Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

You'll Always ~~~i in Mota I reye e Newspaper- ~~ Publisher & Editor•• Chuck Clayton Business Manager•• Sharon Clayton Office Manager••Gaylene Thomason Production Manager•• Dennis Greene Production Asst••Dean Cunningham Calendar & Club illr••• Ray Mendez Oookkeeper••• , •• SUsan Whitelaw Clrculatioo Dept.. • JellllY McDonald Lab Tecbniclan. .••••Lily Laklch want Ads••••••••• Sandra PurllY Published weekly except lhe firsl and last week of the calendar y~ar by C&S Publishing Co.• Posl Office Box 4.98, Long Beach, Callforma, also publishers of Stale Cycle N ws for lhe Eastern stales. Second Class Postage paid al Long Beach, Calif. Editorial stories, cartoons. photos, elC. are welcome and will be paid for On the 15lh of every month for malerial published the previous month (except press reI ases and 'Voice" letters.) Addressed, slamped nvelope assures retlJ m. Reprinting in whole or in part expressly forbidden except by permis' sion of the Publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. Parkhurst Publishing, owner of Cycle World, one of the lelM!ing motorcycle monlbly magazines, announced recently that they have affiliated with Bond PublIsbing Co., publishers of Road & Track, one of the leading magazines in the sports car field. The merger will probably not be the last of a string of such business cooglomeratioos to meet the challenge of rising costs and big business competl tlon. to ScoU Now At Bul taco F ac ry American motocross-scrambler Steve Scott is in Europe to ride motocross, as reported earlier. Latest news from Steve is that be Is visittnc the Bultaco factory in Spain to pick ~ some speed secrets. steve is a Bullaco de&1er inNorlbHol1ywood, Calif. DuquoiD Mile to Return? Rumors from the midwest have it that an IDinois promoter is attempting to organize another motorcycle race on the Duquoin, Ill. mile dirt track. The last national champioosbip at Duquoin was in 1958, at the belght Or evil element's shindigs. •••ADd Maybe Spliagfield Also? Springf1eld, Wtnois mercbants and business people are yelling for tbe return of motorcycle races to tbeir mile track. Their collective tncome bas dropped by many btmdreds of dollars stnce the 50mller disappeared. Blue ML Says -ThaDkeeTIle Blue Mountain M.C.ofHermistoo, Oregoo would like to thanI< all the riders for the tremendous turnout at' their Marcb 30th Hare Scrambles (reported last week), and especial lbanI-por1ed and you ha ve to iastall ....other cylinder barrel Cor lbe five-porting. not dle nanufaclurer's. dlereb:Y renderin g tile nachine 0lepl. All naclaines in professioaal competilion must be class-C approved. In dle SPortsman rule book there is a di(ferencc. Only IDOlorcycles used in Road Races, Dirt Track and SIIort Track events have Co be clas8-C approved. For scramllles and billclinlbs lIey need not be. So. a scllll_b1es madtine can be five- ported, but if you take it to an AMA road race, you'd better put it back dle way it came from Ibe manufacturer. POKES TO DO BETTER The Lompoc Sio-Pokes M.C. would like to apologize to all the wonderful riders who showed UP at our Motocross on Marcb 30. We were somewhat disorganized and a lot late getting siarted. We learned a Group from ibis experience and we have taken steps to insure that it does not happen again. Thanks to all, especially the 250Cc riders who waited until 9 p.m. and still didn't get their trophies. We ttnaJly got them figured out and the trophies will be on their way the week of April 7. CHARLES D. STROHMENGER Secretary, Slo-Pokes M.C. LompOC, Calif. BIKES & CAGES SHORT CHANGED of tbe In regards to your coverage Mint 400; I was there as a competitor in a Productloo (?) Volkswagen and beartily agree that, not only the bikes, but the "cages" were sbort changed. As the mother of a new desert bike rider, my opinion of motorcycles has changed completely and I was greatly impressed by the courtesy shown us 011 the Mint course - mncb betller tban tbe 4 wheelers - and tbe sql8rb rldinlr of aD the bike competitors. At tbe drivers' meeting tbe nigbt before the race, the vice president of IDRA when asked a question by a bl.te rider said, "We're going to get you motorcycles". I almost fell off my chair along with at least 600 other people members of the press and competitors. Unfortunately it looks to me like you're not very welcome at IDRA events. I have some criticism of your article bowever. You failed to men ti 0 n that Bud Ekins (who looks like a still sexy, but waning Tarzan) lett your ranks to . drive a cage; one of the Baja Boots and flnisbed 3rd in class; and what happened to J.N. Roberts? I saw bim being towed by a non-competing buggy