Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

------_._-- ._----------....._--_..... sClramIDn' arounif By Maureen Lee A coupl~ of weeks ago I was browsing through one of my favorite books (you know what they are) when I came across the claiming rule. It tic kIed my fancy a bi t the latest (Cant 'd. from page 2) though Karl "Papa" Wealey was a phony name, too, so we concluded that we're even on that score... .. * * Anyway, we chatted about many different things and out of it Rod came up with the idea of expanding his Home Workshop column to now include questions from the readership. He won't admit it, but we think he's running out of ideas to write about. So, here's your chance to ask that question you've always wanted to ask but didn't know who to ask it too. He may even be able to answer it! He assures us that if enough people ask somewhat the same question, it'll be definitely answered in print along with his normal li'l hints and tips. OK, Rod, here's a question I got for ya: How do ya set the timing on a three stroke? ... * * * Irwindale Raceway, long time a mecca for dragsters and the like, has just completed a 1.4-mile motocross course open for racing. It has a bunch of varying terrain to please everyone and it's gobs wider than the Jackrabbits' course awhile back. MEL RECK also has reported that the Speedway Racing Association has gotten Saturday night RvQ9P sanctioned events for the '72 season and as soon as the oval is finished, Tuesday nigh t practice will begin soon... * * * * * * * * * Talking about new tracks, we got a sneak preview of the motocross area at Lions Drag Strip and it's a good looker. CMC has its hands on that one for night raci ng, wh ich leads us to believe that Ascot weekly may be no more in '72 ...that's still up in the air, but keep it in mind ... When was the last time you saw the guy take 66th in a National Road Race and still get mu<:h of the headlines? IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS WITH THESE FACTS: --The number "4" is largely avoided in Japanese labeling because it represents bad vibes, e.i., death. --Hap Spoons drove a forklift at a shoe factory for 14 years before a severe domestic injury forced him into motorcycling. Poor fellow. --Don Emde and Don Castro have recently donned $lasses. --Karl Wealey's tunafish take-out stand at Soggy Dry Lake is the latest "in" place for the desert freaks. - ...._-"""'........ -..-.---...., ._--~ -_.~~---......... and I wondered about doing a column that might be sort of a fairy story about what would happen if someone had claimed Roberts' and ,DeCosters' motocross mounts. Well, 1 didn't really get the chance. Bob Bailey spoiled my fun but I fogive him for it. By now, most of you probably know what he did. After the Ontario National, Bob claimed John Cooper's .winning BSA. Well, if you can't imagine the flat that caused, you ain't got no imagination, that's all I can say. Here's BSA, with the very bike they've walloped the great Agostini on in grave danger of having to leave it here in the Colonies and all because of a rule no one's used for many a moon. I've always thought the AMA used their noggins when they put it in the book as it was to stop the use of highly specialized machinery that the average Joe Blow couldn't buy. Unfortunately, these machines exist in the factory models and if you think you can build the type of bike that Cooper and Nixon were riding by purchasing the parts from BSA.Triumph, then you believe the good fairy will pu t sixpence under your pillow when you lose a tooth. Negotiations took place and the Beezer will return across the pond for another crack at Ago and here's what Bob got in its place. The spare engine brought over for the BSA. The Triumph road racer that won the lse of Man TT and that has all the super·goodies on like the five-speed transmission etc. and all his parts when he needs them will come from England so the bike can be maintained in the manner to which it is accustomed. Plus this, he got his $2500 back. Talk about Yankee horse trading! Now if Bob had wanted to take the win away from Cooper there's probably no . doubt that couldn't have been done on a technical matter but he no wish to do that. He just wanted to prove the point that the factories are not making available to the general public what is on their works bikes, yet they cash in on the favor'lble advertising made possible when they win. Those road machines at Ontario made some of the bikes our men were riding look like street models and you've got to draw the line somewhere. Funnily enough, Cooper didn't overly impress me, Gene Romero did, my God he flew in that second heat. From what I'd heard about Cooper I expected him way up with the front runners from start to finish but he wasn't, but then everyone has to ride their own race and he did win, but Carruthers on that little Yamaha was inspiring against the big bores. I So, Bob, like the rest of us now is waiting for his new bike to get here, for Pete's sake let's hope the damn stevedores don't tie up the ports again unless they decide to fly the baby over. My sense of humor is finally getting the best of me, can't you imagine