Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

..... By Russ Sanford LAST CHANCE Is dirt riding doomed? Without a doubt, this is your last chance to stop Assembly Bill 3069 from being enacted into law. And, when that happens, you might as well bronze your dirt-bikes and use them for book-ends. This column has carried numerous requests for letters to your elected representatives asking them to vote NO on AB 3069. In addition, MORE has printed and distributed 22,000 newlet~ers asking for such letters. When Mr. Z'berg introduced AB 2985, which also would have virtually eliminated dirt-riding, your response was overwhelming. You flooded the State Capitol with letter of protest. And we killed,AB 2985 almost overnight! But, your response to Mr. Z'berg's AB 3069 has nowhere equalled your opposition to AB 2985. And AB 3069 is moving righ t on through the legislative machine. On October 18th, AB 3069 was heard before the Senate Natural Resources Committee. Almost every Senator indicated that he had received several letter from constitutei'lts who objected to the negative nature of the Bill. To this, Mr. Z'berg replied that he would be glad to amend the Bill to make it more positive. And, with that, he offered some mumbo-jumbo which in no way changed the intent of AB 3069. Mr. Jack Edwards, who is the lobbyist for the California Four Wheel Drive Federation, and I, argued that Mr. Z'berg's amendments in no way changed the Bill. We also argued that the off-road ve.hicle enthusiasts' great"st objection was to the blatant misuse of funds derived for off-road vehicle parks and trail systems. That these funds should not be used to survey all State Lands to determine where off-road vehicles should not be operated. In spite of our opposition, five of the . six Senators present voted in favor of passing AB 3069. Those Senators were: John A. Nejedly, Contra Costa Cnty. Robert J. Lagomarsino, Ventura, San Barbara County Dennis E. Carpenter, Orange County Arlen Gregorio, San Mateo County Albert S.~odda, Sacramento, Cnty. The sixth member was Senator H. L. Richardson of Los Angeles County, and he argued in our favor and voted NO on AB 3069. Three cheers for Senator Richardson, who had the gumption to 'buck' his Committee Chairman and vote "for what he knew to be right. Senator Richardson is a man whom we must really campaign for at the tinie of his next election! . At the risk of being unkind to the other five Committee Members who were present, I would like to offer my SCOTT SCOR ES . Scott Smith. 11 of Woodland Hills. Calif. won a showroom contest at the Cycle House in Santa Ana recently. He and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Pete Smith, are pictured above happily accepting his prize, a Yamaha Mini-Enduro. Sylvia and Pete already ride Yamahas and now Scott can join their trail ventures. !ntpress~on of w hat happened (This ImpressIOn was also shared by many other personS in that room, even though they had no connection whatsoever with AB 3069): My iropression is that there were six actors on that stage repeating rehearsed lines. It was as if there had been a backstage agreement that if Mr. Z'berg would offer an amendment to his Bill, then everyone could vote for it and 'save face' with their constituents who had objected to the Bill. Even though the amendment did not change the Bill at all! And Chairman Nejedly got in his licks, too, by asking irrelevant questions about motorcycle noise, trespass upon private property, and other degradable acts by motorcyclists. There is no denying that these things occasionally happpen, but they were not items under consideration with respect to AB 3069. It was merely a continuance of Senator Nejedly's anti-motorcycle campaign. And, at one point, one of the actors forgot his lines and began to take serious objection to AB 3069. Mr. Z'berg was quick to remind the objector that he, th~ objector, had a Bill to be heard by MT. Z'berg's Committee. And with that, the actor returned to his rehearsed lines. Now, recognize that the foregoing is only my impression of what happened. If I were to state that it actually happened, someone might consider it libelous because 'vote-trading' is not a thing that honest men do. Again, three cheers for SenatOT Richardson: an honest man who fears no evil! AB 3069 will be heard by the Senate Finance Committee on November 8th. We will be there to oppose it once again. However, if it passes that Committee, it will go next to the Senator Flo·or. We can stop it there if each of you will write a letter to your Senator asking hiro to vote NO on AB 3069. Just to be doubly safe, write a second, and possibly more important letter, to Governor Reagan (State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA 95814) asking hiro to veto AB 3069 on the grounds that it is a mis-use of the funds derived for motorcycle and mini-bike parsk. If you're a 'dirt-rider', and don't want to be a 'former dirt-rider', get that letter mailed to the Governor immediately. WRITE AND RiDE DONT WRITE AND DONT RIDE Please address any questions or inquiries to M.O.R.E., P.O. Box 26062, Sacramento, CA 95826. Priddy Picks a Pair of Wins By Carolyn Smith ARLINGTON, TEX., Oct. 24, 1971 Wyman Priddy, CZ ace out of Ft. Worth, Tex., put two mOTe wins _beneath his name again today and was the big money winner at Mosier Valley Motocross Park's first event of the year. More than 500 spectators witnessed Priddy's domination of the 250 aild Open Senior classes as he topped Phil Snipes (CZ) and David Musick (Hus) in overall points in their respective classes. Snipes led each of- the three 250 Sr. motos at the start but Priddy worked up 'to take over the leead in the first and third rounds. In the second leg, a poor start and a stalled engine left him in third, still good for the overall win, however. Priddy then cleaning swept the Open