Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

".America's leading weekly newspaper covering the motorcycle sport. You'll always see it first in Cycle News." Publisher. . . • . . . . Chuck Clayton Editor. . . . . . . . . • . . . Eric Rai ts Calendar Echtor Terry Pratt Business Manager•. Sharon ClaJ'too Olfice Manager..Gaylene Thomason Circulatioo Mana&er•. Bruce Ellsley ProduclJon Manager.. Deanis Greene Production Asst. .Dean Cunningham "Americ~' Weekly Motorcycle Newspaper" 7 7 7 7 SEARS DEMANDS RETRACTlON On page 36 of the Cycle NeWs dated August 19, 1969, there Is an announcement In the "Calendar of Events" which makes reference to a "Professional Motocross Sears, Roebuck Sanct. at Ascot Park, l84th and Vermont, Gardena, California, etc." Sears, Roebuck and Co. hereby demands a retraction that said event Is sanctioned by Sears, Roebuck and Co. Sears did not sanction said race, nor has It any Interest of.any nature In such event. Sears disclaims any and all responslblllty for the race, Its conduct, result or anything whatsoever connected with It. We demand a written retraction equal In prominence to that In which the orlg1nal announcement appeared. JOHN J. MC CUE Pac111c Coast Legal Dept. Sears, Roebuck and Co. Les Angeles, Callfornta Editor's ClMDment: 1I'eU, here's your retraction, more than equal In prominence. We're sorry you didn't sanction the race, it was a Juge success and a real IIIOneymailer. Our advice to a growing concern such as yours is to diversifY; become Invol ved In IIIOre thinp. You 8111'ely must be aware of the growing market for leisure and recreatinn equipmen to Get out of those stuffy lecal offices and enjoy mme fresh au and l!IIPeed and noise. ABORTIVE TRIP My friend and I just returned from an abortive 120 mile trip on our bikes from Wbiteman Stadium. According to your last Issue, nothing was cancelled for tonlgbt, I convinced my friend to ride with me for his first time out to the races so you can 1rnag1ne howpetr111ed we were ~ arriving at a black-out Wbiteman Stadium. He would never return there again and I'm sure that It's my lastt1me out too. LUCIEN R. BIRON SR. Oxnard, Callf. Editor's Comment: 0 ... apologies; "biteman Speedway w1U be closed dming the lhree wee1l run of Speedway at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. "IX PICTURE I was saddened by the death of Fred Nix. Would you please send me aplcture of thls great motorcycle racer? Thank you. IDLLRENNER Bratenahl, O. ED OOMMENT: We tbinll one of the finest pbotograpbs of Nix we have seen was tbat nm on a Cycle News East cover a few wee1ls 1lIO. This Is not to our credit, bat to the credit of an excellent pIIotocraPber. Gerald Bat.IIe. Mr. BalJIe w111 malle an SUO glossY print of that IIbotograpb available to lIIIYoae woo wants It for $2.00: certainly a rellllOnable price for an outstanding pbotograpb of a .... we all loved and wbom we will DOt see acain. Wri&e Mr. Gerald Bat.IIe, 14640 1IlPuD. Lhollia, lticbiga 48154- For ~ records, Qat picture _15 made du... tag pncUce at die Li_ia atioaal, 1, 1969. ".e 7 7 7 7 LONE WOLF ENFIELD Congratulations on your fast and complete coverage of the Bonnevllle speed trials. We note, however that you listed Don Sllger, the winner of the single engine 750cc class as riding a Harley-Davidson. Actually, Don rode a Royal Enfield, the only RE entered. He was not only the fastest non-streamlined single engine 'blke, but he was several miles an hour faster than the nearest competitor riding a single engine non streamllned job. I am sure this was an oversight and you would like to give credit to this yOung chap who was really a "lone wolf". Even though large sums of money were posted bY another manufacturer, he was nearly 10 rnlles faster than the fastest non-streamlined 750cc bike to finish, even thollg1l they had about 25 entries entered to win their posted cash awards. FLOYD CLYMER Los Angeles, Cal. BONANZA'S AT BONNY 1 thought you might be Interested In the fact that Bonanza took three motorcycle records at Bonnevllle. We can't send out a news release on It unW we get pix and these are not In yet, so 1 thought this memo m1gb.t Interest you; especlally since your publication Is a weekly. Here are the records: PSA-AG-175 92.561 mph A-AG-l00 79.774 A-AG-50 45.297 These really fufIDed some of MIke Farrand'S dreams. I'm told that one unofflclal time sUp showed 120 mph over part of the course. Bonanza decided to enter the lists only 10 days before the trlals and put Jack CosteUo In charge of the design and Bookkeeper•••••• Susan "hi telaw Lab Technlci LUI Lallich Want Ads•••••••••• Irene Keith Published weekly except the first and last week of the calendar year by Cycle News. Inc., Post Office Box 498. Long Beach, California. also publishers of Cycle News East. Second Class Postage paid at Long Beach. Calif. Editorial stories, cartoons, photos, etc. are welcome. Write for information. Addressed. stamped envelope assures return of editorial matter. Reprinting in wbole or in part only by permission of the publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon reQuest. 