Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125719
... ., ... .. 0. .... '" g J:: . :; ~ ~ w Z W ...J U >U ... aY111 I.w. "America's No. 1 weekly motorcycle newspaper. You'll always see it FIRST in Cycle News!" IVi¥'"c WHAT BIKE FOR ME? I gather that you are interested in something in the trailbike class. Tryout a Harley·Oavidson Baja and practice riding sand washes, as most California cross-country events feature a few. Look in the Cycle News Calendar for events by the Sportsman Racing Assn., which are for new riders only I or go to Deadman's Point some weekend. Also, Indian Dunes and Bay Mare have some good besinners days. You might also check out the new Suzuki and Yamaha lightweights, and don't overlook the Hodaka Super Rat, Try universal tires instead of knobbies in the sand. .,.Ed. BlM MAPS You indicated in a notice dated RIVERSIDE, CALIF., Oct. 5, that BLM District Manager, Jack Wilson, said maps of BLM land areas should be available in the near future and will be printed in Cycle News. Perhaps I missed the issue - could you please send me copies of these and bill me, ,or advise who I may write at BLM to get the maps. CHARLES R. KINNEY Publication of the BLM maps have been held up for undisclosed reasons. Individuals may examine maps at BLM offices. Maps of trails are available from Honda and dealers in Southern California ... Ed. Kawasaki WHO'S KilliNG MOTORCYCLING? I just wanted to tell the fellows, that S TO L E my head, barrel, piston, carburetor, and chamber from my Sachs, that was on my trailer, parked in the middle of Elsinore on Sunday, that we can identify you, it seems that you all had your mothers with you, and they were all wearing the same kind of FLEA COLLARS. I think that the Gripsters M.C. did an outstanding good job. It's too bad that so many grown people act like idiots these are the people who are killing motorcycling. I think we all should apologize to the good people of FJsinore. BOB SHAW Van Nuys, Cal. INDIAN GRAND I wrote the Cliff Hanger M.C. of Hemet, Calif. requesting some information on the Grand Prix they are putting on April 4th. I received a very prompt reply from John Etchart D.V.M. which I though your readers might be interested in. 'BILL TREVINO Dear Bill: Monrovia, Cal. We are striving to make this a very safe but very interesting event for all types of riders. The course is ten miles in length, incorporat:ing all types of terrain. There are NO cliffs that the course comes near, Cycle News East, Dixie Cycle News, and National Advertising information: Tom Culp, National Advertising Director. Cycle News (West), P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, California 90801. (213) 427·7433 - L.A. 636-8844. TELEX NO. 673-474 Subscription: One year 2nd class mail 2 years 2nd class mail 3 years 2nd class mail Single'copy price . . · .$9.00 · $15.00 · $18.00 · . $.30 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'Cycie News. Second Class Postage paid at Long Beach, Calif. Editorial stories, cartoons, photos, etc. are welcome. Addressed, stamped envelope assures return of editorial matter. Reprinting in whole or in part only by permission of the publ ishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. See S.R.D.S. ~~==============:::::== BASSANI QUIETS 'EM DOWN adopting this scheme. For the benefit of I'm an enthusiastic dirt and street rider. Right now I don't have a bike but would like a professional opinion on which bike would be righ t for me. I had a 120 Suzuki dirt & street bike. It was sturdy but I had trouble in the sand (with knobbies). I rode a Sachs 100 Dirt bike - had a lot of go and stood up well in the sand for me but the seat was uncomfortable. What do you think would be a good experience for me to ride on and what type of contests coming up would be good for a beginner racer? I'm 27. RA YMOND D. FURMAN Santa Monica, Cal. "SOROBA PRIX" Charles Clayton Publisher Editor Sharon Clayton Business Manager General Manager · . Tom Culp Assistant Ed itor · John Bethea Circulation Manager · Rheba Smith Circulation Ass't . . · Marla Tarbet Lab Technician . . . · David Swift Ed Randell Jr. Production Manager · Dorothea Lang Bookkeeper · Eleanor Duke Bookkeeper Ass't Delivery · . Larry Groves . Marion Hatashita Typographer . Barbara Richard Receptionist there is oD-lways plellty of room to maneuver. It is in virgin territo.ry, nO bikes have ever seen this course, lots of Oak trees, flowers. etc, I am sure you will find this one of the best rides ever. We are tryillg to do all we can to make it safe, i. e. watering the dirt roads to limit dust, hay bales on comers, flags etc., but still keep it fast and interesting. Spread the word as we would really like a good tum out, this a charity qvellt for the India ns. JOHN ETCHART Chaz:rman, Soroba Grand Pn'x In your March 9th issue of Cycle News you ran a news release submitted by us for the Expansion