Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.g> ttl New '71 Hondas Q. Left, 64-year-oldSoichiro Honda and his new 125 motosport. Below, megaphone mufflers are welded solid to prevent noise. Right, toP. Honda's answer to every problem is simply ,... Ol en -ii "build a better motorcycle." The new SL·70 will create pressure for more places to ride u. off·the-road. Boltom right. new 500ee Four \@ looks a lot like its 750cc big sister. w Z W ...J U >- U NEW 81IES~ SNOWMO.,LE CAl' flOM .,G 'H' SAN DIEGO, CALIF., Jan. 28, 1971 . American Honda unveiled its newest models to the press and dazzled the jaded viewers with some remarkably sophisticated new machinery for the road and dirt. Stealing the spotlight was the new CB500, a half-liter four cylinder that looks almost exactly like the popular CB750, but is said to put out 50 horsepower (about the same as the 750) and weighs 100 Ibs less! Less startling was the expected 125cc version of the popular SLI00. The new SL125 sports a 21" front wheel, longer forks and heavier shocks to make it more suitable for hard rough riding, as Tax Exemption In Jeopardy By Robert O. Fee If your club is a California corporation and exempt from the tax and the information questionnaire form 1070 has not been filed with the FTB, quick action is required or you will not be incorporated or exempt much longer. Starting February I, 1971, at least 10,000 organizatio.ns listed as tax exempt by the State of California will be suspended for failure to file a tax return, report, or pay a filing fee, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) recently announced. Many motorcycle clubs will be included as most of the organizations are exempt under the provisions for social and recreational clubs, the provision most cyclists qualify under. The suspensions are a result of ex tensive changes in the law passed by the 1969 legislature, and come a year after the Franchise Tax Board mailed an information brochure to the affected clubs. Attached to the brochure was a questionnaire which specified return in 30 days. It was designed_ to secure the curren t addresses and accounting periods for exempt organizations. As of mid-November, about 45% of the organizations had responded. In spite of the 30 days provision, the FTB continued to accept the questionnaires through the end of the year. Those clubs not responding and returning the information in 1970 have been assumed to be dead or inactive and removed from FTB files. However, as the suspension will be. for failure to file a report or return or pay a filing fee, rather than for failing to return the questionnaire, the tardy club might be able to forestall the suspension by returning the required tax forms preferably early, but most certainly by the deadline, Mary 15. H your club has less than $10,000 gross .receipts and less than $10,000. of .assets for the past ye;u: or accountmg period, the club is required to file with the FTB an annual Information Report. on form 1995F. The fee for filing due with the report is $5 with a 100% penalty for being late. For the club with $10,000 or more of income or with assets with a fair market value of $10,000 or more, an Information Return on form 199 is required. The filing fee and late penalty is the same, $5 and 100%. well as some detail refinements that should make it very popular with customers when it reaches the dealers' showrooms this month. Claiming the distinction of Uintroducing" and uall·new concept in motorcycling the intermediate motorcycle," Honda pretends ignorance of the highly successful Yamaha mini-enduro. But no matter, their Motosport SL-70 is a fitting competitor to the other popular midi-bikes. Its 4-stroke, 70cc engil)e is housed in a scaled down motorcycle with 16" wheels and full lighting equipment. And it fits JI:l'own-ups almost as well as kids. Rounding out the new attractions of the Honda lineup are a prototype 750cc 4-cylinder, 4-stroke snowmobile (with reverse gear) and a sporty 600cc 4-wheeled coupe that looks like nothing so much as the maximum in helmet coverage as well as the minimum in car transportation. Stamp One Up For Motorcycles By Harry Miller Since the year 1885, when the first successful motorcycle was demonstrated by Gottlieb Daimler in Kannstatt, Germany, a year before the automobile rolled, more than 4400 "motorcycle" stamps have carried the world's mail. They picture rallies and races, mail delivery and courier work, military use and just plain pleasure cycling. The first central government postage stamp was issued by Great Britain in 1840. The mail monopoly system replaced a hodge-podge of private carriers, local posts and undependable dispatch riders. It also in troduced the "penny post" which brought letter writing within the scope of everyone and did more to advance communication and knowledge than any development since the invention of the printing press. Other countries soon realized the . advantages of centralized mail control and installed their own postill systems; the United States in 1847. The mails still moved by horseback, slow boat and trains, but rates and delivery schedules