Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

With only a few weeks between racing seasons in which to do the countless necessary details required of them. the American Motorcycle Association announced some major changes they have instituted for the coming years. Briefly. the AMA has ~ Announced a new membership package. ~Raised membership dues to $7 per year. ~ Revived the annual member pin program. ~Set up a new Group Insurance plan for all members. ~Hired a man to head the new Amateur Activities Dept. ~Established a full-time Legislative Department. ~Revised the AMA districts. ~Announced that certain indoor races will be muffled in 1971. Details of the new changes appear on these pages. New Sporfsmen ACfi'ities Dept.Head The American Motorcycle Association has established a new departmen t that will devote its full efforts to amateur motorcycle activities, both on and off the road. Some of the primary tasks of this department will be to help standardize amateur racing activities across the country, upgrade the club referee system, develop strong district organizations throughout the United States, and stimulate amateur activity. New district organizations wilJ be based upon the active AMA clubs already established across the country, and they are intended to give the enthusiastic AMA member a larger share of association control in his area, and to make the AMA .more meaningful and influential on a local level. To head the newly-established Department of Amateur Activities, Execu tive Director Russ March has announced the appointment of Mike Vancil, a man welJ-known in the Chicago area for his motorcycling activities. Mike stepped in to his new post in mid-December. . Vancil, 35, was raised in Detroit, attended the University of lIIinois, holds an Associate of Arts degree from Springfield Junior College, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri School of Mines. Throughout high school and colJege he participated in track and boxing, and he has been riding a motorcycle since age fifteen. He is a Life Member of the AMA and has been active in the Sangamon Riders of Springfield, illinois and the Ridgewood Cycle Association of Homewood, JUinois and has served three terms as president of the Northern Jllinois Motorcycle Clubs Association. Until his move to the AMA he worked as an Engineer at United States Steel. He is married and has three children. AMA Pro,ides A"- Members Insurance For years the American Motorcycle Association has offered its professional riders an insurance policy considered outstanding for those in an admittedly hazardous business. However, among the membership there has been a compelling interest in blanket insurance that would cover the AMA member who doesn't race. Many contributions to the 1970 Competition Congress agenda s.uggested examination of a total-membership insurance plan. This, of course, was a problem that the Congress itself could not take action on, • bu t the desires of the delegates in this regard were forwarded to the staff and Executive Committee as recommendations. By November, 1970, the time of the Congress, negotiations with a major insurance carrier were already near completion, and now the association has adopted an all-membership policy that becomes effective January 1, 1971. This makes the AMA the only association of its type on Earth to provide life and medical benefits to all of its members, whether they are professional competitors, amateur competi tors, or non-competitive riders. The AMA is the only association to provide this kind of total coverage for such a large membership. Through the henefits provided by a large insurance carrier, the AMA member now receives with his membership a policy that protects him in his motorcycling activities anyti.ne and anywhere, even while riding on the road. All AMA members are covered by $1 ,000.00 accidental death and dismemberment beneILts in connection with a motorcycle at anytime throughout the world. This is applicable wh<:ther the member is riding as a driver or passenger, off or on the road, or while spectating at a motorcycle event. In addition, all members participating in AMA sanctioned amateur road or off-road competition receive up to $10,000.00 medical coverage that will pay 75% of all medical expenses in excess of $25.00. Benefits of $5,000.00 are received for accidental death or dismemberment for all those participating in AMA sanctioned events. These benefits apply to all categories of sanctioned activity, whether of a road or off·road nature. No addi tional fee is charged for any portion of the AMA blanket coverage. It is included as just one of the many benefits of membership in the AMA. Furthermore, it does not conflict with or cancel any other insurance that an AMA member may possess. full-Time Leg isla fi,e Dep f. Esfab lish ed By AMA MOTOIICl'ClI SlllIS-SIRVICI O;Uuth of :-'orduff in ",·puh.'da. ("alif. 9000 SEPULVEDA BLVD. INTERNATIONAL RULE BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION As a part of its affiliation with the Federation Internationale Motocyclist (F.l.M.), the American Motorcycle Association is making EngIish language international competition rule books available to anyone who might want one. The FIM "rule book" is actualJy a three-volume set including two loose-leaf rule books and a paperback Annual. These are available only as complete sets for $ 7 per set. In addition, new 1971 UAmateur", uProfessional", and uRoad Rider" rule books for national competition maybe purchased from the