Chamber Kit produced by Bassani Manufacturing. Evidently some small minded idiot in your editorial departmen t who doesn't read the entire paper thought it would be cute to label it a "Noisemaker Kit." Only a few weeks earlier your paper ran an expansion chamber contest in which my client participated. In fact he placed rather high in it. You did not label this a "Noisemaker Contest". Therefore I reet it unfair to single out a company and publish such a derogatroy editorial statement. From an agency standpoint it is even more disheartening because Bassani Manufacturing has been a rep;ular SoCal clubs who are uncertain about it, I'd like to pass on the information that it works like a charm, has for years, among the sporty car set. If you make a mistake in arithmetic that increase your error (or "points lost"), nobody is hurt by you. That's fair. And if you make a mistake that decreases your error and sets you too high in the standings, you can be sure that the guys who placed just belpw you will be checking your calculations. It all works out very easily and quickly. This system should be adopted here in the South. Could Cycle News publish the membership ooster of t,he Motorcycle Industry Council? It is disturbing to read the "several multimillion dollar distributing firms were ~till holding VOICES OF THE WEST advertiser and supporter of Cycle News. Moreover, in the same issue on page 5 Bassani ran a \4 page ad sponsoring a contesf to promote quiet cycling. Daryl Bassani offered $250.00 contingency money for any entry at the Elsinore G.P. who won his class running a Bassani silencer. The fact is Bassani Manufactures one of the strongest and finest silencers on the market today. To further encourage the use of exhaust silencers Bassani encloses a silencer brochure with every pipe, expansion chamber 'and kit he sells. We feel that Cycle News should rectify editorial damage done and acknowledge the fact that Bassani Manufacturing is the only expansion chamber manufacturer trying to do something about excessive cycle noise and promote quite cycling. I await your reply. ' TOM SMISEK Anab eirn, Cal. Tom, all expansion chambers are noisemakers. When is Bassani going to market a silencer kit?.,Ed, P.~IKUNI Your March 9th issue of Cycle News runs an ad on page 29 for new 26mm Mikuni for $8.00 each. I want a Mikuni for a 16MM CTI 175 Yamaha and since the ad is in a motorcycle magazine I sen t for one and received it. I t is not for a mo torcycle. In this same mail I am asking them to replace it or allow me to return it for a refund. This is a misleading ad and I wonder if anyone else made the same mistake I did. G. Popple Sylmar, Cal. $8 One of our photographers fitted one to his Greeves trials bike and found that the $8 snowmobile carburetor works fine,once hegot the ietting right...Ed. COMPLIMENTS TO CUlPS We would like to compliment Bobi, Shawn and Tom Culp for their excellent coverage of the Desert M.C. Hare and Hound. The article and photos were the best that we have seen in a long time. Keep up the good work! HARRY E. BRINK, Sec. Rim Runners M.C. West Covina, Cal. ENDUROS & MIC SUPPORTERS The radically new enduro scoring system developed by District 36, wherein the riders compute their own scores, has been the basis for scoring Southern California sports car rallies since year one. Navigationally, a road rally is just like an enduro, except distances are measured to 1/100 mile and time to 1/100 minute. I realize that enduro organizers are Likely to have fears aboutcrrors,chcating, etc., so may hesitate to adopt this system. The District 36 Enduro Committee is to be conRratulated for its courage in back" from joining and contributing to the fense of the sport. I do not criticize these firms for refusing to join the M.LC., and I defend their right to join or not to join as they choose. Even so, all other things being equal, I would rather deal with a company that does belong to the M.LC. so that some fraction of the dollar I spend will go towards promotion of mqtorcycling. I strongly endorse the right of these firms to freedom of association, but they must not gain say my right to freedom of choice. To manifest this choice, 1 need to know who does and who doesn't participate in the M.LC. How about a list of members? J. G. KROL Anaheim, Calif. We'll publish a list of M.te. members soon. So many companies are joining M.I.C. every month that it would be unfair to list iust the current members at this time... Ed. lET'S HEAR IT FOR INDIAN DUNES! Steve McQueen is a hell of a good guy, but so are the rest of the guys that race motocross at Indian Dunes. For your information, if it weren't for us old men, the promoters and Cycle News wouldn't have much income, for through us comes all of the kids to the races. Without dad's support, racing would be at a minimum. I suppose I will not see this in the Cycle News, nevertheless I feel released. ED POOR Van Nuys, Cal. Since my own racing experience convinced me early that virtually everybody on the track was a better rider, I have nothing but respect fo'r anyone who can complete.... a full lap without crashing. I have to rein in my enthusiasm, however, in the limits of ·space, and feature those whose talent and skill instruct us all. .. Ed. Writin'Around By Chuck Clayton Tom Poteet, the famous Bultaco desert star, who has his own fan club ( m osdy female) of admirers, has decided to ride the red 250 Rickman in future cactus crusades. .