Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

... ! .... C) C"; N ~ Z ~ w Z W .J (,) >(,) IJI~I Publisher Charles Clayton Business Manager Sharon Clayton Genera I Manager.... . . . . . . Tom CuIp Managing Editor John Bethea Assistant Editor David Swift Circulation Manager Rheba Smith Marla Tarbet Circulation Ass't Production Manager Ed Drechsler Production Assistant . , . , Phil Stranske Advertising Assistant .. Barbara Richard B00 kk eeper.......... Dorothea Lang "America's No. 1 weekly motorcycle I ays see FIRST Bookkeeper Ass't. . .... Eleanor Duke Y ou 'II a itW L newspaper. G I ••• in Cycle News!" Cycle News East, Di~ie 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: 0 ne year 2 nd c 1 ma,'1 ass 2 years 2nd class mail ,. $900 ... . $15.00 Published weekly except the first and last week of the caiendar year by Cycle News, Inc., Post Office Box 498, Long Beach, California, also publishers of Cycle News East, and Dixie Cycle News. Second Class Postage paid at Long Beach, Calif. Editorial stories, cartoons, photos, etc. are welcome. Addressed, stamped envelope assures return of editorial matter, Reprinting in whole or in part only by permission of the publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent (1\ii:~)==:L:ab=T:ech=:n:ic:i:a:n:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.=a:r:r:y=r:o:v:es==~:i:~::I:;:sC:~:~:Y:~:~:i~:::m:a:i:1====::$:.l:~::~:g=:u:p:o:n=req;::u:es::;t.:s:ee=S:.:R:.D=.S:.=:;;:==;::: STOP THIEF I.'.'. f Motorcycle registrations in Cali ornia . d 670 t' th l t d cade mcrease percen m e as e , doubled in the last six years, and leaped 20 percent during 1971 alone. There are nearly 700,000 remstered motorcycles O' in the state today. If the trend continues, the millionth motorcycle will be registered in 1974. Meanwhile, the processing of motorcycle registrations here at the Departmendtiffof Motor Vehicles /s b ecorrung erent, m many respec s, from that of other vehicles. We introduced staggered year-round . 1 M 71 f b·k registration on ar. or new I es. O n 1 J an. 72 we will begin the . . de·n of motorcycle frame cross-m Xl g , moto.. and license numbers through our computer. In view of the ease with · w h IC h a mo t orcyc Ie c an be stolen , the precaution makes good sense. These are just two examples of problems which DMV and the dealer must tackle, cyclically (!) speaking. To get a grip on the problems and their solutions, we are inviting motorcycle dealers to a "motorcycle registration seminar," dedicated to an examination of the technicalities of the subject. Theft prevention and detection will particular attention. The receive California Highway Patrol and the National Auto Theft Bureau will be joining DMW at these meetings. These subjects will be explored in eight different cities in California, in hopes that one of them will be reasonably accessible to every dealer. ill a separate letter we are inviting each know motorcycle dealer to attend, and enclosing a reservation form for him to return to us. JOHN L. McLAUGHLIN _ Registrar Dates, locations and times for the remainder of the meetings include: 11 -11, Oakland, DMV, 5300 Claremont Ave., 2:30-4:3Q p.m.; 11-12, San Jose, Community Room, SOln Jose Library, 180 West San Carlos, 9-11 :30 a.m.; 11-16, Fresno, State Office Bldg., Rm. 1036, 2550 Mariposa, 9:30-11 :30 a.m.; 11-11, Van Nuys, DMV, 14920 Vanowen St., 9:30·11 :30 and Long Beac~, Veterans Park, 101 E. 28th St., 24 p.m.; tl-18, Pomona, Great Western Savings & loan, Conference Rm:, 300 Pomona Mall West, 9:30-11 :30 a.m.; and 11-19, San Diego, Div. of Public Hwys., Auditorium, 4075 Taylor St., 9:30-11 :30 a.m.... Ed. TO 0·37 SPORTS & COMMITTEES: COMP, As is widely known by now, the Los Coyotes M.C. has declined a District 37 race date for next year. We have taken this action for two reasons: First, although we are confident of our ability to stage a challenging, safe, and ride-pleasing race despite adverse administrative situations, we will not submit ourselves and the district riders to the unpleasantness of "second-ehoice", ie, mid-summer races. Second, as a matter of principle, we refuse to be an acquiescent party to the petty power politics and vacillating rules interpretations currently infesting the District committees. As examples, we have attached to this letter copies of a letter from the District referee and the District's own bulletin - both stating that we have been reinstated without any . additional restrictions. Additionally, to show to the riders that our January' late results mailing was a fluke, we picked up a cancelled date in June and staged, by all reports, an excellent race. These results were out within ten days because