Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ w Z W ..J U >U aJI~1 Publisher Charles Clayton Business Manager Sharon Clayton General Manager T o m Culp Managing Editor John Bethea Assistant Ed itor Dav id Swift Circu lation Manager Rheba Smith Circulation Ass 't. Mar la Tarbet Prod uction Manll!!ef Ed Drechsler Production Assistant Ph il St ranske Advertising Assistant .. Barbara Richard Bookkeeper Dorothea Lang Bookkeeper Ass't. . Eleanor Duke Lab Tech nician Larry Groves Circulation Promotion Mgr.. Ji m Brooks I ••• " Ame rica's No . 1 weekly motorcycle newspap er. You ' ll a lw ay s see it FIRST in Cycle News !" Cycle News East, Dix ie Cyc le News , and Nat ional Advertising inf o rm ati on: Tom Culp, Natio nal Advertising Director. Cy cle New s (West) , P.O . Box 498, Long Beach, Ca l ifo rn ia 90801 . (21 3) 427 ·7433 - L.A . 636-8844 . TElEX NO. 673-474 Subscr iptio n : , One year 2nd cla ss ma il 2 years 2nd class mail 3 years 2nd cla ss ma il Sing le copy pr ice . . . ' ~ .$9 .00 · $15 .00 · $18 .00 Published we ekly except the first and last week o f th e calenda r year b y Cycle News, lnc., Post Office Bo x 498, Lo ng Beach , Californ ia , a lso publishers of Cycl e News East, and Dix ie Cycle News . Second Class Postage pa id at Long Beach, Cal if. Ed itoria l stor ies, ca rt oons, photos, etc . ar e welcome. Add ressed; stamped envelop e assures re turn o f ed ito rial ma tter . Reprin t ing in wh o le o r in part o nly by pe rm ission o f the publ ishers . Advertising rates and circulation in fo rma ti o n w ill be sent up o n request . See S .R .D .S . Copy righ t e Cycle News , Inc. 19 71 ·72 all rights reserved ~I.:=========================================~~~~=::~====: LETTER OF THE MONTH : The enclosed is an excerpt from one of Jean-Paul Sartre's works. . It may be of interest to your readers who ran the Barstow-to-Vegas race and then wondered why. Sartre is, of course, the well -known winner of the Nobel Prize who, in true Sportsman fashion, rejected the money and took the trophy. A BROTHER DNF "If I question one of my companions, he will explain to me that he is fatigued, of course, but that he loves his fatigue; he gives himself up to it as to a bath; it appears to him in some way as the privileged instrument for discovering the world which surrounds h im , for adapting himself to the rocky roughness of the paths, for dis covering the "mountainous" quality of the slopes. In the same way it is this sunburn on the back of his neck and this slight ringing in his ears which will enable him to realize a direct contact with the sun. Finally the feeling of effort is for him that of fatigue ove rcome. But as his fatigue is nothing but the passion which he endures so that the dust of the [desert], the burning of the sun, the roughness of the road may exist to the fullest, his effort ( i. e. , this sweet familiarity with a fatigue which he loves, to which he abandons himself and which nevertheless he hi mself directs) is given as a way of ap propriating the mo u ntain, of suffering it to the end and being victor ' over it:' DEAR CYCLE NEWS READERS: Just a note to let you know that I have b een keeping up o n t he nice letters from all of th e nice p romoters an d undertakers concerning my jumping contest. I wo uld like to take this opportunity to thank them for their interest and concern. EVEL KNIEVEL Butte, Mont. TIME FOR EVALUATION In light o f th e p ast few District 37 Enduros, I th in k it is time we re-evaluate what Enduros are all about. The term 'enduro' is a misnomer. It implies a combined physical fitness test and har e an d hound. Actually endures have evo lved into something quite different. T hey are gen era lly considered to b e a ru n over m odera te terrain, stressing primarily time keeping ability and secondarily riding ability. Some clubs seem to feel that time keeping ability should be eliminated when their runs receive the title 'National', A case in p oin t is the recent Last Chance National Enduro. This p articular event was so difficult th at Distric t 3 7 number one enduro rider, Bob Steffan, was disqualified for being more than an hour late. On the other hand, racer Al Lund (I think that's what the name on the helmet was) competing without the aid of a speedometer, did quite well . He m erely raced hare and hound style for most of the event. In short, the CEA badly mis -judged what local riders are looking for