Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125818
bike was to be used off the road. If you punched the hole, a certain portion of your registration fee would go to an Off-Hjghway Fund, to finance riding facilities. Secondly, there would be no inspection at the time of registration. You could register an ice racer if you wan ted to. Bu t trus would not relieve you of meeting the requirements for wherever you wan ted to ride. If you were riding in the forest, you would have to have a spark arrester; on the highway you would have to have the normal legal equipment, stop light, mirror, hom, etc, and in the desert you'd have to have a silencer. You just wouldn't have to have .your bike inspected at the time of regjstration. What this program would do that the green stickie program can't do under any arrangemen t is see that everybody who uses a bike off the road contributes somethjng to the off highway fund. As it is right now all the serious trail riders, and all the enduro riders buy license plates and contribute nothing to the off highway fund. The only people who are con tributing to the fund are the desert racers who ride primarily on BLM land anyway. (And not many of them). CaJjfornia has a truely tremendous highway system because there is a highway trust fund that is virtually un touchable. Only a Ii ttle bi t of' the money you are taxed goes in to that fund, but it's enough. If, and I grant you, it's a big "if", if we could establish the same sort of trust fund for off-highway riding areas and trails, through a license program, I think we would be far ahead of the game. What I would Hke to know from you readers is, A.re you in favor of: A. The present system. B. The present system plus an orange stickie program to ensure compHance. C. The Licensing program outlined above. D. Some other system. All of us would like to have nothjng required for our off-road bikes, and if you feel very strongly that it must be that way or you'll seU your bike, write and teU ·me. 1 don't think that's very realistic. We've been identified as potentially large tax target and come hell or high water, the politicos will figure out some way to tax us_ My question is, How can we drive the hardest bargain? How can we get the most for our money. What do we really from out money? Do we want trails, areas" camping facilities, emergency services? So for those of you who will take the time to write, please answere those two questions. What form for registration program do you like, Or will you tolerate, (if any) and what would you like to see come from the money. In my next column I will pubHsh a sampling of the replies. Write to Ron Schneiders, care of Cycle News. .... THESE BOOTS WJSDt l M .... ell .. ,WEREN'T MADE ~ N > :; .., FORWALKING. ~ W Z w ..J U > U THE SIERRA CLUB The Sierra Club righ t now ranks as one of our highest priority enemies. They are extremely powerful, bigoted beyond belief, inplacable, and thoroughly untrustworthy. Anyone who has dealt with them in an adversary role knows they will not keep promises. They are not conservationists in rational sense of the word; they are fanatics. Ljke all fanatic organizations, however, they are relatively small and they can be beaten: This Friday the Parks Commission looked the Great God Sierra Club straight in the eye and kicked his shins. I suspect that a few members of the commission are anxiously looking upwards waiting for the ligh tning to strike, expecially one little battery-operated Sierra Parrot named Tom Bonnicksen, almost living proof that being young is not necessarily being good. This thirty-ish youngster with the dry-look hair and wide, tinted glasses, spouted Sierra party Une all day Friday and then looked Uke he migh t come apart at the seems when the Commissjon found the courage to' vote against the Sierra Club. But while some of the Commjssion members are probably waiting for the lightnjng to strike, I imagine a few of them are feeHng pretty good. There's nothing like toppHng a despotic god to make you feel really fine for a week. A series of articles abou t the Sierra Club has recently been published in Cycle News. There are a lot of useful facts in them, but the notion that one can deal with the Sierra Club as reasonable people is pure nonsense. John Ulrich, the author of the articles can deal with them, all right. He' a long time member of the Sierra Club. My suggestion? Know your enemy. Arizona Desert They were made for the roughest kind of motocross and enduro action. Available in black with Yamaha yellow racing stripe on back. Also with yellow shin guard. They feature 100% genuine leather. Six buckle full adjustment, padded front shin guard and inside double-duty leather padding around the ankle. Flat MX race sole or Vibram-Lug sole. Half sizes available in all MX boots. See these superb off-road boots and the entire collection of accE!ssories, specialty items, apparel and genuine parts now at your nearest Yamaha dealer. • 'AMAIIA PARTS DIS1IIIUTORS, IIIC. a subsidiary of Yamaho International Corporation. 6610 Orangethorpe Avenue. Bueno Pork, Coliformo 90~20 ------. ~'7" . HOT HARE SCRAMBLES: HEAT WIPES OUT "ARMY" OF RIDERS by Vic Darilek BUCKEYE, ARIZ., July I - Phoenix promoter Phil Auern Heimer put together a 100 mile Hare Scrambles which could have tes ted the Devil himself. 354 Desert Foxes entered. There was a 7 :30 AM beat the heat, 'Le-mans start, then 0'1 Sol just cooked even the most efficiently dressed and prepared. Of the 354 starters, 135 didn't even make the first 25 mile lap. Something was wrong, some of the first riders to come in started dropping out after being checked for only one lap, and Gator-ade was looking better than pit-tootsies before 9 o'clock. Buckeye Arizona, where the race was held, had the high for the nation this day: 117 degrees in the shade. But ('II teU ya what killed 'em, it was that lo-o-ong, deep sand wash at the firs I smoke bomb. A sweep of the wash after the race found bikes sprinkled in there like propaganda leaflets dumped from a plane on a Vie t-Cong stronghold_ And if you think gold is high in Europe, I could've sold water in that wash for S I 00 a canteen. Lap one finish saw Jerry Brandon on his Husky 250 in the lead, and he held it all the way for first overall. First overall Beginner was Mark Sutphen on a Yammie 360. Hard Luck Trophy went to the kid who left his bike in the wash and walked out; someone has an extra Yamaha in their garage. A side note on that: we have a description of who took the kids' bike, and about 1,000 people looking for you. Just (e,ave the bike at a fire station or someplace to be pickedl up. I Phil promises that since we only had some cracked ribs and a collarbone, he will try to have another "biggie" about every six weeks. Right. On! Maybe some of those Calilornia "foxes" will be able to make it over and whup it on us_ Phil promises less sand. A very special vote of thanks to the REACT groups who had exceUent radio to all check poin ts and for calling in the helicopter when needed. And to B'arbara Keeme, the Powder Puffer who gave all her own waler to the guys in the wash, then broke down and had none. We are a little concerned about you tough Barb, even though most.of us would Uke to be stuck in the "boonies" with you, 'this is the second straight desert race you've been lost wi th the guys, while your ol'man is pushing out of some wash. We can'tgo on meeting like this! 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