association. They are available for $1.25 each. II's a IOD9 way 10 DloDday molDing. Campaign' Recognizing the educational value of television, and its potent influence on national trends and public attitudes, the American Motorcycle Association has begun work on a public safety campaign that will be submitted to the fifty top U.S. television markets in the spring of 1971. As a requiremen t for its license, every television station in the United States must provide a certain amount of free time for public service messages. Of these, highway safety messages are some of the most frequently used. By putting its motorcycle publicity in terms of highway safety, the association can receive a huge return in comparison to the investment. A similar public safety campaign studied by the AMA gave its sponsors $50,000.00 worth of television air time for a $3,500.00 investment. The AMA campaign is expected to have proportionate results. With the desire to improve the motorcyclist's image and the public respect for his vehicle, the AMA will be aiming its message at automobile operators, encouraging them to watch for motorcycles and treaL them with the respect due aU motor vehicles. The three-fold purpose is to improve the traffic manners of motorists, to elevate In progress at present is a case sponsored and supported by the AMA against the Garden State Parkway, in New Jersey, the last public highway in the nation to ban motorcycle traffic. The Parkway situation is symbolic of _ the direct and indirect discrimination that motorcyclists suffer through the United States, and it is typical of those that the AMA Legislative Department will attempt to correcL With a central office fighting for motorcyclists' rights, each membership becomes a valuable contribution to the AMA's powerful lobby force that now stands 130,000 stron~. Included in the benefits of the Am erican Motorcycle Association's 1971 membership package is a full-time, full-staff, and adequately budgeted legislative department. As the political arm of the association's 130,000 members, this department is expected to have national impact in areas of motorcycle legislation and highway safety. The new AMA Legislative Department will organize association activity against unconstitutional and discriminatory laws against motorcyclists, serve as a sentinel on Federal and State legislation affecting motorcyclists, act as a clearing house for important safety and legal information and statistics, and coordinate its efforts with its counterparts in the industry, like the Motorcycle Industry Council. AMA To Launch TV (213) 894-9218 WARREN WILSON MOTORS the motorcyclist's self respect, and to improve the public image of the sport. The campaign is timed to begin when large numbers of motorcycles return to the nation's highways with warm weather. Commericals will be sent to stations in the fifty largest population centers in the United States in an effort to reach the greatest number of people possible. Hodaka, the original trailbike that made off-road riding a national sport, offers the key to wee~end excitement. "G etting away from it all" ia what Hodaka Irailbike. are all about. Free from we.kday wonieL out in the open air ••• Irailbiking gi••• you a "go anywher... do anything" kind 01 leeling no other aport can offer. duced seven years ago. And this testing continues. right down to the tiniest nul or bolt. Cycle Magazine affirmed Hodaka's reliability when they reported on a California Scrambles event with the words: We design and build Hodaka lrailbikes to promote this feeling of freedom: Take performance. for instance. Hodaka. is the world's most popular 100cc lrailbike because it out performs other trailbikes. Consistently. The technical reasons why are complex. The results are simple. More competitive events in the 100 class have been won on Hodaka's than any other make. We're experts when it comes to building trailbikes and seven years of study and design have taken the guess work ouf of the ·go·. But just 'go' isn't good enough in a trailbike. A breakdown ten miles from the nearest road can be dangerous as well as irritating. This is wher.. Hodaka really shines. ways better than the first Hodaka intro- Every single component that goes into building the Hodaka has been time tested . . . some up to seven years. When something isn't up to snuff we improve it until it is (flaws should be discovered in the factory by engineers, not in the field by customers). To date. our 1970 Hodaka has been improved 174 "While the other makes of motorcycles. large and amall. dropped like flies from the pounding the Hodaka's went on and OD and onl" So now you know what Hodam trailbikes are basically all about (We've won National Trailbike Champ three years in a row to prove it). Learn how it all started seven years ago by sending 2Sc and the completed coupon to: Public Relations Dept.• PABATCO, Box 327. Athena, Oregon 97813. H@)DAKA MOTORCYCLES ........................................................................ . : For a copy o( •'The Hodaka Story," send the : coupon and 2)c to PABATCO's address below. ! i ~ ~ Name............•.............•.•.__ : Street _ _ _ _ _ .._. _ _._._ _._ : Stat.__ _ _ _.._ _ __._.._..zip ~ . __ _ _ _ AMCGWS 11-70 -_._------- .. PAIATCO.lIox 327. Ath...... Or_a 17813 . .•..__••_•.•._..••_....• : .' : City _ : Phone _ _ _ . _._._.•.._....- ....- .•.- ....- ....-. _....•.__._..•._ _ _ _ . : : : ! . __ _------.. :" co ~ w Z W ...J U >- U

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