Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~CYCLE iNEWS · "America's #1 weekly motorcycle newspaper. You'll always SM It FIRST In Cycle News!" ~ READ IT AND WEEP Read It and weep foll,sl ! The end is surely drawing near •Remember 15years ago when the desert was free ? I do. U I were you I wouldn't sign any longterm financing for a desert sled. We can thank our own apathy, the Sierra ClUb, the wildflower watchers, and all the rest of the internal combustion engine haters, in that order, for what is about to happen. , Just in case you haven't noticed, it's an election year and you know, sure as J.N. goes fast, that every politician from here to HI-Vista is going to jump on that pollution band wagon and quite possibly legislate we desert folks right into Saddleback Park. So as we swing into ' that maelstrom known as politics, election year style, hold onto your handlebars and slither doWn So-Cal b1Il one more time, because metb1nks it's all over but the shoutin', and we'll just be ,shouting at each other. NORM EPPERSON La Puente, Calif. Reader E p per SOn sent his letter to VOICES along with the following wire service news story clipped out of one of our Metropolitan dailles. I WARNING ON POLLUTION OF DESERT AIRED LOS ANGELES (CNS) - County, state and federal officials have been asked to help save the Southern California desert from further pollution by off-road vehicles, it was reported today. An appeal to enforce current rules and regulations for dune buggies, motorcycles, four-wheel drive vehicles and other off-road transportation was coupled with an appeal for new and tougher laws. J. Russell Penny, state director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management was quoted as saying the off-road vehicles were causing great damage to public lands. "Plant life, archeological sites, centuries-old Indian trails are being destroyed," he said, " P iles of tin cans and debris litter the landscape." He and the bureau's off-road vehicle advisory council said Congress and the Interior Department should develop new rules and regulations for use of the desert. They asked for an inventory of desert . lands to determine which should be restricted or closed to off-road vehicles. "There just isn't room for people to go any place .they want and do anything they please - not even on the desert .. Penny said. ', '' RIDERS AF Of L, CIO ,At every C.M.C. rider's meeting I notice how quick they are to lay down their rules for the riders to follow. Isn't it time that the riders woke up and Ia1d down rules of their own for promoters to follow. It's the riders who take the ' risks while the clubs take in the money. One of the first rules would be to provide flagmen on blind sections.At Carlsbad on Feb. 15th, five 500 Expert riders were Involved in a chain reaction crash on a blind corner that caused some bni1sed bodies and extensive damage to expensive macb1nery. All the carnage could have been avoided by having a flagman warn the followlng'riders after the first one went down. MADGE HAMMOND San Diego, Cal. ',S NG TIME Wl IN , Not only did we have a groovy time, but we would like to extend our sincere thanks to all the Antelope Ramblers for having us as their special guests at their awards banquet. "You've An Outof-Sight Club. " DON & VICKIE GAIDE Invaders M.C. Published weekly except the first and last week of th e ca le ndar year by Cycle News, Inc .• P ost Office Box 498, Long Beach. California also publish ers of Cycl e News Ea st: Second Class Postage ' paid at Long Beach. California . Editorial st ories, cartoo ns . phot os, et c. ar e wel come. Writ e for informati on. Addressed, stamp ed envel ope ass ures return of editorial matter. Reprinting in whole or in part only by pe:mission of the publishers. Adve rtising rat es and circulati on information will be se nt upon reque st. Publisher. .•. .. •. . . Charles Cta yton Business Manager.. .. . !'i1aron Clayton General Manager•...