anks in the three rounds ahead of Musick. Mike Johnson (Pen) put together a pair of come-from-behinders to chalk up w;ns in the first two rounds of the 125 Sr. class' and settled for second in the other to take that class. Factory Carabela rider Randy Carthel, on a Penton today while his machine is being serviced, supplied much of the competition as he led the first moto, was passed by Johnson, regained the lead when. Johnson dumped it, and lost it again as Johnson rallied back. He then led the second leg all the way up to the final tour when Johnson again slipped by. 1\11 this time, Mike Terry observed the action in third place and decided to get in on it during the final moto; he led all the way but it was still· only good enough for third overall. Dave Clements throttled his Montesa to a pair of wilis in the 125 Jr. class to take overall 'ahead of Skip Kennamer, who picked up the checkered in the second round on his DKW. The 250 class was a bit more strung out as Jeff Kring collected a first in the first moto, second in the second and third in the third to win overall. Danny Doss (CZ) and Joe Busby (CZ) diced it out for the second spot with Doss getting th e nod. Jerry Borren led all the way in the first two Open Jr. heats and then settled back on his BSA to allow Phil Oliver (Hus) to take the third. In this, Borren collected a second, good for the overall. Prize money totalling $352.~0 was shared by the Seniors while the rest of' the 128 competitors fought for brass. Texas star Robert E. Lee tried his hand at motocross today, taking a bit of time out from short tracking, but had trouble. "These motocrossers have sure gotten fast," says the Little General. (Results on page 32) N Lltlle Oem Hare Scramble. "g CL By Pat Jenkins EMMETT, 10., Oct. 31, 1971 - A premature Halloween snow turned Idaho's Little Gem Hare Scramble into a witchy run. The mud and snow scene made each downhill a contest to see who got to be on top, the bike or the rider. Bu t Boise's Don Wilhite put his Husky in the right spot and led a pack of 63 riders to fIrst overall. Wilhite also showed the fans he knows how to raise hot-shoes when his son, Kevin (DKW) captured first in the 125 class. Bill UhI, after fIrst lap trouble, put his Bultaco Pursang on the heels of the leaders and lap by lap persistently closed the gap. With Uhl on your tail, you don't look back to check and that seemed to be Bill's problem too. A controversy at a check point gave him a DSQ to nullify his second overall placing. Sponsor Gene Vail delayed race time for two hours to guide riders over the course. The maneuver probably saved some search and rescue time and pointed out that one fog-shrouded mountain was too slick for the 125 class. Even after a course change, the 125-ers found out that free rides are for hitchhikers and Bultaco mounted Bob Cook won a hard earned second followed by John Thompson's Yamaha. As the laps progressed, so did a bone shaking winter wind but Frank Trafford bucked a below-zero chill factor to throttle his CZ over the finish for first in the 250 class, with Husky mounted Ken Krall p~lling second. Third went to superb Trials rider, Bob Moore (Oss) who proved he could go fast, too. Little Gem is Kawasaki land during weekdays, thanks to the local dealer, and Don Lankford took home fIrst in Open for the green bike boys. Leon Sackman (Yam) bagged a second place trophy followed by Dan Renk on a muddy Maico. Up to trophy time, a roaring bonfire and a few floating flasks, sustained spectators and hard luck riders who compared endoes and breakdowns. (Results on page 32) I I I I NOW! ft•• a:OG , MOTO CROSS , CY'CLES, , U._ SLAPS , H ;o I T I , GRAND PRIX I , Championship - Open Camp, I I STOCKy' ;..~ \!:-~I CARS "'~~.: I ~~I " •• DODGES-FORDS-CHEY.S I ~!~.~IRT l!ACK I i I ',', '~~'.':::' I .I I SENSATlON~l NEW I I I International 1SPECiiL&AOOED'-1 Report ••• I SUN 2pm 1 The Federation Internationale Motocycliste held their Congress in Geneva last'week to decide what's going to happen next year: --Formul. 750s h.ve been adopted for the oncoming year with hopes the machines will achieve world-championship status by 1974. --In trials, all machines legal in their own country are legal everywhere else. --A rider may enter both the 250 and 500 motocross GPs but points will be counted for only one class. Same as this year. --Folding footrests for speedway bikes are encouraged next year and mandatory in 1973. --Minimum weights for motocross machines may be established in order to assure safety and resemblance to an actu.1 production model. Suggested weights are; 125s - 187·189 Ibs; 250198·209; 500 - 209·220. . --The Congress has adopted a get-tough policy with promoters of championship GrandS' Prix, threatening to lift their status if they don't improve safety standards. Of number·one concern are the 04 killer" rail barriers which car racers like. Giacomo Agostini, ten·times world road racing champion, has once again signed with MV but the contract stipulates he must not drive cars'. Heikki Mikkola, currently giving Suzuki ace Sylvain Geboers"a rough go here in the States, wants to race the 500 GPs next year but hi.. three·year contract will keep him in the 250 class. The Huskies he will be riding, by the way, will be five- and six-speeds. Ake Johnsson may not be riding Maico next year. Lots of manufacturers have been sending the near·world champ overtures. The Yamaha 650 four-stroke twin will finally be available in England for the first time. Funny, usually we have 10 wait... PLUS SOK CAR g~\,'~ction 120.LAP CALIf. STATE 1 I CHAMPKJNSHP I I I HALf-AtU I Jody Nicholas vs Mel Lacher & 100 TOP BIG BIKE HOT SHOESI 'SUN.NOV. 21 1 'ASS TWO I "'"""1Iia ad .."'....... ... ...... 0 lOx llI'PJQ II~.~ !!,R!'.9A~" .......= I I I ==.' OUT ....YlH • ~ w Z W ..J (.) > (.)

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