Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.... I o .... Ol ~ ai E. JJ ~ w Z W ..J U > U lJe n we L C a "American's No. 1 weekly motorcycle newspaper. You'll always see it FI RST in Cycle News'" SCALPERS AT INDIAN DUNES? On Sunday. August 23. I headed for Indian Dunes with my 250 Yamaha. and my $5.00 entry fee in my pocket; as the event was advertised as $5.00 mailed or posted. I was accompanied by two friends. As we entered the gate. we were asked to pay $3.00 for each bike. then as we drove on. we were again stopped and told we had to pay $2.00 for each person. After entering the pits. I found that I still wasn't entered in the race. My $5.00 was gone. and I spent many anxious moments trying to borrow enough money to enter the race. I have posted $10.00 before to enter a race. but I did it aware beforehand of the cost. There' were many disgruntled riders and spectators who felt they had been taken in. Indian Dunes and the Optimist Club, who sponsored this • - Publisher Charles Clayton Business Manger ....• Sharon Clayton General Manager Tom Culp Advertising Manager •..... Tom Walsh Editor ..........•..... Bob Sanford, Assistant Editor John Bethea Circulation Manager .•.. Rheba Smith Art Director Lili Lakich Lab Technician DianeSosnoski Advertising Asst. . . . .. Bruce Braly Bookkeeper Edna Williams Bookkeeper Eleanor Duke Receptionist Chris Pratt Circulation Asst Dorothy Apple Delivery Bob Hill money to the 40" Experts). And it's not a long drive compared to Perris. Elsinore. etc .• and it's a good track to keep in tune for the monthly A""ot T.T,'s. Many of you are aware of all this but those of you who haven't tried it.....come on out to Huntington (especially you 40 inchers). IKE MIZEN Los Angdes. Calif. THE BIG NOISE In your Sept. 8 th issue. Russ Sanford's 'M.O.R.E. fram the capitol' column really upsets me. He talked about two sections of an ordinance that were proposed in San Bernardino County that he tenns 'out of sight'. The ordinances will establish maximum YOIC• • event. have employed the use of misleading advertising to gain entrants. The public will only go for this once. and they have seen the last of a lot of riders. The award ceremonies were chaotic. to say the least. After waiting three hours to receive my finishers trophy. I. along with about 75 other 250 riders. was not on the fmishers list. I know I finished. and I have a reel of camera film testifying to every completed lap. I did not stop or break down once. and finished in the front of the pack. The story was the same with the other riders who felt they had wasted their money and their efforts. After a bitter 20 minutes or so. the sponsors condescendingly announced they would give us a trophy if we felt we had finished. I have my trophy. but they made me feel it was not really deserved. The glory I felt earlier at having finished a difficult race also vanished!! ! MARK SANDERSON Arcadia. Calif. noise levels and will extend them to all forms of motor vehicles. This is really the first serious legislation that may save the motorcycle from its own destructive form of pollution? 'noise pollution'. , I think it has now been thoroughly impregnated in to our youths minds that noise is synonymous with speed. "HOGWASH" It has been proven that ex p ansion cha~bers and straigh t-through pipes can be efficiently muffled without extracting from the bikes power. So what is the big hang-up with noise? If we don't educate our racers. plunkers. trail riders. and everybody that is contnbuting to our problem. very soon it may be too late. Our land is going to be taken from us little by little and it will be our own faults. I feel it is better to give a little to keep our desen freedom than to raise a lot of 'noise pollution' and lose the entire bag. THOMAS C. MOCK Yorba Linda, Calif. SMEAD REVEALS DUMB RACES Indian Dunes was a bummer. The racing was impossible to watch: there was deep sand everywhere. people getting stuck. a smelly irrigation canal with cow dung in it cutting across the course. making it impOSSIble to walk to distant points. The races were hours late. and there were almost no green rooms. We asked for our money back and were told to "Get in our truck and get the hell out if we didn't like it," When are we gain!! to stop letting these incapable promoters gyp us. The Optimists Club throws dumb races. Stay away. JOSEPH A. SMITH Los Angeles. Calif. HBCP.•.RAH. RAH. RAH! I'd like to address you feIlas (and gals) who still prefer to ride a fast. smooth dirt track and are discovering' that Dist. 37 events seem to be getting more "moto--crossish", or at least the smooth runs are too far and, few between. Don EngIand's "Huntington Beach Cycle Park" is a fast. smooth. and well prepared race track. Granted•.•.•you get no Dist. 37 points. but be runs a well orpnized program. has a point system of his own (for that aJmi&bty low nwabcr). pya bircheD trophies (and I don't feel compelled to answer the critics of my report covering Simi Valley's ..motocro.... at Oxnard. because the riders that were there know all there is to know. I must answer P. Hoffee's letter, however. He (or she) says that Scott Hoffee won both races in the 125 Junior class at the recent Bay Mare Cycle Association race. My repon listed Steve Armstrong as the winner and the official results which everyone now has show Annstrong fU'St and Hoffee fourth. Scott. you'll have to console yourself with the way you rode the race and if you really did win then you've just joined the ranks of us that have lost the race when the lap sheets are scored. There's a race somewhere next week. Good luck. DAYID E. SMEAD CainariIlo. Calif. PROBLEMS PREVENT RACE The Scramblers M.C. aplogize for cancellation and publicity mix-up on District 37 motocross Aug. 23. This was due to legal problems. We are planning to run a Dist. 37 motocross in the future. SCRAMBL~1tS M.e. Cycle News East, Dixie Cycle News, and National Advertising information: Tom Culp. National Advertising Dir. Cycle News (West). P.O. Box 498. Long BElIIch, California 90801. (213) 427·7433 - L.A. 636-8844. Subscription: One year 2nd class mail Single copy price _ $7.50 $.25 Published weekly except the first and last week of the calendar YElllr by Cycle News, Inc., Post Office Box 498, Long Beach, California. also publishers of Cycle News East, and Dixie Cycle News. 