Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

. & :. o ... '" ... N u o \!! w Z W ...J U > U "American's No. 1 weekly motorcycle newspaper. You'll always see it FIRST in Cycle News'" RIGHT DIRECTION I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to you for the fine work you are doing in attempting to put an end to motorcycle noise. As a motorcycle competitor and the officer in charge of the San Diego Sheriff's Off·road Motorcycle Patrol, I can tell you that you are on the right track. I hope that the manufacturers will soon join the fight and put their vast engineering resources to work on their problem. Sachs motorcycle has a beau tiful silencer, so we know it can be done. Education of motorcycle riders is the key to the problem of course, and you are certainly doing your share in that regard. Please keep the pressure on and maybe someday we will be as socially acceptable as horsemen are today. SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT ELDEN R. CARL,JR., Sgt., Off·Road Motorcycle Patrol • Publisher Charles Clayton Business Manager . . . . . Sharon Clayton General Manager , .Tom ~ulp Advertising Manager Tom Walsh Editor Bob Sanford Assistant Editor John Bethea Circulation Manager Rheba Smith Art Director Liti Lakich Lab Technician Diane Sosnoski Advertising Asst Bruce Braly Bookkeeper. . . . . . . .. Dorothea Lang Bookkeeper Eleanor Duke Receptionist , Chris Pratt Circulation Asst. . Dorothy Apple Delivery .. . . . , . . . Larry Groves cost us another dollar. I guess Mr. Bailey thought he was a teacher up there, telling us over the loud speaker, that he may have to "smack some knuckles out there". I wonder if he did. Best of all was our great intermission. But he forgot to bring the popcorn. Well, Mr. Bob Bailey, we would like to invite you to our upcoming race this year. Your gate fee and entry fee is paid so please come and we will show you how to START and run a race. Oh, you can have a few beers on us. Hope to see you there. CARL COTTON, GREG WICHAM, DICK FRAMPTON,JACK KELL, . ART STEVENSON MARK STEVENSON, BILL JONES, LARRY KOPP MAD AT CATS I rode the recent Cactus Cats Hare Scrambles and now I am really mad at them. They did the following: gave us a litter sack; provided a map of the starting area and instructions; had YOlO• • NAME DROPPER In regard to the extensive article on the Check Chase, Oct. lOth, which we enjoyed reading, I felt compelled to write and tell you that the "Yet to be named" 250 Novice who won 8th overall mentioned in your article was named 34 years ago DAN SABOL by his parents. It was nice that the highlight of his career of four races was mentioned, but it would have been nicer to have had his name there, too. Old men enjoy those little things. MRS. DAN SABOL San Fc:rnando, Calif. 'PORTLY' PREPARED Please give my thanks to Maureen Lee for describing me as "portly" in her article on the ACA MX in the Oct. 13, 1970 edition of Cyae News. When you weigh 300 Ibs. you need all of the kind words you can get! However, I don't understand how she could say my Yamaha was unprepared. After all, I did take the lights off and put wide handlebars on it. In any case, with my power-to·weight raio, it doesn't matter much what kind of machine I -ride. I ride for the pleasure of it and Miss Lee was definitely right about one thing; I had a ball. For my third race I'm going back to the desert this weekend for the Rams event. That Saddleback course is like asphalt as I discovered when I went over the handlebars in the second moto. I'll keep you posted on the continuing saga: "Fat man goes to the, races". BOB (PORTLY) NICHOLSON Alhambra, Calif. BAILEY HONORED? Mr. Bob Bailey deserves the Starter Of The Year award. As members of the newly organized Sagebrusliers M.C. we would like to nominate Mr. Bailey for his terrific starts at Big Bear Lake. We guess the high altitude made him start the races this way. We have agreed not to attend another of Mr. Bailey's circus events. We wanted to attend the riders meeting but we were afraid it would separate class sign up booths; had a perfect Le Mans start that was well policed; had a banner that you could see; laid out a well marked rough, tough coune; set up checks that were efficient; provid.ed a good finish procedure, readable results and a decent t:mishing pin. How dare this new club put on a near perfect race their fint time out? Now I will have to ride some other runs. Man, am I mad. WES ANDERSON SR. Los Angeles, Calif. TRASH AND PIGS In response to Richard Contla's letter which appeared in the Oct. 13th issue of Cycle News, I too am amazed at the rate of litter that is accumulating in the riding areas. The riders who litter are not fellow motorcyclists; they are PIGS. It is no trouble at all to throw trash into the trunk of a cat and dispose of it when returning home. Also, the road serving the few homes that are in the area is used by some riders for their "BOnneville Speed Runs". If we don't start reprimanding or reporting these pigs, we're all going to get screwed. DENNIS TINGLER, President South Gate Jr. Chamber of Commerce Sport-Lube Specialties Co. PRESIDENT SPEAKS We would like to express our thanks for your stories and photo coverage at Orange Speedway EI Toro. HRL Lubricants are widely used and highly accepted in auto racing. It is our hope to establish our products more predominatelY in the motorcycle sport. This year HRL presented a Most Popular Rider award (voted by the fans) to Kirk Redding at Trojan Speedway, co·sponsored ten racing events at EI Toro, and awarded products and trophies at other tracks. In keeping with the thought that manufacturers of cycle products should take an active in terest in the sport we are planning further participation in 1971. R.H. CLAYPOOL President Cycle News East, Dixie Cycle News, and National Advertising information: Tom Culp. National Advertising Oir. Cycle News (West). P.O. Box 498, Long 90801. (213) Beach, California 427·7433 - L.A. 636-8844. TELEX NO. 673-474 Subscription: One year 2nd class mail Single copy price $7.50 $.25 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, 