7 7 7 7 building of the bikes. Jack is a Bonanza man with drag strip experience and a lot of talent. Tuning was done by Irv Kanemoto. Rider was John Conlan, 18 year old Bonanza employee wbo'd never raced before. But what pleased us as much as the records was the fact that several persons who were there reported that BonanZli. did a great deal to change Bonnevllle's attitude toward smaIl displacement vehicles. Standard Bonanza double-loop construction was used In all four bikes and the outside tire diameter was only 12" (smaller than on some standard Bonan- Ingle copy price. • . . • . . . . . 25¢ SubscrIption: one year 2nd class mail . . . . . • . . . . • • • • . • . 57.50 NATIONAL AD DIRECTOR ••••••••••• Thomas R. Culp Cycle News (West), P.O, Box 498, Long Beach, Calif. 90801 Tel. (213) 421·1433 L,A, Line 636-8844 EASTERN ADVERTISING Paul Cosner Cycl. N.ws Easl P.O. BOI 13, Amherst, Ohio 44001 Tel. (216) 984-2433 7 7 7 •••••••••••••• • •• : Guest : • Editorial • : : • • • • •••••••••••••• • By Ken Berry • zas!). GEORGE SVENSON Castro Valley, Cal. TWO NEW PUBLICATIONS With the arrival on the American motorcycle scene of the big new monster bikes, great Interest Is generating In road riding again. A new hi-monthly maga.z1ne almed at the touring rider carne out last week. Called "Road Rider News," It Is published bY former Cycle News correspondent George Hays anded1tedbYRoger Hull. Subscriptions are 12 issues for $4. Address "Road Rider News," Box 247, Midway City, Calif. 92655. A book you may enjoy, especlally If your tastes extend to the "lndustrlalfolk art" aspect of motorcycling, as one writer calls It, Is "Choppers Magazine." PubUsbed bY Ed Roth, the thlck, pocket size monthly manages to convey much of the spirit of the chopper breed as well as the nuts-and-bolts Information. Issues usually feature a how to do It article or two, an AMA tour, and lots of pictures of the scroungy builders along with their lrnrnaculate bikes. It's worth sending •75~ for a sample copy to "Choppers", 4620 E. Slauson, Maywood, Calif. 90270. C,clists Are T,pe Cast (Guest Editorialist Berry, besides being an enthusiasUc motorcyclist, is probably best knowo for his starring role as the bumbling Lieutenant in televisiOll's "F" TroOJl." Be is currently the ster of "Mavberry RFD" on tv and has appeared in several movies. Berry has been ranked with Charlie Chaplln as a comic actor and may be the most talented funnyman 011 tv.) Reprinted from the Los A.ngeles BeraldExaminer• There's an element of our society that has been segregaled far too long. ThIs comes from their being misunderstood, mallgned, and being class111ed as secondclass citizens. I'm talk1ng about your day-to-day American motorcyclist. For years I've considered myself a motorcycle buff (three bikes: Honda 160, basically a street bike; Honda 90, combination street and dirt bike; and a Yamaha 125, dirt bike). Riding them has always been a pleasant, healthy experience, but now, quite frankly, I'm becoming increasingly more afraid. It's a fear, I migbt add, not entirely unfounded. 1 don't know exactly what the figures are, but I read somewhere that In most of your automobile accidents involving motorcycles, the fault lies with the car. Why? Well, I've been spending some leisure hours In recent times examining this frightenIng phenomenon and have corne uP with some startling observations. The baste problem lies In the concept of the motorcyclist himself. The oplnlon one usually has of the guy who rides the motor bike Is not exactly a sane one. He almost never Is envisioned as a clean-cut, uncomplicated individual, with a wife and a family who comes home at night to a quiet dinner foUowed bY relaldng tv watching. Rather, he Is painted as "The Wild One" - a figure of lrresponsihllity and Indifference, who sleeps most of the time, spends evenIngs terrorizing neighborhoods and trying to run down old ladies with their arms full of groceries. It Is perhaps because of this very belief (shared bY a large segment of our population) that a veritable cootempt for the motorcyclist exists. I thlnk I can cite one example of thls - a personal one which took place some months ago wben I was riding my hike In a fairly isolated section around MulhoUand Drtve. I was driving along at the speed limit wben suddenly a car corning from the OJlIlOSlte direct10n leaves his own lane, moves into Coatiaued 011 page 18

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