los Angeles lUId all aver the DatiOil sbou1d benefit from baving a good competitor in oto-Guzzi for the lucrative police motorcycle business. Cities buY vehicles througb competitive btdding. Since the Indian Cblef bit the dust. there has been no competition for the 74._ unW now. 1'1 FOREVER! Siaele copy priee. • • • • • • • • • 25C SabscripUaa: 0IIe year 2ad class DRil ••••••••••••••••• $7 ~O By Wes Cooley FEElS ACROSS lME POND We're very ba.PPY to announce thatanother outstandiiJg local rider who will bave an opportuDity to go to Europe llO participate this year. Cbuclr. "Feets" Minert has bad an invitatioo trom .Jeff Smith to go to Europe lUId compete on a BSA for several mODtbs ~s sason,lUId at present be Is worldng out his itinerary d the events be will be numlng in with Jeff. We're certaln1Y 1lIIppy for Chuck lUId we hoPe other riders will bave the opportuoity ill the future, lUId possibly tills year, llO go to Europe llO compete in interuationallUld ..tiona' events. By the ..,.. the BSA factory will provide ChacIr. with one d the factory BSA mota cross machines. Cbucklscertaln1Y wort!lY d compet1ng lUId representing not oaJ;y the So. Call10rnia area but the United states In international competitlea. If aay d you bave atleDded some d the local mollO cross events. you will see Cbuct nmaing ~ in the front 011 his 44D BSA in the SOD Sr. class. It Is really iroatc but at the last ACA rOlld race whlch was belli OIl FebnIarY 23rd at WiDow ~rtngs, a young man trom Bakersfteld, Ron PIerce. came llO the eYeDt with a brand IIll1f 350 Yamaha rOlld racer whlch 'IIIIS a bsut1flJl mach1ne lUId probably one of the best IIllt up lUId appearing productiOll road racers that has been seen from a manufacturer lUId is avat1able to the public. Kiddingly, I told Ron be shoold run the machlne llO see bow waterproof it 'IIIIS since the event 'IIIIS being run in a bllndlng rain with a 20 llO 3D ml1e per hour wind. At the time. we joked lUId predicted that probably D8ytoDa would be rna WJder s1.mllar coaditions this year. Even though the rain 'IIIIS coming down in torrents lUId the wind blowing very bard._ m a Z1 ngly enougb we bad 110 injuries lUId the laP times were within one secood d the dry laP times, lUId to Ron's sat1stactlOil. the Yamaba performed very well in the rain. I can imaglne Ron was very dllHlOinted this last week vbeD the DlQ'tODa race was called df due to the same CODditlons under 1ibich he bad competed at WIllow ~rtngs.l'm sure thlsfeel1ng'llllSshared by other riders as especiallY the CaDldlans lUId several European riders entered. as well as the local California boys who bave competed under similar conditions anddoDevery_P.. Road racing is not an event held llO see who bas the fastest mach1ne but also toseewbich rider bas the abllity llO adjust to the course 00 wIlich be Is racing. Tbe real test d the riders is their ablllty to particlPate under all types of racing COllditions, good and bad w_ther. aspbalt or concrete, slippery or dry.ItoertainlY would be a sorry day in Europe 1f an event was called because d the rain or adverse coaditions since about 30% d all European rOlld races are held In wet weather. I think rOlld racing might bave taken a step backwardS. at least as far as the fans are concerned at Daytona. I lmagine many of them were cl1sI,ppolnted after maIr.ing the long trip ooly to find the event cancelled because of rain. I am sure that if the race bad been held some of the llOp chargers who. we understand. refused to race would have partic1Pated in the event, because a racer Is a racer lUId a cbal1enge a challenge. lUId we can certainlY SlI7 anyone who races motorcycles Is a true competitor in every sense d the word. wen.

• Cover