trying to explain to Birmingham, "Well, you see this Yank claimed]ohn's bike... " And at the M. V. Augusta works, "Ago, did you hear Cooper's BSA is staying in California? Do we know anyone over there who can perhaps tell us what it looks like torn down?" Well, enough laughing, it's uncomfortable in a suit of armor, anyway. Cooper has his bike and so does Bob, or rather it's on the way. But I've got i strange feeling the days of claiming are going to come again and the rule exists all the way down through the scrambles and motocross divisions, not that half the District 37 racing bikes would be worth $2500. Still, if you've priced a new Bonneville, then figure the cost of'a new frame, chrome wheels, mag, plus the engine mods, ah, then that's a horse ofa different color. It'll be interesting. As for me, I'm happy. Bugs became the National Champion, pretty good for a guy who once was denied a ride because he was thought to be over the hill! A· Close Look at District 37's Democracy / by ron schneiders... It is amazing with what timerity we cling to the notion of democracy long after its excesses should have convinced any sane body of men to discard it. It is almost equally amazing how long we cling to the notion that we have democracy after we have in fact discarded it. Come with me and visit District 37 of the AMA ... Part I The Legislature, the Congress if you will, of our small democracy is called the Sports Committee. It meets once a month to hear what' the various committees have done and to vote, mostly on trivia. It is responsible for District rulebook and hence is responsible for Section 14, which provides that clubs shall get the results of their races out to the members within a certain time peribd and to the stewards within the same time period and in a certain form, conducive to recording. It is a undoubtedly fine rule, and a needed rule. But penalties are provided for its violation and the penalties are horrendous: Loss of the club's points runs for the following year, loss of 50% of the club's earned points for the year, and finally in very drastic cases, loss of 50% of each individual's earned points for the year. Quite clearly one of the finer examples of an excess. When the penalties assigned to an infraction of some rule are ridiculously out of line with the seriousness of the offense, it tends to weaken rather than strengthen the law. First of all, everyone charged with enforcing the rul~ tends to "look the other way," or accept all possible Uextenuating circumstances" rather than impose an obviously too-harsh sen tence. The marijuana laws are good examples. Since the penalty was so drastic for late results, and since almost every club could see itself possibly being in the same position, almost any excuse was accepted for failure to comply and "clemency" was granted. Since clemency was the order of the day, 10 clubs out of the approximately 36 who have hdd runs this year have been in violation of Section 14. In the meeting Larry Haley reminded the body that four clubs were still in violation (not having received "clemency") and hence would not have a club run next year if they didn't get on the ball. . Mike Hinshaw, President of the District, then proceeded to read a letter from the Antelope Ramblers, explaining why they were late. I didn't understand their excuse, but they had put on a good race and I was hoping to ride their next year's run so [ was quite prepared to accept any excuse they wanted to offer. Especially in view of the fact that I was hoping that they would accept the equally unintelligible excuse that I was about to offer on behalf of my own club, the Red Dots. I got up and asked if I was in order in asking to speak on behalf of the Red Dots. Mike said I was, but then asked me to sit back down anyway. That's a parliamentary technique known as"being clobbered by the chair". Hinshaw then proceeded to hear several speakers who had something to say that was vaguely related to the question of being late with results. I suppose he was trying to work around to some middle ground between excommunication of the offending clubs and having them get off Scot·free. Things were becoming more confused by the minute. Finally, boping 1 suppose to get some boundary line drawn, Mike asked the body to vote on the question "Shall all the rules be enforced completely and to the full extent with no exceptions, even those previously granted amnesty?" Now any reasonable person, asked to vote on this question would vote "N 0" without even asking what rules or organizations were involved, simply because it is so absolute. And indeed, the body, being asked to vote on the spur of the moment, voted it down ...by a small margin. But then someone with a surpassing lack of judgment asked' for a roll call vote and thus gave the members a chance to think. Disaster. In anything but a democracy, a minority rules and everyone is part of the oppressed majority; in a democracy the majority rules and any definable minority group suffers. Here were 17 rule violators. An easily identifiable minority. At stake were club po.int runs for clubs that couldn't throw a barbeque or lime a route to the