Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~CYCLE iNEWS . "America's #l we e kIy motorcycle newspaper. You'll always see It FIRST In Cycle News!" BOGGLES INDEED There's speculation In the Brltlst • motorcycle publications as how the best of American road racers could compete among the British. ThIs gem Is fr om the British magazine, Motor Cyclist Illustrated: "The Amer ican riders whohavevlslted this county have not bee n the Nixon type. I suppose that there can only be about a dozen of the type In the UnI:--d States••••" The essay Is titled " The MInd Boggles," and the statement Is properly qualified In its te xt. But, a dozen of the Nixon type! JA MES BRAM MER San F r ancis co, Cal. Publisher• . . . •• ..• . Charles Clayton Business Manager• •••• Sharon Clayton General Manager• ••..• • •. •Tom Culp Advertising Manager••• •.•Paul Cosner Feature Editor• • • • . .• • . . Terry Pratt As s is tant Editor •. ... . .. . .Ken Hoff Circulation Manager••. .• Bruce Easley Circulation Assistant•... Eleanor Duke Production Manager• ...• ••Lil i"Lak ich Lab Technician•.•..... • Jim Brooks Production Assistant. . . •. J erry Owen, Bookkeeper. • . .. . . . Susan l\1t itelaw Want Ads . • . • •. . . .. •Suzilee Evan s . WHY PICK ON US? Recently I went to a scrambles at La Grange, Calif. The track and surroundIng country were great, but the hospitalIty was anything but pleasant. I am fr om the Bay Area, so naturally I wanted to see our r iders do well. To say that the people at La Grange were prejudiced would be an understatement. %lIe I sat In the grandstandS I became very annoyed listening to the uncomplimentary comments about our riders. As any Modesto rider who has ever ridden here (Fremont, Uvas, Hayward, etc.) will tell you, they are never ' treated' badly - so why pick on us ? . LYNDA GENTRY San Franci sco, Cal. voice. PLAUDITS FOR THE PHANTOM PUSHER On Febr uary 1st at the monthly European Scrambles at Deadmans Point near Lucerne Valley I encountered difficulty In starting my machine for the start of the 250cc class race. After about 10 kicks, and with the rest of the pack halfway to the f1r s t check, an unidentified young man told me to hop on the hike and he would give me a push start. He must have pushed at least 300 yards through the des er t sand unW It got started, and was about to drop from exhaustion himself. M te r It started , I turned around to thank him and he offered words of encouragement such as " go get ' em tiger, you can still win this race." Even though I didn't do well In the race, I left the desert that afternoon proud of the type of people we have associated with local motorcycle racing. Thank you whoever you are. TED MOORE . Santa Ana, Calif. YE OF LITTLE FAITH The following letter was forwarded to CYCLE NEW by Vic Wilson of S Saddleback Park In Orange County , Cal . To make a person wear a helmet In your park Is just as assnlne as the la w to make a person wear one on the streets. The liability card Is good enough for your protection. It 's not that I want to go to your park to race, I just would like to go and have a li ttle fun. Is there no place I can go without being harrassed by your self-righteous protection of the ·public? Jesus Christ Is my Savior not these damned helmets, Ye of little faith! The people of Viet Nam have more personal fr ee doms than we have In the States. They don't have the money to blow on such optionals as helmets. For the present 1 am protecting your right to destroy personal pursuit of happiness. STEVE KOENIG APO San Francisco Saddleback Park I:; a priva te enterprise and with llabillty laws becoming as complex as they are today, we guess the park management worries enough with the strawberried elbows and s kinned knees without sweating over s kull fracture s ... Ed . NO MISTAKE ON DON'S PART On page 6 of the Feb. 10 is s ue you have a photo caption that states that Don Emde mistook the yell ow flag for the checkered. The condensers came off his bike and he had to come In. He too Is hoping for better luck next time. MRS. FLOYD EMDE San Diego, Cal. THE POWDER PUFF RIDERS We, the Powder Puff Association, wer e the pioneers of womens racing In District 37 and feel quite proud that we are a Charter ed Club of the A.M.A. andhave a ' District 37 Sanction. We· have sponsored three " point runs" and will present our third annual .. Mothers Day Scrambles" In May of 1970. We want to make 1970 the biggest and best year yet in women's competition. We want to see more gir ls on the track and mor e at the meetings. Pleas e keep In mind that you do not have to belong to the Powder Putf Association to ride the Powder Putf event. All you have to do Is be femal e and abid e by the rules set up by the A,M,A. and District 37. Of course we