we ignored some delaying paperwork. With official notice of our reinstatement and having accomplished two good races, we proceeded to the month of race date selections under the blissful assumption that we were no longer second-class citizens. However, as Ron Schneiders excellently explained in the Nov. 2 issue of Cycle News, in District 37, the only rule is inconsistency and the interpretation of . Th AMA· k· that is uncertain. e IS rna Ing a valiant attempt to straighten itself out; . I h f th ame efto t we SIncere y ope or e s r within our own District. To the many riders who were looking forward to the second coming of OTIS , J. PUFENMUCKER - sorry guys, MAYBE next year. TERRENCE W. REZEK Sec., Lost Coyotes M.C. PUBLIC THANKS In wiring this note, it becomes rather difficult to envision the complete spectrum of support received after my claim on the factory BSA at Ontario. The "men of the press", the spectators, and most everyone, all stepped forward with their own . t respectIVe type 0 f suppor. The number of supporters involved, and all pooled into one group, is DUNES DOES IT On Sunday Nov. 7, 1971, I attended the opening of the Indian Dunes, Shady Glenn Motocross course. Race courses such as Shady Glen are very necessary for the advancement 0 f the motocross rider to European standards. The Indian Dunes Shady Glen Motocross course completely de- ' h' h d e tr t ~~PriJ~z~ii1':;:J:f~~;er ~~~c~es~.~~ ~ Indian Dunes Motocross measured by the last possible horsepower that can be fr . squeezed om an engme. A pat on the back and a hearty approval to John Watkins, Ernie Alexander and George Conrad, the designers of the course. BRIAN FABRE Cooper Motors VOICES OF THE WEST enormous in number. In trying to approximate that number, to know how many times I could say thanks, I can only conclude that I best nOI try to get all the thank you's delivered in one day, without first lining up a replacement "tongue". I sincerely offer Cycle News my gratitude for its journalistic excellence in presenting a clear objective picture of the situation. Most impressive to me is the fact that despite the respective styles used by different writers, the majority of their conclusions all ended up pointing in one direction. That direction was best summed up in Chuck Clayton's column "the claiming game" in which he boiled the whole affair down to the fact of "keeping them honest". Thanking you again, I remain, BOB BAILEY Gardena, Calif. DON'T JUMP CONCLUSIONS TO In the recent show at the Portland, Oregon Memorial Coliseum, Evel jumped 14 standard sized vehicles including two full sized vans without a safety ramp to set a new world indoor record. The cars measured a minimum of 84 feet and the landing ramp was 56 feet long and he landed 6 feet 4 inches from the end so he jumped safely 133 feet 8 inches. This was viewed by a host of riders, 7,000 spectators and Mort Becker, AMA Official, as well as news media, who I'm sure will agree with this. I now hear that there is someone trying to advertise that they are going to break his indoor record of 11 cars set in the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I feel that if they want to compete with Evel that they should at least do it in a tru thful and justifiable manner. I also feel that for what Evel is trying to do for the sport of motorcycle racing that the press, promoters, and people interested in the sport should do what they can to see that the already established records are actually broken and are not falsely advertised. TED POLLOCK Portland, Ore. Much of Super Joe's 12-car jump publicity was prepared prior to Evel's epic leap. However, we suspect he will change the distance to ~I" ~~ ~('*. [R'i. Time will terC.lOll. KNIEVEL CORNERED In last week's issue of Cycle News I read where Evel Knievel appears to be back peddling on -his challenge to all comers -that I read about several weeks ago. He is quoted as saying that he would be game to take on the latest challengers in motorcycle jumping in roughly three years. I happened to be at the San Jose Race of Champions a week ago last Sunday where a young man from our area, Super Joe, performed a leap of 144 feet, far bettering Evel KnleveI's mark, and with such style that the thousands of people nearly went out of their minds. I would suggest to Mr. Knievel that he is now the challenger as Super Joe (I believe his last name is Einhorn) left no doubt as to his ability and daring in _performing his leap, a new world record. I suggest to Mr. Knievel that he should not be issuing challenges unless he is prepared to back them up. According to what I have read recently, this kid Super Joe wasted no time in accepting Knievel's challenge. I believe it was something like two 0,. three days after he first read about it. He has written open letters to Knievel, sent copies to the newspapers, and, to date, Knievel has failed to respond. Super Joe really impressed' me, in case you hadn't already guessed, and I hardly feel it is fair to classify him as a "novice",. "junior", or any other demeaning title as Knievel suggests.' Super Joe has cleanly beaten Knieve! 