ocean. Now they'd get their chance! The vote was 40 to 20 in favor of the motion. In vain Mike Hinshaw tried to wriggle out of it. He had blundered and he knew it. The body was having none of it. Suddenly somebody realized that there were a lot fewer clubs eligible to hold point runs next year and so he suggested that the Open Sunday bereinstated. The bo.dy, gorged with power, voted to do it. I'm sure not one delegate in 10 had the vaguest notion of what his club would have liked him to do on the matter. In times of ego enlargemen t, who can be expected to consider things like that? The meeting closed; the meeting to determine dates for the coming year's point events was exactly two weeks off. Part II One week and one day later I ,called Larry Haley and told him I wanted to do an article about the clubs that weren't going to have a point run this year. Almost nobody uses good grammar in conversation and the usual practice in quoting someone is to "clean up" the grammar so as not to embarrass him. The subject matter of this conversation is so important that I am going to quote both of us verbatim, trusting that Larry will appreciate the accuracy more than he will resent my failure to "clean up": Haley - Only the Chargers and the Bushmasters won't have a run. The others get second choice. Me The Chargers and the Bushmaster will get second choice (I hadn't understood him.) Haley - They won't have any run period. The other eigh t clubs will have second choice. t Me - Who are the other eight? Haley - I don't remember off hand. Red Dots is .one of them, I know. Pasadena, Lost Coyotes, Sandblasters, Invaders, Viewfinders, Antelope Ramblers, Red and Gripsters. Those are s.econd choicers. The Chargers and the Bushmasters are out. Me - This is one thing I didn't get very dear at the meeting. They were talking about 17 clubs. What were the oth er seven? Haley - Their infraction of rules was very little, like not having a trophy date on the thing, or some dumb thing. What we got, the clubs, the eight on the list are late results. Some are minor infractions that doesn't amount to a fart in a gale wind, but there is a rule. Me - As they left it the other night, all those clubs that were in violation of the results rule were going to have no point run, period. How does that change? Haley Under the compet1tlon committee supplement Rule 19, this is the power that we have, the only open door anybody's got. The competition committee and the option of the district, the Rule 19. We can override it if we think it's to the betterment of the sport. I wouldn't see 17 clubs being throwed out of the district. Me - How come the Chargers and the Bushmasters .... Haley - Oh they (the Chargers) really flagrantly blew it. Nine days lat. They haven't even given their trophies out and they haven't even paid their ambulance fee yet. The Bushmasters, they didn't clean up the desert. It's four years in a row they've blowed it, so you know, they ain't never gonna learn. Me - The violations of the other seven dubs, one of them was using the wrong type of flags? Haley - There is no rule in our rule book but there is a rule in the AMA rule book but it was so Goddamned new some of the clubs never had a chance (to adopt it). I mean they (are) finally all doing it now, but the first few clubs of the year, you know, you really got bust his ass to get them flags made. San Gabriel did it; they had a run in February and they got theirs done, but they had some woman just get right on it and do it and stay within the rule book. And other clubs didn't do it, but they got 'em now. It wasn't any big hang-up because everybody was used to yellow flags for caution and red for danger so it didn't cause any hassle as far as anybody getting hurt by it. In fact if anything it created a hassle when they changed it because they didn't know what the hell was going on. It takes time for everybody to get orien ted to it. Me - There never was an y question of that being a violation? Haley - No it wasn't a violation of our rules. It was a violation possibly of the AMA rulebook. Me - But that shouldn't cause them to lose their run anyway? Haley - No, we got only the eight clubs that was late on the results. The rest of them we just reinstated to the original and the other eight clubs still get a run but they'll be second choice after the other clubs get through picking theirs. Me - That's next week, the 21st? Haley - Yes. Me - I'll be down there. Part III " Whither to? There is no doubt in my mind that the Competition Committee made the righ t decision. Had they left things as they were at the end of the Sports Committee meeting, District 37 might wdl have split right down the seam. Not only that, but certainly some of the best runs of the year would have been lost, possibly forever. But, there has never been a clearer statement of the will of the majority than there was at the Sport's Committee that night. With a roll·call vote to leave no doub. One gross 'excess piled on top of another gross excess. Democracy, unequal to the task at hand, left. Did you notice? III " '" '" 0. .... en ,; o Z ~ ~ w d ~

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