welcome new membership with open arms, as like all other clubs we are striving for a stronger and better organization. Up until now we have been recognized as a Scrambles club, but we would like to see our color s In all phases of the sport. So If you are inte rested In desert or Motocr os s also, we hope that you will keep us In mind when the time comes that you feel you want to join a club. We realize that If you ride strictly desert then your Interest In a club would naturally lie In that direction and there are two fine groups In the desert, The Desert DaIsey's and the Endoes M.C. For those of you Intending to ride Scrambles events, we would like tootfer so me suggestions on how to get started. First you must have an A.M.A. card, you can find an application In most motorcycle shops, the cost Is $2.00. In most cases It takes approximately six weeks to receive your card, so please save your stub and carry It with you unW the or1glnaI arrives. Next you will want a District 37 Scrambles card, again you will find an application at your local motorcycle s hop. Fill out completely and mall with $3.00 to the Lightweight Scrambles steward, Dick Kouns, listed on the application. You should receive your number within a week and you are ready to go, although It Is recommended that If at all possible you should try to make It to a local track on an open practice day and practice. This will help considerably come race day, as you will know more about the way your bike handles and be fam iliar with the course. Youmay find that your handlebars need to be moved, or there is too much or not enough air In the tires, etc. We sincerely hope that we have been helPful In getting you started and hope that you will feel free to contact one of us or come to one of our meetings, as we wouid welcome the chance to answer any other questions you might have. Our meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at 9143 Compton BlVd., Bellfiower, Calif. We will be looking forward to seeing you In 1970. The Powder Puff Association P ublis hed weekl y exce pt the first Cycle News East and NatlDllal Ad.,.r. and last week of the cale ndar year tlslng Information: by Cycle News, Inc. , Post Office Thomas CUlp••Natlonal Ad.ertls lng Olr. Box 498, Long Beach, Ca lifornia, 2499 Cerritos A.e. al sopublishers of Cycl e News Ea st. Long Beach, Calif. 90806 Seco nd Clas s Postage paid at Long (213)427.7433 or636-8844 Telex 67-3474 Bea ch, Cali fornia . Cycle News (Wesll, P.O. Box Edit orial stories , cartoons , photos ; 498, Long Beach, Cal'If. 90801 et c. are welcome. Write for informati on. Addres s ed. s ta mped envelope (213) 421-1433 LA. 636-8844 ass ures return of edit orial matt er. Northern Office Reprinting in whole or in part only 1470 Broadway, Walnut Creek, Calif. by permission of the publishers. Advert is ing rates and circulatio n in. Call Lyn or John at: formation will be s ent upon request. (415) 934-1995 Single copy price •••••••• 25¢ Subscription: one year 2nd e lass ma ll ••• $7.50 Motorcycles Roll Into T he 70's By Dewitt Thuitt The sixties are gone and now comes the seventies. What's In store for the sportsman and professional rider In the new decade? . The bygone sixties found motorcycling becoming an accepted way of lie ' to thousands of all ages who found that cycli ng is not just for the very young at heart. Motorcycling has branched out largely because of the manufacturer s themselves. Because of the wide range of equipment available there Is now a s ize for every need and desire. ThIs situation has brought about more and more uses for cycles. In professional 'competition the road racing event blossomed for th In the sixties but It will really come of age In the next ten years with the many new paved cours es that have been and are being constructed. Ten years ago there were two national road races, one on the Beach at Daytona, the other through a park In New Hampshire. 1970 will f1nd at least eight national road races, all on specially built speedways. Ten years ago when a road race event came up a rider merely put brakes on his dir t track machine or broke out a good street bike and filed his entry. Now the equipment Is special built, finely tuned and capable of speeds over the 150 mph mark. The 70' s find two, three and four cylinders on the racing machi nes and a 750Cc engine limit for all, Instead of just one brand. The sixties found the coming of the 250Cc lightweight Into professional raeIng; both on dirt tracks and road race events. A firs t year Novice was limited to 250cc engines In 1962, a rule that brought out the fact that a 250 Is a good and safe racing machine. Now the s maller 250's are capable of s peeds up to 135 mph In road racing trim and can run on a half mile