's record and I would suggest that Knievel back up his challenge to all comers by accep.ting Joe's request for a showdown. Knievel is the challenger at this point in time as far as I, and I'm sure all the others who were at San Jose, are concerned. Either "put up" or "shut up" Knievel, or graciously accept the fact that you have been beaten. A. SAlD F os ter Ciry , Cali f. GOOD SHOWS A super thanks to the four "outsiders" and one member that rode as clean-up crews for the Invaders M.C. at the Check Chase. They did a top notch job. Secondly, a very grateful thanks goes to the gas pit crews who were just great. Also, another very big th~tfQ "angel" from Blythe M.C. t1iatlirougn't in a bike belonging to one of our riders who had been injured. F thl . th k t th our y, a sincere . an s 0 e Amateur or Expert that stopped long enough off the starting line to pull a bike off of one of the downed Invader n·ders. JOYCE MAY Invaders M.C. ONCE OVER, WITH FEELING This is _to answer something that was in "the latest Poop" by Papa Wealey...whoever he may be! He's now giving us his opinion, rather than news about what's new. The item that I'm referring to was about Evel Knieve! and "Super Joe" Einhorn. OK, Evel was the first to make car jumping a big thing. "Super Joe" wanted to get in on the act...but doesn't like to use cars. Einhorn has now jumped "144 feet.....by AMA measurement...or, about 15 feet more than Eve!. Now my gripe! Papa seemed unhappy about the fact that the fans can get close to Evel...and notJoe! Well, everyone has their little hang-ups, but the final line was the one that really burned me up. I'll quote ..."Besides, who ever said jumping cars with motorcycles was an athletic event, anyway?" Tell me this...!s A.J. Foyt an athlete? What about jumping a pit, full of sand...hitting a little white ball around a golf course ...are these not athletic events? It seems to me that the guys that do all of the yelling about guys like Eve! and Joe are the same guys that don't have the balls to do it themselves. A fan of ALL gutty jumpers, DIGGER HELM Bakersfield, Calif. Papa Wealey's contract entitles him to express opinions in Hot Poop as long as they don't get confused with facts. Knievel measures his jumps by the number of cars that can be placed between his ramps, not by where his rear wheel touches down. But, as O..vid Swift said in a recent article, "Eve' Knievel doesn't sell motorcycle jumps, he sells a feeling" ... Ed. IT WASN'T US As you know, I, at my own expense, constructed a motocross track on the California fairgrounds property for our Sept. 5 race. Following this event the track reverted to Cal Expo with us advising them in operations. SRA, here locally rented the track on September 19, October 3, and October 31. They contracted with us to do some low budget advertising. There were competitive events on September 19, and because of financial losses SRA elected not to do the other races. We cancelled their ads and I assumed the events would be removed from the calendar but I also emphasized for SRA to follow this up. Unfortunately many people already knew of the races and since SRA didn't publish a cancellation notice some riders came back and with no races, their day was ruined. This condition repeated itself again yesterday, October 31; many riders showed up. Even though the fault was not that of Cal Expo motocross track, we express our deepest apologies. We assure you that we will do all we can in the fu ture, to have promoting organizations keep the riders fully informed as t-o the 'Status of e'vents. There will, be no further races until April of 1972, since the track is on a flood plane; consequently any race notices regarding the Cal Expo track during the winter should be disregarded. MIKE GOODWIN Sacramento, Calif. Letters which are brief and to the point .are the first to be considered for publication to this department. They will, of course, be subject to the standard editing process. All letters must be hand signed before being considered for publication; in certain cases, names may be withheld by request, however. Send all letters to VOICES, clo Cycle News, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, Calif., t'08111. 0.1- O' ~qnut :od ~ £In

• Cover