Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

scrambllii' around By Maureen Lee Hurray! The news that Dick Mann has regained the National' point lead really gave me a sh9t in the arm (vitamins, that is!). To see someone like him done out of a chance because of a false start at the Corona National really hurt and he spoke up about it too, something he rarely does. If you've been reading Dave Swift's piece on him, you'll have gotten a bit of an insight on this man who is probably the most popular racer amongst the fans in this country regardless where he rides. They know class when they see it! We weren't there but sources we consider reliable had a bit of a jolly tale to tell about the Kawasaki showing of th~ir new bikes. Held' at the Queen ¥ary everything was going swimmingly when one of the Long Beach officials turned up and made himself a bit obnoxious to say the least because he didn't know that permission had been granted Kawasaki to hold their goings on. All I can say is, it was a good job that it wasn't an English bike showing with many' British present or said gentleman may have found himself keelhauled around the once gracious Queen and then fed tea to flush out the sea water. Some of us living in this city have a sneaking hunch that some of the chaps at City Hall like' to think of the Mary as their personal play toy. Anyway, the incident took the glow off a good presentation. . A long time ago I did a column on what would happen when the unsanctioned events started pulling the riders away from the District events and hurting the clubs who have worked so darn hard toward furthering the sport. Remember, I am not condemning anyone for trying to make a buck, if you want to throw unsanctioned events, fine, so go throw them and I might add, some of them are good, but the squeeze will come and it started last weekend. The Dirt Diggers All-State .scrambles at Muntz Park had a very bad turnout for their event while Rough Rider Park had all the shoes just over the hill. Lord, in past years it's been the Dirt Diggers second biggest event; one year at Corriganville, it almost resembled THE Corriganville although run on a shorter course and without too many spectators dogging around and we all had a ball! The pinch hit them first. So think on it clubs, and figure out some way that you can, do some promotional work like the pros do. Beat the bushes a bit to get the folks 'Out even if you can only afford a weenie race for the kids! IFOA CHALLENGES JERSEY The International Four Owners Association, New Jersey Four Association members and thousands of New Jersey motorcyclists are now making a determined assault on the "No Motorcycles Allowed" rule of the New Jersey Highway Authority applied on the Garden State Parkway. The opening Four Association effort was spear-headed by "Gentle Ben" Harroll on August 18, when a state trooper gave him a ticket for riding his Honda 750 Four on the parkway. The big four-<:ylinder machine has more horses than many small autos allowed on the famous parkway which runs from Cape May in southern New Jersey. Ben Harroll, Four Association .vice-president was picked for. the "ticket job" because of the California plates on the big bike. The San Diego IFOA office believes that even should the courts rule against the motorcyclist, a federal inter-state issue will appear,. which might interest certain Washington agencies and departments. In addition to polling its eastern members who are attorneys, the Four Association will present its case to several congressional figures who have helped the association in the past. One ,of these people stated, unofficially, that he is considering introducing legislation in the next session of Congress to require the admittance of higher powered two-wheel vehicles and even hinted at several pressures available to the federal government against New Jersey such as federal gasoline taxes and highway funds. .... 'I' ... ltl ..... . ".......... ' GUEST REBUTTAL On the Enduro Rules By Larry Haley District 3 7 Lightweight Steward First I would like to make it crystal clear, that I do not make it a habit to nit pick things that are done within the district through the news media. It really doesn't serve any purpose in the end except to possibly give someone· a good laugh. To correct something you go directly to the source, in this case the source is the district. It's in very bad taste to condemn publicly the people that worked long and hard through meetings, research, and other various means to set up the Enduro Rules that should fit the majority of the riders. Granted not everyone will be pleased by them but the ones that are not is a very small minority. And when you work out the rules and the mechanics of the same you incorporate expert advice. This panel of experts has been around the desert more times than most people have been around a coffee cup looking for the handle. They think, not merely putting their mouth in gear before the brain is engaged like some people I know. Furthermore, all of this labor is the labor of love for the sport. There is not one red cent incorporated for anyone. . Now in rebuttal: 1. The Rule, Sect. 8, about events less than 100 miles may have checks as close as 3 miles. This has been a rule in the A.M.A. Amateur Rule Book for some years. It does not put us out of step with the rest of the country. 