By Mauree n Lee
An up-date on that Land Use tax
since I wrote my last column is that
District 37 and other powers- that-be are
working hard on it, and, hopeful ly, it
won't be as bad as it first seemed . The
actual letter everyon e though t was a law
was just a house draft bu t local levels of
the BLM immedi ately put it into effect.
The whole situatio n on this thing could
take another column and there's no
doubt it is a sticky wicket, but we'll all
have to wait and see what comes out of
the high level meeting s. But after last
week, I refuse to get mad at anybod y
and decided to have some fun for a
change.
These big super-b ikes have always
fascinat ed me since all the media is now
full of road tests on these beasts; one
even referred to one of them as a
monster bike and thought the industry
should put a safety limit as to how big a
bike should be. I agree that if you put
an inexper ienced rider on one, he's
going to go on his melon in a hurry, and
at the dealer level I hope that they
always conside r this before selling one
or letting you test ride one. Most dealers
do.
The other evening Gene and I toddled
up to Fair Way Cycle Center in Downey
to visit an old friend who once won the
500 Expert class in horrible mud at
Hopeto wn and who sold me my fITst
motorcy cle, Frank Macklin .
The shop is the ultimat e in modem
day selling techniq ues for bikes, I guess
the days are gone when you crep t in to a
little dark shop and admist the piles of
this and that, you'd find a couple of
bikes floored. At Fair Way they had
piles of Suzukis and Norcons and I had
to restrain myself firmly not to look at
the motocro ss models. it was the super
bikes we were going to ride, me as
pillion of course. There's no way I was
going to drive that big Sasook. So, brain
buckets firmly in place, off we went. so
these are straight off the helmet
commen ts.
We took the water-c ooled Suzuki first
(I can't look ·too partisan ), and it is
truely an impress ive machin e, runs like a
big Americ an V -8 car, and is very stable
and secure on un-eveTl surfaces . The
handleb ar control s are beautifu lly made
and the fairing made it a really
comfor table ride for both of us (but I
stiU like to get bugs on my teeth). It
shifted effortle ssly and the seat was
extreme ly comfor table. But watch out
for that front brake. Just for fun Gene
tried it. and I say b·aloney to road
testers who insist that disk hrakes are
always superio r, that Suzuki drum brake
is instant stop and should he a one
fmger only operatio n or maybe, if
you're going ton-up, use two as the CHP
pulls you over!
After owning many bikes what really
turned me on was watchin g the watet
tempera ture gauge ... on a motorcy cle!
Still, the fastest bikes in the world have
been water cooled. Being mainly a dirt
rider the fust thing that popped in to my
mind was: what the hell happen s if a
rock busts the radiator ?
Returni ng that super-st ar to the shop
we then embark ed On the ",orton
Comma ndo, happily painted in the
traditio nal black and gold (sorry
Norton , don't like the other ones!)T his
was the roadste r. not the Intersta te, so
the seat wasn't as comfor table. althoug h
OK for short trips. There was literally
no vibratio n through the back footpeg s
and if yop've ridden pillion you knoY{
how that can get to you after a few
miles just sitting back there with
no thing to do. Wi th no fairing on this
one, it felt Uke being back on a bike
again, and four-str oke fans. that rumble
out of the muffler s was just as it should
be.
One thing I did forget to check was
whethe r it leaked on the carpet, all
British bikes worthy of their name
should or you send 'em back (wait 'til I
get letters on that stateme nt). If I were
shoppin g for a super-b ike it would take
conside rable more test rides to decide.
Both these models have more than
enough power to get you in trouble
with the 10cal.C onstable on patrol.
So, I couldn' t decide because one
time we rode that big Honda Four...a nd
then we have a friend who sells
Kawasa kis and they have a super star
too...
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Your Nearest Rickman Dealer:
Johnny Allen M/C Sales
Worth, Tex.
3733 E. Belknap St., Ft.
76111
Dave Golden M/C Inc.
Francisco , Ca.
235 Valencia St., san
94103
~5~~klp~~eu~:'~~0~~;r,Colo. 80302
Gateway M/C, Inc.
11908 N.E. Haley, Portland, are. 97211
Anchor Enterprises
501 N. Main, Fort 8ragg, Ca. 95437
Grand Island Cycle il< Kart
Grand Island,
Amrick, Inc.
Route 2 BOX 272A,
900 S.E. Salem St., Portland, Ore. 97202
,
Motors Inc.
Ramer
2701 Leavenwo tth St., Omaha, Nebr. 68105
.
Nebr. 68801
Rossi & Bell Motorcyc le
Rogue Valley Cvcle Co.