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. Licenses No Good COSTA MESA, CALIF. - Controversy over FIM licenses for Speedway riders has arisen for the third straight year. As in years past, American riders are required to hold FIM licenses before competing against European and Australian stars, scheduled to arrive here this week. However, the riden are purchasing licenses that are apparently invalid. According to Wes Cooley - President of FIM's American affiliate, MICUS - a number of riders have purchased licenses for $7.50 from John McLaughlin, a former AFM representative to MICUS: McLaughlin was relieved of duties on July 17,1970 by D.J. Scott, Chainnan of the Board of Directon of the AFM. In a letter to the Speedway riders, Cooley said that, "Mr. McLaughlin has not relinquished his FIM stamps or any other materials...and it looks as if some type of legal action will have to be taken..." Continuing, Cooley says, "in 1969 at the FIM congress in Lubliana, Yugoslavia, it was agreed...that the fee for the international license would be $15. Last week, some of you...were. charged a fee of $7.50, and also some of you were issued licenses without the proper photographs which are necessary. I am sorry to state this is in complete violation of FIM rules." The international races are scheduled for October 23, October 30 and November 6 at Costa Mesa, and, according to Cooley, .....No rider will be eligible to participate withou~, a valid license which must be presented to the FIM tepresentative..at the event... For the past two years, Speedway riders have paid $25 for the FIM licenses, but, in fact, have not received the actual Iicc:nsc:s. For this, and other reasons, riders have been reluctant to deal with MICUS. It is doubtful that riders will have obtained Cooley·issued FIM license:s for the first event this Wednesday night, but no word \U yet been issued as to what action will be taken. Protest Noted LOS ANGELES, CALIF., Oct. 10, 1970 - According to the A.M.A. District 37 bulletin the Prospector's Motocross resulted in more letters of protest to the competition committee than, "anyone remembers seeing from a single event." There were also some people present to stipulate violations of rules. No Prospecton were present. It was decided that the race would not be disallowed, but that the points would be resolved by Dick Camp in the cases of those riders who did not ride three motos. The Competition Committee is placing a recommendation with the Sports Committee that the Prospecton not be allowed any motocross dates for 197 I. In addition it is recommending that the Prospectors be fined $375.00 (to go into the General Fund) and that the fine be paid by 12/3/71 or that the Prosp,ectors have no point runs in 1971. This recommendation will be considered at the November meeting of the Sport's Committee. Perris Steps Forward PERRIS, CALIF., Oct. 19, 1970 - Proving that you don't have to be the biggest to be the first with the best, the Perris Scrambles track has announced that for their forthcoming Saturday night scrambles they will award $5.00 in cash to any fl1'St place winner who uses silencer on his bike. When asked what prompted this move, Mrs. Burton, one of the track owners, responded that some of the members of the Hi Jinx motorcycle club had started uaing silencers on their own and reported that they suffered no loss of power. This in conjunction with the recent Cycle News article and the harrassment that the track has been receiving from nearby residents because of noise prompted the action. In the future, the Burtons may split the award and give alI trophy winners a free track pass or something similar so that non-winners might get a share of the action. The innauguration date for the silencer award is Saturday, October 17th. Entries will close at 7:30, fl1'St race at 8 p.rn. Open Sundays Closed . \ LOS ANGELES, CALIF., Oct. 1, 1970 - The desert "Open Sundays" are now a thing of the past, according to the AMA District 37 Bulletin for September. Originally, the first Sunday of the month could not be assigned as a race day in the desert. This day was reserved for the racer's families. Gradually, enduros came to be scheduled on the open Sunday so the open Sunday was in fact just a day for a different type event. Since it is 'now felt that enduros can successfully compete with the races, and since the purpose behind the Open Sunday has been lost anyway, it has been decided to add these days to the race calendar. One compelling reason for the change is that there are many more clubs applying for dates than there are dates to accommodate them. This measure adds 12 race dates to the calendar. Only Easter remains an open Sunday. Speedway Stars Here COSTA MESA, CALIF., Oct. 19, 1970 - The annual Anglo-American Series for speedway motorcycles moves into one of its biggest evenings Friday night (Oct. 23) at the Orange County Fairgrounds. Racing, as always, gets underway at 8: 15 p.m. On hand for Friday's action will be four·time World Speedway Champion Barry Briggs of New Zealand, Australian Champion Jim Airey, Dave Gifford of Australia and perhaps the most popular foreign rider to ever compete at the fast Costa Mesa track: Bert Harkins of Scotland. However, good as the field is the brightest star is still missing. The man who clinched his unprecedented third World Speedway Championship in a row in September, Ivan Mauger of Christchurch, New Zealand is due to artive at the Orange County oval on October 30 to join his fellow foreign riders. Interestingly, promoter Harry Oxley has managed, in Harkins, Briggs, Gifford, Airey and Mauger, to assemble the team captains of five different British League teams. Harkins is the captain of the Wembley Lions, Mauger doing the chores for Belle Vue, Briggs for the Swindon Robins, Gifford of the Newcastle Diamonds and Airey captaining Sheffield I Friday's Anglo·American Series feature Match Race pits Jim Airey against Barry Briggs. On hand to provide some red, white and blue competition is U.S. champ Rick Woods, current title holder Steve Bast, Bill Cody and a recuperated Sonny Nutter.

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