were greatly stabilized. But as world literacy grew, mail volume increased rapidly. New and improved transportation methods cut delivery time. ~Iotorcycles, which didn't even become slightly popular until the late 1890's, were finally recognized as an economical, speedy method of delivering the mails. In Europe they were employed in large numbers by practically every country. When World War I plunged every naliona inlo chaos, motorcycles, many with sidecars, became an integral part of field armies. Dispatch riders on two wheels replaced four-footed horsepower and the two-legged runners of previous strugg,!es. Between great Wars, postage stamp publicity was refined and extended. New printing methods allowed beautifully engraved adhesives to be printed in two, three or more colors. Inventions and achievements in science, medicine, engineering and other fields tumbled over one another in being recognized. Aircraft, ships and explorations decorated the mail. With the ushering in of World War II, the motorcycle began coming into its own, both ruggedly real in the field and often ideally pictured on postage stamps. This wide familiarization during the grim war years bloomed into a sports revival after WW II, along with a popularity that shows no signs of waning. Motorcycle sports meets, rallies, road tests lead the action and these international events lent themselves ideally to postal promotion. Since the Czechs were among the most professional motorcycle people in Europe and within Iron Curtain limits hold more local rallies and races than any other Cental European country, a 1957 commemmorative marked the 32nd International Motorcycle Race with a fine racing engraving. In 1963 an entire sports series of stamps appeared, with mo torcycle competition leading the hurdlers, skiers, and tennis players also represented. Hungary included a highway motorcycle traveler';n a 1955 stamp set depicting main transportation methods. Yugoslavia has issued several excellent motorcycle portraits honoring various national and in ternational racing events. Poland holds competitions as often as her government regulations permit and a 1955 International Race in the Tatra Mountains was postally noted. o Many motorcycle stamps are special or commemorative "motorcycle" stamp, although there is plenty of precedent in other countries. Baseball, basketball, tumbling, have been honored, but to date, America's motorcycling fraternity has been bypassed. The general criteria for selecting commemoratives by Advisory Committee charged with the selection of special stamps from the flood of such suggestio ns received each year is that the usbject be of national interest, non-commercial and generally of all round merit-. Thus, state centennials, birthdates of famous Americans, concerned with mail, particularly Special Delivery. Mexico issued one of the first in 1919 and her issues since have consisten tly pictured progressively advancing two-wheel and sidecar cycles. Somali, several of the Central and South American nations, Monaco and Bulgaria, among many countries, have used mo torcycle designs on Special Delivery stamp issues. Our ten-cen t Special Delivery stamp first issued in 1922 offered a fine portrait of a parked sideview motorcycle, with a messenger handing the fast-mail envelope to a householder. The United States has never issued a purposes such as wildlife and resources conservation are most frequently used. But, what a stamp series could be designed around the Daytona motorcycle runs and those of the Nationals at Laconia and Peoria. There are rumors that Great Britain, most conservative of stamp issuing countries, may' postaJly commemorate the Isle of Man Mountain Course and that the Netherlands may do the same for its Tourist Trophy cycle event. Meanwhile motorcycles roll on, carrying mail by land, sea and air to every part of the world. Bean Canyon Victims BAKERSFIELD, CAL.,Jan. 29, 1971 The cases against 63 individuals cited for trespassing in Bean Canyon last fall will be dismissed and all charges will be dropped against them, reports Ray Yinger, lawyer for approximately 50 of the group. ''The judge upheld the writ of prohibition I filed last December and it will compel the justice court to dismiss MOTOCROSS POINTS District 37 point totals for motocross riders will be based upon the rider's best performances in 75% of the total motocross runs per year. Dismissed the criminal action," Yinger explains: "Now the DA's Office in Bakersfield is recommending the court dismiss all the pending cases for those pleading not guilty. " The decision does not affect those individuals who pleaded guilty and paid the fine or those cited recently for trespassing under the new California Penal Code section 602-M. This state law, which only went into affect recently, has enabled the county to begin restricting off-road use of motor vehicles on private land in and around Bakersfield, despite the fact that Kern County has no ordinances like those in affect in nearby LA, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties_

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