*****.******.*****.**.******* $100 Blendzall contingency money was paid to two Novice race winners at Daytona - Howard Lynggard and Scott Autrey, who use the smokeless lube in their first and second place rides. ****************************** Long Beach, California's city council passed a ban on motorbike riding off-the-road this week despite our strong objections, and a petition signed by 1,585 local residents. The council showed utter contempt for the needs of motorcyclists, one councilman saying, "They are too young to vote, anyway." They tried every cheap trick to discredit Russ Sanford, the motorcycle owners' lobbyist, when he tried to get them to hold off a few days until we could secure someplace in the city limits for kids to legally ride. The councilmen said, in effect, "just go ride someplace else, not here in Long Beach." For a minute I could understand why people riot and bomb. Upon reflection, though, I am convinced that breaking the law is not the best way for motorcyclists to obtain our rights. The anti-motorcycle clique calls us a "problem" and wo~d just love to see the problem get worse. For example, after the ban has been unanimously voted in (Councilman Rubley was absent) Mr. Sharp said, "Is it passed? Ok, now City Manager, make the railroad post the right-of-way past the nursing home in my district!" This was a move he could have made when the first complaint came in. Our next step is already begun, to try and obtain a piece of city property to conduct a riding test upon. We hope to show that noise and annoyance can be controlled, so that private motorcycle parks can be zoned within Long Beach. Meanwhile, the several thousand readers in Long Beach are urged to seek out local property owners and obtain their written permission to ride upon their vacan t land. ****************************** NORRA, the off-road racing association, is now printing official "Written Riding Permission and Land Owner Liability Exemption" forms for free distribution in California. Cycle News has offered to mail 20 copies free to each of our regular dealers. Individuals may obtain a copy from NORRA by sending your request with a self-addressed stamped envelope to 1616 Victory Blvd., Suite 200, Glendale, Cal. 91201. Swap-O-Rama shapes up bigger'n expected COSTA MESA, CAL. - The first Cycle News "CycleSwap-O-Rama:' to be held this Friday night at the New Products Pavilion building of the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa is shaping up to be bigger - in terms of dealer liquidation stock and private party swappers - than originally anticipated. The Swap-O-Rama switchboard 'has been lit up for the past three weeks with calls from all over Southern California. , As of press time, only one dealer booth remained unsold. All others were snapped up by last weekend. Late arrivals include Bob Webber from American Sport in Compton with a truck·load of brand· new helmets priced to sell for far less than wholesale. Dave Burroughs of the /fouse of Suzuki· Triumph plans to bn'ng in several dozen nylon racing jackets for $3 apiece and a hundred bike tires for one dollar each. Orange County Cycle's Bob Maynard will be there with a van full of leftover helmets, motocross boots and accesson'es. Norm McDonald and John Bailey of K & N Motorcycles in Riverside are bringing a 16-100t trailer full of Yamaha, BSA, Hodaka and Greeves parts and accessories. California Choppers of Anaheim took a booth to sell every kind of chopper part imaginable. As one dealer put it: "this is the greatest idea ever! The Cycle Swap-O·Rama gives me the chance to move all the leftover parts, accessones and bikes I've had in my backroom for the past six years!" Another in teresting feature of the Cycle Swap-O-Rama will be the used motorcycle auction. Promoters, Vic Wilson, Charles Clayton and Larry Huffman have secured a special city husiness license for March 26th only that enabled them to hire a professional auctioneer and auction off used dirt bikes, choppers, street bikes and even mini-bikes. So if you've got a bike you want to sell, or even just a basket case, and you'd like to have it auctioned off, bring it to the Cycle News Cycle Swap-O-Rama this Friday night. Swappers' booths will be sold for $3 each on a first-come first·served basis beginning at noon. Doors open to the public at 5.