1234 Charleston Bch .. Bremerton , Wash. 98310
B il< B Cycle
224 Norfolk Ave., Norfolk, Nebr. 68701
Bill Blake's Cycle City
5711 W. Olt~~g~eBTvaJ~sR~~~iac?a·. ~1 335
Rebert M. Law MIC Sales
224 N. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, Ca. 92805
Triumph
Long Beach
624 W. Pacific Coast Higtyway, Long Beach, Ca. 90806
Richard A. Lewis
401 S. FiJnn St., Anaheim, Ca. 92804
~l2cJew~rt~~eCs~~,t~~lse,Idaho 83703
~r.f~~J:tu2"J~~I~e~t~~,Wyoming 82501
~12ck~ ~:t;St., Milpitas, Ca. 95035
Gene Meyer Cycle Center
Californi a Kart Sales & Service
235 RainIer
994 So. First St., San Jose, Ca. 95112
'
Cycle Motors
316 Orange St., Missoula, Montana 59801
A~.
South, Renton, Wash. 98055
C
~~~or~rhcket.~~~c7a~:~~,r a. 95814
Cyclelan d
Jn~:
~o~~r~~~~~,~~II~~~~~ Okla. 73104
Buzz Chaney
~~lnF~~c~~[~B~~,San
129 South 4th St., Salina, Kansas 67401
2811 MaIn St., Boise, Idaho 83706
rl4cl~ ~~trtet St., Channelvi ew, Tex. 77530
Crown Vatley Suzuki
27601 Forbes Rd., Laguna Niguel, Ca. 92677
.
Competi tion Motors
8340 Barbour Blvd. SW, Portland, are. 97219
~10cJeo~e~r4~reet,EI Paso, Texas 79904
O&L Motorcycles Inc.
5120 Burnet Rd., Austin, Tex. 78756
~s~n~~Jr~:fve~~c~~,I~;in Falls,
Idaho 83301
Floyd Emde
929 Columbia St., San Diego, Ca. 92101
Eastside M/C
1440 South A
S~••
.
Springfiel d, Ore. 97477
c
nM~ar~a':,(,~'~~~I!d.:ro~i~en,,''''a. 90044
~n' [OVS:~~~{~ve.,Los Angeles, Ca. 90044
~f~~~'~~ ~lo~I~~l~, Colo. 80631
~rg~~~t~eYl~~amle,Wyoming 82070
Rafael, Ca. 94901
Martins Cycle Sales
2020 N. TeKaS St., Fairfield, Ca. 94533
Inc.
MeG i1(Cycle Shop Stockton, Ca. 95205
1805 Cherokee Lane,
~o~c~~J~I;t.,Clarkston , Wash. 99403
r~r5~~;~~!:,g~~~e~,oCoIO.80223
Michaels Cycle Center. Inc. Wyoming 82443
901 Washaki St., Thermopo lis,
P6~f~~~~~.~~~~~~.Ca. 95501
?JK~~.i~~~~~~O~oad,Olympia, WaSh. 98506
S Inc.
Paulson
6111 100th St SW, Tacoma. Wash. 98467
Pierce. Brother I ndian sales
1511 N St., Mary st .• San Antonio, Tex. 78215
Precision Cycle Sales & Service _
4573 Artesia Blvd., Lawndale . Ca. 90262
~~~c7'~g~I~~~~~~~~t~k, Tex. 79415
Potts M/C Compan y
717 East 4th, pueblO. Colo. 81001
Inc.
Spearfish Sports il< Cycle. South
Dakota 57783 .
~~Jlfss~~~~.Ste~talia, Wash. 98531
IJb~~~~t1~!e~o~rS~O:aY,Houston, Tex. 77005
Triumph West
1106 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
Thomas Inc.
Louie
345 S. Atlantic Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca. 90022
;~56T~~::.~r~~'ll~~~~erQue,New Mexico 87110
rf1~E1~~Tt~~t~~~~, Okla. 74112
If3~ ~ou1X~:I;,e~at:~egas,Nevada
89104
Tom S. Cycle Center
1325 Galindo St., Concord, Ca. 94518
I~bf~~a~~eTB~~;,eTempe,Ariz. 85281
rn~~~~n~tfR~~~~i~ustln,Tex. 78756
I:6'8a};at:~~nCl~~Waco, Tex. 76710
I61~~~i~~~~~~.~~~~~~,ca.91766
~6~I:rC~j~~o~f.Yct~~~sl Cajon, Ca. 92020
'1.~iz. 85201
¥:J~e~.~~1~~ct~,c~e:s'a~
Western Yamaha TriumphTex. 79720
701 West 4th St., Big Spring,
Wildwoo d Cycles Inc.
176 East 40th St., San BernardIn o, Ca. 92404
Williams Cvcle Center
...