in the way of enduros. When we want to test our racing ability, we'll enter a race. When we want to test our riding and time keeping ability, we'll enter an enduro. If the CEA thinks otherwise, let them advertise next year's Last Chance as bei ng as tough as this year's, and see h ow man y entries they get. MIKE ADAMS Chaparrals M.C. RIGHT PRICE? The International Motocross o n Decem b er 5 was terrific. It was the second motocross I ever attende d since I'm a new fan of motocrosses. But, why have such a high entrance fee? Five dollars for I2-years and older is really steep ! Most kids there were over 12 I'd like to know what th e m oney is being used for. There was a lo t of money ma de that day with 33,500 people attending. A lo t of kids also went without lunch that day because they figured it would cost $3 . I really love the sport but please explain why the h igh fee? Next ti me, I will th in k twice abo ut going wi th such high prices. MIEKE BERGKAMP San Pedro, Calif. TO RUSS MARCH: Several days ago I received a mimeographed letter in the mail asking for my vote concerning the new National Number System. The letter L · . $ .30 promoters" the money and an organ iza ti on together for a United States Mo tocross Champ . KARCYCLE NUFF SAID Does anyone remember the last Half-Mile at Ascot? A blue grooved track that was so slick it felt like fur boots on a polished h ard wood floor. Try that, crasher lovers. The pits were full of fresh faces with white skin, thumping hearts and pucker creases on their seats. Terry Dorsch was beautiful to see. He boogied out in front and wasn't even threatened. Roberts saved ' the day fo r Yamaha, and Rick Newby threw the race awayon the n orth tum, but he was "hauling freight". It was a bitch en day, perfect rider turnout, with VOICES OF THE WEST was u nsign ed with a P.O. Box as a return address. I am beside myself to figure why I shoul d reply to a letter b y some unknown p erson . As I sta ted above, I would n ever answer a request like this wh ich is unsign ed , secondly, I have spent a full year lis te ning to p eople complain abou t the I to 99 system and then spent three days at the Congress to help make new rules and pass them. This particular proposal was p assed in t w o committees at t he congress ; o ne commi ttee had Jim Rice and Gen e R omero on it and th e other had Dic k Mann and Mert Lawwill on it. It passed o n the assembly floor with virtually no opposition . It would be ridiculous for me to now vote against the new rules after all that. I was out almost all year with a b ro ken wrist and made points in only th r ee races finis hing 42nd in the National standings . Ye t t his let ter implies that people who finis hed 66th thru 99th "deserve" a National Number - how unrealistic. I favor the new system over the old one as at , least we will know who is racing by recognizing a familiar number. It's over now; let's let it be. MERT LAWWI LL Tiburon, Calif. RETURN , OR ELSE!! ! To Ronnie Knox of the Master Links M.C. for the rear axle nut and spacer he loaned me at the Barstow-to-Vegas H & H. I would like to return the parts but do not know how to reach him. Please contact me so I can return your parts. TOMMY JENKINS 213/761-6342 Burbank, Calif. WHO'S NO.1? How about a numb er one? Who is the number one mo tocrosser in the United States? That's right, nobody! I think it co uld be done by the A.M.A ., if they got with it! Even next year (1972). They could have 10 or 12 races throughout the United States, the same time of year the Worl d Grand Prix races are h eld . Then we would know wh 0 to su pport. Well riders, what do you think? How about Y0l;l . :h-.~l,.t\ . ~,,, ,r,.Ft,'~ ; ll'i\n the ....:.._ _ - - ' hardly anyone in the stands. Still the races were neat, too bad n o one know when they started. Horribly pro m o ted! There was a recent letter to Cycle Ne ws ma king an up ro ar ove r Tom H or to n. Someone wrote t hat McC aul ce nter-p unche d Horton, causing him to fall. Then McCaul su pposedly tried out Shigemasa an d failed . Then he says Dave Swift ought to get his stuff together or take up basket-weaving, maybe knitting. Now, I don't k now what Mr. Swift does in his spare time, b ut I was on that slippery north t um and watch ed H or ton go d o wn . I didn't see anyone touch him . Strangely enough, Dave Swift was in th at same turn watching the same crash . That is exactly how he rep orted the