Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ w 2 w -' U ~ U O1arles Clayton Sharon Clayton Tom Culp • . . aJI~1 Rheba Smith .....• _..•..... Circulation Manager Marla Tarbet ......••..•.... Circulation Assistant larry Diamond ....•...•.... Circulation Assistant Paul Boudreau ... _•...•..... Production Manager Howie Fowler .........•.... Production Assistant Larry Groves Lab Technician Marion Hatashita ....•.............Typographer Bobi Culp Assistant Typographer [Miic: ) l:;;iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii;;;C;;;O;U~N~C~' ;aLI GREAT DESERT RIP·OFF On Sunday, June 25th, I had the dubious pleasure of attending a desert enduro, sponsored hy the Desert Racing Club. For an entry fee of $7.50, participants were promised a family run consisting of two easy loops with an hour refreshment break. placed in between. An easy family enduro was certainly not the fiasco that ensued soon after the start of the first loop. A wristwatch, which was the official time piece for the fourth checkpoint. stopped running and forced the cancellation of the first loop. Riders, who had learned of this and were returning to the starting point, were waving back other riders. many of whom had not yet reached the rust checkpoin t to receive the news verbally. A fter running around awhile myself and finally noticing aJI of the confusion, I decided to continue on the trail that I had been originally on. Sure enough, I pulled into the first check-point where I had the problem explained to me by a rather perplexed young girl who had been abandoned by the checkpoin t crew and left to suffer the wrath of many a disappointed and angry biker. Many of the riders, who had gone trail blazing, were returning all red faced and hot under the collar; a condition that could not be attributed to too much desert sun. Wi th all of the motorcycle tie·down ropes lying around, it was fortunate that there were no trees in the area. After the lunch break, we were started off again to complete the last loop which was'a repeat of the first loop covering a distance of about 20 miles. There was no make up run for the morning cancellation. F-or an outlay of $7.50,.a dollar extra for a poker run, and a long gas consuming drive from L.A., I would at least expect a well managed even t taking in from 60 to 70 miles regardless of the degree of difficulty or ease of the terrain. The malfunction of a watch was understandable, but the club should have taken this possibility into consideration and stationed the necessary back·up pieces. As I packed everything into the truck and made ready to leave, I had the distinct feeling that I had been taken. This view seemed to be unanimous with everyone else that I spoke to. One man suggested that, in all fairness to the participants, the Desert Racing Club change their name to the Desert Rip-off Club. The one irony -of the day's events seemed to center around the one thing the organization managed to do righ t which was the placing of two portable outhouses in the pit area. FR.ED ZIMMERMAN North Hollywood This was representative of a number of similar letters received regarding the 0 RC's June 25th event. The opinion, apparently I was . ...•........General Manager John Bethea ..........•........ Managing Editor John Huetter ....•••..•................Editor Art Friedman ....•••..•........ Assistant Editor Ed Drechsler ..........•..... Advertising Manager Kate Thorpe ......•...•.... Advertising Assistant I ••• .\merica's Number weekly motorcycle newspaper. You'll always see it first in Cycle News. M MOTORC~'rteto': INOUSTHY Publisher ....•....... Business Manager Randy Dietzel Barbara Bebeck Squeeky Haynes Bookkeeper Bookkeeping Assistant General Secretary National Advertising Director (Cycle News West, Cycle News East, Cycle News Dixie): Tom C.ulp. Cycle News West, P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, California 90801. (213) 427-7433; L.A. 636-8844. TELEX NO. 673-474 S bs u cription: One year, second class mail 2 years, second class mail 510 $17 Published weekly except the first and last week of the calendar 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 malter. Reprinting in whole or in part only by permission of the publishers. Advertising rates and circulation information will be sent upon request. See S.R.D .S. Copyright© Cycle News. Inc. 1972 3 years, second class mail 521 S· I ' S 35 all rights reserved !iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilniii9iiiiieiiiciiioiiiPiiiYiiiiiPiiirliiiciiieiii'iiiii'iii'iii'iii:iii'iii'iii'iii'iii'iii'iii'iii'iii'iiiiiiii'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii:l HectorAguilera Beverly Townsend ComputerTechnician Receptionist Major Inside Reports WASHINGTON ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE INVENTORY ROAD RACING: ACA CARLSBAD ...................•.......... 6 COLUMN: LATEST POOP 9 MORE ROAD RACING: AFM TASTEE-FREEZE ........•..•......10 SECTION: CENTRAL , ........•......... 12 FEATURE: YOSHIMURA HONDA ..................••..•...... 14 INTERNATIONAL: BLACKWELL AND HOTSHOE 21 SECTION: NORTH ...............................•...•......24 NATIONAL: CASTLE ROCK TT 28 DESERT: RAMS' EUROPEAN SCRAMBLES ...•......••..•...... 34 FEATURE: CURNUTT ON SHOCKS ..........•......•...•......36 RESULTS .....................................•......•.... 38 CALENDAR ..........•..•...•......•..........•...•.......44 HUMOR: THE CAT .......•..........•......•...