Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1971 02 16

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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.'" Writin'Around It) '" l>. By Chuck Clayton A curious situation is shaping. up between the two motorcycle shows scheduled for Daytona Speed Week next month. The "official" AMA sponsored show will be held at the old Armory as usual, but another "outlaw(?)" show is being opened across town, by none other than the President of the AMA, William Bagnall! ****************************** As pointed out in a recent Time Magazine editorial, "Americans simply ignore laws that they don't like." I'll agree with that right up to the point where one gets arrested for ignoring a law that he doesn't agree with. More accurately, you can ignore the law only as long as it ignores you. A number of readers have had that point brought home to them forcefully by the local gendarmerie for pursuing their happiness without some landlord's written permission. There are only a few pursuits left in. this world with the attraction and satisfaction of off-road motorcycle riding, and most of them are illegal. The men we have elected to ~ w Z W ..J U ~ U Motocross star and professor Gary Bailey stands alongside his "home/garage/headquarters·on-wheels" prior to leaving on his 1971 rounds of motocross schools and races around the nation. Bailey's 27·foot trailer is custom built to his specifications by Journeyman Mfg. of Downey, Cal. and valued at $12,000. It contains a garage and workshop for Gary's motorcycles as well as deluxe living accommodations, has its own generator and air compressor built-in, as well as air c;onditioning, stereo fm and tape in every room, forced air heat and flourescent lighting throughout. Bailey is sponsored in his'one-man motocross mission by Greeves, Sachs, Champion Spark Plugs and Champion Helmets. A champagne open house followed completion of the super-trailer... probably the first "trailer-warming" in history. comes along, 1 like to recommend it. The only good one I've seen is Ed Roth's little "Choppers Magazine," which has now merged with Chopper Guide and produced an excellent, full-sized publication devoted to the strip-and-chrome set. The March issue (75¢) features an interview with Cliff "Sonny" Vaughs, the black builder of the Fonda and Hopper choppers you saw in "Easy Rider." Says Sonny, among other things, "The whole purpose of cleaning a bike is to find out what is wrong with it, what has worked loose and would have gone if 1 didn't keep after it." He also reveals that he is building a limited number of the Easy Rider bikes for sale. "They will be available at $2,500 for Fonda's version and $2,300 for Hopper's modeL" There are more things to read in Chopper Magazine than any other monthly I can name. Subscriptions are $6.00 per yea,r from Box 154, Encino, Cal. 91316. ****************************** 'Vfime" magazine, which has not always told the truth about motorcycle developments, has a very good essay in their Feb. 8 issue titled "The Myth of the Motorcycle Hog." I t concludes, "Anti-social? 1ndeed, yes. And being so, a means to sanity. The motorcycle is a charm against the Group Man." ******************** ••••••• **. PUCH WINS make our have unwisely put motorcycle riding in the same criminal category as drug abuse, but we would not be good citizens if we let theIlLleave it there. 1 would rather know that my son is busy riding his minibike than wonder if he is somewhere inhaling airplane glue. Last week I attended a meeting of the Long Beach City Council to beg them not to make off-road riding illegal in my home town. They listened politely to my testimony, but they'd had many complaints of noise and dust generated by minibikes in particular, they said. "Then pass an ordinance. against noise and dust," I urged, UN at against minibikes and motorcycles." The Counc1lmen shrugged contemptuously and voted to pass the anti-bike ordinance at their next week's meeting. At that point 1 decided to follow the advice I've been giving to readers who are faced with the same contempt and indifference on the part of their ejected representatives. 1 wrote letters to the local daily papers, called on mlc dealers and tried to mobilize all the town's bike enthusiasts to present a show of strong opposition at the next Council meeting. By the time you read this, the outcome of that effort will be know. ******************************** Silencers were required for the fIfst time indoors at the recent Madison Square Garden races and they greatly improved the show. Few, if any, spectators noticed the difference, seeing indoor racing for the first time. The Motown sound was still impressive. But those who had been subjected to the ear-busting racket of the Long Beach, Cow Palace, Jacksonville or Astrodome indoors welcomed the relief. 1ndoor racing as presented· by Yamaha and Trojan Enterprises appears like the way to bring motorcycle racing to the big cities. The idea of racing around a 80-yard slab of concrete has • been unfavorably compared to wrestling or roller derby, but the simile loses its validity because the professionalism shown by the AMA racers rescues indoors from comparison with such shlock shows and elevates it to a categroy all its own. Twenty-lap, conrrolled near-crashes on concrete may not be every race fan's thing, but 1 think it is a valid enough expression of speed competition to rate a National Circuit all its own. If the A..l\1A doesn't start one soon, somebody else should. ***************************** Ch oppers are derived from racing bikes, so when a good chopper magazine CMC North Motocross Santa Cruz - Jan. 31,1971 125 Senior Class 1st H. Everts - PUCH 2nd C. Gouverner - PUCH For the finest 125cc motorcycle anywhere visit your local PUCH dealer ARIZONA Phoenix Valley Kawasaki 3427 E. McDowell CALIFORNIA Chatsworth Kendick Engineering 9520 Desoto Avenue Fountain Valley House of Suzuki-Triumph 16112 Harbor Blvd. Fullerton Town & Country Cycle 411 South Brookhurst Hawthorne CoB Motors 13537Y, Crenshaw Blvd. North Hollywood Cole Bros. Motorcycle Sales 5906 Lankershim Rosemead Crown Cycle 8904 Garvey Sepulveda Mission Hills Motorcycle Sales & Service Inc. 8730 Sepulveda 8lvd. Lawndale Precision Cycle Sales & Service 14727 Hawthorne Blvd. Vista Tom & Gary's Cycles 203 East Broadway Westminster Westminster Sportcycle 7574 Westminster Avenue EI Cajon Don Vesco MIC Sales & Service 765 EI Cajon Blvd . NEVADA Las Vegas B & B Performance 8B East Charleston Blvd. Las Vegas Sportsman Cycle Sales Inc. 4104 EaSt Lake Meade San Jose Jensen's Cycle 463 Blossom Hill Road Redwood City A & A Motors 2771 EI Camino TEXAS Fort Worth Terry's Honda 5717 Highway 121A Sacramento Alpha Sportcycles 5278 Fruitridge Road WASHINGTON Spokane Backlund's Spokane Sports Center 1204 W. Second Avenue COLORADO Denver Santa Monica Jack Baldwin Motorcycles 2705 Pico Blvd. COMING ON STRONG Santa Clara Grand Prix Cycles. Inc. 2464 EI Camino Real Lafayette Rick Schell's Sportcycles 3681 Mt. Diablo Boulevard Weaver-Beattv Motor CompanY 10123 West Colfax Avenue Puch Dist. Co. 9825 Mason Chatsworth,Ca.91311 (213) 882-8860 Dealer inquiries invited ,J II ~.1.1~):I"fl)

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