race, exactly as everyone saw it. I thought the report on Ascot was b itch en, well-written and factual! Nuff said . Bless th e m o ron s with dumb seeing-eye d ogs , they're th e most sensitive. Less Sound More Ground. Send money to M.O.R.E. and do it in the dirt. CHRIS MUD 9x Torrance, Calif. OAK CREEK WINTER CLOSES FOR Oak Creek is nestled in the Tehachapi Mountain Range where winter holds no mercy. Sitting nearly a mile high, it is a direct target for the freezing Sierra winds. In the interest of the Sun Worshiping Sou thern Californ ia Motocrossers, we've decided to shut down operations for the winter . When the heat and smog arrive at your favorite track around June, check your Cycle News for our Summer Series. KEN BEACH Dir ecto r Oak Creek Ra nch RAW DEAL I'm writing this letter in conjunction with the cheap treatment I got at the Joel Robert motocross school at Sa ddleback, Dec. 3 an d 4. If there was an award for the lowest con job of t he year, my vote would go to Mr. Robert and Suzuki. On the 3rd we rode from 9:30 to about noo n and b roke for lunch. After lu nch we m et agai n and we were in fo rmed that the course was now $20, when it was originally advertised as free. Well, not being rich and gullible, that ended my day of riding. This incident makes me wonder if Suzuki would stoop to these cheap tricks to get $20, imagine the cheap tricks they use in the production and marketing of their motorcycles. GARY SMITH ' A Poor Student Santa Ana, Calif. LO-DESERT GROWS UP Like other outlying areas, the Coachella Valley of Southern California has always ' had problems promoting their motorcycle activities. Between Banning, Palm Springs, Indio and Blythe at least six active competition clubs p ro mote races regular ly. If you've ever ridden out of your district or home track area, you know that as a rule you are required to run a pie-plate number for the day. This is not meant to be a pu t-down, it simply makes scoring easier while distnbuting points for association numbers to those individuals other than yourself that have see n-fit to align themselves with the pomoting association. As in all outlying areas, many youngsters arc anxious to compete for the coveted No. I, as are many oldsters. Unfortuntely not everyone is able to make the long trek to District 37 events every week, which is where it 's at if you want an earned number. In order to overcome these p roblem s th e L o-Desert Racing Association has been formed. The main aim being to keep track of rider points earned at Lo-DRA point eve n ts held in th e area. For a nominal $6 fee a me mber will receive a regulation number plate of proper co lo r with nu mber affixed an d a 19 72 memb ersh ip card listing his class an d club affilation as well as a number starting at No. 10 in his class for '72 use . This fee will cover the costs of the number plates and numbers, as well as the printing and postage involved. To kick-off the new season the Coachella Valley M.C. will p rese nt th e first point ru n of the year on New Year's Day, Jan. I, 1972, Hare Scrambles. The Desert Ch allen gers M.C. of Palm Springs will present the second point run of the year onJan. 2,1972, a European , Scrambles. Association membership will not be required on these dates toward earned points, however, applications will be taken and points tabulated for all entries. Pie-plates will be run by all riders who have as yet to receive their 1972 number. Any applications received during the months of December and January will be awarded the points they earned on Jan. I and 2. O'n Feb. 6, the Desert Challengers will p resent the third point run of 'th e year. The Palm Springs 100. A 100 mile Hare and Hound. LDRA point runs after this date will be issued on a first come first served basis. An annual LDRA grand-finale race for dual points is being p lanned in conjunction with the annual awards dinner, where the year's champions will be crowned. Trophies, jackets, etc. will be awarded during the evening and the top ten point club of the year will receive a special trophy for their riders efforts. Any new clubs forming in the area who would care for further information as well as out of towners des iring riding number applications, p lease d irect your inq ui r ies to L-Desert Racing Association, Box 437, Rancho Mirage, Calif. 922.7,0~ q ' 1< l ,n . 1"., II ; 'J ::! ,",It W "

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