Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

UWJ $53,000 WE$T COAST CA$H FOR JULY Anaheim To Open New Park By Dick Ahlefe1d On Orangewood Avenue, just west of the Santa Ana River, the City of Anaheim Parks and Recreation Department has broken ground on what they hope will be one of the most-used parks in the city. Development has started on a three-track mini cycle and motorcycle park. Richard L. Gagnebin, assistant recreation supervisor, is the driving force behind this project. A motorcycle buff himself, he realizes the urgent need for this type of facility. Because of his beliefs he's pu t a tremendous amount of time and effort into this project. Gagnebin knows that in the last two years many valid aHempts to promote motorized recreation within the various communities has been defeated by totally unrealistic misconceptions of the motorcycle and rider. He also believes that the time has come for motorcycle people to take a stand against the unfounded charges of destroying the environmen t. Prior to July, 1970, many young people and some adults in Anaheim enjoyed riding their mini-bikes and motorcycles on various vacant lots scattered throughout the city. Problems were associated with th is activity, including noise and dust pollution, liability exposure and disturbing the peace. In July 1970, the Anaheim City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the riding of mini bikes and motorcycles on vacant property without the expressed written permission of the land owner and approval of the Police and Fire Departments. Concurrently, most neighboring cities and the County of Orange passed simHar legislation. The new law solved an immediate community problem but created one for approximately 10,000 Anaheim riders . . . where can we ride now? Requests for a riding area began pouring into the Parks and Recreation office, so a study was undertaken to determine the feasibility of developing and operating off-road cycle parks. It was learned that dirt bike riding was a family-oriented sport with all family members participating, and that these families have invested thousands of dollars in specialized equipment and that it is indeed a legitimate and wholesome recreation activity. Fu.rther research indicated that the only existing cycle park in Orange County cannot even come close to serving th e over-l0,000 0 ff-road riders in Anaheim, let alone th e 100,000 or more in Orange County and that for many young riders it was too far away and too expensive. As a result, various city, county and private agencies were contacted as well as local dealers. clubs and community leaders and all agreed tha t an off-road cycle park was a good idea and should be developed. With summer of 1971 almost here and no additional parks opening up, the City Council approved the use of the twelve acres adjacent to the Anaheim Stadium Sod Farm and on April 20 approved the concept of the Banzai Mini Cycle Park. The City will provide land. design. construction, supervision, insurance and mainlenance of this facility but because of the current fiscal budget restrictions may not be able to provide sufficient funds for development materials. Dealers, manufacturers and clubs of Orange Counly were inviled lo participate in th is program. Those who complained about the land squeeze against off·road recreation, unfair legislation against riding and the lack of close-in facilities, had a chance to do something about it. Development rna terials were expected to exceed $1,200. Contributors of $100 or more will be designated as Friends of Banzai on the entrance sign and will be able to B & B CYCLE CITY 17424 Beach Blvd. Huntington Beach (714) 842-6601 Parts & Accessories only 10% Discount to cycle club members OPEN 9am -9 pm Sunday, Parts & service, most makes 9amSpecializing in all Hondas 6 pm (714) 847-1144 7412 Talbert 'Huntington Beach purchase special bloc-rate tickets and receive the preferential option of renting a portion of the park for special events. Banzai will be a first-class facility with three motocross type tracks of varying degrees of difficulty with excellent supervision and maintenance. High priority has been given to developing a safe yet challenging experience for young cycle riders. All units must meet street legal mu mer requirements. Riders must wear helmets, boots, gloves, long pants, sleeved shirts, eye protection, and must sign a liability waiver. All traffic on the courses will be one-way and dust will be controlled. The summer schedule will be Monday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to dusk and may vary slightly according to demand. Fees will be in the $.50 to $1.00 range. Private groups will have the option of reserving a portion of the park by prior arrangement at a group rate. There are a half-dozen cities in California, including Los Angeles, who have contacted the city of Anaheim and will be basing their future interests in such projects on how Banzai goes. If this project isn't successful this summer, then we can forget any further attempts by local agencies to provide playgrounds for motorcycles and mini-bikes in the future. The AMA national professional circuit moves to the West Coast for the entire month of July with the traditional half-mile at San Jose once again leading off. The fifth annual big one at the Santa Clara County fairgrounds in San Jose will run on Monday afternoon, July 5 th due to the long July Fourth weekend this year. Jim Rice has been the winner for the last two years running and again finds himself as the pre-race favorite. Rice also won two straight years in the Junior class, before moving up to the Expert ranks. Practice and time trials will take up the entire morning of the 5th with heat races for both the Experts and the Juniors starting at 2 p.m. Jim won the most recent San Jose non·National race but will be hard-pressed by such Califom ia riders as Gene Romero, Dave Aldana, Don Castro, Tom Rockwood, Mert Lawwil! and Mark Brelsford. Out-of-state riders officially entered include Dave Sehl, Bart Markel, Gary Nixon, Gary Fisher, Larry Darr, and Jack Warren. Sehl was the winner of the '$15,000 Roosevelt Raceway half mile in N.Y., the Louisville National winner for the second year in a row, and last week's Terre Haute National Half-mile. All of the top national riders will start the weekend double·header short track and TT at Ascot on Friday night, then move to Corona [or a half-mile Saturday. After a one day breather, they will move to San Jose for the Monday afternoon National Half-Mile. The following weekend Seattle plays host to the second annual 100-Mile National Road Races on July 10 and 11. The following weekend is the 7 th annual running of the Castle Rock, Wash., National TT's with time trials on Friday night, July 16th and the races on the 17th. . On the weekend of July 23 and 24 the national action swings to Ascot with the second annual Yamaha Cup non-National half mile on Friday night and the 9th annual 50-lap National TT on Saturday night. The Yamaha half-mile will pay a record $5.000 purse to the riders. Saturday's TT is also a record $10,000. The final weekend in July will find the new ational half-mile at Corona on Saturday night, July 31, with a $8,000 purse. The total national purses for the five west coast nationals in.J uly is a record $53,000. ATTENTION CONTRIBUTORS! The following people have contributor ,checks coming to them: Gary Denton, Sherri Ellis, Kris Mitchell, Will Palmer, James Perry, Woody and Marge Schamel, Frank Showers, Jr., Jake Singleton, Norman Stone, Owen Williams. Please contact Cycle News, Box 498, Long Beach, Calif., 90801. HUSKY WINS OVERALL ~~~ ~, ~,~ , ~ ',." , .. The Baja 500 was again captured by a victorious team of Husqvarna riders. This year the record setting pace of J.N. Roberts and Malcolm Smith finished 1 hour and 20 minutes ahead of the next finisher in its class, In past events Husky riders have won with ease. Tackling the Baja is not easy on man or machine. The efforts of J.N. Roberts, riding for Med International, the West Coast distributor, and Malcolm Smith, riding for K & N Motorcycles in Riverside, are again proof of Husqvarna's strength and reliability. Busqval'na 151 ew World Way SO Plaintfield, NJ, 07080 In USA Eastern Distributor: Penton Imports J 354 Colorado Avenue Lorain, Ohio 44052 Western Distributor: Med International 4790 Palm Avenue La Mesa, Cali f. 92041 In Canada North York World Trade 155 Norfinch Drive Downsview. Toronto, Ontario Steen Hansen Motorcycle 3619 109 Street Edmonton 73 Alberta Canada ~ w Z W .J U > U

• Cover