•.......... .50 ----------, L- VOICES OF THE 'WEST motocross track because: they owned property in the area, feared nearby lives~ock would be frigh tened by the noise, feared 'Hell's Angel' type gangs would be attracted to the area to 'cause rape and murder, carry knives and chains, n~ver strike in groups of' less than three and be users of narcotics. ' Those motocross tracks must be more exciting than we all thought possible next time I am going to stay in the stands with the spectators and watch the action, which has got to be better than any old race. PHIL DARLING Richmond, Calif. PUSH OFF! I wash pushing my dirt bike home from a twenty-five cent car wash when a city cop came over and gave me a ticket for having an unregistered vehicle on the street. 1 ha~e the title and registration so I am going to take it to court and fight it. Could you give me any information about what to do about my situation? JOE KOLLER Vista, Calif. You've got to be kidding about a ticket for \ ._ Install a pair of Mavrick Motocross shocks, 12" eye.to-eye. You won't get the last· Y," of travel, but your seat height wiJI be lowered, and the swing arm will be horizontal. 2: Install a 21" Akront front rim with a 3". knobby. Throwaway your fork brace; there's barely room for the tire. 4: Install a 13-tooth counter-shaft sprocket to avoid embarrassing situations with the 2-strokes. 5: Scream your engine if you want to be. competitive. Re.member, you're not getting full power until 11000 RPM. You've now got a competitive mini-thumper. CASEY E. PERKINS 309T Dist. 37 Desert RETRACTION In the story on the European Scrambles hekl on June 25, 1972, I reported that Cliff Matlock was riding a Suzuki when he was really riding a Yamaha. My apologies to Cliff and his sponsors. ANDRE NEY San Diego, Calif. All trail-riders in the state of ''''ashington "have a stake in the success. of the All-Terrain Vehicle Trail, Area and Road Inventory", Larry Poitras, President of the Washington State Motorcycle '[rade Association, announced. The inventory of all present and poten tial ATV trails and areas was mandated by the 1971 comprehensive ATV act passed by the Legislature and further amended in 1972. Proceeds' from the annual $5 ATV use permit (not required of those with road-licensed bikes) and from the rebate of gas taxes collected from ATV users will be disbursed to state, county and municipal land mangement agencies "on a basis determined by the amount of present or proposed ATV trails or areas on which they permit ATV use" according to the law. These monies shall be expended by each agency only for ATV trail and area related expenses, Poitras emphasized. On a local level, county and regional planning commissions will coordinate the inventory effort. They must, of necessity, rely on user groups to aid in the mapping effort. Trail-riders who wish to participate in the inven tory should contact the cooperating agencies and district offices of the Dept. of Natural Resoui£es, Since the inven tory must be completed by August 18 th, user participation is urgently requested. The W.S.M.T.A. -is the M.I.C. accredited state dealer organization for Washington. MIC HOSTS BIG SIX LOS ANGELES,CAL.,July 10, 1972United Sta,tes top management of the six leading motorcycle' manufacturing companies got together today in a precedent setting meeting in'the Beverly Hotel in Beverly Hills, Wilshire Califronia. This historic event, hosted by the Motorcycle Industry Council, marked the first time upper management of these companies have sat in an open forum to meet each toher and engage in a frank exchange of ideas and opinions about industry problems and the role M.I.C. is playing in finding solutions. During a brief session these represen tatives from Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, BSA and Harlev-Davidson were informed of past M.I.C·. accomplishments and the plans for expanded programs in the areas of legislative activities, public relations and associate membership. Special emphasis was placed on formative plans for a large scale safety and education program to be administered by the M.l.C. and funded by the major motorcycle manufacturers. pushing your bike. but if you're not, get into court. The case should be dismissed, so don't unanimous... Ed. be hesitant about requesting it. A motor CHERISH vehicle has to be licensed if it is "operated" on the California highways. Sometimes, you'll get ticketed if a vehicle is parked unlicensed, I would like to take this opportunity to give all of the DDMC that had a part in the Red Garter Enduro my sincere thanks. The Enauro was without a doubt the best one I have ever ridden and I know that it took a tremendous amount of work and many long hours to achieve the degree of perfection that you did. The Red Garter that I got for • finishing will remain one of my most cherished possessions. J.P. "CASH" REGISTER March AFB, Calif. NO WONDER LIKE MX THEY DON'T While on vacation in the far north, 1 found this article in the local newspaper. "The protest?J!L,!9f'JY1.e!r petition said they opposed· fue but pushing it? Too much ... Ed. YOU MEET THE NICEST PEOPLE IN THE DESERT I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the anonymous rider who sacrificed his position in the DMCA race of July 9 to bring me back to the pits and an ambulance driver. You'll never die broke, 'cause I'll always owe you. Mv sincere thanks also to DMCA race offiCials for their expert handling and concern in the matter. JOHN KALAJIAN DMCA 221 Chatsworth, Calif. MINI-THUMPE~ LIVES, TOO 1 have found some ways to m~~~ Honda SL 100 handle beau tifully. "i: Archie CJark Memorial Benefit raises $1470 for IV'OR£. From left to right at the presentation eeremony were Russ Sanford, MORE Prexy and lobbyist; Gladys Davenport, Treasurer of the Stockton Scramblers M.C.: Max Harr, President of Stockton ~,"·:~rn.o!lt!e.&J.9cl<,lO"!iqljfT1!;ll'rJ

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