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/125841
=====>,NEVER - GOES FLAT NON- DEFLATABLE Trustee V ote Will Chart A MA's Future PROVEN UNDER RACE CONDITIONS Ir s THE PERFECT TUBE FOR THE PLEASURE DIRT RIDER REALLY BITCH'N! next Execu tive Board , whic h ta kes place in a few weeks at th e American Moto rcycle Association's an nual meeting. "Ride s & handles just like a regular air tube . Seems to corner better, with faster recovery." Mike DePape _ .... REPRESENTING YAM»iA O F El MONTE Mike loo k his ninth consec ut ive win in the 100.1 25 n SR Cla ss a t the Tro jan Speedway us ing the revo lutiona ry Rang e Tube . DISTRIBUTORS/DEALERS WANTED - CONTACT: • Amerlcan ~ P.O. Box 3313 City of Industry, Ca lif. 91744 Cycle Products Telephone: (714) 598.1210 SCUDERIA HUSQVARNA PENTON LA VERDA SALES. SERVICE', AlfD MAIL SPECIALISTS (213) 542-1695 The Finest Select ion of Parts and Accessories For Bike and Rider We Offe r Expert Repairs Port ing and Compet it ion Tuni nq R eceive $50 Worth of Parts and A ccessories FREE When You Buy a New H usk y or Pen t on. 2419 Artesia Blvd. Redondo Beach , Cal ifornia 90278 INTERNATIONAL CAF E RACERS ASSOCIATION Join now the worla wide organ iza t ion for c a f e racing enthusiasts. Receive p i n . yea r su bsc ri p tio n "The Ton" 1 14 newspape r. accessory c a ta lo g, tech shee t s, & all t n e la te s t info . S e n d $5.00 to : .I. C . R .A .• Box 13, Hou ston, Texu 17002 What the fu ture holds for the motorcycle sport good, bad or indifferent will be largely determined by the election of the ~~lJi)~· a d CYCLE ~ ~~~ Up to sixty AMA T rustees will be chosen from the Class B (in dustry) m embers w ho a tt end th e an nual mee tin g. No nnally o nly thirty or forty of the 2 0 0-odd industry membe rs bother to sen d represen ta tives, so all those i n attendance traditionally become AMA Trustees and elect ten of the twelve-person board from t heir number. Already by means of a mail ballot, the Class A (consumer) members will elec t two mo re enthusiasts no t affiliated with the industry, to co mp lete the Board . The next Boar d will face its mo st importan t task immedia tely , to hir e a ne w chief admin istrator. T he outgoing Board did its j ob well , firin g t he fo rm er to p employee, ap parently just in time to th w ar t a cunning plan to rip th e Association o ff. But though a floa t, and not in d an ger of sin king, th e AMA boa t is n ot go ing anywhe re without a charted c o u rse an d a cap tai n. T he new Executive Board h as to hire th e ca ptain (Executive Directo r) and chart th e course (set p olicy ). It won 't be har d to fin d willing candidates for the executive director's job. The pay is higher than many of the Boar d members earn, who hire him. Almost any of them would like to have it. So wo uld-be applicants face the prospect of bei ng judged by their own rivals for the job! In fact , the ousted previous executive director came into the job fr om a seat on the Board. Pro bably it would be more fitting if all the current and future Board members disjoined themselves from eligibility for the executive di re ctor's job. This would free their minds to do the main thing a Board of Direc to rs is supposed to do - hire and fire the chief executive. Whoever is final ly hired for the to ugh but rewarding top AMA job, it should be a person with high in tegrity. great knowledge and lo ve of the sport, and proven ad ministrative ab ility. That last part lets a lot of people out, including me. How man y b ikers do you know who have successfully managed a b usiness in th e 3~ to 5·million dollar category like th e AMA ? T h e re q uir eme nts for members of th e Board of Dire ct o rs sho uld be n o less stringen t, besides wh ich , they receive no pay and mu st attend monthly Board m e e t i ngs at their own or their companies' expense. Without this industry-weighted executive panel, the AMA would have fizzled out of existence by now. They bring the hard-headedness of e conomic reality to th e fu n-and-showbiz world of the motorcycle sport. Big, big questions Second m ost immediate duty of the new AMA Board will be to re view and complete the management survey and reo rgani za tio n started by the 19 73 Board. Big, big q uestio ns need to be asked and, ho pefully , answe red. How can t he Association serve both c o mpetition an d general consume r inter ests alike? Would two association s be better for mo torcyclin g than one? What insurance do memb ers have, wha t d o we want, and what can we get fo r how much? Why aren't mo re promo ters asking for AMA sanctions? What really hap pe ns to the "back gate" (m o ney c ollected by p ro mo ter or refere e fr o m race participants) an d what sho uld AMA do about it ? What n ew services should AMA offer and what current services are o utm oded? T he se are t he main to pics on the 19 74 AMA age n da , as I see it . Un til the y have been pro per ly dealt with , mat ters of racin g ru les, public relati on s, ti me an d p lace of the ne xt meeting the d eta il ma t te rs that usuall y occupy th e min u tes of the Board mee tin gs sh o uld be put off until after lunch. Th e big q uest io ns call for co m ple x understanding. I hope th e new Board members do t hei r ho mewo r k as well as the o u tgoing b o ard d id . So please be wa rned, yo u AMA m e m b e r s: Election to the AMA Executive Board is no t me rely a popularity contest. It is a dema nding, importan t job. May the best twelve members win ! Charles Clayton Will lo vely l a- year old Modene Gu nch, mar ried o nce , div orced three times, be the ne w Ms. Molly Blue ? She doesn' t look blue to us, b ut she might be. The winner (w ho we assume w ill be blue ) will be anno unced at th e Astrodome Nationals.