•.....Tom Culp Feature Editor• .. . . •• . •• Terry Pratt Circulation Manager Bruce Easley Circulation Assistant Rheba Smith Production Manager Lili Lakich Lab Technician.. . • .. ••. Jim BroOks Production Assistant. . . . . Jerry Owen Bookkeeper.. • •. • .. Susan Whitelaw Bookkeeper Eleanor Duke Want Ads Jan McCullough ALREADY MORE OF A MAN This is an .. Open letter to all Elsinore rider swappers: U any of you guys trophy I hope you keep in "mind that you stole that trophy and points from someone who might have really earned It. ' My 15-1/2 yr. old son completed eight hard earned laps and to my way of thinking he's already twice the man you guys will ever get to be. He did It on his own! BILL TREVINO Monrovia, Cal. THANK YOU A few lines to thank lOO's M.C. members who helped me in the pits at Elsinore Grand Prix with loan of a pair of goggles, water to wash my eyes and other help. That's a nice display of good sportsmanship. Keep up the good work, See you at next ride. GEORGE RODKEY Oxnard, Cal. .4~~ ANTI-THEfT DAVE BROWN Long Beach, Calif. RIDE TRIALS PLEASE! in Cycle News, March 10, 1970, issue no. 8 volume VII there was an article by Maureen Lee called, "Jim Wilson says, Ride Trials". After giving It careful consideration and talking It over with several top motocross riders I def1n1tely think Jtm wbould go back to RIDING TRIALS GARY BAILEY Compton, Cal. CONGRATULATIONS GRIPSTERS To: Gripsters Motorcycle Club: Congratulations on the most outstanding run in the last ten years. We all appreciate the effectiveness in which, you executed your last Grand Prix at Elsinore on March 7th & Bth, We all hope there will be many more Elsinore runs to come. Congratulations once again. ' RICK HALL President, Antelope Ramblers 1470 Broadway. Walnut" CrMk Calif. (415) 934-1995 ' Northern Repre.ntatl.e : Lyn Jensen Sinele copy price .••••••••• 25¢ LEGISLATION By Barbara Adams Dahms In an effort to halt the rise in vehicle thefts Assemblyman Leo T. McCartbyof San Francisco has introduced a "package" of anti-theft bills which include motorcycles in their scope. These bills, AB 261, 262 and 263, do the following: Add to current registration requirements for a vehicle in California a tracing of the vehicle identification number or a certificate issued by an employee of the DMV, an employee of the CHP or any peace offtcer verifying the vehicle identiflcat10n number. (AB 261) Add a separate section (4150,2) to the vehicle Code relating to motorcycles _ requiring the same thing as are now required of a motor vehicle of a type required to be registered (4150) under the vehicle code, plus the new tracing of the number section mentioned in AB 261, plus: , Last year at this time I was compelled to write a letter griping about the Elsinore G.P.- this year I am again compelled, but now It Is to say how thoroughly fantastic this year's race was. Due to coil problems, I got no further than one lap, but the plannlng and coordination which were very apparent, this year made it one of the best races I've attended, especially considering 1,100 entries on Saturday alone. However, the spectator problem was tremendous and I hope the accidents this year won't jeopardize the possibillty of fUture Grands Prix. Possibly other clubs or individuals would be w1Illng to assist the Grlpsters with crowd control. I know that I would be happy to help on the day I don't race. I also am writingaletter of appreciation to the city of Elsinore. Anyone else wishing to do so can address letters to either: City Council, 130 S. Main St., Elsinore, California or Lake Elsinore Valley Sun, Elsinore, California which is the local paper. Again, my thanks to the Gripsters for a fantastic race. They deserve to be commended. Cycle News (West), P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, Calif. 90801 (213) 421-1433 L.A. 636-8844 Northern Office Subscription: one year 2nd class mall $7.50 voices --- , GRIPSTERS ARE GREAT! Cycle News East and National Ad.lI· tlslne Information: Thomas Culp••Natlonal "d.ertlslne Dlr. AVOID HORRENDOUS LAW SUITS I would like to second the motion on spectator control at all motorcycle events. I don't know if anyone was hurt at Elsinore, but there were more people than motorcycles on the course. When horrendous law suits have close what remains of motorcycle racing, it will be too late. Clubs and promoters must insure that spectators stay off tracks and that motorcycles stay out of spectator areas. Our great sport can only survive if we become "overlu" safety conscious. U any organization needs help to put up fencing, I would be glad to help them. JOHN KAUPP Van Nuys, Cal. INCURRING THE WRATH While churning througba choppy, rocky sandwash in the Sinners' European Scrambles February 15, I saw riders passing by on a road which para1lelled the wash. It didn't make a big difference , to me because I was too far back to aspire to a trophy or points, but It was