2. Sect. 9. The Enduro Poin t Chart. It was pointed out that only 43 people will get points for a total entry of 800 or more. Whereas a body of the Dist. 37 Sport Committee known as the competition committee works for free, again it is a labor of love for tbe sport. I cannot see any reason to'load the enduro steward down with .he unnecessary task of keeping a drawer full of point cards, tb'e majority of which will have only from 1 to 10 points. The one and only number diat counts is the number 1. He and only he will derive any reward for his effort. This person will receive the following year's enduro card free, plus a big trophy from Dist. 37 for his effort, all others will wish they had tried harder. It' one's bag is a number then get in on the racing scene and earn it, we have lots of them to give out. 3. One thing that should be made clear is, enduros are contest of skill not speed. The person startinl{ on the 80th minute has just as much of a chance to win bis class or even sweepstake in the event as the rider on the 10th minute. You are only competing on your time against mileage not the other guy's time. 4. About the heavywgt. favor vs. the lighwgt. vs. the trailbike; mo~t of the old pros ride the big bores simply because they ride like a Cadillac over the better terrain and fire roads, less tiring. In bad country a ligtwgt. handles better and a trail bike even better. It's too bad one can't change from bike to bike to fit the lay of the land. In a word, you can't have your cake and eat it too. You must sacrifice one thing for something else. So the niles were not, I repeat, not laid out to fit the big bores:"Boy!" How about the year that Dave Ekins sweepstaked the Greenhorn on a 125cc Zundapp. I would say that's a far cry from a big bore. 4. Special award trophies are not counted toward your A transfer rides. Only the ones earned by position in your class. 5. Where in this day and age are you going to find a small enduro in Dist. 37? Poppycock. 6. Anyone that wins three third place trophies on his own in his division will have one hell of a better understanding about keeping time than he will ever learn following dear 01' dad, the old pro who is keeping time for him. 7. Sect. liA. The enduro steward will return to the applicant a copy of his "Enduro Only" card along with his original just to be sure that the man has an extra card so he will not be witbout one. It is not written in the rule like that but, believe me, that is the way it will be done. The rider may also obtain as many cards as he needs from the Enduro Steward at no charge simply by asking for them. 8. Sect. lIB. In this section reo Cycle News, August 1'7, 1971. Someone went 0 a hell of a lot of trouble to uncover a type error that 1 made like the word regardless was first put in as irregardless. I crossed out the first two letters with black ink. I . realized I made a booboo so I crossed it out leaving the word regardless. To the one that went to this trouble I say "Thanks sport". To err is human but to blame or condemn others is being a politician and that is one phase of journalism that some people should stay away from. 9. About the "A" Team having a monstrous advan'tage over the "B" Team. I shoul\! hope so, after all, the "A" riders are the experts. As far as advantage goes it's been quite a few years back that I fell off the load of hay and landed in the desert-in the middle of all those motorcycles and stayed. But to my knowledge they still pay a lust place "A" Team and a first place "B" Team so where is the advantage., to whom? 10. About the B rider being able to transfer himself to A by .request; again it's in the Big Granddaddy Book of our mother club reo 1971 AMA Amateur Rule Book, pg. 19, Sect." 2, paragraph (A). Anyone that's interested in this book, it can be had at the small price of $1.25 from the A.M.A. or I still have seven left over. Same price, simply by writing to me. I think a "B" rider will consider very carefully the change from "B" to "A" by request. I don't believe the Enduro Steward will be snowed under with this matter. After all, when you join the "A"s that's where the competition is thegreatest,and most "B" riders will stay an "B" as long ... possible to get that gold; it's easier there. The top competition of riding against "A" riders (if you're a lousy time keeper), and the entries are smaller; it goes without saying that the trophies are less, using the 10% basis for awarding tbem, will make the "B" rider carefully consider this self-voluntary request to change over. Only the very best of the "B" riders would really do it and if they are that good they should be "A"s. So no harm done. II. Sect. 15-16: I don't think the promoting club will have any .trouble . understanding these sections even with all the foggy grammar. After all the man in charge will most likely be an Expert rider and he will know what the rule means. If in case of a green Novice (heaven forbid) he may call the Dist. Referee and he will know. . 