within one to two seconds of the times turned In by the 650 and 750 machines . Television discovered cycle racing In the sixties and the first nationwide race was on TV In late ' 62 from Ascot Park In the for m of a TT race. Since that time a year has not gone by without at least two or three eve nts on nationwide video screens. The seventies should find some group obtaining a yearly .. Package" contract for a given amount of cycle races on a major network. Cycle racing today Is one of the few organiZed sports that does not have this arrangement. TV made footba.1l, golf and other sports Into big paying events. Just a month ago both major car racing organizations signed working package agreements with major networks for the next two years. TV has made wealthy men out of many ranking professionals - but not cycle racers as yet. The sixties brought Jet travel and the world became much smaller. Name European riders started coming to America to race, f1rst at Daytona, then for the new Motocross events, andf1na11yfor the re-created short track races In the West. It still remains for top provenAmerlcan riders to travel to Europe to race In road racing and Speedway events. ThIs has not happened since the early 50'S. However, the door has been opened In the annual International Six Day Trials and many fi ne Amer ican rider has traveled and won In our neighbor 'S backyard. Eur opean road racers found out In the past ten years that the American rider Is as good or better than he. It remains for the European fan to witness this fact, and It will happen In the seventies, All major motor cycle concer ns enjoyed recor d breaking sales years In the sixties but the past ten will be nothing compared to the coming ten. As companies sell mor e and more machine s cr owds will Increase at cycle racing events. A man cannot own a cycle without being curious as to what the other guy is doing with his, or how the professionals really do It. Motorcycling will receive much attention In the Movies and on TV. It will become the " In" thing for famous people. Top professional racers will become known by all and not just to people In the fraternity who own and r ide. The nex t ten years will see many race purses top the $25,000 mark. Daytona and Sacramento will be the first. More and more special parks and areas will be set aside for off road cycle ridIng , The non-professional rider wlllflnd It more and more difficult to flndaplace to ride. Government will legislate against them and their only voice will be the Industry Itself who will organize and lobby to preserve record sales. P r ofes sional competition will split Into divls! ons with high point National champions in at least three categories. Professional riders will become specialists DESERT KNIGHTS MOTORCYCLE CLUB SEEKS RIDERS. AGAINST 16 YEAR OLD RULE The Desert Knights M.C. Is looking for new members that race or want to race In the desert. We are looking for all sizes of motorcycles and all classes of riders from Expert to Novice. We have an A.M,A. and a District 37 charter. The club Is a famtly type organization whose members enjoy .the desert, desert racing and the people we meet there. For Info. look us up In the pits or call: Palmdale area - (805) 9479511. San Fernando Valley (213) 3408538 Thousand Oaks (805) 495-7719. , W. DAVIES Desert KnIghts M.C. Woodland HIlls, Cal. and no longer be forced to ride all types of events, many that he Is not qualified for. The AMA headquarters will not remain In Worthingto n, OhIo. At least two offices will be established, one In the West and one In the East. Road rider clubs will dim!nlsh as more and more people buy machines for off-the-road use. Cycles will become so common that there will no longer be a universal need to form a club for the sake of mutual companionship. Race tracks that promote races more than once a year will furnish more comfort for the fan. The higher the price, the better the comfort and convenience. The next ten years will be nothing like " The Good Old Days". They will be better and bigger than anyone ever thought they would or could be and you will be a part of It all. We would like to voice a complaint and an appeal to the A.M.A. We are the parents of a 13 year old, who has been racing for one year. Our son worked last sum mer to helP with the expense of his racing and now the A.M.A. says he will not be able to race. We have watched boys at the age of 8 start rac1ng and go on up to class "C". We feel that the A,M.A. Is being unfair to the young boys that have been racing or want to start. We wonder If the A.M.A. Is trying to kill Sportsman racing or If the proriders are just afraid of our up and coming young riders. W.R. Williams

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