on wbat must have been his 4th lap. Also the first four wheeled vehicle was not VW powered, but a Corvair, very ably driven the full 400 miles by John Johnson accompanied by his wife Linda. I consider It a privl.lege to have competed with the bikes and look forward to racing with you in NORRA's Baja 400 in June. I PAULA MURPHY Granada Hills, Calif. HOW DO YOU MAKE A • B'? This letter Is to Inform you that PAT DE BENEDETTI, is the person who woo 2nd overall at Carlsbad on March 9tband again on March 23, 1969. In your March 25, 1969 issue you have 2nd open novice Pat Beneolltte. And in your April 1st issue under CMC Carlsbad caper (Page 29) for the March 23rd race your have Paul De Benedetti. Please, as I have just siarted my racing career I would appreciate seeing my name spelled correctly. Please remember PAT DE BENEDETTI PATRIC-K DE BENEDETTI . La Mesa, Calif. INSPECTIONS NOT JUST FOR ARMY The View Finders G.p. was the first race for me since I esc;LPed Unca sam's Boy Scouts. It was fantastic, the mosttun track I've ever been on. But. '!be guy in froot of me (00 a Sachs) tried the standard maneuver of lifting bis front end over some rough stuff. But (can you Imagine the look on bis face?) upoo exerting some upward pressure his bandlebars merely came off in his hands. A well run tecb inspectioo would have saved me a bent up Hodaila and one sore body. DAN JENNINGS Long Beacb, Cal. By Chuck Clayton '1 always like to read lbe sports paees in anew_per. because dlere you find a record of man's accomplislJments. The rest of tile news is usually of his fail- ...es.- - Adlai E. Stevenson Last week's Cycle News blew the wbisUe 011 an outrageous federal law kicking recreational vehicles off public land, reported the new nationwide trend toward belmet iaw repeal, featured Ascot's Friday nigbt Flattrack opening and several Sunday races. Printed and distributed by Tuesday, the paper contained news (in an ad) of the world record speeds set saturday by the BSA Rocket 3 in .tara_y Daytona and news of American riders' motocross success in tartber-a_y Belg1om. The same 32-page issue brougbt readers up to date on the growing trials and minibike recreatioos as well as tidbits of information so numerous that it takes 32 pages to list it all. Cycle News is, cover-to-cover, like the sports pages in the quote above. If we reporLa man's fallure, it is only because we are certain be'll succeed the next time around. When we point out the threat of legislation, It is because we lbinI< we've got a pretty good cbance of wtnning our case. Actioo in the motorcycle movement is picking up at a tremendous rate. loformatlon is pouring in. Motorcycle sport is the new frootler • Some of us are so busy coping with the now that we barely find time to ride bikes nowadays. Althougb the ftnancial rewards are small, the satisfaction of doing rtgbl by the way of We that we love is worth all the work. Cycle News circulates about 1-1/4 mU110n copies a year (combined Eastern and Western editions). We estimate that there are rougbiy four million motorcycle enthusiasts in the U.S. A small minority, yes, only 2% of the U.S. population. But If some of us do one active deedwrite one letter, telegrapb one legislator, phone one local newspaper editor - we couId make tbe truth about motorcycling known nationwide. Most of us would rather ride and enjoy our machines than fight for them. and tbat is good. None of us asked for these hassles. Your publlsber happens to enjoy sticking up for the underdog against bullies, so I and those who feel likewise will probably continue in t1Us role. Meantime, those who would rather ride than flgbt can help a lot by simply turnIng everyone on to Cycle News that you can. We need all the readership that we can get, If we are to continue sticking up for your righis. With your belp, we bope to reacb all four million enthusiasts Ibis year. PUBLIC LAND BAN - Wh&t To . Do About U Ever stnce last week's issue with news of the federal regulation banning motor vehicles off public land bit tbe streets our telephone lines have all been lit UP. HWbat can we do?" readers ask. Short of brtnging sutt against the U.s. Government, the most effective way to counter ibis outrage is by writing tetters and wiring telegrams to Mr. Walter Hinckle, Secreiary, U.S. Dept. of Interior, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management District Manager in your locale (listed under U.S. Government, Bureau of Land Management in the pbone book). Wben and if it becomes necessary to sue tbe Government for our rights, your wires and letters w1ll connt a great deal toward settling tbe matter out of court.

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