12. Sect. 18. Anyone with the smallest intelligence can readily see the meaning of this rule. For those that can't understand it, here it is. This rule was set up with re.spects to the very same rules in competition racing. It merely lets a top enduro rider that is going for No. I in poin,ts to be at ease knowing that he does not have to ride every enduro run of the year to hold his No.1 position. One very good reason is, if he belongs to a club that promotes an enduro he can't ride it. So no one can ace him out of his No.1 position by riding all of the enduros simply because this person does not belong to any club. 13. Sect. 20. Answer to the last question below the actual rule. It shouldn't take a computer' to analyze that. Simply separate them; the Experts will know how to handle it. 14. Sect. 22. Finally one rule seems to have gotten by without some kind of remark. Fantastic. . 15. Sect. 23. Thanks again. 16. Sect. 24. Again refer to the 1971 A.M.A. Amateur Rule Book pg. 20. In answer to this rule in following Cycle News dated Aug. 31, 1971, by Ed White. No 2 day event as we know it now is like the Greenhorn. We won't split the clock on night enduros. Later however, if and when the time comes for a 24-hour continuous enduro, we will probably accept that run as a 2 day event per A.M.A. Rule Book, pg. 18. To really understand all the ad libing in the last few paragraphs, one should go back to Cycle News, dated August 17, 1971, about two weeks ago and compare them. It might amuse you. There is really not!ting !>.ett"! i.J.1lift;, t:l\an a g'?9d, )l'ug~:. "I ,,. H "II' ~;l Co- ' . ' ".. •• -:t1t'.J1 ~ w Z W ..J U >- U By Howard J. Eble Jr. Since last heard from I have been to the SRRA run at Donner Summit and it turned out pretty good as usual. Something new this season has been the appearance of riders from the Oregon and Washington coming down to some of the oetter runs. This could be the start of a trend which of course would need a few of the southern riders going north to even things up. That Sunday morning had a number of riders raring to go on a Volun teer search for the retarded child that was lost in the area the week before. As luck would have it the child was found that morning before the bikes could show their stuff, but tbe SRRA member clubs should be commended for spirit of dedication and in particular I should like to mention the Redwood City Travelers. , The Bakersfield Red Tops of the SCMA bunch came on pretty strong the same weekend with their usual fine run up in the clear air country at Panorama Heights. The C,BM (Committee for Better Motorcycling) will be going back to Carson' Hot Springs at Ca\'Son City Nevada and will feature a Tour Pin along with a decal for the windshield and have added a number of new events from last year. Although 'this is not a sanctioned run it extends participation to all Road groups once again. In the process of designating the recognized Road organizations they have run into a problem from the RRC (Road Riders Committee). It seems that they strenuously objected to their initials being used wi thout specific authorization and have notified the CBM of impending court action as a result. This is the same association that I mentioned earlier in one of my past columns that promised outrider participation along with clubs and as of this writing has not done so. Some time ago I mentioned that I had drafted the Road Rider rules that were adopted by the AMA and I had not at that time seen them in print. Well I received a letter from Ed Youngblood, managing editor of AMA news, who not only informed me that they were indeed in print but also sent me a copy fOT me to peruse. In addition to another inquiry I have been informed that out of tire $7 a year dues, about (roughly) $3 goes to the insurance program which leaves $4 to operate on. Having a good idea of what the pins cost that are now being put back into operation, that leaves about 1 to 1y" dollars that the dues were jacked up. This is, of course, just rough figures. In addition the publisher of this publication mentioned the possibility of Class "A" members being eligible into the elite "E" Board. Unfortunately, this is not the case, accordipg to Mr. Youngblood, although I can not fathom the reasoning behind such a fact. An interesting fact that was brought ou t by MORE is that out of H4 million bik.es in California about 56% of them ride the road at -some time or another, some more so, SOme less. Even figuring at a very conservative estimate, there has to be a potential of at least 100,000 or at least '50,000 bikes that might be induced into participating on some organized road even t. As far as I can detennine in a year's time the participation throughout the state probably only numbers a!>out 4 to 5,000 bikers hitting one run or more during the year. To just what this lack of participation lies could be hotly debated but suffice for now I will offer a suggestion. The nex t time you make a run bring along a friend or a new acquaintance that has not been on a run before and give him a "cook's tour". Since the average rider only rides about four t.o five years and then hangs it up, one road rider each year you can interest will make a substantial contribution to tbe growth of tbe sport. "

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