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 whole or in part only be permission of the publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. Geboers Wins; Loses Lead EAST GERMANY. August 26. 1970 - In the East German round of the 250cc world championship series. Sylvan Geboers won. but Joel Robert took the lead in the championship points standings. Robert only took second on the East German race. This unlikely event occurred because. under FIM scoring. only the best seven performances of a rider are totaled for the championship. Geboers win only replaeed a lesser performance. so he actually netted only a few points. while Robert's net gain was the total from his second place. The Championship points table now shows Robert 96. Geboers 94. For Robert to improve his score in the final two rounds he must win. nothing less. Geboers can better his score by finishing in the top two. In third place and virtually out of contention is Miroslov Halm. Cycle Land Rejected CARSON. CALIF .• Aug. 25. 1970 - Bob Bailey's Cycle Land. which had been in a topsy-turvy situation ever since it was flTst planned to be opened in mid-July. went before ~ City Planning Commission Tuesday night for approval, but. instead. was rejected and will close down without ever opening. The move came as a shock to many who were very optimistic after a previous hearing in which it was discovered that land ownership was in question. At that time; the voting was postponed until Bailey could reme with the city. Between that time and the meeting Tuesday. the apparent "friendliness" of the board shifted and the proposed l3-acre cycle park converted from a golf course was put down. With the closing of Cycle Land. Ascot Park remains the only ridipg area in the Southern Los Angeles Coutny area not menaced by local and county police. European Ride Offer LA MESA. CALIF. - A free berth is available on the first American Team to compete in the Trophee Des Nations motocross for the Team Championship of the World. according to Edison Dye. sponsor of the team and western Husqvarna distributor. The motocross meeting will take place September 13 in Knutstorp. Sweden. 30 miles from Helsinkiborg. Teams are limited to minimum 3 men and maximum 5. The best sc<>ring of the top three counts toward the championship. Interested riders with top qualifications are requested to telephone Mr. Dye at (714) 460-8751 from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. if they want to join Husky riders Bob Grossi and U.S. MX Team Captain Russ Darnell against the rest of the world's best at The Trophee Des Nations. Rockwood Leaves Yam. DUARTE. CALIF .• August 30. 1970 - Roxy Rockwood. prominent figure in the motorcycle industry. Ascot announcer and safety expert. wiu be leaving Yamaha International to fill a newly created position in the corporate structure of Birmingham Small Arms. Inc. Rockwood's title in his new position will be "National Director of Safety and Public Affairs" and he will repon directly to Pete Coleman. who heads both B.S.A. Inc. and B.S.A. Western. It is expected that Rockwood will develop rider training and other safety·type programs for B.S.A_ Inc. He was doing similar work for Yamaha International Mini-Amphibian Race SAN PEDRO. CALIFORNIA. Aug. 28. 1970 - PIans for the fITst Annual Mini Bike Race to Catalina are progressing. accroding to Tom Cosgrove. Race Chainnan. "We have a couple of entries now, so by race time there should be a large group to try their skill". said Cosgrove. The race. scheduled to coincide with the time of the old Catalina Road Race in May. is a test of endurance as well as engineering and riding skill. Each entry must be an origianl manufacturer mini bike. but modified to not only ride on a beach or trail but also on water. Modifications are not restrictive on design. except that each machine must operate only with its own power. All contestants must have an approved life jacket on during the race. and every mini will be accompanied across the channel by a power boat. The boat will handle navigation and act as a source of refreshments during the channel crossing. All entry fees will be used as part of the cash pone for the winners. Already $500.00 has been guaranteed. and contingency money is being sought. The overall winner. if wearing a Pacific Coast Honda T-shirt or sweat shirt. will be awarded an extra $25.00. Cosgrove. who is co-owner of Pacific Coast Honda. lias guaranteed the additional money. Entry applications and rules are available by writing to Catalina Race Committee, Attn: ,Tom Cosgrove, 2073 Pacific Coast Highway. Lomita, California 90717. Baumann Improving NAPA. CALIF., Aug. 28, 1970 - Art Baumann, profCllional racer for the Suzuki factory. still remains in serious condition at the Queen of the Valley Hospital after sustaining a skull fracture during a fall at the AFM road race in Vaccaville. Calif.• last Sunday. Although still under intensive care. his condition is improving daily. says Ron Grant. Baumann's close friend and Suzuki teammate. "Except for a six-inch skull fracture." Grant reports... Art sustained no other physical injuries. He came out of a coma Tuesday but cannot retain consciousness for very long," Baumann is not coherent and is suffering from a loss of memory. ''This is caused". says Grant. "to the swelling of the brain which always occurs after a strong blow to the head," The veteran road· racer also states that Baumann believes he is in constant pain throughout his body, "but, this. too. is caused by the swelling and not by any injuries. It should end as the fracture heali and the brain returns to its normal size," It ~ ~.in.~t,~",·,,~ ~~I'ty' t,be,ini!.D;Y qI!I,l:.,duripg.a ~kJ . (Prase fan& to H. 20)

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