discouraging. , Yesterday I received the results of the , race and found two pleasant surprises: I finished better than I expected and at the end of my class there waS ~ Ust of riders disqualified for using the road beside the wash. U the Slnners M.C. incurred the 'wr ath ,of a few cheaters, they won my respect....and I'm sure there are a lot of other struggling novices who feel the same way. WINSTON BEAUMONT , . Rowland Heights, Cal. GRATEt='UL H .ACKSTER Your paper is my ~y hope to thank a couple of clubs. First, to the Gripsters -ror the wonderful race at Elsinore it was one of the smoothest races I e~er rode in. Second. to the Dirt Diggers and Bill Robinson for allowing me to use their weIder to 'get my hack #526 hack on the . track to f1n1sh. It is fellows like these that make racing such a lot of fun. CHUCK JONES Sidehack Assn. San Diego, Cal. PENDING (3) the motor, transmission and frame numbers recorded exactly as stamped on the englne, transmission and frame, respectively, by the manufacturer, and any other identifying number of the motorcycle as may be required by the department. (4) The date first sold by a manufacturer or dealer to the consumer. (d) such information as may reasonable to enable it to determine whether the vehicle is lawfuIIy entiUed to registration. (e) The department shall maintain a cross-index file of the motor, transmission and frame numbers registered with It. Flnally AB 263 would add to the list of those currently allowed to enter any garage, repair shop, parking lot, used car lot, automobile dismanUer's lot or similar establishment for the purpose of investigating tiUe and registration of vehicles and inspection of vehicles wrecked or dismanUed, members of the CHP, regularly salaried and appointed city pollee officers and sheriff's deputies. Presently only the director, deputy director, registrar, deputy registrar, and investigators of the department (Section 10656 Vehicle Code) are allowed such entry. That Assemblyman McCarthy has our welfare at heart is evident. That he has the best methods in mind is not so certain. This is not surprfstng 1nasm uch as we don't know for sure ourselves what the best methods are. We want to be able to protect our property. There are few members of the motorcycle community whohavenotbeen touched by theft. In some cases a little more caution might have prevented the loss. In others it seems that there is no way to protect your bike if someone else wants It badly enough. At least, we would all like to find a way to make it harder to make off with our motorcycles. BUT, we don't want to be hassled every time we ride down the street, either. We' have to be very careful that in our zeal to protect ourselves we are not giving away vital rights which will ultimately boomerang into our own freedom. We fell that registration of the englne, frame and (in most cases, a new) transmission number cross filed in the cpaitaI might make it harder to dispose of a stolen machine. But, It does not good unless the DMV looks at the vehicles it registers. At present your word alone registers your machine. U you bOught a Honda and "pink-slipped it" with a Triumph, the DMV would never knowand neither mlgbt anyone else unless you were stopped by a "peace officer" at some time. Does this mean we should be stopped and checked more often? No, tt means the DMV should know what it registers. The trac1ngs of the number or a certiflcate of It would hlep to accomplish this task. But there is st1ll no guarantee that the trac1ng or certificate would really fit the bike •••witoess the common practice of switchlng plates. While we are re-writing the laws on inspection It should be spec1f1ed that a motorcycle cannot be towed-in for investigation unless there is good reason , to believe it is stolen. Too many custom bikes have been picked up on a whim or as a method of harrassment of " undesirables" • The thing that is needed is a more obvious number, a number thatcannotbe so easily numbered and numbers that agree throughout the machine. Whennew parts are added they should be stamped with the original number and properly registered. Perhaps for the hobbyist who plays " mus ical parts" there should be a,special license• Please send your opinions and comments to U.M.E ., Box 1154, Reseda, Calif. 91335. We need the benefit of your experiences to help formulate the best legislation for all of us.

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