3216 Gore S"lvd., Lawton, Okla. 73501
n~~e~~~t~cJ:t~aJ~.~Omaha, Nebr. 68107
~~si~~~~~/5ak,Houston, Tex. 77035
~Ca·nsas City, Kansas 66104
~il~~e~:~~~r~/~d.~
~rJahJI ~~~in~n~eal, Palo Alto, Ca. 94306
r202S:'J'~:~yT:sie~l:~~t;:y,Merced, Ca. 95340
Zakarian Automot ive
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(Cont'd . from page 12)
Redwood City, Ca. 94062
The Sport Center
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Now hear this! The Burton \ Night
now bas a date, so get out you pencil
and write down Saturda y night,
Septem ber 30. Old Mr. Goldsta r and I
arrived with this date as everyon e will
be in town for the followin g day's road
race at Ontario ...and you haven't lived
'til you've gone through calenda r dates
to try and find one that meets just
about everybo dy's riding assignm ents.
People like S tev~ Hurd who wiU be
ISDT-in g wants to ride "maybe on my
n
nlini he says so we had to wait 'til that
group got back from Europe . But now
it's on. If you are on our Ust and are
riding Ontario the next day, there's no
excuse not to show up even if you don't
ride, 'cause with the Perris curfew you'll
be tucked up in bed at a reasona ble
hour.
It will be a fun night fof those of us
who love Perris ...Jim Goldsm ith tried to
chicken out on the grounds be didn't
have a scooter , Hunter prompt ly loaned
him one...D on Spargur made noises, but
Honter wouldn 't take no for an answer
and between the two of us, if you don't
show up, you'll never hear the end of it,
and thal's a promise ! Now I have to use
some muscle on Hunter to ride (not that
you have to ride, just show up!) but one
of his buddies made the remark that he
won't ride because his Medi~al card
won't pay for damage s suffered to his
bod on the track! Tell you what Jim,
you wear a helmet painted Uke mine,
and I'll wear leathers like yours, and
we'll run one lap around the track!
GAMB OL
415 Davis St., Santa Rosa, Ca. 95401
Granado s Cyclerv
Bellflowe r M(C Shop
Grady Lafferty , the head of the
Interna tional Racing Radio Crew is now
out of the hospital after that back
surgery and swears up and down he is
going to show· up at Hopeto wn come
hell or high water. h's now August, do
you realize how close Hope town really
is? Can't wait for it, Corriga nville is still
THE event of our season, so if you're
going to ride it, start your jogging now.
525 South Santa Cruz, Modesto, Ca. 95351
memori es in some of the guests and a
calls of "Hey-bo b-a-ree- bob,"
few
echoed in the open air.
Max Bubeck drew the chore of
charbro iling the forty-od d steaks for the
guests and while he was doing that, Algy
recount ed his latest venture . The night
before the party there was a night
enduro whIch qui te a few of us,
includin g Ekins, Steffan , Dick Chase
and myself, had ridden. It was a fairly
rough, dusty course and very dark. I was
happy to have finished it. Algy "rode"
the course too, but he did it in bis VW
dune buggy! For Algy a dune buggy is a
much more appropr iate vehicle for that
kind of event than a motorcy cle because
in it there's room to store two
half-gal lons of wine and several six
packs which are necessa ry for survival in
nigh t-time desert racing.
Somepl ace along the line Algy
encoun tered a kid with a broken- dow.n
motorcy cle so he stopped and tried to
help. It was no use; the bike wouldn 't
run. Then the kid spotted Algy's
roof-top rack and asked if they could
throw his motorcy cle on top and take it
in. Algy replied, "Jf you've got the hair
to get it up there, I'll take it in!"
Someho w or other they got it up and
Algy put the kid in the back seat, gave
him a glass of wine and took him to the
finish. uYou never saw a, happier kid,"
says Algy. They drove in and the kid
even got a finisher pin. That inspired a
general round of Al Rogers stories, all of
which are unbeliev able and most of
which are true.
While Max broiled the steaks, Bud
Ekins' wife Betty and daughte r Suzie
served the rest of the meal, a
magnifi cent spread of salad, garlic
bread, baked potato, and broiled onion,
which had been prepare d beforeh and by
Max's wife Suzie. Both of the Ekin '
ladies wore long gowns and manage d to
look cool and elegant through the
difficult · task of providin g 40 hungry
people with a fine. elabora te meal. Thus
it is that we nomina te Mrs. Betty Ekins
for the title of motorcy cling's first lady.
After some movies of past Greenh orn
parties which starred many of those
present , most current ly with less hair
but a fe)N with more, we bade our
hostess farewell and went home to
recuper ate from 48 hours of con tinuous
activity with sincere regret at having to
depart the highpoi nt of the social
J
calenda r so early .. the eftftiIt. .
